Make money from microstock photography

This guide on how to make money on the internet for beginners with microstock photos agencies and microstock photography will help you if you are thinking of going into microstock photography to earn some money but want to know what microstock photography is about, what microstock photography requires and what the various microstock photography agencies are like.

What is microstock photography?
It is a collection of images, consisting of illustrations and photographs, which are catalogued according to subject matter and sold at very low prices – as low as US$1. They are the affordable alternatives to mainstream stock photo agencies like Gettys, where professional photographers sell their images at a few hundred dollars each.

With microstock agencies, anyone with a basic knowledge in photography or illustration may put their images up for sale, with the microstock agency taking a cut off the sale price. Many of these images are comparable to mainstream stock agencies in terms of quality.

Some agencies accept film footage.

What are the basic requirements for microstock photography?
1.All images must be photographed or created by you.
2.Your image must have a subject or concept. No casual snapshots will be accepted.
3.Your image must meet the basic requirements of sharpness, lighting and resolution.
4. Photos which have recognisable human faces must have model releases.
5. Objects must not have any recognisable logos and trademarks.

What equipment do I need?
For photographers:
1. At least a 4MP digital camera. Prints scanned at high resolution (300dpi) which meet the minimum requirements may also accepted.
2. Image editing software eg. Photoshop, NoiseNinja
3. A bonus would be a studio setup which enables you to shoot objects with proper lighting or people. However, if this is beyond your reach, fret not. There are tons of other images you can shoot.

For illustrators:
1. Drawing software eg. Illustrator, Freehand
2. Photoshop would be useful.

What type of images are in demand?
1. People in various situations eg. business meeting
2. Objects on a white background.
3. Images which depict a concept or lifestyle eg. success
4. Industry specific images eg. medical related

What images are not in demand?
1. Scenics eg. sunsets, clouds
2. Nature eg. flowers, pets
Your images would have to be outstanding to be accepted.

Which microstock agencies should I join?
Here are some of the more established ones:

Shutterstock
Dreamstime
Fotolia
BigStockPhoto
Stockxpert
iStockphoto

It makes sense to join a few agencies as not all images will be accepted across the board. An image which does not make a single sale at one agency may be a bestseller at another.

If you feel the above information has been useful, and would like to sign up to the various sites, please do so by using my affiliate links below. It would be greatly appreciated.

Shutterstock