"It's free to contribute and you'll earn $0.25 to $28.00 per image download." - shutterstock.com

Selling your photography (or digital art, sound clips, and even video) as stock has never been easier. You can upload your work to one (or several) of the many stock websites that act as the intermediary between you and paying consumers. If you shoot what the buyers want, you'll be sure to bring in some extra cash each month. Feel free to read the short intro on stock photography or jump straight to the agency websites below!

Most "casual" photographers purchase their camera for the purpose of capturing and preserving memories, not because they plan to make millions of dollars selling calendars and coffee table books (though that would be nice!). Photography is a highly technical, creative, and competitive industry that has numerous barriers to entry. One of the largest immediate obstacles can be the fact that camera equipment is darned expensive! Professional sports photographers can pay $7000 or more for a single lens; talk about prohibitive!

Making photography a professional career is a daunting task. Shooting sports on a professional level requires expensive gear, hair trigger timing, seasons' worth of practice, and is a difficult industry to penetrate. Likewise, other types of photography (wedding, portrait, product, real estate, etc.) might not be a great fit for everyone - and nobody is born with the knowledge of how to manage pre- and post-production printing, publishing, shipping, websites, and running art fair booths. Not to mention the time it takes to develop a strong, diverse portfolio and loyal customer base. Yes, indeed, new photographers face a considerable learning curve when trying to start a business, a proposition that is often compounded by stiff local and national competition!

OK, take a deep breath.

I’m not here to discuss any of the above. (There are several books available for those of you who want to go that route.) There is a way that even casual hobbyists can make a couple bucks without jumping into the small business world. Go no further than online stock photography!

Stock agencies sell your photos to a wide range of consumers, from graphic designers working for the largest of businesses to part-time artists working from their home. Pretend you are a business owner looking to run a magazine spread with a photo of a palm tree on a beach. Though it would be an inexpensive solution, searching through your vacation photos from Hawaii probably won't get you the shot you are looking for. Conversely, commissioning a professional photographer is a very expensive prospect.

An answer to this dilemma is to purchase an image from a stock agency. You can buy a single file (with many different types of licenses) or a monthly subscription that allows you to download a set number of images per day/month. Spending $50 for an extended license on the perfect photo might not seem like a bad idea considering the alternatives!

Of course, for such demand, there must be a supply. That’s where you come in. There are many stock websites to which you can upload your photos and start earning commissions. One of the most appealing sides of stock photography is that once a photo is accepted, it remains online in perpetuity, earning you cash each time it is downloaded. Now your photos can finally start paying off all that expensive gear!

One thing that turns many photographers away from online stock is the prospect of selling a photo for a $0.25 profit (of course, more can be made depending on the license the buyer purchases). If your photos are gallery quality, you should try selling prints and marketing your work. However, for many of us, hundreds of potential stock images are gathering electronic dust in our computers. I'm sure a $20 commission would help them feel useful and appreciated!

Selling stock is a simple concept to grasp, but don't think that the online agencies are ready to take just any image you send their way. Stock agencies only accept work that meets their quality requirements. Photos that are improperly exposed, out of focus, framed poorly, or are of a subject that will not sell or is already well covered, will not be accepted. Photos with distracting noise or artifacts will also be declined (though sometimes noise/blur can be desirable).

So how can you figure out if your photos are good enough for stock? First, check out the popular images at each stock site. The message boards and discussion forums are also good places to ask for tips, advice, and critique. You may notice a lot of popular images have people in them. You will need any model (even it if is yourself or your spouse or children) to complete a model release and submit it with your work. Model release templates are readily available online and can be fine tuned to suit your specific needs.

Though each stock website is different, they all share some similarities. Stock sites require you to upload photos (or digital art, audio clips, or video) through your browser or FTP, provide an image title, description, and tag the image with applicable keywords (important!!!). I use a program that embeds keywords into my images that are automatically detected by the stock website. This will save you a lot of time when submitting to multiple sites. Check it out: XnView. You'll want to keyword your images correctly so they show up in right searches.

All images are reviewed by real people (though not all reviewers are equal) before they are authorized for online sale.

Here are the stock websites I am on:

iStockphoto is a very well known site with plenty of subscribers. They require you to 'apply' by submitting three sample photographs (they also accept vector illustrations, sound clips, and video) along with a scan of your ID (which they require in order to authorize payments). A major downside to iStockphoto is the upload limit and the long wait times for image approval. I suppose this is done in an effort to encourage photographers to submit only their best images.

Dreamstime is another large stock site for photography and illustration. Like iStockphoto, there is a limit on the number of uploads you may submit - up to 100 per day or less, depending on your approval rating. Waiting times for approval can be very long, but they are quicker than iStockphoto in my experience. Dreamstime has less stringent quality requirements for submitted work than agencies like iStockphoto and Shutterstock, but you'll still want to bring your A-Game.

BigStockPhoto is another great site. I have the most images accepted with them.

Fotolia

I haven't worked with Fotolia very much. They hold images to extremely stringent guidelines.

shutterstock

Shutterstock is another agency with an application process. They require an ID (I simply used a credit card for them to verify my identity) and 10 photos for review. If they accept 7 out of 10, then you are in! If you don't pass, you'll have to wait 30 days before you can apply again. Choose your photos wisely. You can earn $0.25 to $28.00 per image download.

Good luck out there!