Digital Shutters

I am sure that you’ve seen the ads about making money with your digital camera on the internet. Take photos upload them to the stock photo sites and sit back and reap the rewards. But buyers beware! Although it is a good way to make some extra income, it’s probably not going to pay the bills.
Each stock photo site has set up different guidelines as to what they will accept and the minimum size a photo can be. I have been taking photos for stock sites as long as they have been around and my upload approval rating at its best just over 50%. Some sites will take my floras and some won’t. I can submit a photo to one site and it will be disapproved but accepted at another. But don’t get discouraged! You can make money at it!
Here are some tips to follow. Check out each stock photo site and read the submission guidelines and payouts, before you sign up with them. Most will pay you $1.00 for every time your photo is downloaded. Check out the size of the photo. Most won’t let you upload with a file size of less than 4 MP. Your photos need to be sharp and at least 72 dpi (this is no big deal since 72dpi is the standard) It is best and you’ll get approved faster if you can get 300dpi. The biggest sellers are people in action. IF you want to go this route then you will need a model release if your person is recognizable. All stock photo sites have their own model release form so if you are going to submit to several sites then have your model sign one for every site. If you have multiple people each one has to sign the release. ALSO this is a biggy, you cannot have any trademarked images in your photo. For example, a Coca Cola can. Your photo will not be accepted.
There is a lot of sites available but if you do a search for stock photo sites these are your top 5

BIGSTOCK PHOTO pays $0.50 to $1.00 per image depending on the size. I’ve gotten $1.00 for my 3D graphics. You can request payment through PayPal when your account reaches $30.00. They are currently looking for cooking shots, people eating, food prep, you know along that line.
FOTOLIA is based on 50% or more depending on the licensing you pick. IF you go exclusive where you don’t submit that photo to another site you’ll get more. They don’t list what they need. But right now don’t submit photos of flowers they have to many of them. They are not accepting photos smaller than 5MG
SHUTTERSTOCK Pays $0.25 per download, but this is subscription based which encourages the downloader to download more images which is better for you. Their guidelines are a lot stricture than the other sites. As you have to up 10 photos the first time around and they all have to be accepted. If not you have to wait for another month before you can upload more photos. But they are worth it!
ISTOCK PHOTO pays by check or PayPal but you need $100 in your account before you can request payment. They pay 20% commission and 40% for exclusivity.