How To Make Money From Photography Online

Published 26/11/2025 By James

Freelance

Make Money Online

Making money from photography is easier than it’s ever been. You don’t have to be a professional photographer with thousands of pounds of equipment to sell photos these days – anyone can do it.

With just a smartphone, you could turn a glorious sunrise into a great profit. In this article, the OddsMonkey team takes a look at ways to make money from photography online, from selling stock photos to starting a photography podcast.

Getting Started – Equipment

‘The best camera is the one that’s with you,’ says award-winning photographer, Chase Jarvis. His point is that getting the best gear isn’t the most important aspect of photography. ‘Photographs are not about megapixels or dynamic range,’ he continues, ‘but stories and moments.’

This is true enough, and perhaps what matters most is learning how best to capture those stories and moments in a photo. That said, your equipment plays a significant role in the quality of your output, so it shouldn’t be discounted entirely.

Camera

Your base camera is the most important tool for a photographer. There are two main categories of camera: film and digital.

Film is considered more old-school but is making a comeback. And with scanning, film pictures can be digitalised. However, it does require far more work, as your photos will have to be developed, whether by you or by a third party service, before you can sell them.

Digital cameras, meanwhile, have a lot more features and are more instant. You can pretty much upload an image onto the internet as soon as you’ve made it – which will make your life drastically easier if you plan to sell your pictures online.

A DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera often offers a better, or higher, quality of photo than film. The shutter speed is faster, the focus is sharper, and there’s a huge range of settings available – all within the camera. There are hundreds of makes and models in production, with different sensors, ISO capabilities, and formats.

Or…you could just use your phone. Smartphones now feature cameras with megapixels, lenses, and image sensors powerful enough to rival regular digital cameras, plus built in editing tools.

Lens

If you acquire a dedicated camera for your new side hustle, you’ll also need to consider lenses. There are lots of different types of lenses to choose from but they come in two main categories: prime and zoom.

A prime lens has a fixed focal length whilst a zoom lens lets you zoom in and out (moving things closer or further away). The three most popular standard primes lenses are the 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm lenses.

Zoom lenses come in a range of focal lengths such as 18-55mm, 16-80mm, and 24-105mm, and usage depends on the type of photography.

A lot of cameras come with a kit, or ‘starter’, lens. This type of lens is usually quite cheap (as lenses go) and can be good for beginners.

However, you might decide to try something else, especially if you’re wanting to specialise in a specific style of photography. For example, telephoto lenses (100-600mm) are often used in wildlife photography and macro lenses (50-200mm) are a favourite of many wedding photographers.

Other types of lenses:

A ‘Nifty Fifty’ (50mm) is a lens you’ll find in most photographers’ kit bags. It is considered a ‘normal’ lens and focal length because it mimics what the eye sees. Often used in street photography and portraiture shots.
Wide-angle lenses (24-35mm) are often used for landscapes or by estate agents for interior shots.
Fisheye lenses (8-24mm) are ultra-wide angle lenses which create distortion. They’re mostly used for abstract and panoramic shots.
Super-telephoto lenses (400-2000mm) are specialist telephoto lenses usually reserved for use by professionals shooting events or astronomy.
Tilt-shift lenses (17-35mm) are prime lenses great for architecture and fine art as they allow you to modify the focal plane, to correct distortions

Any photographer’s advice would be to practise with what you have available. Yes, some shots are only achievable with a certain type of lens, but amazing shots can be taken with anything.

SD card

SD, or memory, cards are used for storage on digital cameras. Depending on the camera you use, the size of your photo files can be very significant, so make sure your memory card has enough capacity for your needs.

Editing tools/apps

Once you’ve taken a photo, it’s time to make it look its absolute best. Editing is something that you can spend as much or as little time on as you want. And thanks to photo editing apps like Adobe Lightroom, Snapseed, and VSCO, it can be done on-the-go.

Editing photos is a completely different skill to taking them, but if you’re not already a skilled editor there are some handy shortcuts out there.

Presets are a great way to change the look of a photo without having to fiddle around with too many settings. They can also give your images a consistent style which is good if you’re looking to develop a brand. You can either make your own presets or buy them from other photographers.

Accessories

Less essential than a camera for actually taking a photo, but still part of the kit, are camera accessories. For example, if you do a lot of landscape or wildlife photography, a tripod will come in handy.

Likewise, some photographers use filters, which can reduce reflections, glare, and the amount of light that enters the lens. And while bags, straps, and card readers won’t have much impact on your photography skills, they’re still important for allowing you to get the most out of your camera.

10 Ways To Make Money From Photography Online

Once you’ve got all the equipment you need, how do you start making money?

There are more ways than you might think to monetise your photography. We’ve covered some of the most common here – plus a couple of offline alternatives if you’re more interested in working in the real world.

Sell Stock Photos Online

What is stock photography?

Stock photography is a library of images which can be bought, sold, and licensed out. Stock images are used on websites, blogs, and ads. Depending on the stock library, the photographer earns money with each download.

There are various types of stock library, including macrostock, midstock, and microstock which offer different levels of rights. For this article, we’ll look at some of the smaller (microstock) sites.

These stock sites may pay just pennies for each download of a photo, but they can be a great source of passive income.

Best stock photo sites

Shutterstock

Shutterstock is one of the most well-known and best stock photo sites. As a contributor, you will make money every time someone downloads one of your photos from the stock library.

With Shutterstock’s dedicated contributor app, you can upload and submit images straight from your phone, which is great when you’re shooting and editing on-the-go.

You can also track your earnings and see which images are performing well. The Shutterstock Academy has loads of great tips for taking awesome stock photos.

iStock

iStock is owned by Getty Images, and is more exclusive than Shutterstock. You have to upload 3 to 6 sample images to the Contributor by Getty Images app. These will be reviewed and, if accepted, you’ll be invited to join either iStock or Getty Images as a contributor.

The amount you can earn depends on the image’s sales price and exclusivity to the site.

Foap

Foap is primarily an app, which makes it perfect for selling photos online. Photographers, or Creators, submit images in response to a brands’ briefs.

On Foap a brief is called a Mission. Pick a Mission and upload a picture that reflects what the brand is after. If your work is picked, the profits are split 50/50 between you and the platform. It’s a great way to make money selling your photos online.

Alamy

Stock library Alamy pays up to 50% for any photographs you sell through their site, though images that aren’t exclusive to Alamy will be worth less.

If you’re a student, however, and your university is registered to Alamy’s ‘100% students’ scheme, you will receive 100% of the sales price of your photos.

There are two ways for beginner photographers to sell photos online with Alamy: work directly with clients or sell your images as stock and earn a commission on each sale. Payments are made monthly once you’ve reached the minimum payout amount of $50.

Other stock photo sites

Other stock imagery sites include fotoLibra, EyeEm, and Dreamstime.

Some sites offer more money for exclusive images. However, it’s worth signing up to a number of platforms so that you have more chances to get your photos used. Always check the terms and conditions of a site before you join.

Selling photo prints

If you don’t want to sell your photos to a stock library, there are still plenty of ways for you to make money.

For example, you could sell digital or printed copies of your images, either listing them via your own website or social platforms, or on a gallery site.

Look for integration options to make sure things run smoothly. For example, if you want to sell photos online via Facebook, you can integrate Shopify for multi-channel selling.

Picfair

Picfair lets photographers sell their images in both digital and printed format. If someone buys a download, they handle the licences. And if someone buys your image as a print, they produce, pack, and send it out to them. With Picfair, you set up an online store and choose which photos and products to offer.

Sell print-on-demand products

Print-on-demand (POD) services allow you to wait until an order is placed to print a product. Instead of having to commit to large print runs, you can just print a single piece or small quantities.

POD services, such as Printful, Inkthreadable and Gelato in the UK, offer a range of products (such as t-shirts, mugs, stationery etc) that your images can be printed onto whenever somebody places an order. You receive a percentage of the purchase price of the item in question, without having to worry about print or shipping it yourself.

Sell photos to online magazines

Some magazines accept image submissions to use alongside their written content. Each magazine will have its own guidelines as to the kind of thing they’re looking for.

But be aware that not all of them will pay you for your work, and it can be tricky to establish which are worth applying to. An alternative is to sign up to an agency instead. They act as a middleman, have a good idea of what will or won’t sell, and should be able to give you an idea of price quite quickly.

Patreon

Patreon allows artists and content creators to interact directly with their ‘fans’. If you have an existing following on social media, you can harness your audience through a patreon account, allowing your fans to pay you directly for your work.

Patreon can produce a lot of extra work, however, as you need to create ‘rewards’ for your patrons in exchange for their support.

Other similar options include Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee, which again allow your fans to contribute directly to your photography.

Teach online photography classes

We all know the saying ‘those who can do; those who can’t, teach.’ But it’s not necessarily a fair one. If you’re a skilled photographer, you’re the ideal person to teach.

Many photographers make money by teaching photography, and it doesn’t have to be in a formal, educational setting. As long as you’re confident in your abilities, you can teach others. This can be done in the form of an online course, an ebook, or even a portfolio review.

Write a photography blog

They say a picture tells a thousand words. So if you’ve got something to say, share, or show, why not start a photography blog? This isn’t necessarily a quick way to make money because blogs are something which build over time. Once it’s established, though, you can earn a good ongoing income from your blog.

How to start a photography blog (the basics)

Choose a name, niche, and brand identity

Although you can finesse or refresh your brand anytime, it’s a good idea to pick a starting place. Before you start, you need to think about what you want to use your photography blog for. What do you want to talk about and how do you want to say it?

Pick a platform

Make sure the domain name you want is available and get it registered. You’ll need to choose a web host. Some of the most popular are SquareSpace, GoDaddy, Bluehost. There are also free blogging platforms such as Wix.

Build or customise your blog

Choose a template or dig out your coding skills in order to make your blog match your brand. Since you’re creating a photography blog, you might want to pick a gallery template. Or if you know you have a lot to say, pick templates which lay text out clearly.

Plan, write, and schedule your content

Consistency is key when it comes to publishing content. That’s why a plan is so important. The other important thing is to write with purpose. There’s a lot of noise on the internet, so make sure your content is useful. Then make sure people can find it…

Spread the word

Whether you choose to go all-in on SEO (search engine optimisation), cross-channel marketing, or paid advertising, you need to spread the word. You’re making a blog to be seen. And on top of that, you’re making it to earn some money from, too. For that to happen, people need to be able to find and visit it.

Monetise

At the start, the best way to monetise your photography blog would be through onscreen ads or affiliate marketing. Is there a piece of kit that you couldn’t live without? Encourage someone to buy it: write a review, share photos, and always include an affiliate link.

However, as your blog grows in audience size, you could add more money-making options. For example, sell prints of your photos, run workshops, or even sell your old kit.

Start a photography podcast

Everyone listens to podcasts these days. And if they don’t, they maybe just haven’t found the right one yet. Could yours be the one they’re waiting for? There are lots of photography podcasts out there that cover a whole range of niches, areas, and styles. But if you have a genuine interest in photography, you’ll have a different voice to add.

If you’re not already a professional broadcaster or sound engineer, you’ll probably need to spend a bit of money on equipment, and a podcast probably isn’t going to earn you thousands of pounds in income.

However, you should be able to make money from a photography podcast through adverts or affiliate marketing. As your listener numbers grow, you could scale and sell photography kit or attract sponsorship.

Host a photography channel or vlog

Photography is a visual medium. So let’s take a look at a more visual version of a blog or podcast…

YouTube is home to thousands of videos about photography, and there are hundreds of photography channels too. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for you – you just need to find an angle or niche that’s specific to you.

So if you wanted to review a certain camera, but there are already video reviews online, make sure yours is different. Make it engaging, interesting, well-made, fun-to-watch, and full of useful information.

Contests and competitions

Entering photography competitions is a great way to get your work seen, and hopefully bag yourself a prize too. You can also use photo contests to see what other people are doing, find inspiration, and see how your work fits in.

There are online photo competitions running all the time for amateurs, professionals and everyone in between. Some photo contests offer cash prizes whilst others offer exposure, tech, or training to winners. So if you’re purely in it for the money, check out the prize list first.

Other things to do when researching which photography competitions to enter is to look at previous winners, the judges, and cost of entry. You’ll also need to look at the submission guidelines and image specifications of each contest to ensure your entry is eligible. Here are a few photography competitions with cash prizes to get you started:

Sony World Photography Awards. First prize: professional – $25,000; open – $5,000
RHS Portfolio Competition. First prize: £500
ND Awards. First prize: professional – $3,500; non-professional – $2,400
Amateur Photographer of the Year. Various cash and vouchers prizes available, with a total 2025 prize fund of £26,300.
Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. First prize: £15,000

How to sell photos offline…

While this article is primarily about making money from photography online, the act of photography is itself an offline activity, and it’s certainly worth considering offline money-making opportunities as well.

Look for opportunities in your local area. For example, approach small businesses and offer to take some photographs that they can use for social media, etc.

Examples of photographic services you could offer include:

Family or individual portraits
End-of-school-year photoshoots
Local sport or music events
Event photography
Freelance photography

Other ways to make money online

If you’re not convinced your photography skills are up to snuff, there are plenty of other ways to make money online.

Matched Betting is a particularly good choice, because it doesn’t require any existing knowledge or skill. It’s a technique that allows you to turn free promotional bets offered by bookmakers into real profit. Because your bets cover all potential outcomes, the only way you can lose money is if you make a mistake.

Check out the OddsMonkey Beginner’s Guide to Matched Betting to find out what you need to do to get started.

Subscribe for news & updates

Keep up to date with everything related to OddsMonkey.