How To Make Money With Photography

There are many ways to make money online with photography, but a popular and fairly new way is through Microstock Photography websites.

Microstock photography is simply stock photography that's sold at deep discounts. Clients are able to license stock photos for just $1 or $2, and photographers earn money each time a client chooses one of their photos.

Microstock photography is considered to be still in it's infancy, and some people feel it's wrong to sell photography at such low prices. Particularly since many professional photographers invest a lot of time and money on equipment, learning, and photo shoots.

For the beginning photographer though, Microstock photography agencies can be ideal places to start. Since entry requirements are not overly restrictive, many hobby photographers with inexpensive cameras have already started making a nice second income from their pictures.
How Does It Work?

The process of making money from your photography through Microstock agencies is fairly simple.

1. Research popular Microstock photography agencies online. There are quite a few of them, but you'll want to start with just one or two until you get the hang of things.
2. Choose your absolute best pictures to submit. Some agencies require you to submit 10 pictures for review when you apply for an account with them, while others only require three the first time. Most don't have minimum requirements though, and you can start by submitting just one.
3. Your pictures will be reviewed by humans, and accepted or rejected into the Microstock photography site. If they're accepted, they'll be available for clients to "buy".

Technically they're not fully buying your pictures though. They're simply licensing the pictures for specific use. Usually Microstock photography is used in websites, though sometimes it's used in advertisements, brochures and other marketing materials. The photographer always retains full copyrights to their photos though, and is normally able to sell the same photos over and over again to additional clients.

And this is the beauty of stock photography. Once you've taken a great picture and had it accepted into a stock photography portfolio, that one picture can continue earning you money month after month... sometimes year after year.

Most Microstock photography agencies pay $0.20 - $0.50 per picture license, or download. This may not seem like much, however a good photographer with several hundred pictures for sale could make a nice second income over time, because it all adds up!

There's a lot more to the stock photography business, which we don't have room to cover in just one article. You'll find expanded details about making money with stock photography in this article though: "Can Photographers Make Money With Stock Photography?" found at http://www.stocktography.com/Making-Money.php.

Retouching And Improving Your Photographs - Photoshop Makes It Possible

Digital imaging and more specifically Adobe Photoshop as well as other image editing software
have revolutionized photography. The advances in digital image manipulation now allow for unlimited possibilities in the area of improving photographs through retouching and restoration.

What types of improvements are possible by retouching photographs with Photoshop?

Blemishes

Embarrassing skin blemishes like acne or scars can easily be removed using the retouching tools available in Adobe Photoshop. You can learn these Photoshop techniques in minutes.

Damage to Prints

The benefits of digital imaging for restoring old damaged or worn out photographs are one of the best reasons to learn Photoshop. Once an old photograph is scanned it can be retouched to remove tears in the paper or water marks. You can also restore colors that have faded over time. Once you have retouched your image and it is like new again it will last forward because digital images do not deteriorate over time like prints.

Closed Eyes

This is one of the most common problems with group photographs. You finally got the entire family together for a family photograph including Aunt Martha only to find that she closed her eyes. Closed eyes are not a problem for a skilled user of Photoshop. You can easily open her eyes and no one will ever know.

Removing unwanted Subjects

Not only can you remove blemishes in Adobe Photoshop but another common use of Photoshop’s retouching capabilities involves removing unwanted people or objects. Old boyfriends can be forever removed from photographs quickly and easily if you know what you are doing.

Retouching photographs has never been easier than it is today. Photoshop and other photographic editing software applications have made it a breeze to open closes eyes, remove blemishes and scars, change colors, restore old damaged photographs and remove unwanted objects.