There is no doubt that money is tight right now for a lot of us. Many photographers are turning to stock photography to supplement their income, and a few even do it full time. There are a number of sites out there that make it easy to make the leap... and here's how.

On DPhoto Journal, Paulus Rusyanto has created a guide for those new to the stock photo world. Do: get releases from the people in your photos. Don't: submit work with logo, brands or other copy righted materials. Basically the rules of KISS apply: Keep it Simple Stupid. Designers are looking for clear images with a specific subject. This is not the time to boggle your viewer with complex meanings or crazy exposure levels.

Rusyanto also gives us an inside view into how much money he makes off each site. His top selling site, Rusyanto's 1,100 photos on Dreamstime made $1023.34 last month. His total earnings for 2008 were $30,521.71... not too shabby. You can find a list of Rusyanto's equipment here, on his blog.

One question you have to ask yourself is: do you want to go exclusive and sell only to one company?  Selling exclusively with some sites, such as Dreamstime, can earn you more of a commission. Other sites pay a flat rate, such as Shutterstock which pays $0.25 per download.

With the amount of online stock agencies these days, non-exclusive may be the way to go. Rusyanto uploads photos to over six sites and is now making roughly$3,500 a month.

One company is making it easier to sell to all these companies simultaneously. ISyndica allows users to upload their photos once to a main site, and then sell content to 22 different agencies. 

A downside to this new service is the cost to subscribe.  Most stock agencies are free to use. At iSyndica, you are essentially paying for the convenience of using their platform. Subscription levels are based not only on storage space, but also on credits. Each time you distribute a photo to a agency it costs one credit. A basic membership is $4.99 a month, and gives you 5GB of space and 200 monthly credits. Additional credits are $0.01. Is it worth it? The site has a free trial option that lets you decide for yourself.

If you've tried your hand at stock photography, let me know. How did it go? Which site is the best?  I am think about giving it a whirl myself. What better excuse to go take thousands of photos of flowers and park benches? Hopefully my old Power Shot S2 IS will cut the mustard. Man, I would love a new camera!

(bottom image by Paulus Rusyanto from photoblogku.com)