On-line stock agency

[NeilE]

I want to make my cameras cover their own costs and the simplest way seems to be to shoot for stock.

Anyone care to report on their experiences with, or recommendations for, on-line stock agencies?

[hedward]

Stock agencies are mostly looking for images that will be sold to magazines and advertising agencies. These images must be technically perfect in terms of focus, lighting and sharpness and generally they have to be a specific size (3000 pixel minimum down longest side). The largest the image the better.

In terms of subject matter, well, I have found that the images I used to think were pretty good got little interest and some other images of mine that I thought were quite boring and wouldn't sell actually got the attention.

When shooting for stock (especially for editorial and advertising use) you have to keep in mind that the image needs some empty space where the editor can place copy text and other elements of the advert.

This is not to say that you cannot shoot a nice sunset and get it sold, but you do slowly change your shooting style when you shoot exclusively for stock.

Anyone else got any ideas about stock photography that contradict my experience? Please tell me about it.

My advice: shoot, shoot, and keep shooting! Clean images with a clear message (happiness, love, sadness, etc). The upload and see if it sells.

Good luck and all the best!

[NeilE]

Thanks for the tips, Heinz.

Do you use any particular agency/agencies?

Are they on-line ones?

[hedward]

I have used Imagefile and iStockPhoto, both are good. There are so many online stock agencies, just pick one and see if you can sell.

Good luck!

[Webby]

Hi, I've just gone through the process of signing up with Alamy (www.alamy.com). they need file sizes of 48MB minimum which can be interpolated from an 8 MP camera. They do a pretty good deal 35/65. you do have to pass a quality control selection of ten images before you can upload. I found this bit takes about a month. After that, there is no limit to the amount of images uploaded (the more you have, the more likely you are to sell). they continue to check a percentage of new images in your new submissions for quality. You will have to do your own keywording. i think this is a very important area. You need to think carefully what words you choose. Think lateraly! As heinz says, think about themes for subjects. People doing things, conveying emotions, symbolism etc. You will need to get model releases.
hope this helps,
Webby

[NeilE]

Hi Webby, thanks for that. Just a quick question: who gets the 35 and who gets the 65?

)

-Neil

[Webby]

65 to you, 35 to Alamy. Compares very well tp most other libraries. Also worth mentioning that there are some well known photogs using it. check out Steve Bloom. Its also used by the mainstream media - daily papers usually have a few in each day. find myself looking for the picture credits now

[hedward]

Hi Webby,

The only thing I find strange in this day and age is that stock libraries like Alamy require you to post them your 10 images instead of giving you the ability to upload them.

Uploading 10 images at 48Mb / image will take quite a long time, but Getty has this functionality. Please tell me, after you have been approved, does Alamy require you to post them further images or do they give you an upload facility?

Regards
Heinz

[Webby]

Hi Heinz,
currently submissions can be made on DVD which is an awful lot of upload time. however they are in the process of providing an upload facility as jpegs instead of the tif currently required. I suppose in the long run that would be easier as I can upload photos as and when they are ready, instead of waiting for a DVD loads worth.

[Mess]

Hi, How do you all feel about uploading raw files to stock ? I noticed that some sites take raw files after preview JPG is approved. I feel that i'd rather keep my raw original files to myself and only upload processed files, though maybe with a correct workflow method it might save some time to upload raw..

[Jimster71]

A guy on my forums has done quite well with stock photography over the past couple of years. It has paid for his photography hobby and allowed him to buy some nice studio lighting gear, which only helps the potential for mroe good stock photography.

He has found shutterstock to be his best earner, but also has images with istockphoto.

Note that he does shoot regularly and uploads a lot of images, it's definitely a slow burner earner.

[Mess]

Biggest/most popular online stock agency in UK ? Eurore ? Worldwide ?

[Shamleen]

At the moment I'm using shutterstock as a platform for selling my photos. It took me a while to get the right images to fulfill their requirement.

[PSILVERMAN]

Go to the BAPLA website and choose a library that fits in with what you have to offer.I generally sell a few images every month (not RF or microstock) and I have found that biggest is not always best.

From my experience the hoops that Alamy make you jump through to get images to be accepted make it just not worth the hassle to use them.

I post my images off to my library and they're up within the week,and it's not a tin pot outfit,they're a major player.

[aliengrove]

I have just started using www.photographersdirect.com which is a bit different in that they send out emails of specific subjects they are looking for. Also, you only need to upload low-res jpegs (500 px across) and if the client is interested they then ask for larger files before approving them. You can also search for outstanding requests. If your files are not suitable for the subject they are looking for they keep the files in the library for anyone searching for specific subjects. The payment seems a bit better than most of the microstock agencies too.