profile

Aubrey Westlund

Raise your prices? Fix your workflow? Or maybe… start here.

Published 13 days ago • 2 min read
Heads Up: I'm running a summer sale on Stock Photography Academy this month. If you don’t want to get any more emails about it, click here to say, “Please turn off all emails about Stock Photography Academy.” You’ll still get my weekly newsletter.
​

Hi Reader,

You know what I hear all the time from photographers who want start to licensing their photos?

“I really want to start... I just need to raise my prices / work less / fix my workflow / get my life together first.”f

Sweet angel baby.
You don’t need a whole new life.​
You need a place to show up as you are and still move forward.
​
For the first six years I uploaded to stock photography sites, I was still working full-time as a wedding photographer.

Weekends booked. Weeknights editing. And somewhere in between, I carved out time to license the photos I already had.

Because something in me knew I wanted more.

More creative freedom. More income that didn’t rely on my weekends being booked out a year in advance. More ways to make photography feel fun again.

So I started small.

A few uploads here and there.

Random images I had sitting on my hard drive.

And I’m so glad I did.

Because when 2020 hit and every single wedding on my calendar vanished, I still had stock photo income coming in.

I didn’t plan for a pandemic.

I just planted the seeds before I needed them.

And they ended up carrying me through one of the hardest years of my life and business.

I think about that a lot.

What would’ve happened if I’d waited? If I told myself, “I’ll figure out stock when things slow down”?

I’d be starting from scratch in the middle of a crisis.

And honestly, I don’t think I would’ve had the energy to figure it all out.

That’s why I created Stock Photography Academy: Self-Study Edition.

It’s not for the photographers who feel “ready.” It’s for the ones who want something sustainable, but don’t know where to start.

The ones who want more, but feel stuck in the day-to-day grind.

This version of SPA is designed to fit into the life you already have.

No live calls. No deadlines or added pressure. Just a step-by-step course you can follow on your own time. Whether that’s during nap time, in between client galleries, or while rewatching Gilmore Girls with one tab open.

A clear path to turn your existing photos into passive income on your schedule.

It opens Tuesday.

And I’m not sure if I’ll offer it this way again.

If you’ve been waiting for the “right time,” this is your reminder:

The right time might be now.

xo,

Aubrey

6573 Limelight Dr. Boise, Idaho
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​

Aubrey Westlund

Stock Photography Expert

Aubrey Westlund is a photographer, educator, and creator of Stock Photography Academy, a course designed to help photographers turn their everyday moments into passive income. Eight years ago, Aubrey dove into stock photography, paid off $30,000 in debt, and left behind a successful wedding photography business to create a life of creative freedom. Aubrey empowers other photographers— to embrace stock photography, teaching them how to consistently upload and license images without overthinking the process. She’s a lover of capturing the beauty of everyday life, gardening, seasonal living, creating art in many forms, and finding balance as a creative business owner. Through stock photography, Aubrey helps her students master the craft, build a sustainable income, and fall in love with photography all over again.

Read more from Aubrey Westlund

Hi Reader, The most successful stock photographers I know aren’t sitting around waiting for their dream shoots.They’re out there creating their own opportunities. Last February, I flew to Vegas (yes, that Vegas) to shoot… a dental office.Scrubs, suction tools, and all. 🦷 But it wasn’t some stiff, fake-smile, posed nonsense.I photographed real dental staff doing their actual jobs: appointments, procedures, interacting with patients.No actors pretending to be hygienists. No plastic teeth....

17 days ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, This past Monday, I had a little panic moment when I opened my Profitable Stock Planner and saw July staring back at me. It’s officially "go time" for uploading fall content to my stock agencies. On one hand, I’m proud. I went all out last fall and planned so many seasonal shoots.On the other hand... I’ve got work to do. So I went back to basics. Every morning this week, I’ve logged onto my computer, opened Lightroom, and set a timer for 20–30 minutes. That’s it. No marathon...

20 days ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, I started stock photography to survive the slow seasons as a wedding photographer, now I do it as a love letter to life. Let me explain. Inside my membership, Stock Photo Besties, we’ve been talking about turning the mundane into art. And it got me thinking... What if stock photography isn’t just a way to make passive income, what if it’s the nudge you need to fall back in love with your life? Or at least notice the tiny, beautiful moments hiding in plain sight? I was journaling on...

27 days ago • 2 min read