What Does Stock Photography Mean?

Stock Photography can mean extra income for a photographer, and a library of images for business people putting together advertisements, promotional materials and projects. Photographs that portray a concept, abstract thoughts or visualize a theme are often sold and used as stock photography. Stock photography is commonly sold on the Internet through stock agencies. Impeccable lighting, composition and clarity are a must for stock images that hope to sell.

Identification

Stock photography is used many places. Look around you, and notice images on labels, on books and even on junk mail. Any non-specific photograph that you see was probably purchased from a stock agency to complete a feel or look for a product or service.
Stock photos are often very conceptual. A close-up of hands on a keyboard is a good example. This type of image could be used by a college for a cover image on a computer class manual, a brochure by a doctor highlighting symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome or even on a can of pressurized air which is commonly used to clean keyboards.

Types

Nearly any subject matter can be expressed in stock photography. Stylized food, models interacting, and individual non-labeled items are popular in stock photography.

Features

Selling stock photography to a stock agency means selling your rights to the images. Most agencies will offer a tiered price structure based on the amount of rights you are willing to sell. Higher fees are paid for selling exclusive rights to the image. But, this also means you no longer own the image and cannot re-sell, publish or distribute the image ever again.

Benefits

Selling stock photography can be an easy extra source of income for commercial photographers. The unused frames from many types of shoots can be sold as stock photography, as long as it doesn't violate any prior contracts with clients.
Requesting a byline under your photos is a great way to get your name distributed to many venues. Everyone that views the image will know the photographer's name or company. This could generate future photography assignments for the photographer, or lead others to purchase more stock photography that you have submitted to the agency. The more stock photography is bought from the agency, the more the agency will want to work with you.

Considerations

Before selling any photography to a stock agency, realize that you might be selling all the rights to that image. This means you can never use the image again for any purpose. They now own the image and can sell it as many times and to whomever they wish.
When photos are sent to stock agencies, they can be purchased by anyone. Be careful who you chose to use as a model. Never use your own family or children. Although it may seem cute at first, you don't want your family to end up on promotion materials for a domestic violence shelter, or a public service announcement brochure about sexually transmitted diseases.