I guess it’s because my birthday is only a couple of weeks away. I seem to be more introspective as I get older each year. I seem do more musing around this time than I do at New Year’s!

What is eating at me these days is my future at work. So far my job appears secure but I’m not the workaholic I once was. With all the changes at the company I wonder if I will still be there in 1 or 2 more years. Then I look at my financial obligations and remind myself that I need to work another 10 years.

So I decided to revisit an old revenue source.

A few years ago, probably 5 by now, I looked into stock photography. The myth is that you can upload pictures you’ve already taken and build an income stream. I didn’t have much luck the last time I tried but to be honest, I didn’t try very hard.

Anyway, I thought about all these pictures I had sitting on my hard drive and thought I’d try again. According to what I’d read the minimum portfolio to start earning money is 300 pictures. That’s the magic number but more is better.

I signed up at a new stock company and started looking through my pictures. They have to look over your work to be accepted. That’s when I discovered that many of my photos were’d big enough. The minimum file size at this particular company is 4 MB. I was surprised to find that many of my favorite pictures were only 2-3 MB, just missing the minimum.

Looks like I will have my work cut out for me. So I plan to print out some model releases and start taking my camera everywhere. I have a list of the most requested subjects and many are outside my comfort zone. Even so I owe it to myself to really give it a try this time.

Are any of you stock photographers? Any advice?