Been shooting lots of photos but don't know what to do with them? Want to make your photos into cash? Good news for you! Just sign up with a stock photo library online and you could be selling your best shots all over the world! It could potentially fund you for further equipment upgrades to take even better photos!

There are a few things you need to keep in mind when shooting for a stock photo library:

1. Shoot to sell - Think what commercial buyers are likely to be interested in and shoot accordingly to the needs. It could range from landmarks, activities, events or even nature images! Check out magazines, and commercial websites to see what's popular!
2. Resolution and quality - Stock photo libraries are usually quite strict about the photos being submitted, some of the basic criteria for getting your images accepted are the resolution (size) of your photo and of course the quality of the shot, this can range from composition to sharpness and exposure of the shot. Some photo libraries have a minimum size requirement of 10MP or even requires the photo be converted to Adobe RGB color space before uploading.
3. Choosing a suitable library - Research each available library to see what sort of images are featured most prominently, gauge how your shots measure up against the quality of your competition as well before deciding on a library to sign up with.
4. Increase findability - You will sell more photos if your images are easily found, choose appropriate categories and add relevant keywords to your photos to enable potential buyers to quickly locate your photos and get noticed more!
5. Keep it legal - Legality of photos are paramount to stock photos, as agencies also operate within the law to ensure their clientele is safe from using the photos being sold. Model release forms are required for photos containing any 'recognisable' person, and some even require location release forms for privately owned places. It's best to leave out brand names or logos as these type of photos are usually rejected by stock libraries.

Hope that brings you up to speed and helps you prepare for selling your photos as stock, next up I will be looking at a few of the popular stock photo libraries that you may consider signing up with. Stay tuned and keep on shooting, it may well be your retirement fund!