Stock photography is based on having pictures already in stock: the pictures have already been taken, ready for printing and available to the buyer. In contrast, assignment pictures, where the camera-is-for-hire are still to be taken based on requirements. Another thing to remember is that stock photos are owned by the photographer, and the right to use is sold to the buyer. Whereas pictures from an assignment are owned by the buyer.
In stock photography, since the pictures are owned by the photographer, these are submitted to the stock photo agency in order to sell the rights for use. In effect the photos are in a shop waiting for a client to pass by. If the client sees a picture which fits his requirements, he buys the rights to use them.
The concept seems simple enough. The only thing the photographer has to do is take pictures of what the buyer would want. In this case, stock photography differs from most types of photography in that the pictures are generic and represent an idea or concept. The pictures tell a story or can serve as a background to some text for an ad campaign, for instance.
On the internet there are now lots of micro stock agency websites which handle this kind of business. A stock photo agency is a middle man between the photographer and the buyer. The buyer, usually an ad agency or a magazine or a design house, buys the rights to the picture for a specific use.
There are a lot of stock agencies on the internet and it's only a matter of signing up and uploading the pictures, and to keep submitting more pictures.
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