Ever wonder where photos in ads come from, billboards, print and more? Yes, sometimes there is a specific photo shoot for high end products and brand names, but lots of websites and smaller businesses don’t have the budget to hire a model and a photographer for a photo shoot. Instead they turn to stock footage sites to choose photos already taken by professional and amateur photographers of anything from a can of soda to a full scene of college kids sitting under a tree reading.
The photos express a message that a company is trying to get across. There are many, many types and categories to choose from. If your company or website is marketing casinos you might want to find a picture of a woman or man at a craps table, rolling the dice among a bunch of other people who are cheering him or her on. They are smiling and having a great time. The message is revealed in their smiles and in their eyes. They are dressed to kill and having the time of their life. It gets the message across that the casino you are marketing is a load of fun and that they might even win!
Similar to the way clip art is used in Microsoft word in presentation, stock footage is used in professional advertising, websites and even in college presentations. If you like to take pictures you could make some extra money or even a great deal of money selling your photos to stock footage companies. A good way to start is by taking pictures of every day life; objects, people, animals, nature, autos, anything you can think of. Capture emotion and messages that come from these situations. It’s a good idea to upload your photos to an image hosting company to protect and organize your photo shoots. It also enables you to share the photos more easily by sending links to individual pictures or a whole shoot to a potential stock footage company in hopes of selling your photos.
Image hosting is simple and very effective in providing you a place to store all your photos for free without having to create your own website and purchase space. With companies out there that allow you to upload, edit and store your photos, it is easy to begin a career in selling your photos and making a living at something you like to do.
