Okay, so you’ve heard that people are making money from selling their photographs. You’d like to have a go for yourself. The problem is, where do you start and what do you need to get started? The obvious answer is that you need some photographs to sell. They must be your own photographs, taken and owned by you. There are dozens of other things which you also need. Here, broadly speaking, are 5 essential stock photography items that you need to become a stock photographer.
The 5 Essential Stock Photography Items
- Camera & lens
- Computer
- Software
- Internet connectivity
- A method to sell your photographs
I’ve put these 5 essential stock photography items in a particular order of priority. Here is a brief justification as to why each of these 5 broad items is essential.
- The first thing that you need is a camera with a lens. This item allows you to take photographs. Without taking photographs, you have nothing to sell.
- You then need a computer on which to manipulate or edit the photographs. Without a computer you have no method of doing anything with the photographs you have taken.
- You then need specialist software to be able to effectively edit and manipulate the photographs. Without a computer, you have no method of using software.
- You then need a method of communicating with potential agents and buyers. Without a communication method, you have no method of transferring your photographs to your end users and no method of receiving money.
- Finally, you need to register with one or more stock agencies so that they can place your photographs on sale and pass your earnings to you. Alternatively, you could create your own website to sell your images from. You could even speculatively send specific images to specific people or companies in the hope that they might pay you to use those images.
In the next few weeks, I’ll take a close look at each of these 5 essential stock photography items. I’ll look at why each of these is essential. I’ll suggest some great starting points and I’ll give some idea about the costs you might incur.
