It is the dream of any aspiring photographer, and even those of us who are just snap-happy on holidays, to discover one of their favorites shots printed in a magazine or newspaper.
This used to be the realm of professional photographers only. And, they were paid a nice sum for landing choice photographs with publishers around the world.
The web, however, is the great equalizer. There are at least three sites operating right now where amateur photographers can submit their best shots and hope that someone comes along and buys it.
Most of the sites employ human eyeballs to choose the very best to put up for sale, but they aren’t exactly looking for the next Annie Liebowitz. While there are certainly top-quality photographs on all the sites, buyers come here looking for deeply discounted images to use and understand that quality will not be as high as Getty Images or Corbis–the two main players in the professional field.
So, the good news is that it can be rather easy to have your photos selected for consideration. The bad news is that it’s not time to quit the day job. Photographers tend to receive 50% of the sale, but images tend to sell for only $1-$3 dollars depending on the site.
You’re not going to get rich, but it sure is cool to have your photos published and shared with the world. Hey! Anyone want to buy a photo of me snorkeling? I give you good deal!