for those of you that do stock photography [Archive] - Canon Digital Photography Forums

amfoto1

31st of July 2008 (Thu), 12:42

Hi,

It's really hard to recommend a specific stock agency. All of us fit into different niches, which means different agencies would be more or less appropriate. I'd rather point you in some directions where you can likely gather info and decide what's right for you, instead of telling you what's right for me (plus I'm in the process of changing some things myself).

There are many considerations, such as do you want to be with the biggest (#1 Getty, #2 Corbis) who undoubtedly have the highest buyer traffic, but are likely the least "friendly, helpful, generous" to their member photographers?

There are also newer, heavily Internet based agencies like Alamy and Photoshelter. I call them "mid-stocks", for lack of a better term, since they seem to promote higher pricing than micro stock, and higher quality along with it, but their pricing recommendations don't seem as high as more traditional agencies tend to charge.

First go to www.danheller.com and read some of his articles. He also sells some books about the photography business.

Next head over to Amazon.com and buy a copy of "Photographers Market 2008". It's got about 60 pages of stock agencies listed, including details about their specialization (if any), who to contact and how they prefer you submit work for their consideration, as well as some brief "how to" articles.

While at Amazon, look for other books about shooting and selling stock. There are a number of good ones.

Then try to find a seminar with an old pro in the business. I was fortunate that Bill Bachmann was in my area earlier this year giving a seminar one evening and portfolio reviews the next day. Total cost was about $150 if I recall correctly and it was invaluable to hear about the business from someone who has been doing it for 30 years and is widely thought to be among of the top 5 stock shooters in the world, although he considers stock a side line to his "real" business and says it is "only worth something close to" $1 million a year. Still, it's enough that he employs two people full time to do his keywording and uploading to six different agencies. www.billbachmann.com is his website.

A few fine points that came out of the meeting with Bill: 80 to 90% of stock images sold commercially are of people. And, he won't bother taking a shot of a person until after a model release is signed because one is mandatory for commercial usage. Photos sold for commercial usage probably are worth 5X to 10X as much as ones for editorial usage, on average.

Bill also stressed the importance of his own website, as a marketing tool. While no website stands on it's own, it's becoming the core component in today's marketing model. Dan Heller and some other photogs I know only use their own site for stock sales, don't use any agencies at all.

Challenges? Well, micro stock and amateur image sales have certainly eroded the pricing for stock, but have opened new markets too.

Time at the computer is pretty heavily outweighing shooting time and customer time put together.

To be successful, I think a photographer has to have one or a few specializations. This is Bachmann's recommendation, too. He said, "Pick something and become known as the very best at photographing it." This is an area I know I have trouble with, I've just never really specialized very much and it shows in my portfolio!

Today photographers are under many pressures and the market is changing rapidly. I've mentioned micro stock, which has come about thanks to the Internet. We're also more globalized than ever before, something that effects assignment and travel photographers both positively and negatively.

A buyer can now very easily locate and contact a local photographer on the other side of the world, rather than go to the expense of sending someone there. On the other hand, this means some of our best opportunities might be found very close to home.

The Internet also can make anyone's business appear larger than it really is (or just the opposite), and your actual brick and mortar location might be relatively unimportant, depending upon what sort of work you do.

Every agency has different criteria, so really can't answer that. There's one that will not accept photographers who have their work on microstock sites, period. Others make you go through a screening process initially, then simply allow you to upload your work freely. Others review every submission and will give you constant feedback on both your quality and whether or not your subject materials are what buyers have been asking for. And there are many who specialize in one type of subject or another, sometimes very narrowly. One is set up to act primarily as a referral, sending the buyer directly to the photographer to work out the purchase. Heck, some even still cling to the model of scanning film and printed catalogs (both often at a cost to the photog) or CD submissions only... Although most have entered the 21st century and accept digital uploads now.

Hope this helps!