Shooting Stock Photos That Sell!

Here are some of my better selling shots on Shutterstock:

Licensing your photography is a great way to supplement your Steemit photo earnings with passive income. Typically you will only get around 25 cent per license sold, but there is a cumulative effect as your portfolio grows. To be more efficient and save time, you should do some research on what to shoot. Hopefully you can learn from my experience with Shutterstock, and get straight into shooting stock photos that sell! As part of Shutterstocks T&Cs, I'm not at liberty to give any earnings specifics, but I can discuss images which sell and give my thoughts on the subject. Below are three examples of my better selling photos on Shutterstock.

stock-photo-funny-ginger-cat-drinking-water-from-kitchen-tap-363250559.jpg

stock-photo-a-snail-on-a-skateboard-moving-fast-with-sky-in-background-332699837.jpg

stock-photo-blonde-girl-walks-towards-sunset-holding-bunch-of-wild-flowers-364286117.jpg

I have hundreds of shots in my portfolio and many of them have either never sold, or haven't sold very well. So what have my better selling shots got in common? All of my photos are sharp and free of clutter, but my more popular work has one thing in common: a concept or message. This element consistently and dramatically increases the chances of selling photos on Shutterstock. So much so that I don't bother making stock photos now unless there is a message, a mood, a concept or a narrative. You can shoot all the inanimate objects you want, but their sales will be dismal next to something emotive or conceptual, especially those containing people..

Finally, there are some exceptions to the criteria above, of course. There is still some demand for landmarks if you can shoot landscapes to a very high standard. There is also demand for clean, clinical, archival quality shots of plants and animals, assuming you have the time to make those shots, and upload with correct scientific data, including latin names, etc.

More generally though, if you want to shoot stock photography that sells, always start with a concept or narrative. Good luck on your Shutterstock journey!