I have been selling photos taken with my digital camera for several years. I use Fotolio.com and have made a few bucks. I do not in any way feel like I am a professional, but my little Kodak digital camera can take some amazing pictures sometimes, and besides sharing them on my personal blog, I like to see them go to good use. Pictures I’ve sold include shots of trees, mountains, kids playing a park, and lakes. Nothing remarkable, but someone liked them enough to buy them. Selling photos you’ve taken on stock photo sites is a good way to make a bit of extra income, although for me “lucrative” is not a word I’d use to describe it.
But there are some that are making quite a living at it, including college students, stay-at-home moms, and retired people. One college student featured in a USAToday article is making a six-figure income from selling photos on iStockphoto.com. I’d say that’s a bit more than “supplemental income.”
Word comes today that flckr.com, the home of amateur and professional photographers alike, is teaming up with Getty Images, the world’s leading stock photography repository. Initially, the offering to flickr users to upload photos to Getty will be by invitation only, but eventually, there should be a more open arrangement.
Maybe it’s time to dig through your folders full of digital photos and see if you have anything worthy of selling through a stock-photo website? It’s certainly a low-overhead way to pick up a few extra bucks.