# Stock photography tips



## meraudrius (Aug 11, 2018)

Hi,

I have been in stock photography for about 4 years and wanted to share some tips on how to make income from this sort of side-business.

I am a contributor of 6 stock agencies:

Shutterstock:
Sell photos, footage clips, illustrations & vectors | Shutterstock

Fotolia:
Fotolia - Sell and buy royalty-free photos, images, vectors and videos

123RF:
Stock Photos, Vectors and Royalty Free Images from 123RF

Deposit photos:
Stock Photos, Royalty Free Images, Vectors, Footage | Depositphotos

Dreamstime:
Sign up for free

But actually I have found that Shutterstock works best for me and generates stable income. There are a few difficulties that you may face during registration process:

For when Shutterstock exams you first uploaded batch of photos:

don't worry if you don't pass on the first try, it happens very often. Carefully read the information they provide about examining the photos and try again. If you don't pass, you may need to wait for a while before trying again. Also, for your first photo batch, try to upload various photos with different subjects. Many people struggle with this because of a few reasons:

*Check there are no people in the photo if you don't have model release (document that the person in photo allows you to sell photos of them).

*Check there is no advertising or trademarks that might be subject to copyright (even manufacturer name on a kitchen knife is subject to copyright for example, so be carefull and photoshop it out)

*Check the exposure: your photo should be not overexposed or underexposed, even if you think that it gives mood to the photo. Such photo will probably not be accepted.

*Check that there is no vissible grain or noise. Inspect the photo at 100% size. That's how Shutterstock checks them.

For me, Shutterstock is no. 1 in stock photography. I like 123RF too because they don't delete rejected photos, so you have all the keywords archived. For me, 123RF earns low but stable income, and they also usually accept more photos than other stock agencies.

Hope this helped, good luck in stock photography!


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