Photography is a powerful tool that we can all do.

In recent years photography has become a positive thing for businesses and individuals. Outsourcing photographs for stock images has increased by tenfold with companies paying thousands every year for image licensing.

In this post we are going to dive into the prospect of taking our own photos for our business and our personal needs whilst discarding unwanted images to stock websites. Before we start I would like to say that the motivational level needed to be cost effective in creating our own photography is high.

Working in an office for long hours can take an effect on our personal well-being, taking photos is an opportunity to go outdoors and take a break, at the same time you can save a lot of money that would have been spent outsourcing photos.

So what’s the typical going rate for a photograph?

The rate that a photograph can be licensed can vary based on what platform you are looking at, but a common estimate I see from websites like istock or gettyimages is in the in region of $400 to $500 for a commercial license to use a single image.

So now to make some excuses up to get away from the office!

Being away from our working environment where things need to have a lot of focus can be a daunting thought as you don’t want to lose any work, but use your time to and from the office as an opportunity to take some snaps! You’ll find yourself wanting to spend more time with your camera, remember to literally snap everything you see and don’t worry because memory on your camera is not really an issue anymore so go crazy! Be confident with your compositions, no one really knows what a good photo looks like until it happens.

Chances are you’ll get some really bad shots but playing the law of averages will guarantee you a few great snaps that you can tweak in your spare time and put in you library for a project that may need that image, and remember, this collection of yours could save you tons of money as you won’t need to spend money on license fees for someone elses photo.

If you’re new to photography check out our beginners guide on mobile phone photography or if you’re more of an amateur photographer our basic explanation guide on camera settings.