Get Paid for Your Photography Skills
To have professional style photos, you used to have to call a photographer. They were the only ones who had the lenses, the software, and the knowledge to capture the perfect images.
Nowadays, all you need is a decent smartphone, and you can take some stunning photos. They may not win you any awards, but if you know your way around photoshop – or even standard photo editing apps on your phone – you can get professional looking photos with a click of a button.
But did you know you could get paid for them?
Royalty Free Image Sites
Websites such as Pixabay, Pexels, and Unsplash, all offer royalty free images, for free to the user. These can be used for anything, including – but in no way limited to – blogs, articles, advertising, and social media posts.
These sites literally have millions of pictures on them. Pictures of anything and everything. But the pictures have to come from somewhere!
Setting up an account is effortless, and uploading pictures can be done quickly and easily. You can edit your photos prior to uploading, and once uploaded, your hard work is done.
The pictures are free for anyone to use, but it is suggested for users of the images to either credit the author for additional exposure, or offer a donation.
Donations, although not required, are a nice little bonus. Even if you only got donations for every 10th download, it is still free money for very little effort. Admittedly, it is highly doubtful you would earn enough to make a living; however it’s a nice little sider earner.
Crediting the author is always another good alternative. Its free exposure, and free advertising for you. It could lead to requests for future images – paid or unpaid – and lead to future opportunities. Plus, it is always nice to gain recognition for your work, and be appreciated for your efforts.
Can It Work For Me?
Despite the fact there are many sites with millions of pictures, don’t let that put you off! Remember, chances are each picture has probably been used 100’s of times, if not more. People like originality, meaning there is always room for something new.
Once you have decided which sites to sign up to (and I would suggest signing up to as many as possible!), simply take some pictures and get uploading. You could take random pictures, or go one step further and either research popular pictures, or look at which key words have the least pictures within each site. That way, you are giving people more options, and a greater chance of your photos being used. Think of specific breeds of animals, certain or unusual cars, sofas, interior designs, gardens, restaurants and shops, trees, landscapes, town centres, exercises… Your list is endless.
Whether you want pictures for personal or professional use, these should be your go-to free sites. There are other sites with more images, but most of them charge a subscription fee.
I often use these three sites, and what I can’t find one, you can guarantee I will find on another.
