One of the first things I asked attendees to do in Portland this week at our Ultimate Photography Workshop was to quickly write down their dreams and their goal lifestyle.
Here’s one I can really relate to…
If this is you and you’d like to fund great trips doing something fun, photography is your fast-track pass.
Here are six tips from Shelly on turning snapshots into saleable WOW! shots…
Saleable Photo Tip #1: Shoot verticals.
Everyone takes horizontal photos. It’s the way cameras are made. All the dials are on the top. It’s easy to just raise your camera to your eye and hold it with the dials on top resulting in lots of horizontal photos. But if you want yours to be different and stand out from the crowd, just turn your camera on its side and take a vertical. Magazine editors love vertical photos because most magazines are vertical. And when you can offer a stock agency a vertical AND a horizontal photograph of the same image it can sometimes mean twice the pay.
Saleable Photo Tip #2: Avoid the center of your photograph.
Most everyone puts the subject of their photo in the center. You’ll stand apart if you use the Rule of Thirds and avoid the center square.
Saleable Photo Tip #3: Leave room for copy space.
Editors and commercial buyers like extra room in their photos to place text. If you can leave extra copy space in your image, you’ll find your photos are most often used on the cover rather than interior pages and that designers are quick to snap up your images from online agencies.
Saleable Photo Tip #4: When you’re not sure where to stand, look for lines that point is a specific direction.
Lines lead a viewer into a photograph and make your pictures more compelling. Look around until you find some and then position them into the far back of your photo.
Saleable Photo Tip #5: Find a good vantage point.
When shooting people, most photographers shoot at eye level. To be different, find a unique perspective and shoot something different. Make your image stand out and you’ll be rewarded with more sales. 
Tip #6: Get closer.
People often overlook the details. Don’t do this. Get in closer and shoot those minor things often overseen by others.
If you find something worth taking a picture of, get the shot. But to really make it saleable, stop and pause for a minute. To get that wow shot that’s going to earn you $200 or more, you might need to do something different. Recompose, walk around your subject, look for better light, etc. Those extra few minutes could be all it takes.
[Editor’s Note: Learn more about how you can fund your travels and make an extra income with photography, travel writing, blogging, and more in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel. Sign up here today and we’ll send you a new report, Five Fun Ways To Get Paid To Travel: A Quick-Start Guide, completely FREE.]