10 Popular Stock Photography Sites to Submit Your Images

You’re a great photographer and finding how to make money with your photography? Stock Photography sites is the answer to it. For all those photographers out there, selling stock imagery is a great opportunity to turn their creativity into cash.

If you want to earn passive income ,then Stock photography is best option. After you finish clicking photographs, all you have to do is upload them to the stock imagery website and then set the metadata for your images. Your work here is mostly done! While your stock photos start selling and you start earning royalties off of every sale, You can move onto other things.

By selling stock photography you cannot get rich in an instance. It is a way to earn some extra income and it is fun. If you are creative and persistent photographer, why wait? Start earning your extra income now.

Let’s get started. Below is the list of ten popular stock imagery sites that you can submit your images to, and see how you can get started.

1. Shutterstock

Shutterstock.com

Shutterstock is listed by many photographers to be among the top three stock photography sites today. Free registration is offered by shutterstock. The commission rates start at 25percent. Photographers may face competition as Shutterstock is one of the main site for stock photography. If you want to get accepted by shutterstock the you have to submit minium 10 photographs. And of these 10 pictures, 7 of them must be approved.

      2. Fotolia

Fotolia.com

Fotolia is another top stock imagery site. Adobe acquired Fotolia in the year 2019. It is in the process of being merged into the Adobe Stock photography service. Fotolia has collection of high-quality images, graphics, and more from their large community. As you can imagine, with Fotolia becoming part of Adobe stock, it is quite the powerhouse in the world of stock photography.

3. Dreamstime

dreamstime.com

One of the best sites for stock imagery as considered by the photographers is Dreamstime. Dreamstime has very high quality standards, so you have to consider quality of the photos when submitting them. If you want to sell on dreamstime then firstly you will need to set up an account and submit sample photos. Your photos will be made available for sale as soon as they get approved. You will receive a 25-50% royalty off of each sale.

4. Getty Images

Gettyimages.com

One of the first companies to start licensing stock photography online was Getty images. As the competition is increasing day by day, getty images is one of the most popular stock imagery websites. Unlike many of the other agencies, Getty’s entry requirements are more stringent. They pay the photographers only 20% commission, but the amount of traffic that Getty receives means more potential sales, making it worth it for many photographers. Getty looks for images that convey emotions or concept, and images that are engaging, exclusive, and unexpected.

5. iStock

iStockPhoto.com

Getty images own iStock. iStock is one of the most well-known stock imagery sites. If you want to sell your photos on iStock, firstly you will need to create a new account and then submit any of our three best photos. 15-45% areoffered by them for commissions. This site gets more traffic than almost any other stock imagery site.

6. Stocksy

Stocksy.com

Stocksy is founded in 2013 by none other than Bruce Livingstone (the original founder of  iStock’s). Stocksy Business Model is appreciated by many photographers as it focus on fair pay and provides careers to its members.  Stocksy is considered by many photographers as one of the great place to start selling. Stocksy pays out 50% commission.

7. Crestock

Crestock.com

Crestock is a relatively simple site to use as compared with others. In order to get approved to sell photos you have to set up a free account and then upload photos for review. If they get approved, you will receive 20%-40% commission on each photo that sells. Signup is simple, and once you’re registered you can start uploading images immediately.

8. BigStock

BigStockPhoto.com

BigStock is another massive stock photography website founded in 2004. It is in fact a trademark of ShutterStock since 2009 when it was acquired. Hence they are one of the largest stock photo network . BigStock provides royalty-free images, as well as vectors and videos too. Their signup process is straightforward and you can sign up and upload photos.

9. 123RF

123rf.com

If you are planning to sell your images online then 123rf is a great site. Once you are approved, you start out at 30% per download, and can work up to 60% – depending on how active you are and how popular your photos are.

10. Alamy

Alamy.com

Yet another website to sell your stock photos is Alamy. For any images that sell on Alamy, the photographers get to keep 60% on them. the photographers does not require to give exclusive rights to Alamy hence they can list their photos on other stock imagery sites as well.

Tips for Shooting Stock Photography

Here are some tips for shooting successful stock imagery:

• Think Like a Marketing Director

You should always keep a track of what images marketing directors and image designers are after. These type of photos will sell well on stock photography sites.

• Know What Sells

You should always know on what kind of image may sell. Many stock photography sites are looking forward for a new idea.

• Let’s Be Clear

You should be always clear about the concept and your concept should be well executed.

• Find a Need and Fill It

Different photos sell on different websites and hence you should always check on what is most needed.

• Be an Expert

Becoming an expert in your field will always give you an advantage.

• Use Natural Lighting

Always make sure that images are shot in the best natural light.

• Think Thumbnails

People at first sees the thumbnail of the image, hence it should be very attractive. So you should be careful that your image should look good small as well.

10 Popular Stock Photography Sites to Submit Your Images