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Hi,
I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion for some good stock photography websites for me to put my photos on. I created an Unsplash account, but since people can use my photos for free without giving me credit, I’m a little uneasy about uploading a lot of photos on there.
Thanks!
Hello Allison!
For me stock has been a good way to get started in selling my pictures.
A couple years ago I made a short video about how I do it and my recommendations on stock sites.
https://youtu.be/AlpkzeU-vJUSince then, Lightstock has changed in that they no longer do exclusive. So now I upload all my stock pictures to all of my six sights. And a little surprising to me, the “faith based” pictures sell very well on the other sites.
If you’re a member, the new lenspiration course has a lesson on selling for stock.
https://www.lenspiration.com/lesson/stock-photography-considerations/-Hannah
@blessingscaptured Hi Hannah,
Thank you so much for all your help! The videos were very helpful!
Allison
I would agree, @musicgal, if you’re going to let folks use your photos, I do think you should get something for it!
I use Lightstock, Adobe Stock, and Shutterstock. Here is a good article on more places that might give even better royalties: https://xpiksapp.com/blog/top-microstocks/
I use Lightstock, Adobe Stock & Shutterstock as well. I sell the most variety of images on Lightstock. Adobe Stock sales tend to come from my images that are clearly faith-based (a few photoshoots I’ve done for Lenspiration assignments have sold REALLY well on Adobe Stock). Shutterstock yields less sales for me. And I agree, it’s probably not worth taking the time and effort to submit your photos to somewhere for free when you could do the same and earn something off it.
Another note, stock photography is certainly not a “get rich quick” method of photography. 🙂 However it’s a nice way to have some earnings come in on the side and it’s nice that it doesn’t need to be maintained once you’ve uploaded your photos. But at least for me, it took quite a while before I really started seeing sales happen consistently.
@jamesstaddon and @lenspirationlydia thank you so much! I actually applied to Lightstock, but they declined my application. That was a little embarrassing, and I’m not sure exactly what I did wrong, but I think I’ll try updating my portfolio and trying again.
And Lydia, thank you for your bit of advice! 🙂
Wow, that’s too bad! The more contributors Lightstock has, I wouldn’t be surprised if that makes them even more picky when accepting new contributors.
So curating/growing your portfolio and trying again sounds like a good idea. Keep that determination! I’m not sure what your portfolio looks like, but in general I’d suggest:– Include a solid variety of photos that demonstrate you would be able to contribute great faith-centered or people-focused content as well as quality generic content like nature photos, still life, etc. Lightstock has a big emphasis on faith and people, so if they don’t get the sense someone would be supplying them with those types of photos, I could see that as a reason they might not see that as a good fit.
– Include only your very best work. Stock websites can be pretty particular about the quality of photos they accept (even for regular contributors), so your portfolio should demonstrate that you would be uploading only good, quality content.I don’t know if either of those applies in your situation, but that’s what comes to mind 🙂
@lenspirationlydia thank you so much! That is all good to know. I didn’t have too many photos with people in them, so that is something I will have to add more of to my portfolio. I will go back through my photos and cull them down even more so that they are the best quality that I have.
How many photos would you suggest is a good number to have in a portfolio?
Good question. From a few articles I read online, some folks suggest somewhere around 10-15 per category that you’re trying to showcase. That sounds pretty reasonable to me. You want to include enough that it’s going to give a good sense of your work without overloading the viewer.
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