How to earn money from your travel photos

One of the best parts of retirement is having the freedom to travel, but the cost of travel can certainly add up. If you’re looking to make your holidays last longer and want to travel further, there is a way that you can make money from your holidays, and it involves something you’re already doing.

We’re talking about your travel photos! Your holiday snaps are important mementos for remembering your travels and sharing your experiences with friends and family. But, if you snap with purpose, you could be earning a tasty little sum.

Stock photography websites such as Shutterstock and iStock allow amateur photographers to upload their photos (usually) for free. In return for hosting your photos as a selling platform, the stock photography website will usually take a share of the sales of your photos. While your images may be sold for a tiny price where you receive say, a $1 profit for each download, if 100 people download that image, that’s $100 in your pocket, so think quantity for quality photos.

Read more: 7 ways to improve your travel photos

To get started, once you have some good-quality travel photos, make a contributor profile with a stock photography website, upload as many of your travel photos as it will allow and tag them with relevant tags. Try and put yourself in the mindset of someone who is searching for photos. Note that you will need a proper DSLR camera for this kind of work, so if you’re shooting on your iPhone your images won’t be suitable.

Tips for taking photos that will sell

• Take photos of popular landmarks, buildings and tourist attractions. For example, if you are visiting Paris, take photos of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre-Dame and so on. Have a browse on the stock photo websites of what’s already out there and try to make your photos have a point of difference.
• Take generic photos. Again using Paris as an example, generic photos companies may look for include street scenes, markets and cafes, all things that capture the atmosphere of Paris.
• Take photos of nature, people and landscapes. According to Shutterstock, these are popular searches – particularly things like ‘flower’, ‘handshake’ and ‘jogging’. What do these things have in common? They’re all versatile.
• Capture moods. Other popular searches are the seasons. Try and capture a beautiful picture of the sun shining at the beach or snow-dusted pine trees.

Read more: How to capture stunning sunrise images like a pro

Don’t be deterred if your photography side project doesn’t earn you big bucks right away. There are many stories of people who have made full-time careers out of selling stock photos, but it took them a few years to get there. We’d be pretty happy with an extra $100 a month, wouldn’t you?

What do you do with your travel photos once you return from holiday? Let us know in the comments below.