If you love taking pictures and wish you could find a way to make money doing photography full time, you’re in luck. There are actually many ways to make money from photography, and we’ll cover 5 simple ideas here.

Taking photos of generic products or concepts can be a wonderful way to make money.
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1. Stock Photos - Selling stock photography has become quite easy in the past several years, thanks to the introduction of many microstock agencies online. In the past, a photographer needed a collection of at least 100 or more high quality photos before they could apply to sell them at a stock agency. Then they had to do a lot of paperwork and waiting before even knowing if they were accepted, let alone start making money from their efforts.

Online microstock agencies on the other hand, allow you to get started with as few as one to ten photos. Each site’s requirements vary, but there are some which let you start submitting pictures one at a time. And each picture that is accepted can be online and starting to sell within days of you uploading it.

2. Craigslist and Other Classified Sites - This technique requires a mixture of offline and online work, but it’s quite simple and can be an easy way to make quick money from your photography. It works best though, for photographers who live in or near a major population area.

Go to craigslists or any other popular classified advertising site online, and search for advertisements within your local area. The best ones to look for are ads selling cars, or offering homes for sale or rent. Create a list of those that do not have photos of the item they’re advertising.

Then simply call or visit the advertiser, and offer to take photos for them to use in their online ads. Charge a reasonable fee - say something like $50 for up to 5 photos, or $20 per photo they want, the price is really up to you - then start taking pictures.

Taking photos for people to use in their online ads is another simple way to make money. © Photographer: Eperceptions | Agency: Dreamstime.com

If you have a laptop, you can spend 45 minutes taking pictures, then another 15 transferring them from your camera to the laptop, then onto a disc. Then you simply hand the disc to your customer, they pay you, then you move on to your next customer.

3. Cafepress - Cafe press is an online printing service, which allows you to create your own products. They provide you with a store front, and they take care of all orders, shipping, and customer service for you. All you have to do is create designs to go onto the products, choose which products you want to sell, and add those to your store front.

Funny or unusual photos work well here, because Cafe Press is a popular place for people to buy t-shirts. You can also use landscape or flower photography though, to create beautiful wall art, clocks, and other home decor items.

4. Magazines & Newspapers - Providing photography to magazines and newspapers is an excellent way to make money, but it can take a little time to become established. Most large newspapers in the United States are printed daily, so they have a continuous need for relevant photography to go with their news stories and articles.

Magazines are usually printed at least once a month, and they too tend to use a lot of photography to make their stories more appealing, attractive, and eye catching to readers.

One of the most enjoyable things about supplying photos to magazines and newspapers is that you can work on a variety of topics at any given time. Since publications exist on almost any subject you can think of, you’ll find yourself being able to shoot a wide range of items and styles as often as you’d like.

5. Misc Websites - There are several new websites which have cropped up in the last year or two, who pay users for contributing content to them. And this content often includes photography. You can upload as many of your photos as you’d like, and you’ll be paid a small amount each time the pictures are viewed by other users and visitors. In some cases you’ll be paid a small amount only if an advertisement is clicked, and in some cases you’ll be paid for the photo itself if it’s picked as an editorial favorite.