25 Ways to Earn Money With Your Camera

Are you gifted with a camera? Images are always in demand!

This page has a ton of ways you can earn money using your camera — even if all you have is a smartphone. And no, you don't necessarily have to be an expert to begin earning.

Even novice photographers can use some of these sites/companies to begin earning an income.

Stock Images

• 123 Royalty Free – Upload your photographs. If they are purchased by customers of 123 Royalty Free, you will receive 60 percent of the sale price or subscription download price.
• Adobe Stock – Formerly Fotilia. For every file sold, you will receive a royalty payout based on your portfolio exclusivity and ranking.
• Big Stock Photo – For Pay As You Go purchases we pay you 30% of the US dollar price every time a customer downloads one of your images (up to $29.70 for an extended license). For purchases made using credits we pay $0.50 USD for each credit spent.
• Can Stock Photo – Every time one of your images is downloaded you will earn a commission. Also, if you refer another photographer to us, you will earn $5 USD for every 50 photos they sell.
• CreStock – Earn royalties on your uploaded images. Your royalty rate is calculated on a progressive scale, based on your total number of images sold since joining Crestock.
• Deposit Photo – Pay is dependent on author level.
• Dreamstime – Sell your stock images and get 25 to 60 percent of each sale you make. Anyone can sign up, but only quality photos are accepted.
• Getty Images – They pay contributors a base royalty rate for each file downloaded, but the exact amount isn't specified. If you are an Exclusive contributor you can earn more, but you can't submit work to any other photo sites, which might be a problem for some.
• Shutterstock – Make your creativity shine at Shutterstock and watch your earnings grow. Get your work seen by the high-volume buyers who prefer Shutterstock. It's free to contribute and you'll earn $0.25 to $28.00 per image download.

Smartphone Photography

• 500PX – This service distinguishes itself by offering 60% royalties, and since their algorithm gives a slight visibility advantage to newly posted work, you’ll have an increased chance for discoverability as a newbie.
• EyeEm – This app uses an AI algorithm to tag your photos, which apparently makes it easier to put new work on the marketplace. They also have a partnership with Getty images, in addition to their own stock marketplace, which means there are multiple ways for your work to get found.
• Foap – Sell your iPhone images and split the profits with Foap. Pays with Paypal once per month, but you must request a cash out to get paid.
• Scoopshot – Pick up photography assignments via this app and get paid.
• Snapwire – Read Review – The anti-stock photo site may pay you for your authentic smartphone pics.

Sell Them Online

• Fine Art America – Set your own prices to sell your original art and photography to Fine Art America.
• Etsy – Etsy is a huge marketplace for handmade items and crafts, but you can sell your photos and art there, too.
• Ebay – Many people do sell photos on Ebay. Street Directory has some good information on how that works.

Other Freelance Photography

• Airbnb – Hires freelance photographers worldwide. If hired, you'll cover your local region.
• Obeo – Read Obeo Review – Obeo is always looking for experienced or amateur photographers to photograph homes for sale.

Start a Side Business

If you are good enough, you can get paid to take professional-looking for others for a variety of different occasions and events, including:

• Weddings
• Family photos
• Senior photos
• Graduation photos
• Boudoir photos

“Start a Successful Photography Business in 34 Days” is an e-book available on Amazon (Kindle or paperback) that can help you get going.

Enter Photography Competitions

There are a number of photography competitions going on all the time! While this is not a guarantee of pay, if you are good enough, you could still end up with some money.

Amateur Photography has an extensive list here of different ongoing photography competitions.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do!