Digital photography can be a great hobby, but there are plenty of ways to make money from it as well. If you love taking pictures and you’re always snapping off photos anyways, why not try earning a little extra income from it? Not only can it be nice to have some extra money coming in, it can be incredibly rewarding to know someone is willing to pay for the photos you’ve put so much effort into taking.

Micro-Stock Photos

Submitting your images to one or more online micro-stock agency, such as Shutterstock or iStockPhoto, and having people and marketers purchase your images, can be an easy way to make some money from your digital photography efforts. While you may not make much per photo (on average $1.00 per image per year), if you’re taking tons of pictures anyways, uploading them to a micro stock website and selling large quantities of images could bring in quite a bit of money over time. You may even choose to set up your own stock photo website and sell them individually or with a certain number of images per pack.

Custom Photographer

Putting up local ads or getting your name out there by word of mouth could open you up to custom jobs. Taking candid shots for weddings and birthdays or shooting display photos for hair salons, bakeries, or other businesses can be a fun way to make some extra money while practicing your digital photography skills and developing them further.

Selling to the Local Media

Being in the right place at the right time can put you in the position to get some great shots. By attending local events and taking pictures of whatever you can, you may get some shots you can sell to newspapers or magazines. While these types of media will generally have their own photographer on hand, they can be everywhere at once, so many times they are willing to pay for your freelance photos they can use.

Getting Your Work Seen

Creating cards, calendars, or postcards with your photos and selling them at local art or coffee shops can be another good way to establish yourself as a serious photographer. Experiment with different angles, lighting, and composition and you may find yourself producing incredibly artful prints that people are willing and eager to buy. Keep shooting everything you can and when you discover the techniques that work best for you, put them out into the public however you can so people can see the work you’re capable of.