Do You Just Need Business Stock Photography?

Business stock photography is the creation and collection of photographs that individuals choose from and purchase for any business-related purpose. Industries that regularly utilize stock photographs include, but are not limited to: Advertisers, graphic designers, greeting card companies, publishers, television and film producers, and web designers. Instead of hiring a photographer to shoot objects, these professionals browse hundreds of pre-shot images and purchase them for their utilization.

You can sell your photographs as stock images. There are two options that you can employ to present your photographs to would-be buyers.

Stock and Microstock Photography Agencies

There are agencies that give photographers a helping hand in presenting their works to buyers. Most of these agencies have online websites, enabling you to easily sell digital pictures. Examples of stock photography agencies are:

Getty Images, Inc. is an agency based in Seattle, Washington. Currently, it has an archive of 70 million images. This agency has three target markets: Creative professionals (like those in advertising and design), media (for those in print and online publishing), and corporate (for marketing and communication purposes).

Corbis is another corporation with over 100 million images. This stock photo agency aims to provide digital images for decorative purposes, as well as for marketing and communications.

There are also companies referred to as microstock photography agencies. There are features that distinguish microstock companies from general photography agencies. First, microstock agencies make their images available only through the Internet. Second, any individual, including amateurs, can submit their photos for sale. Lastly, the prices of the images are significantly lower than those of standard stock photography agencies. They can range from $0.20 to $10 each. Examples of microstock agencies are:

Shutterstock has an image library that provides download access to royalty-free images through subscription. Browsing their images, however, can be done for free. Licensing images would also require subscription to their website.

iStockphoto is another royalty-free microstock image agency that provides services internationally. Their images are priced according to size, with prices ranging from $0.95 to $1.50. Currently, the website has four million images from over 50,000 photographers.

There are also photo-sharing websites where you can easily post images and compile them into an album. These websites, however, don’t provide compensation for your works.

Personal Representation

Another way of selling stock photographs is by transacting them yourself. In this way, you avoid paying the licensing fees of stock photo agencies. This is very cost-effective especially for starting photographers. Here are some pointers when selling your own stock photographs:

Compile Photos. To make your stock photos presentable, compile all the images you would like to sell into a catalogue. This makes it easy for your clients to choose photos. You could also make a catalogue digitally and publish this online. For this purpose, use low-pixel thumbnails of your images.

Visit Clients. Go direct to possible clients like advertising agencies, multimedia broadcasters, and corporations that may have a use for your photos. Ask them for an opportunity to present your work.

Other Selling Ideas. Aside from going directly to clients, you can also display your stock photo collection in your photography studio. You can also display images in an exhibit or in photography conventions. Through these ways, you can come across clients interested to purchase your work.