Stock photography

[djarvik]

Anyone here in to stock photography??

I have a nice ammount of photos sitting in my hard drive, thought I'd give it a shot, any suggestions?

I got this one
http://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=8112

do you have some other oportunities?

yes, I know my ref id is in the post :) if you don't like it, cut it, I won't get upset lol

let me know please.

Thanks

Alon

[djarvik]

Anyone? :(

[djarvik]

wow, am I being ignored for some reson?? lol

[Red]

Cheap download stock is frowned upon by the pros. By pro, I mean people who are using photography to pay their mortgage, not just for a hobby.

The cheap sites are more about the photographers vanity than anything else. Being pleased someone used it, rather than it being worth anything. Get your photos in a proper stock system and you'll earn more from one use of one photo than all the ones you would from a cheapie.

Hope that helps a bit

[sixshot]

Do a search, this has been discussed a few times before.

[djarvik]

I did search, still need info from people that actually participate in such activities.... anyone?

[Jackal]

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=61210&highlight=stock+photography

;)

[photoplasia]

I use the Shutterstock site - have been a member since February.

Sure, you won't make a ton of cash - but, if you don't have a portfolio that Getty will look at yet, then maybe it is a way to start, and get some tips, and earn a bit of money - maybe enough for that 'L' series lens.

As you've seen already, you will have people jump on you, and tell you 'Rights Free' photography is killing the business - however, I think there is more than enough room for both models. I can't see Time magazine trolling Shutterstock for my 23 cent download, nor can I see a new web designer fresh from school dump $2500 on a pic of a plate of pasta for the Mom and Pop restaurant on the corner.

[djarvik]

Agreed! 100% after some time looking into it, I agree totally with you! for me, worth a try!

[djarvik]

Update:

got 5 sites in my collection now, it looks like that ebem my photos apeal to someone! lol

[djarvik]

Found 1 more! got six now. let me know if you need it

[DocFrankenstein]

If you get lucky, you'll get enough to buy yourself a cheap filter ;)

stock photography sucks

[kb244]

If you goto shutterstock, take off the ref=

I dont like giving other people money for my work.

I'd rather be at a stock site that buyers have to pay per image, I would rather not be at a stock site, where buyers pay one price, and its big grab bag to download as many as you can before your time expires.

[djarvik]

it's up to you!

[ssim]

Even though I am a hobbyist at this thing there is no way that I am going to let someone have my image for a mere 20 cents.

[Rick Baker]

get the book "Photographer's Market" to find photobuyers and good general info on stock photography

[Kadath]

Even though I am a hobbyist at this thing there is no way that I am going to let someone have my image for a mere 20 cents.

Me either! I'd rather it go for free!
http://creativecommons.org/

=)

[Speedie]

Cheap download stock is frowned upon by the pros. By pro, I mean people who are using photography to pay their mortgage, not just for a hobby.

The cheap sites are more about the photographers vanity than anything else. Being pleased someone used it, rather than it being worth anything. Get your photos in a proper stock system and you'll earn more from one use of one photo than all the ones you would from a cheapie.

Hope that helps a bit

Where would one find these "proper" stock systems? Do you know of any offhand?

[b-andersson]

Anyone here in to stock photography??

I have a nice ammount of photos sitting in my hard drive, thought I'd give it a shot, any suggestions?

Alon

Hey there,
a suggestion is to to upload them on www.istockphotos.com (http://www.istockphotos.com) or any other stock photo sites. You should when you have registred look at one of the guys/girls who earn/have most money/downloads. And you more or less copy some of the ideas. And whats the best here is not 3 or 4 images. We are talking more about 400-600 pictures. And the keywords are very important. The client search for the keywords they don't look through every users gallery just to find the right image.
I suggest from my point of view studio photos are the best buyers. They have simple background, white for example.
I suggest the first tip, look at one of the best sellers. And see what he or she is making thats so good compared to others.

[max101]

I have just found http://www.totallyphotos.com. They are a new site: most search terms turn up the message:
We are a brand new site (go-live was on July 13, 2005) so we are building up our stocks.

But words like "nature" and "animals" produce some hits.
They say they are after all types of photos at the moment - which is probably a good time to get photos accepted!
I was sick of getting 10cents for my photos on istock - ok, totallyphotos may only offer $12.50 for a high res image, but 10cents... give me a break!
Still have to see if they get the stocks and then do the marketing to get the sales, but you may want to give them a try.

[Mthorpe_Davies]

I have just found http://www.totallyphotos.com. They are a new site: most search terms turn up the message:
We are a brand new site (go-live was on July 13, 2005) so we are building up our stocks.

But words like "nature" and "animals" produce some hits.
They say they are after all types of photos at the moment - which is probably a good time to get photos accepted!
I was sick of getting 10cents for my photos on istock - ok, totallyphotos may only offer $12.50 for a high res image, but 10cents... give me a break!
Still have to see if they get the stocks and then do the marketing to get the sales, but you may want to give them a try.

I use totallyphotos, they will accept just about anything at the moment. I've had a couple of sales so far, I hope they get the site advertsied properly since they have a good model and pay way better than iStock, ShutterStock et al.

[dkgilbey]

If you get lucky, you'll get enough to buy yourself a cheap filter ;)

stock photography sucks

LOL - tell this to Lise Gagne (& many others...)

[snokid]

If you get lucky, you'll get enough to buy yourself a cheap filter ;)

stock photography sucks


Don't know if you can access this without becoming a member, If you choose to become a member use my link in my sig pretty please!!! LOL Even if you choose not to submit you can just register to read the forums.

You get out of it what you put into it.

I'm cutting and pasting a little from his post just incase.

"""Two months ago I promised to make it official when I crossed the “1000Dls in one day” barrier. I am now overly-thrilled to be able to present this cropped screenshot of when it happened. I even crossed the barrier with 170 DLs in surplus!! WooHooo is all I can say!
"""

"""Cecilie (my girlfriend) is hired by me as a full-time assistant and takes care of all marketing including getting new models, arranging castings, advertising for locations, hiring Photoshop assistants and so. I am the official photographer of Model Booking Denmark and also provide pictures for “elite” in Copenhagen (where you will find models as Claudia Schiffer) – This helps a lot! Cecilie gets around 5-10 emails from hopeful new models every week, and from these we choose only a few for casting.
When I need models that are a little hard to get a hold on, such as older ones, I hire them from agencies. I have special arrangements with the model agencies I work with and can use the model for a low fee.
Getting good models is a piece of cake compared to getting new and good locations. I spent over £2000 back in 2007 feb. for a location scout to drive around in Denmark to find good locations. I got two locations out of this….doh. Getting good locations is SOOOOO hard and takes so much time.

The casino shoot was VERY expencive. We closed down the hole thing for a day... Not cheap. We also flew a model in from copenhagen and we had to pay for his girlfriend to come along before he accepted."""

http://submit.shutterstock.com/forum/abt19423-0-asc-0.html

Bob

[liza]

You might consider a Smugmug pro account, also. They are soon going to be getting into the stock photography business and will allow the photographers to set their own rates for their images.