How To Make Money With Stock Photography in 7 Easy Steps

There are a lot of different ways to make money with photography, including photographing weddings, taking portraits, selling prints, and more. While there are plenty of possibilities, stock photography is one of the most realistic and practical options to get started.

If you’re looking to make money from your photos, stock photography may be your best bet to get started without quitting your day job.

What Is Stock Photography?

Stock photography involves licensing photos, typically royalty-free. You’re not actually selling the ownership of your photos — you continue to hold the copyright. However, the licensee pays for the right to use your photo for a website, brochure, advertisement, or some other purpose. If the license is royalty-free, the customer will pay a one-time fee to gain the legal right to use the photo according to the license.

As a photographer, you can offer your photos on stock photography websites like Vecteezy and earn a commission whenever a customer downloads your photo.

Do Stock Photos Actually Make Real Money?

There are some key reasons why you might want to license stock photos, and here are some of the most significant ones.

Passive Income

The stock photos you upload to Vecteezy may continue to be downloaded by users for several years, long after the work to create that photo is done. Each photo has the potential to generate passive income as it gets downloaded over and over again. While it’s true that not every photo you submit will be downloaded hundreds or thousands of times, the more photos you have in your portfolio, the greater your chances are for earning passive income.

Make Money From the Photos You Already Have

If you’re a photographer, you probably already have a hard drive full of photos. It’s possible to take photos that are just sitting on your computer and turn them into an income-generating asset. Of course, continuing to upload new photos as you go will be key to maximizing your earnings, but you might be able to get started simply by using what you already have.

Make Money From Photos That Otherwise Wouldn’t Earn You Anything

This applies not only to photos you already have, but also those that you take in the future. Even if you sell prints or take photos for clients, you’re probably only using a small fraction of the photos you take. Stock photography is an awesome way to make money with photos that otherwise aren’t doing anything for you.

Maybe you take portraits of clients as a way to make money but you also take macro photos as a hobby. Those hobby photos could easily turn into a source of income by submitting them to Vecteezy.

Your Income Builds

One of the keys to making money with stock is to continually upload new photos. If you’re consistently growing your portfolio, your chances of making money will continually increase. Some of your photos will probably get downloaded many times, and the more new photos you upload, the better your chances are of finding those winners.

Most successful stock photographers find that their earnings grow over time as their portfolio gets larger.

Non-Exclusive

The better stock websites (like Vecteezy) do not require exclusivity from contributors.  That means you can upload photos to Vecteezy that you’ve uploaded to other websites or licensed in other places. Some stock marketplaces do require exclusivity, so you’ll need to check the terms of any site that you contribute to. If you’re using sites that don’t require exclusivity, you can make more with your photos by uploading them in multiple places.

Supplemental Income

While it’s possible to earn a full-time income just from stock photography, it provides supplemental income for the vast majority of contributors. Maybe wedding photography is your primary source of income. You could use stock photography as a way to make some extra money on the side.

Stock photography is also a great side hustle for people who have full-time jobs in other industries. Maybe you’re an enthusiast and you’ve never actually made any money from your photos, it’s just something you do for fun. Contributing to Vecteezy could be the perfect way to start making money on the side.

Let’s face it, photography can be an expensive hobby. Even if you just use the money to buy new gear it could be a huge help. 

How To Get Started

If you’re ready to take action, here are the specific steps you can follow to make money with stock photography.

Step 1: Choose Your Niche

As a stock photographer, you’re free to submit pictures of a wide variety of subjects. However, it’s a good idea to choose a niche or specialty (or a few). You could choose to focus on travel photos, landscapes, still life, business shots, lifestyle photos, or any number of things. 

Think about what you enjoy photographing and what you would like to work on in the future. You may also want to consider the types of photos you already have that could be uploaded. 

Just because you choose a particular niche or specialty doesn’t mean you can’t submit other types of images. The main reason for specializing is that it helps to give you direction and key in on the types of photos you should be shooting in the future. It’s usually easier to get ideas if you have some direction.

Step 2: Choose Your Platform

Next, it’s time to decide where you’re going to submit your photos. There are a lot of stock photography sites out there, but of course, we feel like Vecteezy is a great choice and there are several reasons why you can make more money with Vecteezy.

Each stock marketplace will have an application process. You’ll need to create an account and in most cases, you’ll have to upload a few of your photos as samples to be evaluated. Be sure to submit your best work in order to be approved. 

You can create your Vecteezy contributor account here.

Step 3: Familiarize Yourself With the Guidelines

While you’re free to submit a wide variety of photos, every stock marketplace will have some guidelines. Be sure to read and understand the guidelines. Most of the guidelines will be fairly similar from one marketplace to the next, but some may be unique. You can see Vecteezy’s guidelines for photo contributors here.

Step 4: Set Your Goals

It’s a good idea to take some time and set a few goals. When you’re first getting started, you probably have no idea what to expect, so it’s ok if your goals wind up being way off the mark.

The main benefit of setting goals is that it can help you to stay focused and continue working. You don’t want to sign up, submit a bunch of images, and then never submit anything else.

Your goals can help to provide some motivation that keeps you active and submitting more photos on a regular basis. In fact, one of the best goals you can set is related to the number of photos you want to upload each month. For example, you could set a goal to upload 50 new photos each month. If you strive to meet that goal each mount, your income with stock photography is almost sure to grow over time.

You can also set goals related to the number of downloads for your photos and for the amount of money you want to earn. However, this can be hard to gauge at first when you’re just getting started, so be willing to adjust your goals in the future.

Step 5: Submit Your Existing Photos

After you’re approved as a contributor, you’ve familiarized yourself with the guidelines, and you’ve set some goals, you’re ready to start uploading images! The best place to start is with the photos you already have. You don’t want or need to submit everything, but browse through your photos and pick the ones you think would be appropriate for stock.

Remember to consider the guidelines, which means you might need to get a signed model release or property release before you can submit certain photos.

Submitting your existing photos makes it possible to start earning money right away. Getting some downloads and seeing some income in your account will be a great source of motivation and encouragement.

Step 6: Photograph With a Purpose

Going forward, you should start thinking about the photos you’ll be taking in terms of which photos will give you the best chance to make money as stock photos.

The most successful stock photographers choose subjects specifically for the purpose of licensing them as stock photos. Think about the type of end-user you want to serve and the types of photos they might need. You can also think about the current trends and how they impact the types of photos people will be searching for.

Here at Vecteezy, we have a few resources that can help you to photograph with a purpose:

• Guide to stock photo trends – We published a guide to stock photo trends based on search and download statistics from Vecteezy users. You can use these trends to take photos that will be in high demand.
• Calls for content – Each month we publish a call for content on our blog. This information is also based on trends but it may also be influenced by gaps in our portfolio. For example, we may lack photos of a certain type and we’re telling you what you can contribute if you want to get more exposure. 
• Contributor calendar – Phographing for holidays and seasons can be a great way to get more downloads. Our contributor calendar lists upcoming holidays and shows what you should be working on during any month of the year.

Step 7: Keep Taking and Uploading New Photos

The best way to maximize what you make with stock photography is to constantly add new images. As your portfolio gets bigger, you’ll have more opportunities for your photos to be seen, and you’re likely to get more downloads. 

You need to approach it as a long-term business rather than a quick way to make money. If you continue to upload new images each month, you’ll be in a very good position to have success.

Related: Easy Ways to Get More Resources Into Your Vecteezy Portfolio

Conclusion

Although there are a number of different ways to make money with photography, stock is a great option. You can grow your income from stock over time regardless of whether you’re a professional photographer or a hobbyist. If you’re ready to get started, sign up for a Vecteezy contributor account today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you still make money with stock photography?

Yes, you can. There are plenty of people who are doing very well, including some who have only started in recent years. It’s true that there is more competition than there was several years ago, but there are also more people buying stock photos.

How much can you earn as a stock photographer?

This really depends on a lot of different variables. Some people take stock photos full-time, but they are in the minority. For most people, it provides supplementary income and a way to monetize photos that otherwise might not generate income.

Can you sell stock photos at multiple sites?

Some stock photo sites require exclusivity (meaning, you can’t sell your photos anywhere else) and some do not. Vecteezy does not require exclusivity, so you’re free to contribute to multiple sites as long as the others do not require exclusivity.

What are royalty-free images?

With royalty free images, customers pay a one-time fee (or a membership fee) to license the photo. The customer can then use the photo according to the terms of the license without the need to pay royalties to the photographer.

Who buys stock photography?

Businesses, non-profit organizations, website owners, bloggers, and individuals are all common customers. The images are used for a wide variety of purposes from marketing and advertising, as well as on websites and social media. Customers love stock because they’re able to get quality photos quickly and easily.

Lead image by cookelma.