I recently received an email from a photo researcher, on behalf of her client, a book publishing company, requesting use of one of my photos ("Numbat" - shown below) for inclusion in a college textbook.

The email included some details on how the image would be used (1/4 page), the size of the print run (40,000 copies), and the distribution of the book (US and Canada), and requested details of my reproduction rights for the photo, indicating that if they were approved, I could then submit an invoice.

As I've had similar requests in the past, I responded with details of the reproduction rights, as well as a price for the use of the requested photo.

The conditions I specified, including the price, were considered acceptable, the photo researcher then requested an invoice, payment was arranged, and I provided a high-resolution copy of the photo.

I suspect the photo researcher found my photo in my photo gallery while searching the internet for suitable photos.



Selling photos in this way can be as easy as described above. You just need to publish your photos on the web, either on any of the many photo-sharing websites, a social networking site, or in your own photo gallery on your website. Tagged each image with appropriate keywords, and an appropriate description, to ensure search engines will know the context of the photo, and can direct appropriate visitors to your photos.

It's important to point out that you need to make sure your contact details are easy to find, else a prospective buyer will not be able to contact you to purchase a photo!