If you are deciding to get into the stock photography business your first task is to create an attractive portfolio; an important part of this is organizing your photos into easily accessible files on your computer, ideally limiting the file size to approximately 20 photos per file. Another important tip is to give each photo an easily recognizable name for quick access.
Obviously the quality of your photos is key and you want to try and get your photos right the first time as editing can sometimes reduce the quality of your photos and could result in them being rejected by the leading stock photography sites. To get the best quality make sure your camera settings are fixed at an optimum resolution. Lighting is also key and I recommend that for outdoor shots you should try to keep the sunlight directly behind you, for indoor photography I recommend using the flash and closing curtains in order to produce better quality shots.
For basic cropping and image resizing use Photoshop Elements 6 as other free online software will reduce the quality of photos for these basic editing procedures. The software is available at Adobe.com and I can also recommend some excellent training videos for Elements 6 provided by LearnElementsNow.com that will show you some excellent editing techniques that will actually improve overall photo quality.
With digital technology we can take as many photographs as we want without processing costs so i recommend you take advantage of this and take as many photos as you need in order to get that perfect shot. Also, take your camera with you wherever you go as you never know when the perfect shot will cross your viewfinder.
Marketing your photos is best achieved through the various existing stock photography sites; be warned, however, in order to have your photos accepted you must pass a test before you can submit your photos. Here is where quality counts, making a good impression so you will not have wasted your time and resources on a failed venture.
When you have been accepted I recommend you only put up your very best work so that potential buyers don't have to wade through sub par work to find the gems. Organize your work in such a way that purchasers can easily find what they are looking for and, hopefully they will return again and again to purchase your work. Finally, always submit your work in .jpg format as this is a universal format that is certain to be accepted by all sites.
If you are not accepted by a stock photography site don't give up, there are a variety of other photo opportunities that will allow you to literally turn your photos into cash.
