Most anyone who has tried to make a living taking pictures will attest to how difficult it is. Erin Brown started her photography career while attending high school in an Illinois farming community and noticed two things right away: the money paid by Getty Image and iStock was pennies, and neither featured much in the way of North American agriculture photos and videos — most of it originated in Europe. So, she started Real Ag Stock to satisfy both the demand for farm photos from this hemisphere, and profit sharing that pays in the tens of dollars rather than pennies. In the audio clip below, Erin tells WGN’s Steve Alexander more about how RealAgStock.com works, and how farmers and others involved in agriculture who have an eye for photography can get their work on the site. And you don’t have to be a pro — she says of the 70+ photographers on the site, only 10 are true professionals. Separately, the Illinois State Treasurer has started taking applications for the annual Cream of the Crop photo contest for kids, 8 to 18.