I don’t consider myself a professional photographer. However, the photos I submit to Dreamstime do make money. And, that money is increasing each month. I’ve decided to add a monthly article showcasing my top sales to prove that you really don’t need to be an expert to make some money.
As you can see from the gallery below, what sells ranges from fairly time sensitive sunset shots like the one of downtown Detroit, Michigan to basic snapshots like the sign for the Hamilton International Airport. The shot of Queen Street was taken through the windshield of my vehicle while driving!
It should be noted that this article does not include aviation photography sales (with exception of the Hainan Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner taking off). A good percentage of my sales at Dreamstime come from photos of airliners. The top sellers from that category will be featured in a similar article at It’s About Airplanes.
November’s Top Selling Images At Dreamstime
Click the individual photos for full-size, uncropped versions. See below the gallery for a bit more info about each image.
Photo Details
A little bit more info about each photo, starting from the top left. Clicking the heading for each one will take you to that image’s location at Dreamstime.
Downtown Detroit Skyline at Sunset
This photos was taken in June, 2019. This was part of a video footage gathering day trip to southwestern Ontario. Windsor, Ontario was the final stop on a tour that also went to Sarnia, Wallaceburg, Chatham and Leamington.
I considered not staying at the Windsor waterfront for sunset. The forecast was for overcast skies and rain. But, I figured, it was a 3-4 hour drive to come back down here so I might as well wait around and see what I could see.
It turns out, the sunset was spectacular. The rain did come but not until the drive home. This photos is a composite of three exposures.
Rusty Barbed Wire
It was just a test. I had picked up an inexpensive Oshiro macro lens and was seeing how it performed. The lens is great, if you’re into using manual focus, like myself. The 60mm ‘super macro’ does not come with auto focus. But, the clarity when you do dial it in properly is excellent.
This shot was taken at Hockley Valley Provincial Nature Reserve near my home in Orangeville, Ontario. Along a few of the trails, there are remnants like this of when the area was divided into private properties.
Parry Sound, Ontario
A failed sunset. A long exposure shot of overcast skies when there should have been colour. But, people seem to like it. Parry Sound was the first stop on a fall colours tour of the Muskoka / Algonquin / Bancroft area of Ontario, Canada.
Queen Street Toronto
Since dash cam, driving tour videos have become the bread and butter of my YouTube Channel, I had this brilliant idea to do street tours from end to end. This photo was taken from the driver’s seat while capturing GoPro footage of Queen Street in Toronto, Ontario.
Here’s the final video product:
Hamilton International Airport Sign
The less glamorous reality of stock photography is shown here. Sunsets on the beach are great. But, folks that are buying stock photos are news sources, advertisers, etc. They are quickly looking for real-life pictures to go along with time sensitive news stories, articles, blog posts, etc.
Take the ‘hero’ shots. Then, turn around and see what might get featured in one of these media platforms. Take the shots no one else would. Hey, it’s not all unicorns and rainbows. It’s a numbers game. Lose your ego and photograph everything…
Hainan Airlines Boeing 787-9 Taking Off From Toronto
It’s an airplane photo, why is it here when you just said you were doing a separate article on aviation photos? This one’s a little different. My airplane shots are usually close up with nothing else in the photo. This one is obviously a little different.
I have this ridiculous Opteka 650-1300mm telephoto lens. It was another cheap purchase off Amazon that I thought, “Why not?” On this day, I was testing out this lens. The photo here is not taken with it, however.
The Opteka lens is still under evaluation with me. Problem is, it takes the perfect conditions and the right amount of patience to use. It was windy that day and this lens is friggin’ heavy. Despite a sturdy tripod, this thing was bouncing all over the place. Plus, it was a hot day and all the shots I took with it were rippled from the heat.
So, the shot of the airport was taken with a much smaller 70-300mm lens…
GO Train On The Tracks
I believe this was taken on a day I was capturing video for a Danforth Avenue Toronto Street Tour video. The kids wanted trains so we found this spot with a pedestrian bridge over the tracks and a playground adjacent. I’m pretty sure I have much better photos of GO trains but the search by the buyer was actually for the neighbourhood where it was taken and not specifically for the train.
Sunset At Point Farms Provincial Park
The beach on Lake Huron was eroded due to the very high waters in the Great Lakes this year. It wasn’t the greatest for swimming but the sunsets were spectacular. The location is at Point Farms Provincial Park, just north of Goderich, Ontario.
Collingwood, Ontario Grain Elevators
This photo was an afterthought. I was actually up on Georgian Bay for the sunrise at nearby Meaford, Ontario. After the sun was up, I decided to capture some street tour video of Collingwood. I started filming from the parking lot where this photo was taken. This was one of a few quick shots to use as title images for the video. It turned out, the lighting was excellent.
