I've looked at a bunch of different sites to sell my stock photography. Historically I've sold it directly to media outlets, but thought using a service such as Big stock Photo or GettyImages or something else may be an effective way to increase my market. Which are the best one or two (or primary and secondary) stock photo companies to use? Goals are primarily financial. Thanks!

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we are all photographers here, try alamy

If your goals are primarily financial then you will need many hundreds (if not thousands) of images to lodge with a number of different libraries and you will have to be prepared to wait at least 2 years to see a good return. Oh the images will have to be rotated and updated regularly as well. Getty, Alamy and Corbis. Go rights managed not RF - cuts down on the amount of sales but is more than made up for by the return per image. If your images are very specific then it is also worth looking at more specialist libraries. Get hold of the photographers handbook which lists loads of outlets, libraries, agents etc.

Great question! This is one of those questions with so many answers based on experiences and opinions. Ultimately, you'll have to choose the stock photo site which best suits your type of photography. For example, even though they all usually have a wide range of categories, different stock agencies tend to cater more towards certain markets. You mentioned that you've traditionally sold to media outlets... If you feel comfortable in this style and would like to continue it, it might be helpful to look into some media publications (such as magazines, papers, websites, etc..) and see in the editorial credits which stock agencies they tend to purchase their images from. It will give you a good idea of the prices they are willing to pay (generally), which can also be helpful when selecting a stock agency. Perhaps you can start by asking yourself if your intended photographic style is mainly commercial, journalistic, artistic, portraiture, etc... and move forwards from there. Also, you may wish to consider going with one agency rather than several. Why would you do this? While it may seem like you are limiting your potential market, by specializing in one stock site you will ultimately wind up being more sought after (should you build your sales numbers with that agency), and some agencies will pay you a higher price for being exclusive with them. I know this wasn't your question, but one of the key factors in being successful in stock photography is to research and photograph what your market is seeking, rather than what you like to shoot. Landscape photos are extremely popular among photographers, but not so much among buyers in the stock photo world. Many stock photo buyers also look for certain types of photos which allow room for text placement (if shooting for ad material). If you spend some time looking at what photos sell well on a particular stock site, you will get a good idea of the types of photos you should be taking (remember, the goal is to make money!). If you would like some more detailed tips and techniques for getting into stock photography, please feel free to check out our recent 2 editions of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine (free pdf download). I hope this helps a little! Dave Seeram Editor and Publisher, PhotographyBB Online Magazine

I do best at Texturevault, iStockphoto and Shutterstock. iStockphoto and Shutterstock both require test submissions. Both took me 2 tries to get in. You do need a large portfolio to make any kind of money. I'm very new to stock photogrphy and have only owned a DSLR for several months. My first month of submitting to stock sites earned me about $60.