This article is for anyone who loves photography as a hobby. Maybe you have photography skills that you haven't used for a while, but you're interested in starting a side hustle. For many of the side hustle ideas we’ll cover, you don’t need a degree or a formal education to get started.

However being a photographer requires specific skills and knowledge related to settings, the use of light and equipment that enables you to create photos that are pleasing to the eye and functional in helping your clients capture special events, and reach their sales and marketing goals.

Even though everyone has a camera on their phone these days, there’s still a need for professionals for marketing campaigns, product photos, and events like weddings. You can also sell your images on sites like Foap.

If you love photography and you want to refresh or improve your skills, there is an affordable online photography course that shows you everything from the basics to advanced techniques. They have a general course, and specialties like wildlife, wedding, portrait, and light tricks courses.  

Taking a photography course online gives you the opportunity to learn at your own pace and rewind and review as much as you would like.

If any of these courses sound interesting, take a moment to check out iPhotography and sign up for their extensive selection of training courses.

They also have a course called Professional Images at Home that will show you essential camera functions, food photography, product photos, creative home projects, abstract photography and commercial projects.

Affiliate Disclaimer: This page may contain affiliate links. If you use these links, I will receive a small commission. However, using these links will have no effect on you or your purchase in any way. For more information refer to our disclaimer page. 

Industry Information

If you're a budding photographer, there's no reason you can't make money from this hobby. Start honing your skills, take some high-quality pictures, and there are multiple avenues of revenues for you.

The global photographic services market is expected to grow from $32.92 billion in 2020 to $36.42 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.6%. 

Major companies in the photographic services market include Lifetouch Inc; Getty Images Inc; and Cherry Hill Photo Enterprises.

Photographers are expected to benefit from this trend as individuals and organizations are increasingly demanding professionally clicked photographs for media communication, public relations and other professional services.

Increased internet penetration in many developed and developing countries, especially among urban and younger population, is further driving the demand of professional photographic services. 

The growth is mainly due to the companies rearranging their operations and recovering from the COVID-19 impact, which had earlier led to restrictive containment measures involving social distancing, remote working, and the closure of commercial activities that resulted in operational challenges. The market is expected to reach $44.07 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 5%.

How to Earn from Your Photography Skills

Become a contributor to sites like iStock, BigStock, and ShutterStock, or upload your photos to your own personal Flickr account and license them through Getty Images.

iStock: If you are just starting out or a looking to learn more about photography, iStock provides resources to contributors about popular trends that will sell. They offer 15%- 45 royalty for every image that gets licensed by a customer.

Adobe Stock and Fotolia: These two are partner organizations and high volume places for selling pictures. You can upload a large volume of phot0s, all of which may be sold for some extra money. The quality tends to be a little lower (so for beginner photographer), and commission rates are up to 33%. If you list your photos on one site they will automatically be listed on the other as well.

Pond5: This website allows you to upload audio clips, photos, video footage, and others for extra money. You can upload funny videos, audio clips of silly voices, pranks, Facebook or Instagram videos and get paid for it. Who knows, some may go viral in which you can really cash out! Pond5 also allows you to set your own price range and they offer a commission of 50%.

You can also earn free referral commissions from some websites. This will put even more money in your pocket if you refer friends and families to one of these websites.

As you will get cash each time someone else lists their photos for sale, and the websites include PhotoDune as well as Dreamstime. This service allows you to make even more money in less time.

Alamy: This is another great website to sell pictures. Photographers keep 60% of all sales, and exclusive rights are not required. This allows you to make even more money as you can list your images on other stock sites to maximize earnings.

Shutterstock: If you have travel photos, pictures of your favorite meal in your phone and social media, you can upload them into the marketplace. Depending on the commercial value, keywords, and the quality of your images, you can generate a decent amount of earnings. You can expect to earn up to 40% of sale per image.

Shutterstock contributors have earned hundreds of millions of dollars from downloads, and it is one of the best highly visited website to sell stock photos.

Professional and/or very high quality photos can be licensed to Getty Images. An exclusive or non-exclusive license is usually used by Getty, and means that every time your image is sold/used by a publisher, you will be compensated for it.

Another option is Stocksy, and they only sell exclusive licenses but pay up to 75% commission. Note most of these sites cater more towards experienced photographers with higher quality cameras or smartphones.

Some photographers make money by selling stock photos to these sites that allow you to sell your pictures and get the majority of the profits.

Photographers and service providers are increasingly exploring opportunities in niche markets to increase market value and customer base. Expertise and specialization in fields of sports, events, landscapes, wildlife and street photography, are significantly gaining popularity.

Companies and individuals are focusing on aerial photography, babies, pets, fashion, travel, and photo journalism. 

If you devote some time to this hobby, by say taking pictures of things people need, you could make big money working from home.

Many people look for images of household objects, foods, and office setups, so you don't even have to leave the house.

If you want to take your photography to the next level, if you haven't started one, build an online portfolio, which can certainly be done from home. 

Consider taking pictures of friends and family and showing them off. If people enjoy your work, you could offer paid sessions for people who need portraits, graduation pictures or even a wedding photographer.

Qualifications

Or if you are a novice, set your price a little lower  until you improve. Anyone can set their own prices for the photographs and decide how much money they think a picture is worth.

Ease of Entry

Almost every person has a smartphone these days, and there are ways you can make extra money from the pictures you take on your phone or even digital camera. You can sell photos to websites, bloggers, TV stations, or many other places. It is possible to make as little as a few dollars up to $100 or more per photo, and the cash can help pay bills, be used for savings, or really anything.

You do not need to be a professional photographer, or even have the latest and greatest iPhone, Samsung, or other cell phone in order to get started.

Here are a few tips you can use to make extra money selling photos you take on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Consider that some people love to write, and create blogs for extra cash for their bills or living expenses.

However if you are not into blogging as a side gig for making money, selling stock photos is an alternative method to earn cash from something that you may already be doing everyday.

Instead of hiring photographers, agencies and publishers are always looking for pictures that will help to promote their products.

• Use your smartphone or DLSR camera to take pictures of everyday life, such as concerts, food, sunrises, parties, flowers, landscape, nature, emotions from your friends, a business meeting, your work desk, outfit,etc.
• Take pictures of any interesting object or place that would be great for a newspaper, article or magazine story.
• Find slightly unique or different items for the best opportunity to make some extra cash from photos.

Equipment and Gear

Of course you need a camera. However do you need a smartphone, or a high end DSLR Camera? I would venture to say (because I’m not a photographer) that it depends on what kind of work you’re doing. 

If you’re looking for photography tips, check out the articles on the Adobe website. You will need the equipment needed to maintain your camera.

The courses offered by iPhotography can be an affordable way to learn or improve your skills. 

Work From Home Niches and Ideas

The first thing you want to do when you start a photography business is to pick your niche. The more specific you are in your research the better. Here are the niches we found for photography. . 

Here are a few niches and industries you could provide services to:

• Real estate photography
• Recruiting material for universities
• Sports photography
• Food and restaurant photography
• Photojournalism
• Drone photography
  
• Event photography
  
• Still Life photography
• Vineyard and wine photography
• Wildlife photography
• Photo editing service
• Kid's products and toys
• Portrait photography
• Landscape photography
• Street photography
• Headshot photography
  

Those are some of the leading companies as well as websites that will pay for photos, or you can license them. As long as you have a smartphone, DSLR, or digital camera, you can sell photographs for extra cash. You can be an expert or novice photographer; anyone can do this. Then use that money for anything you want, whether it is paying the bills or doing something fun with the extra cash.

As a stock photographer, you can monetize your hobby or photography skills. Even if you are a novice, you can still make money selling your pictures, regardless of whether you used a camera or smart-phone.

While the amount of money you can earn will vary, it is possible to earn a few dollars and as much as up to $100 or more per image. This money can go a long way towards building a financial future and paying the bills, whether you take photos on a part or full time basis.

Start a Blog

A blog will give your photography business a platform that can be used to display your work, sell photography products and gear, promote affiliate programs and educate visitors about your products and services. 

If you love writing, another way to earn passive income is to start your own photography blog. Make tutorials, share tips and tricks, or write reviews on all kinds of photography gear and software.

Start a YouTube Channel

A YouTube channel can give your business lot of great exposure that's second to none. It's the next best thing to being there in the room with potential customers. 

You can use your channel to sell photography products and gear, promote affiliate programs and educate visitors about your products and services. 

You can earn passive income by making tutorials, sharing tips and tricks, or writing reviews on the photography gear and software you've used to get results.

Sell on Your Blog

You can also sell your photos on your blog or website.  If you start a YouTube channel, you can promote your business using video marketing as a great way to gain followers and potential customers. 

To get started, here are a few steps you can take:

1. Read and familiarize yourself with submission guidelines for any stock photography site you're interested in working with.
2. Sign up as a contributor. Provide some basic information about yourself, and prove your identity.
3. Upload your photos. Be sure to include SEO data, like metadata, photo descriptions, and relevant keywords.
4. Your photos will be reviewed for submission.

Other Ways to Sell on Your Blog

Another way to earn is by basically selling prints of your work, here are a few ways to do that:

• Sell your photos on your blog with an eCommerce shop
• Upload them to sites like ImageKind.
• Use print on demand companies like Printful, Printify and others to sell framed prints of your photographs through Etsy.
• Sell at art and craft fairs.
• Get your photos displayed at coffee shops, restaurants, and other outlets.
• Offer printed copies to your clients.
• Sell your photos at local art or photography galleries.

Before you start selling prints, find a good printing service first (check out Printique) to ensure the quality of the end product. Also, as a general rule, people don’t normally buy photos with people in them, so try to avoid selling these kinds of photos. After all, the prints they buy will likely be displayed in their homes or offices.

Create Courses

As a photographer, you have a wealth of knowledge about taking pictures, equipment, the business side of photography. Teach others how to create visual effects with your photos using Adobe tools like Photoshop, Illustrator and Lightroom. If you’ve worked in specific industries you can share that knowledge with aspiring photographers. 

Become an Affiliate

Another way to earn online is to become an affiliate for a company that pays you when you send them customers. This means that you can join affiliate programs that are made specifically for photographers. 

You can also join affiliate programs from trusted brands that your ideal customers use on a regular basis. Companies like Amazon, Walmart, Target, Kohls, Macy’s, Nordstrom etc.  

The reason these are good choices to join as an affiliate is not that they pay a lot of money, but that they have name recognition for your readers. Your ideal customers trust them. So when they arrive on your website and they see these names they don’t hesitate to click on them. 

Additionally, these companies are always running sales that you can promote along with products related to your niche. You’ll earn for each sale that results from those referrals. Learn about getting started in affiliate marketing. 

To join the affiliate programs for most companies, you’ll have to apply and tell your sponsoring company how you will promote their products. If you have a blog, you can let them know that you’ll use your blog to send traffic their way. If you have a YouTube channel you can also site that platform as well.

That’s another great reason to have a blog or website because a blog can be used to promote your affiliate products and services. If you have a blog or website it will help you get approved for several affiliate programs. Check out the affiliate programs in Hubspot’s article to get started. 

How to Get Started

So we’ve looked at a few different places you can outright sell your pictures to for some extra money, or you can license the rights to your photos.

They are all free to use and market on as well, and they will pay out the cash in a matter of days. You can be a beginner, part-time or experienced photographer. Or someone who was just in the right place at the right time and captured a great photo. That money can then be used for paying rent, buying presents, taking vacations, or really anything!

Resources

Here are a few articles that you can use for ideas and inspiration.