John M. Lund asked:


Stock photography has always been considered the ugly stepchild of commercial photography.  Originally stock photos consisted of out-takes from assignments…the “seconds” if you will.  The strategy for success for a stock shooter was to get as much content into the collection as possible…not a methodology for gaining a reputation for quality!

Bringing “Quality” To Stock

Along came Tony Stone (Tony Stone Images…now Getty Images) who changed the approach from how much material is in a collection to how good the material in a collection is.  He pared down the number of images keeping only the very best, made lots of dupes of a given image (back then you had to send out transparencies…so with more dupes of a given image that image could be in front of more potential buyers at once), and became enormously successful.  My original stock agency was a company call AfterImage.  When Stone purchased it the first thing that happened was that they sent virtually all of my material back to me and only kept a handful of images.  The second thing that happened was that my sales tripled! 

Getty bought Tony Stone Images and began to apply business principles to stock photography. It looked as though stock my finally start to be looked upon with a little more respect…then RF happened.  And again, the emphasis shifted to how much material one could get in.  In some cases photographers would sell their entire archives for a set price.

The Saturation Of Images In Stock

Now stock photography is saturated with a gazillion photos…some of amazing quality…and a huge number of well-executed but repetitive lifestyle and business image.  With crowd sourcing and the entry of non-professionals into the market through agencies like Istockphoto, stock is still the ugly stepchild of commercial photography…but not to me.

Creative Freedom

For me, stock is the highest form of commercial photography.  It gives the photographer something truly valuable…creative control.  As a stock shooter I am able to choose whatever I want to photograph.  I get to photograph my subject in whatever way I want to do it.  Unlike assignment photography there are no limits…no Art Directors to satisfy (or rely on), no account executives to please, no clients to impose their own perceptions on your work.  No limits! 

That isn’t to say there aren’t any challenges…there are challenges galore!  While there is no client to impose limitations…there is also no client to bankroll the shoot.

While there are no limits to what you can shoot…no one else is coming up with ideas for you.  While there are no Art Directors to impose their visions…it is up to you to have that vision and be true to it.

The Challenges of Creative Freedom

Creative freedom is something that I think is a core need of every photographer.  But along with that freedom comes challenges. Few things require us to use that “creative” muscles as much as stock.  We need to be creative in coming up with what to shoot.  We need creativity in virtually every aspect of stock.  Creativity in how to arrange access to a difficult subject, creativity in how to shoot without the financial resources of a client…and creative decisions need to be made on where and how to place the work.

As I write this I have a list of a hundred or so images that I want to create for stock. Sometimes it takes me two years for my subconscious mind to finally figure out how to make something work under the budget and access limits that I have.  That brings up another great point about stock.  There are no arbitrary deadlines…only the ones I set for myself. 

An example of an idea that took time for me to solve the budgetary restrictions on…and the need to exercise creativity in how to get the shots, can be found in a series of stock photos I did with elephants as the subject matter.  I originally came up with the idea because I wanted to be close to an elephant…to be able to touch one and just hang out with it for a while.  So I came up with a few “elephant” ideas.  When I found out it would cost me $5,000.00 just to rent one elephant I put the project on the back burner.  A year ago I planned a trip to South East Asia.  I was going to shoot in Myanmar (Burma) for a couple of weeks.  I would be flying to Yangon, Myanmar’s capital, out of Bangkok.  I began to wonder what I could shoot in Thailand as long as I was going to be there anyway.  Then it popped into my head…elephants!  Perhaps it would cost less to rent one there.  Yes…one elephant cost me $450.00.  For a whole day!  Well, I got to hang out with, and touch, an elephant.  And in the eight months that I have had the resulting images in the market place I have already earned almost $20,000.00 from those images! 

Because of stock I have had the opportunity to “hang with” a lion, a tiger, and an elephant…I’ve had the chance to shoot a baboon in my studio too.  Animals, of course, are not the only “perks” I have been able to enjoy from shooting stock. I spent a week (and made a nice a profit off of) one of the swankiest Penthouses in Buenos Aires, a magnificent “casa” in Mexico, …heck, I have even rented a disco (also in Buenos Aires) and had a crazy fun time shooting what in effect was a private disco party complete with a crowd of dancers, throbbing music, and smoke machines.  Cool!

For me stock is the highest form of commercial work.  It requires discipline, creativity, and guts (hey…it can take real guts to spend large sums of money on a speculative shoot).  But as they say on late-night television infomercials; wait…there’s more!  There is the friendship and fun factor.  For me, it is a lot more fun shooting stock where there is no “outside” pressure to perform and no one but myself to answer too.  Also, for a number of my shoots I have invited other photographers to join me.  For the disco shoot I shot with three other photographers.  We all shared in the cost and worked together…but each producing our own set of images.  A “creative” way to reduce the expense of our shoot, to spread the production time and labor out…and to get to work with some close friends.  When was the last time you invited some close photographer friends to shoot with you on an assignment?

Well, there you have it.  My view of why stock is actually the highest form of commercial photography.  It is all on your shoulders…and with the only limits being those you place on yourself.  You don’t have to add to those gazillion images of business people on cell phones…or laughing couples on the beach.  Sure you can…but you can also allow give yourself amazing challenges with rewards that are commensurate. 

ben maffin asked:


Stock Photography Modeling

The popularity in coffee shop culture coupled with the rise of the internet has seen an explosion in the last few years of publications requiring stock photography.

 

Stock photography publications can include literally any printed or photographic or internet material. North West Model Agency’s project managers have worked with a wide selection of publications all requiring stock photography models.

 

What is Stock Photography Modeling?

North West Model Agency considers stock photography modeling to be just as important as any other modeling discipline. It is easy to define in that it can be literally used for anything.

 

Stock photography modeling is used to ‘fill in’ or ‘round off’ publications and is used in many magazines where an article has been written about a given subject and they need an image to ‘fill in’ the space.

 

This can range from family photos to single high impact images. The scope is so huge and sometimes so specialized that it takes a professional agency such as North West Model Agency to match the model, the photographer and the assignment together.

 

Publications can also include adverts, websites, brochures. The list is almost limited to the imagination of the marketing department. The advantage stock photography modeling has over other forms is the lack of height, age, or weight restrictions. This makes it an ideal career for girls who do not fit the “sample” size required by fashion houses.

 

Remember that stock photography modeling can include just about anything. There are plenty of stock photography websites out there on the internet, have a look and you will see the sheer range of possibilities to get you going.

 

Technology in Stock Photography Modeling

With the onset of digital photography it is possible to get very high definition (commonly called Ultra High Quality or UHQ) stock photos almost instantly.

 

Because North West Model Agency use the most up to date technology UHQ Editorial photos turn around can be very quick. Combine this with North West Model Agency’s state of the art graphic studio, images can be blended, altered and emailed for a printed or online publication in minutes.

 

North West Model Agency’s studio can also deal with new media and the internet. This is the fastest growing area of Editorial modeling, and one which many ‘old school’ models and photographers do not understand. North West Model Agency can guide you through the advantages of having an online portfolio and how to promote your image. It’s to our advantage that we make our models as well known as possible!

 

Pitfalls of Stock Photography Modeling

Make sure your modeling agency and photographer are reputable. North West Model Agency vets it’s photographers before using them and will insist upon a client brief (so you know what you will be doing) before shoots and a chaperone during shoots.

 

Also be aware that many modeling agencies will charge you to make a portfolio on the pretence of work, though they never have any intention of giving you any assignments.

 

North West Model Agency will not charge you for a stock photography portfolio. They may refer you on to a preferred professional photographer if you wish to have stock photography added.

 

Stock photography modeling competition is not as intense as other modeling professions, though the gains are not usually as good. We will assign you to the most suitable role and will always make sure you are comfortable with the assignment before you undertake it. Editorial modeling is a good place to start when modeling as it allows you to ‘cut your teeth’ in an industry.

 

We ask all our models to fill out a North West Model Agency Feedback form when they have completed an assignment, so we constantly monitor our clients and models expectations.

 

As with all modeling stock photography modeling is not easy. North West Model Agency advises all want to be stock photography models to really think about the lifestyle it involves. Travel is inevitable though sometimes great fun. Although the ideal place for an assignment is a warm studio or a sunny beach it is always worth remembering that some of the best shots out there were taken on a cold day with bad weather looming.

 

Future of Stock Photography Modeling

North West Model Agency believes the future of stock photography modeling lies very much in cyber space. It is a growth industry and looks set to keep on growing.

 

Stock photography modeling is changing, make no mistake it has to if it is to survive. Stock photography modeling has languished in the prehistoric age for far too long. This can be partially attributed to the industry being formed on the old print press method of publication (calendars, magazines, tabloids). It is no secret that print is in decline and many modeling agencies are missing out on the new media and an increase in broadband access.

 

North West Model Agency is highly experienced in online promotion and the use of photographic material on the internet.

 

North West Model Agency’s one stop shop approach to stock photography modeling is a fantastic starting point for potential and experienced stock photography models alike.

 

Conclusion

If you’re fun loving, outgoing, and cannot do (or simply not interested) in other forms of modeling it is possible make a career from stock photography modeling.

 

North West Model Agency’s approach is honest and open, but remember that you’ll need to have a thick skin to survive in stock photography modeling.

 

If you are interested in stock photography modeling and you want to experience the future of Editorial modeling then visit North West Model Agency’s website at www.northwestmodelagency.co.uk

Nicholas Normandy asked:


So you want to make a living from your freelance digital photography. A way to earn extra income that has been showing a lot of promise is selling your freelance photos to stock photography sites like Fotolia. Say you love shooting pictures with your digital camera but never considered making a good amount of money from it. You couldn’t describe this as a job quiting opportunity just yet, but if you dedicate enough time who knows. Doesn’t matter what age you are just as long as you have some extra time to shoot and upload photos. This is just a way to distribute your freelance photography onto a stock photo site that will sell the pictures for you. If someone buys your freelance photos you will get paid, it is a pretty simple concept. Although the concept is simple enough there is a few methods that need to be learned in order to ensure successful picture sales.

Taking good digital pictures is obviously an aspect of getting good conversions. You don’t have to use all the most expensive equipment or know the trade secrets of taking great digital photos. Buyers of stock photography need pictures of almost anything, and that’s what you can give them pictures of anything and everything. The colors in your digital photos have to be neat, balanced and not too dull. You cannot have any signatures, logos or marks on the pictures to define there ownership. Your photos have to be in focus and not have any noise. Lastly it should not look like you were a tourist and you had a more creative outlook.

To help your photos sell you need to photograph things that are useful to buyers. You really have to think like a buyer, because the people who are buying stock photography are marketers, advertisers, website makers, magazines, and graphic designers (to name a few). You need to attract your buyers with keywords or proper picture categorizing. Learning to pick the popular, low competitive keywords will improve your sales dramatically. And will bring a large amount of traffic to your freelance work.

Here are the things you need (or) need to do to get started

-Have an Internet Connection

-Buy a Digital Camera

-Learn about proper keywords, conversion, uploading, stock photography companies (read an Ebook)

-Sign up with Stock photo companies

-Take hundreds of digital photos

-Upload you pictures, make conversions/sales and make a profit

-Repeat what you are doing correctly in order to start make double, triple and yeah you got it

If selling your digital photography to stock photo sites something that interest you, learn more about how to get started at my site Freelance Digital Photography Careers and Job Choices

R. Dodge Woodson asked:


What is Stock Photography?

R. Dodge Woodson

What is stock photography? To many photographers it is a path to profits. Other photographers find it to be a hole of frustration. Realistically, stock photography is somewhere between these two extremes.

There are three ways to look at stock photography. The first is the view that photographers have of it. Stock agencies will see stock photography differently.  Buyers of stock photos are sure to have their own impression of what stock photography is.

I am assuming that most readers here will be looking at stock agencies through the viewfinder of a photographer. Still, to be successful at stock photography you will need to understand all three angles of the business.

All three views share some common elements. We will start with these shared views as stock photography secrets are revealed.

Is Stock Photography A True Business?

Is stock photography a real business? Many people involved in it will agree that it is very much a business. Some photographers see it as a place to warehouse their mediocre photos. For them, the business element is unlikely to come into play.

Stock photography consists of existing photographs that can be used for various purposes ranging from advertising to educational uses. The concept for buyers is that it is much less expensive to buy a stock photo than it is to commission a photographer for a specific assignment to create similar photos.

Stock Photography As Seen By Buyers

Stock photography is very appealing to buyers. This has never been more true. The creation and growth of micro stock agencies have changed the face of stock photography for everyone involved.

I entered the stock photo arena back in the old days. You know, back when photos were taken with the use of film. Now we have digital cameras, electronic photo manipulators, and micro stock agencies. Old grey beards, like me, can feel very intimidated by all of the changes in the business.

Back in the film days it was common for stock agencies to send out original slides for potential buyers to review. Now photos are uploaded and emailed and shown in online galleries. The selling process is very different. Stock photography today is instant gratification.

It used to be important to choose an agency that was well known and that had strong connections in the buying world. This is still true, but it is not nearly as important as it used to be. Now if you can get your photos to come up in searches on the Internet, sales can be made. Hell, you don’t even need an agent these days.

Buyers are looking for specific types of photos. They don’t care if they come from a photographer or a stock agency. If you have the picture that the buyer wants, you have the power.

We will talk more about agencies in a later chapter. This chapter is meant as an overview, not a detailed description of what your options are and how to take advantage of them.

In short, buyers are looking for high-quality photos of specific subject matter that can be licensed for a reasonable fee. It boils down to the picture and the money. There is no loyalty between buyers and stock agencies. Yes, times have changed.

I just finished writing a new e-book that is a Book Buster entitled: Sensible Stock Photography: Secrets Revealed. I have been a stock photographer for about 30 years, so I have a bit of experience to share with people new to the business.

What Are The Basic Goals Of Stock Agencies?

Stock agencies exist to make money. Few agency owners do what they do as a hobby. It is all about the cash. If you can make money for an agency, they will be interested in you and your work.

There are many differences between agencies which we will discuss later. For now, it is enough to simplify the issue by saying that agencies what to represent photos that will sell often and for high prices. You can bet your best lens that agencies see what they do as a business.

Stock Photographers

Stock photographers come in many forms. Some are more serious than others. Photographers often look at stock sales as beer and peanut money. Other photographers make their entire living shooting and selling stock photos.

What type of stock photographer do you want to be? How much money do you want to make from your photos? Will you be happy to see your photos published even if you don’t make a lot of money? Since this book is expected to be of the most interest to photographers we will spend more time on this topic.

What do you want?

What do you want from your stock photography? Is your main goal to see your work in print? How important is the income from stock sales to you? Only you can answer these questions, and they must be answered.

If you are looking to make a lot of money, you should look at other means of income. It is surely possible to make big bucks with stock sales, but far more photographers make less rather than more.

Stock photography can provide many things to photographers. The list below identifies some of them:

A goal to shoot for Something worthwhile to do with your photos A source of unknown and unlimited income Critical assessments to make you a better photographer A chance to see more of your work published Legitimacy for your camera business tax deductions The excitement of being notified of a sale that you didn’t know about The hope of  using stock photography income as part of your retirement The thrill of competition

There are, of course, other benefits to be had from stock photography. You will know what is right for you when you try it.

An Opportunity

Stock photography is an open opportunity for all photographers. Your existing credentials don’t count. It doesn’t matter if your name is famous in the industry, although this never hurts. As long as you can produce high-quality photos on a consistent basis, you can be a stock photographer.

It used to be common to be an exclusive photographer for one agency. This type of arrangement still exists, but it is now common for photographers to be represented by multiple agencies at the same time. This can increase sales considerably. Most photographers in the digital age choose non-exclusive representation.

Themes

Some themes sell better than others for stock photographers. I love to shoot macro photos, nature, and wildlife subjects. These types of photos are sometimes purchased from stock agencies, but they are far from the best-selling categories.

Weddings are usually the main moneymaker for local photographers. People photos are the key producers in the stock market. Models have to sign releases, but the work can be simple, easy to plan, and you can produce a high volume of photos in a short time.

Photos that can be used as backgrounds for advertisements are another popular seller through agencies. These can be anything from photos of clouds in the sky to colored pebbles. Creative photographers excel at these pictures.

Food is a very popular seller with most agencies. Shooting a bowl of fruit in a studio might not be your idea of glamorous photography, but it can pay the bills quite handsomely.

Objects are another fairly popular category. This could be a jar of candy, a hammer, or a toaster. Avoid trademarks in this type of photography. If it exists, there may be a request for a picture of it at some time.

It’s What You Make of It.

Stock photography is what you make it. Some photographers consider it a waste of time. A lot of photographers use it for supplemental income. Photographers occasionally make great livings shooting stock. What will you make of it? Well, your feelings now may change considerably by the time you finish this rare, unveiled look at what stock photography really is and what it means to photographers.

Groshan Fabiola asked:


Selling stock photography to a stock image library could be a great option for you if you’re more interested in taking pictures than selling them. One of the major problems associated with freelance photography on a part time basis is the lack of time. If you have a separate job that takes your time from Monday to Friday, the only time you have left to take pictures are evenings, weekends and holidays.

If you add up all this time together, it looks okay, but to actually make money from your photography you can’t just take pictures, you need to sell them as well. That in it self can be very time and labor intensive. If you have a family, you probably have even less free time, so you need to make best use of what you have.

Many photographers don’t actually know how to sell their photography either. There is very little point in trying to sell pictures to magazines and publishing houses if you don’t actually know what they want or when they want it. If you send off pictures to these types of publications, the chances are you will be getting them back again within days; you will have achieved nothing except waste time and money.

A great way to overcome the problem of selling your photography is by storing your work with a stock photo library. With a stock photo library, all the selling is taken care of for you. This gives you a source of income for your photography, and gives you more time to spend on taking pictures.

So, if you want to find out more about transportation stock photography or about motorcycle stock photography or even about nautical stock you should click these links.

Nicholas Normandy asked:


Selling digital photography to stock photo sites or selling photos over the internet can be a very profitable business if you know all the nuances that will get you a good amount of sales. Learning the technical aspects is very important, and really paints the fine line between making money and wasting your time. I don’t mean to discourage anyone, because it should be conveyed that anyone with a digital camera, an internet connection and a little spare time can do quite well. A lot of people sell their freelance photos through stock photography sites or through their own page/web host without a particular theme and do fairly well, but I will take more time and effort. A better battle plan is to find a particular type or subject of digital photography that you can easily focus on.

To explain further what picking a theme really does for photography sales, it helps consumers easily find what they are looking for when they type in specific descriptions or set of keywords. This benefits you because if a consumer types in your specific subject there is a good chance that it will bring them directly to your freelance photography. If you don’t already have the program called Camera Dollars, then labeling and specifying keywords is something you have to learn, but this tool will help you. And after you read the Camera Dollars lessons, you need to sign up with these companies and do a bit of research in order to figure out a profitable theme to pick for your photography.

Here are are several different types of freelance photography themes and short descriptions of each.

The method of taking pictures as a Theme:

Some examples of this would be macro, scenery, black and white, geometric, architecture, abstract, micro, motion, portrait, or panoramic.

These are usually recognized by simple types of photography and aren’t usually profitable on their own. Usually you want to combine this with other themes, like instead of “50’s Television” you could use the theme “Black and white 50’s televisions.”

Nominal Themes:

Simply put these themes based on any object, person, or place. Examples are Dvd, chair, cookware, doorknobs, Bahamas, Britney Spears and so on.

Themes Based off of Photo Utility:

Instead of think of what to take pictures of think of what the person buying the photo is using it for. You can base your theme off of a particular job or usage for the photo. To give an example a lot of graphic designers buy digital photos off the internet, do some research and try to sell particularly to them.

Intangible Themes:

Intangible digital photography themes are based off of ideas, emotions and other ambiguous images. Here are some examples: Love, hope, existentialism, correction, trust, triumphant, justice.

Your digital photography doesn’t have to be specified by just one form. Any of these three types of subjects can be put together to make an even more specific category of photos. An example of mixing two themes would be like Motion and friendship, which can be a picture of two friends doing some activity together or otherwise being in the state of “motion.” You could have hundreds of themes by the time your done, but it is better to focus on a few at a time. Do your research and in order to learn about how to sign up or start your own business check out Jobs in Digital Photography

Kathy Burns-millyard asked:


There are many ways to make money online with photography, but a popular and fairly new way is through Micro Stock Photography websites.

Micro stock photography is simply stock photography that’s sold at deep discounts. Clients are able to license stock photos for just $1 or $2, and photographers earn money each time a client chooses one of their photos.

Micro stock photography is considered to be still in it’s infancy, and some people feel it’s wrong to sell photography at such low prices. Particularly since many professional photographers invest a lot of time and money on equipment, learning, and photo shoots.

For the beginning photographer though, micro stock photography agencies can be ideal places to start. Since entry requirements are not overly restrictive, many hobby photographers with inexpensive cameras have already started making a nice second income from their pictures.

How Does It Work?

The process of making money from your photography through micro stock agencies is fairly simple.

1. Research popular micro stock photography agencies online. There are quite a few of them, but you’ll want to start with just one or two until you get the hang of things.

2. Choose your absolute best pictures to submit. Some agencies require you to submit 10 pictures for review when you apply for an account with them, while others only require three the first time. Most don’t have minimum requirements though, and you can start by submitting just one.

3. Your pictures will be reviewed by humans, and accepted or rejected into the micro stock photography site. If they’re accepted, they’ll be available for clients to “buy”.

Technically they’re not fully buying your pictures though. They’re simply licensing the pictures for specific use. Usually micro stock photography is used in websites, though sometimes it’s used in advertisements, brochures and other marketing materials. The photographer always retains full copyrights to their photos though, and is normally able to sell the same photos over and over again to additional clients.

And this is the beauty of stock photography. Once you’ve taken a great picture and had it accepted into a stock photography portfolio, that one picture can continue earning you money month after month… sometimes year after year.

Most micro stock photography agencies pay $0.20 – $0.50 per picture license, or download. This may not seem like much, however a good photographer with several hundred pictures for sale could make a nice second income over time, because it all adds up!

There’s a lot more to the stock photography business, which we don’t have room to cover in just one article. You’ll find expanded details about making money with stock photography in this article though: “Can Photographers Make Money With Stock Photography?” found at: http://metaforimaging.com/basic-photography-course-introducing-stock-photography/

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Dan Feildman asked:


tography is simply photos taken “on spec”. This means the photographer takes pictures of various objects, people, or situations, and sells them after the pictures have been taken. They are not on a specific photography assignment, instead they are taking photos of subjects they\’d like to take pictures of.

Stock photography is primarily used in printed advertisements, brochures, magazines, and web sites, though there are many other ways stock photography can be used.

Stock photography is licensed in several different ways. The two most popular are Rights Managed Stock Photography, and Royalty Free Stock Photography.

Rights Managed photography is the use of stock photos that are licensed for a specific, limited time and purpose. If an advertiser for instance, needed a stock photo for one specific ad campaign, they could license a photo for that specific use. And they\’d be limited to using the photo only for that campaign. They\’d also be charged based on the size of the ad campaign they intended to use the stock photo for.

If they wanted to use the same photo again, they\’d have to pay another fee. And that fee might be different, if the campaign use and sizes are different. These recurring fees are called royalties, and with rights managed stock photography they can be quite hefty. Ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars for the limited use of one photograph.

Royalty free stock photography allows you to pay a license fee once, then use the photo multiple times. There are usually limitations on this form of stock photography, however the restrictions are not nearly as narrow as rights managed photography is. A designer or advertiser could license one photo for instance, and use it in hundreds of different ad campaigns, without incurring additional fees. In other words: No royalty fees need to be paid.

Generally royalty free stock photography can be licensed for as little as $50 up to several hundred dollars depending on the licensing source and rights given.

One of the most popular forms of stock photography for small and web based businesses, is royalty free micro stock photography. This is a variation on the royalty free model, but it\’s referred to as “micro stock” because designers and advertisers pay just a dollar or two per image license.

This type of stock photography has become quite popular with web site owners particularly, because it\’s a very inexpensive way to get top quality photos for use on their web sites. Quality stock photos can be licensed for as little as $1 in smaller, web friendly sizes. And prices go up to about $3 or $5 for larger, print quality photo sizes.

Since these photos are royalty free, designers can use them multiple times for that one time low cost. Be sure to check the licensing restrictions though. Royalty free does not automatically mean “public domain” or “copyright free”, and each micro stock photography site has their own particular use restrictions on the photos you license.

Once you have grasped the basics of photography you will be half way there to making an great monthly income supplement, by selling your photos on Stock Photography Sites, so make sure you take a good look at this basic photography course

Aidan James asked:


So you’ve got an eye for a good photo and can use a computer? Why not sell your photos on stock photography sites? There is plenty of opportunity for keen photographers to make a little extra cash and there is also opportunity to make lots of it!

Stock photographs are photos that might be of use to someone somewhere for something. Which makes the playing field rather large! Think of it this way, a photo of a man walking quickly along a crowded city pavement carrying a briefcase while talking into a cell phone might be of use to a magazine doing an article on cell phones or an advertiser of stress busting weekends away, or a newspaper doing a piece on business growth in the city.

The potential income ranges from small to large. Amateur photographers with small volumes of images can make enough money to help develop their skills and maybe buy some new equipment which is itself a good reason to try the online stock photography phenomenon. Experienced photographers who produce hundreds of images on a monthly basis can make a significant part of their living from stock photography.

Stock photography sites like iStockphoto for one example, allow you to sign up free of charge and start uploading your image files. They accept good quality jpegs and vector images as well as videos and each file will attract a value based on its quality and size. You are then credited with a royalty for downloads of your files.

The payment to you for an individual file might be just cents but consider that this for every time an image is downloaded and it starts to add up. A very popular image might fetch you $50 in a month just for that one image. If you have an eye for good images and can see what is in demand you can make lots! By the way sites like iStockphoto actually help you learn to spot the trends in demand for photos and you can upload hundreds of images.

Copyright is obviously important so there are some rules fairly common to all stock sites such as providing model releases where people are the subject of the photo or are at least recognizable in it. The stock sites have similar requirements on this but typically will want to see the persons signed consent form giving you permission to use their image in your photos and a copy of their ID. A witness signature may also be required.

You should avoid using any recognizable brand or logo type images and even well known buildings can be subject to this too. Any image that might be considered a brand or subject to copyright and trademark protection is to be avoided unless you have the paperwork giving you permission for its use.

Make sure you comply with the site guidelines for filesize and type and of course rotate and crop your images appropriately to make them most appealing and eye-catching. Remember they have to catch the eye of the potential buyer who is browsing through screens of all the images available.

Related to that need to be eye-catching, you will also need to carefully consider the kind of keywords someone might use when searching for images like the ones you are selling. These keywords can be input on the site you upload to but its often easier and better to include them in the metadata of the images themselves as this will save you heaps of time when it come to uploading your work. Photoshop and other graphics packages use the IPTC standard for embedding your keywords into your jpeg files.

So now you know a little more about the potential of stock photography whats stopping you? Good Luck!

Murray Edwards asked:


Stock Photography – Part 2

In an earlier article, Stock Photography – Part 1, I discussed the basics in getting started in business of stock photography. Deciding what topics or areas in which you what to specialize, and the requirements around performing commercial or editorial photography.

Here in Stock Photography – Part 2, I will cover how you may want to provide and control the use of your images, Royalty-Free (RF) or Rights-Managed (RM). Naturally, you want to make the most from your hard work and effort so make this decision wisely. RF and RM have many differences, be sure you understand the distinctions.

Should you decide that Royalty-Free is the route you prefer then here’s what you need to know. Unlike many professionals, I have no problem with RF licensing, long as you price the image properly. In the RF model, you will normally set the price by the size and resolution of the image. Small, low-res images which are used typically for websites are priced at the lowest rate. These images run in the sub-1MB range at 72 DPI, with longest side somewhere in the range of 6 inches. High-Resolution licenses will provide your customer with a image that is somewhere in the 8-20MB or larger at 300 DPI with the longest side being whatever your camera produces.

Royalty-Free licenses for stock images are normally used for commercial purposes and you will be required to produce the proper releases. Also be aware that when your client requests an RF license, they can basically use that image in any manner that they wish and can publish it as many times as they desire. As long as you understand that in essence you have lost a good deal of control and potential revenue from that image, then providing RF licenses is a good way to go.

Let’s take a look at a few pro’s and con’s of RF license.

Pro’s: With RF licenses you have the ability to re-license a stock image as many times and as often as you like. There are no exclusive rights issued, so a image could be used by several publications or people at the same time.

Con’s: Since you cannot provide any form of exclusivity with RF, the amount you can charge for a license is normally much less than what you can for a Rights-Managed license. So, as I indicated earlier, be sure that you price appropriately. Lack of image control is the main con for RF licenses. One other con, once you have decided that you are going to offer an image as RF then you cannot at a later date decide to make it Rights-Managed. How come? In most cases, RM licenses provide some form of exclusivity. Your client would rather upset if they paid you for rights to usage, then saw the image in another publication. Remember, in RF, anyone could have downloaded the image many months prior to use and can publish it as many times as they want.

Moving on to Rights-Managed licensing for stock images. Pricing is quite a bit different in this model. RM can be used for both commercial or editorial. Where RF is normally priced by image size, RM on the other hand is priced by type of usage and production run. You can provide special usage rights to your client, exclusive or non-exclusive, in the case of editorial usage a release may not be required. Typically, most professionals will use some form of RM calculator to determine the proper rate to charge for a license.

For a example, the rate you would charge for a publisher wanting to use an image exclusively for 6 months, ¼ page, with a production run of 50,000 would be much higher than a publisher having the same requirements with non-exclusive rights. Why? That image is now locked up and cannot be used by anyone else for 6 months.

This is the biggest difference between RF and RM, you have much more control in the manner in which your image is used and you can charge more for the license.

So, here’s the decision you will have to make, offer up your stock images at a lower cost via RF in hopes that you can license the image multiple times or be select on how the image can be used, charge more, but license less.

For the most part quantity does not always win out.

In the final two installments, I will be discussing workflow and how do you plan to go to market.