But, I hear you say, anyone can take a photograph!

Yes, anyone can take a picture. But not everyone can take a good picture. But you don't need to be another David Bailey to take a really good shot. If you're taking photos for pleasure, as a reminder of a special day out, it's sufficient to have an inexpensive camera which doesn't have a massively high resolution.

Photos which you want to use on eBay are perfectly OK using a 3mp (megapixel) setting. I have a 10mp camera but pop it down to 3mp when I take my eBay pics.

Likewise, if you only want to print a picture the size of the small paper photos your Mom and Dad delighted in showing to everyone every Christmas, then you don't need to buy an expensive camera.

However, if you want to make money from your photos you do need to spend a bit more. Photos which you want to sell need to be of the best quality; which means having a camera with a high quality lens and more than 6 megapixels resolution'. (For a detailed explanation of 'megapixel' see this Wikipedia page - wikipedia.org/wiki/Megapixel#Megapixel

How Can You Make Money From Your Photos?

The basic idea is that you submit your pictures to specialist websites from which people pay to download them for their own purposes. In effect you could have a single photograph downloaded by many different people - and every time you get paid.

There are other ways to make money from your photos - the most obvious is probably being the official photographer at weddings. But there are still lots of people out there who don't have the equipment, time or knowledge to take even the most basic of pictures, for example, to advertise their car, or realtors needing photos of the houses they are selling. There are lots of possibilities.

 Learn How To Take Good Photographs

If you are not already 'in' to photography, then you need to learn. You can pick up a lot of information from books and then go and experiment. You may even enjoy taking an evening class.

It is more than just point and click. You need to learn the techniques which will make your photos desirable. And then you need to know how to go about selling them. You must also think about the type of digital camera you need and if you need to buy one, how much you are prepared to pay.

The All In One System To Make Money From Your Photos

I was looking through my files of information products today when I came across one called 'Camera Dollars'. I'd bought this last year as I knew I was going to be made redundant and wanted to investigate the various options open to me. Whilst I have not gone into photography in a big way, choosing rather to take a different path, the downloadable ebooks which come with this system are extremely good at providing virtually all of the information you need to establish your own photography business.

Aimed primarily at the US market - it lists lots of off-line companies most of which are in the USA -  nevertheless the techniques and ideas are just as valid for any country. The internet sites which sell photos for you are accessible from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.

The Camera Dollars system costs $39.97 as I write, and comes as two manuals in zipped files which you download to your computer. One manual covers all of the technical aspects (and more), the other explains how you can get commissions by taking pictures of local vehicles for sale - a complete business system in itself.

Then there are the bonuses. As these may change from time to time, I'm not going to list them here - but be assured they are very good! But I will tell you that right now one of the bonuses is a Digital Photography Guide for Newbies.

There are also long lists of resources - sites that will pay for your photos, free income generating bonuses, and a huge list of sites that will pay you for 'field servicing'.

When you go to the website to find out more (see below) you are given the opportunity to sign up for a free enewsletter of weekly money-making tips. I recommend you do this.

Conclusion

All you need is a digital camera & internet access to get started. Even if you have never taken a photograph with a digital camera before, you can make lots of money from your photos if you just find out how.

The Camera Dollars system costs a one-time fee of $39.97 and you can find out more here. Please be sure to read the disclaimer at the bottom of the main page.