Are you a photographer by profession? Do you love taking good pictures with your smartphone? I want to introduce to you how you can sell your photos online in Nigeria, and make good money while at it!
With the emergence of smartphones sporting powerful camera capabilities, everyone is empowered to take good photos. You can make a reasonable amount of dollars perpetually by selling your photos online, whether you are a student, self-employed, or just a photo enthusiast.
Let’s dive into this topic.
Why Photos Sell, and will Always Sell
There’s a huge market for good photography. Industries like the publishing industry rely heavily on good photography in order to stay in business.
Then of course we have industries like mass media including television, newspapers, internet blogs, etc. Then there are also advertising agencies, modeling agencies, and then the big stock image companies online.
What about the online media? When you search on Google, you will see tons of images. How do you think those images got there in the first place? The truth is that people like you and I uploaded them in the first place. If they had not been uploaded, you wouldn’t be able to download and use them, right? Of course.
Good photos will always be in high demand because human beings are visual. So, we have a hungry market here, eager to buy your images.
Read on.
Smartphone, or Regular Camera? What you Need
When it comes to taking good pictures, you need to have the following:
- A good camera (preferably a professional camera)
- A smartphone with excellent camera capabilities
The smartphone has disrupted the photography industry, to the extent that most photo studios have simply closed shop. Fewer and fewer people are taking pictures in a studio today. This tells you that you don’t need to be a professional photographer before you can take good pictures, and even make money by selling your pictures online.
However, if you have a background in photography, or you love photography and have a good camera, you have the advantage here.
How to Capture the Best Photos that Sell
Not all photos sell. The type of photos that sell are rare photos that cannot be gotten easily online. Now let’s experiment. Run a random search on Google by typing this in the search bar:
Young black boy in boxers holding a chain
The following pictures are returned in the search:
From these search results, you can see that there is no image here fitting the exact description of the search. This is just one instance. In the course of my experience with searching for suitable images online, I have come to discover that there is a lack of original and relevant African images online.
The best you can get is African-American photos. Getting original African photos is a challenge. Do you know why this is so? Because Africans were late comers to the internet boom. When the west was uploading in the early days of the internet, Africans were nowhere to be found.
Today, we are left with the choice of only downloading their content. But guess what, that’s where you come in! You can change the narrative by uploading original African photos. That’s what this article is about – to guide you.
The Best Photo Orientation
Some of the best photos are photos you didn’t plan to take. We call them “candid shots”. This is why you need to be at alert to opportunities you can take advantage to produce great shots. Most young people have good phones with powerful cameras, but they are only interested in taking selfies and posting on Instagram!
Instagram won’t pay you for uploading your selfies. You only get paid with the likes and comments of “aaaaawwn”, or “looking good” which you’ll get. You need to be intentional about this. So, how do you take the best shots?
There are 2 modes when it comes to taking shots:
- Portrait mode
- Landscape mode
Portrait mode
This is like the selfie shot on your phone. It is usually taller than it is wide. You use this mode when shooting with your phone standing upright, or with your camera rotated to 90o.
Use this mode if your shots are designed for situations where portrait shots are required, like models.
Landscape mode
This is the acceptable mode of taking photos, or videos. This mode is widely accepted; many applications can easily accommodate it. The good thing is, you can still crop your shot into a portrait shot, without losing quality. Use this mode when the shots required are strictly landscape shots.
Staged, or Candid Shots?
As I mentioned earlier, a candid shot is an unplanned shot. You just take it on the spur of the moment, without prior planning or staging. These type of photos may be priceless, given the right conditions.
The other type of photo shoot is a staged or planned shoot. This is where you arrange a set, complete with a model and lighting, before you compose your shot.
You need some experience in photography and lighting before you can get the best shots. This aspect is particularly great if you plan to sell your images on stock image websites.
In any case, make sure you take memorable and good photos. Some photos may need to be edited, but some may not even need editing. Next is to locate where to sell your images online.
How to Sell Your Photos Online
There are a couple of ways to sell your images, but 2 stand out.
On stock image websites
This is where you sign up to upload and sell your precious images on stock image websites. These websites allow you to list your images by creating an account.
The platform manages every aspect of the business, from driving traffic to the photos, collecting payments, managing customer inquiries, maintaining the website, and every other aspect of running such a business.
Once someone downloads your image, you get paid. They will send your payment once your money reaches a certain amount.
On your own personal website
In this aspect, you create, host, and manage every aspect of your business. You are entirely responsible for how the business runs.
This option is great for experienced photographers who have unique photos which are rarely found elsewhere. It’s like an art gallery. However, I wouldn’t advise a beginner to go this way because it’s way more advanced. Leave it to the pros.
Best Stock Photo Websites for Nigerians
There are lots of website where you can sign up to sell your photos online in Nigeria. Some of the best are
- Shutterstock
- iStock Photos
- 123RF
- Deposit Photos
- Alamy
- Getty Images
- Adobe Stock
- Dreamstime
- Bigstock
- Stocksnap
- Stockvault
- Freepik
- Vecteezy
- Pexels
- ISORepublic
All these websites have a form of subscription model for their visitors who wish to buy the images listed on the websites. They also have a way of paying the creators for their work, either by single payment for each image, or when a customer buys a subscription, the creator gets paid a percentage when one of their images are downloaded.
What about AI, is it a threat to this Business?
It may seem counter-intuitive to try to start a photo-selling business right now, especially with the rise of AI image generation. However, it’s not always the case. AI is great, and you can actually sell AI-generated images online, but what happens when some clients don’t want AI-generated images?
AI-generated images are just what it is: artificial and lacking in originality. There are many industries today that will not accept AI-generated images. Those industries are your market. Focus on them and sell to them.
Concluding Thoughts on Selling Your Images Online in Nigeria
Now that you understand the nitty-gritty of how to sell your images online and make money, share your thoughts in the comment section below. The thing is, good photos will never go out of fashion. You have the opportunity to earn money from your work for a lifetime.
By the way, this is one of the numerous guides we have on making money online. Check out the other guides for more.
Share this article using the button to the left of the screen. Take the step today using the information I shared here to create a stream of income for yourself. Your future self will thank you.
