If you talk to anybody about where to sell photography the standard answer is probably going to be "go with one of the Microstock libraries". However , if you're serious about selling your photography online, you'll often find the serious profits are made when you stop following the crowd and think out of the box.

The demand for stock images has increased phenomenally in over the past 20 years, beginning with the arrival of desktop publishing and more recently with net publishing. These days pretty much every business on the planet is publisher and a potential photo-buyer.

Not surprisingly a host of super-cheap stock libraries "the Microstocks "have sprung up to serve those markets with massive picture collections at super-discount prices. Publishers can buy photos of every possible subject for a buck or less, with many Microstock photographers happily accepting 25-50 cents per sale.

With the new developments in digital photography, virtually any photographer with the most average abilities and consumer gear is able to supply pictures to the Microstocks. And for better or worse, there's no absence of photographers prepared to deal on those terms.

For a while there were plenty of photographers swearing there was serious money to be made giving their photographs away for less than a buck, but these days they've gone a bit quiet.

It seems we might have come the full circle and the competition for sales has reached a level that makes it tough for the average photographer to generate consistent returns with Microstock.

I'm sure there are some doing pretty well with Microstock, but you may be sure they are very talented photographers with huge image collections, who are continually making new and unique material. They are putting real time and effort into researching their markets, and they're most likely investing seriously in each new shoot.

For the main part, the idea of any photographer just submitting thousands of random images to a Microstock library and making serious cash are long past.

Another major drawback that's emerged lately with the Microstock libraries is, as soon as someone does come up with a stock photo idea or idea that actually sells well, it gets copied by lots of other Microstock photographers. The libraries themselves facilitate this, publishing live lists of photos which are currently being downloaded the most, so that the lazy photographer can just throw together a fast copy, upload it and exploit the other photographer's work.

So even if you do the hard-yards and find some untapped market, then put in the effort and time to create prime quality original commercial content, chances are you will not have the niche to yourself for long. If it works, it'll be copied

So the question has to be asked: if you've got to put that sort of effort and time and money into making new stock images, does it actually seem clever to toss them away for a dollar each?

Wouldn't it make more sense to sell stock photographs where you face less competition and you actually get paid a fair and reasonable price, each time somebody uses your image?

A increasing number of photographers are beginning to think so, and more often than not, when people ask where to sell photography online, the answer is 'find a rights managed library'.

With rights managed you license the image for a particular use for a specified time period. The publishers only pay for the rights they want so it's a better deal for them, and a better deal for the photographers. Instead of making 50 cents or less for somebody using your image, you make $100-$200 or more. Often a lot more!

Since you are controlling the usage as well as the sales, you can offer the high-end buyers a history of the image, and offer those who need it, first rights, exclusive use, and all of the assurances the big budget users need for the best paying licenses.

So if you're serious about selling photographs online, you really need to choose what sort of photography business you want.

One where you battle with thousands of other photographers to mass produce images for a market that expects to purchase your images for a few bucks each?

Or one that caters to a market that values your talents and creativeness, and is prepared to pay well for quality photographs that truly talk to their audience?

Either way, the business has changed and the stock image sales are going to go to the savvy photographers who research their markets and create high quality original material.

So at the end, isn't it just a matter of deciding what you want to get paid for it?