Photography, Money and Love

I love coming up with funny stock photo ideas...like Elephants in starting blocks!

Love, Passion and Photography

A friend of mine, fellow photographer Tanya Constantine, left a message for me on my Facebook page in which she lamented that there is too much emphasis on the money aspect of photography, not enough on the love and passion for the art. I was reflecting on that as I drove home from my studio this evening.

The Enjoyment of Creating Stock Images

I spent the day creating stock images, including the elephant in the starting blocks at the top of this blog. I was doing it for the money. But I do love the work as well. I love coming up with ideas, ideas that will amuse and at the same time deliver a message, a commercial message no less. I love the process of putting my images together, the planning, the photography and the Photoshop work. I love finishing an image and just plain enjoying it.

Money As A Measurement

The money, however, is also important, and in several in a couple of ways. Obviously, I want to maintain a certain standard of living, put some away for when I reach the point where I can’t work as much…or even don’t want to work as much. And the money is important in another way too. It is a measure of my abilities, a yardstick by which I can judge my progress. For better or worse, I take pride in the fact that I can make money at photography, and yes, it makes me feel good about myself.

How Can I Make Money With My Photos?

One often hears, or reads, that this photographer or that photographer would do their work whether they were being paid or not. I often wondered if that were true of me. I really don’t know. I do love creating images, but seldom create ones that won’t earn me money.  Even on vacation or traveling I will find myself reaching for my camera when a potential shot catches my attention, and yet I am always wondering if and how I can make money with the shot. I have foregone some pretty cool shots because I couldn’t see how I could make money with them.

Wasted Images

Part of my thinking goes that if I don’t have a market for the image it will be wasted. No one will see it. I have so many images that know one will ever see, some really great ones too. But I don’t have the time, or I suppose, the inclination, to get them online, to enter shows, to make prints (and where would I hang those prints?), to get them in front of an audience.

Sharing Images, And Making Money

Just thinking out loud here. I am interested in why I take the approach I do, but I certainly am not unduly bothered my how I operate. As I said, I do enjoy what I do. I love making my images. I love sharing my images, be they funny elephant pictures, silly cat photos, or businessmen in odd, funny and precarious situations. I to confess though, I really love making money off of my images too.

The Secret Lives of Elephants: A Photo Odyssey

These two pachyderms exemplify the secret lives of elephants as they entertwine their trunks and touch their feet together.

The Secret And Remarkable Lives of Elephants
We all know that Elephants are remarkable creatures, but until very recently we didn’t know how remarkable. It was on a two-year expedition to previously unexplored regions of both Africa and South East Asia that I was able to gain the trust of these ponderous pachyderms to the point where they let me photograph them in there normally secret activities and feats that have never before been witnessed by humans. Elephants, as it turns out, have amazing skills in music, dance, in athletic performances and even in the metaphysical.

Burmese Jungles and Elephant Ballads
At one point, having hacked our way through the deep jungles of Burma for weeks, sharing meals and stories with Tribal people including the neck-ring wearing Padueng, some of whom had never seen westerners before, and seeing nothing but malaria mosquitoes, leeches and venomous snakes, we were rewarded with a truly inspiring sight. We actually heard it before we saw it. An eerie but incredibly beautiful melody, a haunting harmony punctuated by rap-like bellows and an deep rumbling base that came up through the ground and reverberated into our chests. And then, as we parted the vines and tropical leaves, there before us, four of the huge beasts, trunks upraised, stood together and harmonized in their elephant ballad that spoke of eons of history, of heartache and accomplishment, of lost brothers and sisters, and of hopes for the future.

Bangkok, Disco Dancing and an Elephant in a Bar
But our elephant adventure was not confined to the Burmese rain forests. In the back alleys of Bangkok, where tourists are never seen and darkness hides the comings and goings of those who frequent unlikely venues, we were ushered into a cavernous unmarked warehouse whose plain and pedestrian exterior belied the extraordinary scene within. A huge, pulsing room filled with a flashing staccato strobe and streaming colored lights washing over a crowd swaying to the music and surrounding a towering bull elephant standing upright and disco dancing with surprising agility. When the music stopped the hulking animal lumbered over to the bar (you may have heard about the elephant who walked into a bar…) and enlisted three stools as he settled himself in at the bar for a little libation.

Angkor Wat, a Buddhist Monk, and a High Wire Act
But the athletic ability of elephants isn’t, as it turns out, limited to dancing. In yet another jungle clearing, this one not far from Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat, an ancient, leathery Buddhist monk led us to a sight I will never forget.  Among the fallen stones of a long forgotten temple, the elephants had set up a school, a school of performing arts, and we were lucky enough to witness one young adolescent practicing his high wire act with the help of a balance beam.  As we watched another youngster drifted by in the background clinging to a balloon with his trunk. In the corner of my eye I caught one elephant practicing his chameleon act changing from grey to pink in just an instant.  As awesome an experience as it was we couldn’t linger. We had to press on with our journey of investigation into the secret world of elephants.

Flying Elephants, Elephants Hiding in Trees, and Elephants in the Room
In the course of our mission we saw flying elephants, we saw elephants hiding in trees, and even elephants practicing yoga. But perhaps the most amazing ability of all that we witnessed in the elephant repertoire, is a metaphysical ability, the ability to slip virtually undetected into any room in which a conversation is taking place, and to remain undetected as long as the conversation continues. I myself witnessed, and photographed, such feats more than once (once in a hospital recovery room, and again in an office).

The End of Our Odyssey, and One Last Treat
Eventually we had to end our odyssey. Our funds had run out and it was time to get back to work. But the elephants had one last treat for me. As we headed to the airport on our back home, I took one last glance out the back of the cab and caught a glimpse of a lone elephant emerging from a side road and then disappearing into the distance…on a unicycle.

Social Media, An Art Buyer, and Google Image Search

Social media and networking is illustrated in this stock photo by showing the teen-aged girl's network of friends and family in a sphere of portraits.

Social Media and Google Image Search
Upon arriving in my studio this morning there was a message on my voice mail from an art buyer for a large corporation who was inquiring about an image of mine created to illustrate the concepts of social media and social networking. She had found the image doing a Google Image search. Keep in mind this art buyer is very familiar with both Corbis and Getty. Interestingly enough, the social media image in question is with both Getty and Corbis (it is actually a Blend Images photo distributed through many agencies including the “Big Two”), but she found it first on my site! The image, by the way, is one of several I have recently completed to try and service the growing need for photos that deal with social media and such.


Providing Excellent Service Through SEO
My conversation with this art buyer reinforced a few things for me. It offered proof that even experienced art buyers turn to Google to find images…at least occasionally; that helping such prospective clients find your images is a legitimate and important extension of client servicing; and that my program of SEO and online presence is succeeding.


Art Buyers Turn To Google…and License Images
PhotoShelter, in their survey of art directors, art buyers, and designers, clearly indicated that such industry pros do use Google Image search from time to time. Since most of my images are with agencies, and when someone wants to license those images they are automatically taken to the agencies site. I seldom find out if my images are licensed after being found on the Internet. I do know that at this point around twenty people a day are sent to sites of the various agencies from my own site…I just don’t know if they complete the licensing process once they get there. So it is encouraging when I find out, as I did today, that a licensing process is completed.

Good SEO and Online Presence Is An Important Service To Clients
When I called this art buyer back she was effusive in thanking me for making it easy to find the image she was looking for. She volunteered that she would be keeping me in mind for similar imagery as well. She was grateful that I had put the time and effort into SEO, into making her job easier by making my images easier for her to find. Got to love that!


SEO and Online Databases of Images Do Result in Higher Sales
As demonstrated in this case, art buyers (and art directors, designers, animal lovers and other photography enthusiasts and people in need of images) are finding my pictues in those Internet searches, licensing them and purchasing prints and products from me. There is no question that it is working…the questions are how much such activity will increase as my traffic increases, and how quickly will that traffic increase? Originally I figured a year to get to a significant sales volume, but now I am thinking two years…and that is with several hours spent on my site and SEO almost every day! In my experience SEO is a long and laborious process…but one that works and one that someday I will be very glad I undertook!

Positive Indicators In Stock Photography

We create our own realities; see the future as bright and then find out how to make it so.

A Less Than Optimistic Interview and Positive Indicators
After Jim Pickerell’s less than optimistic interview I think it might be a good idea to point out what I experience as the more positive indicators out there in this crazy world of stock photography. I agree with many of the “thought leaders” in the image business that our industry is in the midst of profound change, and that making a living at stock photography is not getting any easier. Or is it? In some ways it is easier! But I digress. For the moment, a run-down of what is positive in our industry.


It Is Easier Than Ever To Be a Stock Photographer
First, the use of images is exploding. Second, making great images is becoming easier and easier. Third, distribution options have gone through the roof, including self-distribution. Fourth, information about stock photos, about the stock industry, heck about everything, is available as never before.  I don’t think anyone can deny that it is easier to be a stock photographer than ever…oh yeah, we are talking about making a living at stock.

More Images Are Being Used Than Ever Before
Lets look at that first part, that more images are being used in more ways than ever before (of course, according to most reports 80% of the photos being used on line are purloined images). The very fact that so many images are needed means there is opportunity. I can verify from my own experience with Blend Images, Getty and Corbis that there are some large amounts still being paid for RM photos, and that there are plenty of sales of high-end RF sales as well. I was checking my sales at Blend this morning and was gratified to see dozens of sales over $200.00 (Blend’s share from other distributors), over a dozen for over $300.00, and even one for over $400.00. Of course, then there is something like a hundred Getty sales for $1.82. Oh Well…. But seriously, estimates have placed the stock industry at close to two billion dollars a year. That is a lot of money, and there are still a ton of clients who are willing to pay significant sums to license the images they want and need. If you have never read Dan Heller’s blog you might want to check it out. He makes a case for the industry being far larger in size. Also, I ran across this little tidbit, which seems to confirm the idea that there are still clients willing to pay a reasonable fee: “It was incredibly positive to hear from agencies that are seeing not just their turnover but also their per image sales price holding strong”. This quote is from Pepper Stark who has a stock photography industry consultancy. For the full article click here.

Don't Forget Video
And don’t forget video! While I am only hesitantly dipping my toe in the video scene, and my sources report that the bottom has dropped out of the video market, at least temporarily, video is being used everywhere from on top of the gas pump when I fill my car, to behind the teller at my bank, to popping up everywhere on the internet. In with just under 50 clips on line with Getty, up until a couple of months ago, I was averaging about  $750.00 per month in royalties!

Making Great Images Is Easier Than Ever
The second part is also hard to argue with: Making images, making good images, is easier than ever. Digital cameras give you better quality than film, instant feedback, and no film costs! Those of us who remember having to deal with filtration for film, waiting till long after a shoot to see if we were getting anything, and spending insane amounts of money on film and processing…well, I don’t think anybody can say, with a straight face, that making great images hasn’t gotten a lot easier. And I haven’t even brought Photoshop up!  Digital capture is one of the developments that has helped dismantled the artificial barriers that used to keep stock photography in the hands of the few.

Dismantling The Old Boys Club
The other development that has dismantled the old boys club is microstock. Now, literally, anybody can get their images distributed. Even Getty solicits contributors through flicker now.  Or you can distribute or own images using systems such as Photoshelter to deal with online storage and shopping carts. You can spread the word with Twitter and Facebook, or sell your images on products through CafePress, Zazzle and others. I offer fine art prints through Imagekind…and it sure makes the process easy!

Understanding the Stock Photo Industry
Information about the business of stock photography is available from blogs everywhere. You can watch a video and see exactly how Yuri makes his images, find out the intricacies of RPI from Tom Grill, or bone up on the fine points of using social media in your photography business from Jack Hollingsworth. You can log onto microstock sites and find out which images sell the best. You can utilize services like LookStat to analyze your sales, and/or to efficiently upload your images to multiple distributors. aggregate useful information for everyone. You can use Google Analytics, or programs like Wordtracker to research keywords and improve your SEO.  Forums to share information on the workings and news of the stock industry are coming out of the woodwork ( I just joined Stock Artists Alliance...and don't forget the afore mentioned Jim Pickerells' PhotoLicensingOptions). Sites like Microstockdiaries and StockPhotoTalk aggregate news and information for you. If you want to understand the industry, learn more about photography, or see how successful stock shooters work…the information is right at hand.

Be Very Very Good At What You Do
There is no question that being a stock shooter has never been easier! As for making a living off of stock photography, I believe that option still exists (I am not the only one still doing well in stock), and will always continue to exist. The trick is to provide photos that help companies get their messages across better than the next photographer’s images…better to the degree that you, or your distributor, can collect an a fee worthy of the time, effort and money that goes into those images.  In short, you have to be very, very good at what you do.  You have to create great images within reasonable budgets. You have to be smart about what images you create, and you have to be smart in distributing those images.

Facing Challenges, Competition and Possibilities
Yes, being a stock photographer has never been easier; and yes, making a living at it certainly has its challenges. But what business isn’t facing such challenges? The corner grocer has Costco down the street to deal with.  The neighborhood coffee shop has Starbucks across the way.  We stock photographers just have one hell of a lot of competition, but the possibilities are greater than ever. If we can maintain a positive attitude we are far more likely to find and utilize those possibilities!  As a matter of fact, I think I better wrap this up and go create an image!

Handshakes, Challenges, and Success As A Stock Photographer

As stock photographers, as well as artists, we must take old concepts, like the dreaded business handshake, and bring them to life in new and exciting ways.

Blend Images, A Recession, And Opportunity
The negative news in the photography world is rampant, and it would be foolish not to pay attention…and not to be concerned. But I can’t help but believe that with the tremendous demand for images there isn’t also a lot of opportunity. I will come out and say it: There is a lot of opportunity! Blend Images, of which I am a part of, has just licensed more images than ever...even in a recession year. And they weren’t doing it by discounting. As a matter of fact, one of my associates had one sale in Blend’s just introduced Rights Managed collection for over $9,000.00. Don’t forget, despite the doom and gloom there are hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on stock images.

Our Challenge As Stock Photographers
There are opportunities…but how do we take advantage of them? One way is to shoot the old tried-and-true concepts, but to shoot them in a new and different way. Let’s take the example of a handshake. Kind of makes you cringe, right? I mean if anything has been done to death, overused, and driven into the ground it is the business handshake. And yet, what better symbol is there for such important and necessary concepts as sealing the deal, agreement, success and teamwork? Handshakes are a quick read and we all get the point. Handshakes really are a necessary image in the business world. As creative photographers, as artists if you will, and certainly as stock shooters, it is our challenge to take such mundane concepts and take them to a new level.

Photos That Stand Out From The Crowd, And Success
Our continued success certainly depends on our ability to do so. I don’t really know if the crushing glut of images will spell doom for the careers of most stock shooters, but I do believe that there will always be success and good rewards for those who can create photos that stand out from the crowd. One problem, though, is getting paid adequately for creating such photos. It could be that if you create exceptional pictures and put them into micro you might have a volume of sales that justifies the blood, sweat and money that goes into such images. Of course, one danger with that is that you might have every Tom, Dick and Jane copying your better selling images.

No Guarantees, Negotiation and Possibilities
I believe it is a better strategy to put such images into Rights Managed collections. There is no guarantee that whoever is negotiating the fee for the images will do them justice, but there is at least the possibility! Too, if the demand for great images does result in higher fees then Rights Managed can easily step up to that task. Once you release an image into micro, or even RF…well, what’s done is done.

Diversification And Knowledge
That being said, I am putting images in both RM and RF. I am staying diversified in as many ways as I think prudent (micro not being one of them…yet*) in order to both minimize the impact of changes in the market, and to have the first hand information of what is selling and for how much. As they say, knowledge is power…sort of. Whether I put images into RF or RM, I want them, ideally, to be fresh, and filling a definite need in the marketplace. I am positive that if you can create exciting and compelling photography that fills the needs for business, there are ample opportunities for success and for making a very good living. Call me an optimist!

*A word about micro. I don’t mean to bash micro. I don’t begrudge the participants of micro. I just don’t believe that it is the right business model for me. Micro opened up the stock photo door to everyone and, in a sense, leveled the playing field. It has forever changed the landscape. It isn’t good, or bad, it just is. Heck, some photographers are amazingly successful with that model, and maybe someday it will be more attractive to me, but right now I believe I can earn more through the traditional outlets.

Guest Blog: A Recently Rounded Perspective on Microstock by Scott Redinger-Libolt

Photographer/art director Scott Redinger-Libolt gets a new perspective on microstock and shares it with us in this guest blog.

A recently rounded perspective on microstock
by Scott Redinger-Libolt

As many of you know, a large part of my income as a photographer is from stock. Other sources include assignment, creative consulting, editing, and retouching. I do not participate in microstock…however, I just had my first experience purchasing it for a client. I must say, I felt very guilty and wanted to share some realizations I had during the experience (hands still clutching the bloody knife).

One of my editing clients is the Green Labor Journal who is a non-profit organization. With a small team of writers and researchers, the journal provides information on a monthly basis including the complex politics of energy, green jobs, green education, union news, and affiliate articles. Their efforts are quite noble and like most righteous organizations, their funds are severely limited.

Needless to say, I bought a photograph from microstock, and it took this first hand experience to awaken me to the broad spectrum of effects caused by this one simple act. The picture was of solar panels being installed by workers on the roof of a commercial building. OK, let’s stop there for a moment. As a photographer, I know what it takes to make a connection with a solar company, secure a model release, and get access to shoot on the roof of a commercial building in this litigious and liability stricken nation. These hurdles alone make for an extremely valuable subject matter in stock due to the scarcity of coverage. This particular image, a very nice shot I might add, has further value due to the attention and growth in the “Green” and “Solar” industries…a perfect combination of supply and demand.

Like many stock photographers, I’ve been asked by most agencies to shoot green energy and had lightly started some research last year. The time and travel involved with producing this content has factored into my inadequate coverage of the subject. Having seen and bought another photographer’s end result for less than $5 has given me reason for pause. Based on the downloads of this particular image, and from what I know about average purchase price, file size, etc…I calculate that this one image will make the photographer about $600-800 in the first year. Not bad on a single image, but you can’t calculate RPI on a single image without knowing how many images were shot that day and how many of them don’t sell as well or at all…and, of course, the tapering lifespan is a factor. Given my experience in RM & RF, I believe this particular image could be making nearly double this amount per year in either of these licensing models. But I don’t want to dwell on this too much because my enlightenment was of a bigger picture …pun not intended.

When I joined Green Labor Journal as a freelance photo editor, I had also hoped that one day I would be shooting editorial pictures of the green workforce and attribute my skills to a noble cause. But as I clicked “Buy” on this microstock image and made this well-deserving client aware of this outlet for extremely cheap content, I saw my personal assignment hopes evaporate before my eyes. Oh… and all while my skills as a photo editor were being commended. By now my head is twisting in ways it had not before been twisted and…I had to write this entry for the pursuit of John’s blogging efforts in trying to make sense of it all.

Wait… there is a moral to the story. Non-profit organizations would not be able to function if it were not for inexpensive content outlets. We are seeing a resurgence in countless aspects of activism in our nation right now, and it is our duty as caring individuals to participate in noble movements. Both, government-subsidized as well as publicly funded not-for-profit organizations, have increased by drastic numbers in the last few years…and remarkably so, in the face of adverse economic situations. The budgets of these organizations have played a big part in the evolution (or de-evolution) of discounting content. I don’t feel good about microstock undermining my stock revenue as well as my assignment possibilities…however, to quote Spock, “It is illogical to dwell in circumstances beyond your control”. We can even see an opportunity here in creating mid-level priced and microstock content that specifically targets the needs of non-profit organizations who wouldn’t be buying RM or RF anyway. Bang…that was the car door slamming as I race with my camera to the closest field of genetically-altered wheat.

To inquire about Scott’s creative consulting and photography, drop him a line on his website: www.redinger-libolt.com

Stock Photos That (Don't) Suck

Stock Photography Sucks...Or Not!
How many times have you heard that stock photography sucks? I know I have heard it far too many times, and I think that complaint is just wrong. A more accurate statement, in my humble opinion might be, “I hate how long it takes me to find a really good, creative and appropriate stock photo!” Another sentiment that kind of rubs me the wrong way is “Stock photos cost too much!” I would suggest rather a more accurate statement should be, “I don’t have the budget to license appropriate imagery”.

Some Alternatives To Stock Photos That Suck
Let me put humility aside and offer a few of my own alternatives to “Stock photos that look like stock”, that do exhibit creativity and relevance, and offer a superlative value (the licensing fee is far less than the time, effort and money that would be required to think up the idea (hey the ideas do take time and work to come up with), hire the models, find the locations, secure the props, make the exposures and labor over the digital manipulations.

The Social Media And/Or Networking Photo

Teamwork (or lack of it…)

Health And Beauty Products

Anxiety, Stress or Fear (you gotta love the expressions!)

What The…?

I have to admit, that last photo isn't mine, though I do represent it for stock. It was shot by a friend of mine, Ginna Fleming.

Incredible Stock Photos, Keywording And SEO
All kidding aside, there are an enormous number of incredible stock photos out there. The trick for those who need stock is to find the darn things. I am attempting to help out art directors and designers, art buyers, and everyone who needs quality imagery, by getting my images online and doing a good job of keywording and SEO. Am I a nice guy or what?

Photography And The Future: Advice For The Road Ahead

The road ahead for stock photographers lies under storm clouds, but are those rays of optimsim and future success awaiting us?

I have compiled the advice offered to photographers from the photographers, CEOs, agency owners, art directors, designers, photo researchers and others who I have interviewed over the last year:

Jack Hollingsworth, Stock Photographer, Blend Images Co-Founder, Social Media & Photography Consultant
The money is in getting the photography in front of the consumer.

Marc Romanelli, Stock Photographer (Stills And Motion)
I choose to shoot what I know, shoot what feels right, diversify by shooting motion, as well as stills, finding new agencies that want to build their collections quickly as Workbook did, loading them up with images but not forgetting the "girl that brought you to the dance" in the first place...that would be your bread and butter agency. In my case that agency is Getty.

Ellen Boughn, Stock Industry Consultant and Pundit
Think of your business as a multi-layered cake. Get your work into all the layers of the business. DEVELOP a specialty and be the best at it in the world. Even photographers on microstock sites need to build their brands within the site in order to get maximum downloads.

Colin Anderson, Stock and Assignment Photographer and Co-Founder, Blend Images
Shoot work that is unique and hard to copy, and keep expenses down to a minimum.

Jonathan Ross, Stock Photographer and Co-Founder, Blend Images
I would say keep costs down. Don’t buy that new camera this year unless it makes you more money. Research is a bigger part of the game, more then ever before. Do your homework and get your ducks in a row before you spend your money on a shoot. Invest in R & D and try to stay true to your vision instead of just copying what you see working for others or that you have already shot yourself. Most of all have as much fun as possible, that always brings the largest rewards, financially and personally.

Rick Becker-Leckrone, Stock Shooter, Co-Founder & CEO Blend Images stock agency
One thing is especially important to keep in mind – now is not the time for a shotgun approach to production. The last decade was about creating massive amounts of RF imagery. Now there’s too much similar content. RM has been underserved with new imagery, but it’s a relatively small market. Micro is interesting, but a lot of hard work and not completely clear one can generate the same returns as in traditional stock. (Yes, some do, but very few.) Chill out in 2009. Figure out what you’re truly good at shooting, figure out what the market is missing and make fewer, but better targeted content. Don’t count the success of your 2009 in the number of images you produce.

Shalom Ormsby, Assignment and Stock Shooter Stills And Motion, Co-Founder Blend Images
A short story, since I’ve been so long-winded. At the end of a talk the Dalai Lama was giving about true happiness, he was asked what was the happiest day of his life. The Dalai Lama smiled and said softly, “That would be today.” May today be the happiest day of your life.


Tom Joyce, Owner/Creative Director Creativewerks
Do whatever you do with great passion and make it as perfect as you can. Then let go of it and grab a beer.


Lanny Ziering, CEO SuperStock, Co-Founder Blend Images
Talk to people who buy pictures, find out what they want, go and shoot it.

Trevor Lush, Stock and Assignment Photographer
I see me moving away from the high-volume work I've been doing in the past, towards a much more targeted approach. Fewer images with more added value.

Patty Meyers, Owner, Bloodhound Stock Photo Research
I find more and more art buyers are going to these alternative sites for innovative work. Basically, my advice is to get your images out to as many traditional and alternative image sources as possible, watch the trends and keep your work contemporary, and try and find a niche which needs filled. That and find a partner with a real job.

Inti St. Clair, Assignment and Stock Stills and Video
Shoot what you love. There is not a lot that’s easy about being a pro photographer, and the sad reality is that very little time is spent actually shooting, but as long as you’re loving it, it’s all worth while.

Collette Kulak, Art Director, Marian Heath Greeting Cards
Shoot what you love. There is not a lot that’s easy about being a pro photographer, and the sad reality is that very little time is spent actually shooting, but as long as you’re loving it, it’s all worth while.

Tom Grill, Stock Shooter, Agency Owner (Tetra), Blend Co-Founder
With declining RPI’s it’s becoming more difficult to earn a substantial living from stock photography. Now is a good time to honestly access your talents and resources relative to what it will take to make a go in the tougher times ahead. Follow the old stock market adage of getting out when the market is high and jumping in when the market is low. NOW – in this time of severe economic downturn -- is the time to buy stocks in the stock market as well as pour images into the stock photo market.

Lance Lee, Stock and Assignment Photographer, Mentor, Entrepreneur
For our stock photography projects, I'm encouraging our photographers and production team to work as if they are working in a film production. The process is pretty much the same - creative story telling translated into pictures.

Dan Heller, Stock Photographer And Stock Industry Analyst
Photographers are going to have to get behind initiatives that encourage openness, distribution, and wider-scale adoption of intellectual property. This is the one and only path that will help bring order to the chaos of images on the Internet. And with that comes ranking and prioritization, much like how Google ranks websites.
And when that happens, “quality” images will percolate to the top, and reward those photographers who truly are better than others. If one assumes that most “pros” are better photographers than consumers, the only way pros’ images will be found and licensed by buyers of any sort, will be when there are business incentives for companies to build those technology solutions.

Sarah Fix, Creative Director, Blend Images
A photographer’s greatest assets are their creativity and ability to speak to the market. What is your creative advantage? What do you do better than most?
There is always opportunity during challenging times. Right now in our industry there are fewer images being created, fewer shoots with higher production value, social networking is making it easier to give and receive information, the rights managed licensing model is in need of new content, motion is gaining momentum with affordable cameras that capture both stills and motion – how do you plan on taking advantage of this moment? Adapt as the market changes.

Jeremy Woodhouse, Stock Photographer and Educator (Photography Workshops), Blend Images Co-Founder
Take time to get grounded in a location, check out the bookstores, post card racks, see where the “hot spots” are and work around them. Look for new ideas; introduce some of your own technique/style into a location. Use the light, not only the edge of the daylight but even midday light can work, especially with HDR. You can beat the contrast big time. Revisit the same locations several times in different light.

John Feingersh, Stock Photographer, Co Founder Blend Images
Hold on, keep your chins up, find those holes in the files and fill them with great imagery.

Charlie Holland, Stock Shooter, Former Director of Photography, Getty Images
Be smart, direct your efforts. Spread your submissions out over collections, over time and over business models. Do not overspend on your productions.

Sarah Golonka, Stock Shooter, Stock Photography Consultant, Art Director/Editor
Keep your head up and look back to help prepare yourself for the future. Be aware of and open to change and work with it vs. against it. Analyze your sales history and draw your own conclusions as to why your images did and did not sell, then apply that information to your future shoots. Keep taking creative risks and stick to shooting what you are good at vs. trying to reinvent the wheel.

Trinette Reed And Chris Gramly, Stock and Assignment Stills And Motion (Trinette is a Cofounder of Blend Images)
Trinette: Be open minded and open to change, experiment, use the downturn to focus on what you really want to be doing, stay connected.
Chris: Stay open to the changes and open to learning; don’t pretend to know what you don’t know.

Don Farrall, Stock and Assignment Photographer
I used to counsel photographers about getting into stock and can be credited for bringing a handful of photographers, and even a few illustrators, through the process of securing a contract with Getty; back in the days when that was a Golden ticket. I would have to say that I am much less “Bullish” about it now. These are difficult times to be encouraging, so I suppose I would want to see someone’s work first before I answered that question for them.

Offir Gutelzon, CEO PicScout
Making content available for more marketing applications and promotional use, while selling content as RF, is essential. Photographers should follow your actions, like those you’ve taken that improve rankings on search engines, and promote themselves in new ways, even at the risk of image infringements.

Hope that helps! Look for more interviews in the coming year. BTW, I predict that 2010 is going to be a good year...based on the fact that it rolls off the tongue nicely!

To see the entire interview with any of the above people go to my Interiview Index.

Stock Photo Expedition: In Search Of The Himalayan Holstein

A rare stock photo and funny picture of a batch of Himalayan Cows watching the sunrise.

From Holland To the Himalayas
No one is sure when the first Holstein cows made the long migration from Holland to the Himalayas, but those interested in such matters speculate that it was in the late 1700’s. It is believed that these Himalayan Holsteins are the purest of modern Holstein cattle as their remote and rocky habitat has isolated them from other breeds for hundreds of years. This remarkable branch of the popular breed of milk cow has adapted well for life in their mountainous habitat.

Mountain Goats, Antelope, and Yaks
Among the unique traits of the Himalayan Holstein are it’s ability to climb with the sureness of hoof of mountain goats, the strength and agility to leap like antelope, and the ability to survive on terrain so barren of vegetation that even a Yak would starve. These remarkable beasts have developed a sense of smell so keen that they can locate a single sprout beneath several feet of snow. They also have become quite adept a raiding the alfalfa fields of villagers in the dead of night utilizing their amazing athleticism to bound easily over the rock fences erected by the villagers.

The Stealth Of A Snow Leopard
Over the years the Himalayan Holstein has become as stealthy as the much-fabled snow leopard. Their Black and White camouflage hides serve them well in the patchy snow and harsh shadows of the higher elevations. It is a rare privilege to see a single Himalayan Holstein let alone a batch (the scientific name for three or more Himalayan Holsteins gathered together in one place). You can imagine, then, my excitement at being able to photograph these three cows as they watched the sunrise.

The Quest For A Stock Photo
For years I had thirsted for a shot of these amazing creatures for my stock picture collection. This was my third trip to the Himalayas in a effort to fulfill that desire. The first two had been disappointments. The closest I had come to sighting one of these rare beasts was some frozen hoof prints on a remote glacier and the stories I heard from my Sherpa guides as we huddled around the campfire at night. But on this, my third expedition, fortune was with me.

Cluster Peaks And Fresh Scat
I had heard rumors among the villagers and Sherpas that Himalayan Holsteins are very found of watching the sunrise and would often climb atop the highest peaks available to catch the burgeoning dawn. Apparently they prefer clusters of sharp peaks that facilitate both a good view of the sunrise and a clear view of any potential threats as well. I was lucky. A local villager had shared with me that he had seen their tracks near just such a cluster of peaks, with relatively fresh scat, to indicate their presence. Nonetheless, I had to wait patiently in a blind, downwind of the peaks, for almost three weeks before the coming light of the dawn revealed these three excellent specimens. I was only able to get this one shot off. Even though they were over a hundred yards away they apparently heard my shutter click and in an instant they had bounded away and out of site.

Base Camp, Laptops, And Stock Photography
Back at my base camp I downloaded my shot onto my laptop. I was elated to see that I had captured a clear, sharp photograph, the only known photograph, of a batch of Himalayan Holsteins. Not just an incredible memory, but also an important and valuable addition to my stock photography collection.

Ask And Ye Shall Receive...Why Not?

And Wonderful Idea And A Book
A number of years ago I was interviewed, as an early adopter of Photoshop, as part of a book on Adobe. When the book came out the writer sent me a copy. It was beautiful and I phoned her up to congratulate her. I then asked her what her next project was. She replied that she didn’t know yet. I suggested that she write a book on me…and she said that was a wonderful idea! A year later my book on Photoshop (Adobe Masterclass: Photoshop Compositing with John Lund) came out.

Would You Model For Me?
A few days ago I had just boarded a plan back from New York when a very attractive young woman sat down next to me. After a very brief conversation I asked her if she would model for me (I always cringe when I ask that…). She agreed and two days later we were shooting. The first image from that shoot can be seen above.

Photo Shoots of Operations And Physical Therapy
Three times I have asked surgeons if I can either have my operation photographed, or if I can use their facilities to stage a shoot in. Amazingly enough that has resulted in two actual still photo shoots of operations on me (including a video in which a mesh is installed beneath my abdominal muscles) and an extensive shoot in a physical therapy facility virtually for free (OK, the operation did cost me $10,000.00).

Tony Stone And A Career In Stock Photography
Way back before the beginning of time I once asked Tony Stone if he would loan me enough money to buy a powerful computer so that I could create cool stock photos for him (his company, Tony Stone Images, was the company purchased by Jonathan Klein and Mark Getty and turned into Getty Images).  Amazingly enough Tony said yes and my career in stock photography took off.  Of course, the answer isn’t always yes. I would like to point out I first asked the owner of another stock agency for the money to buy the computer, but he declined.  Silly man!

The Most Important Question
In yet another ancient and audacious act of asking, I approached the owner of a photo lab (remember those?) if he would loan me $5,000.00 to purchase a Beta copy of a program called Live Picture. Back then Live Picture had layers and a liquefy filter as well as “history” and Photoshop did not. He loaned me the money, I bought Live Picture and for quite a few years was able to work far more efficiently for certain tasks than I could with Photoshop. In fact, the very first job I did with Live Picture, that I could not do with Photoshop, netted me a not-too-paltry $11,000.00 profit! Of course, Live Picture lost the battle to Photoshop and there are few people left who even remember it. Oh well….
Perhaps the most important question of all, though, is one to ask your self. That question is:Why not?

Odds, Ends And The Long Haul

An Interview, Imagekind and CafePess.
Had a nice interview by Marc Silber Marc Silber Interview go online.
Sold a print on Imagekind this week.  That makes about one print a month since I started this concerted Internet effort, which while is still paltry, it’s a whole lot more than the zero prints I sold before I started the effort. I have doubled my Cafepress.com sales.  OK, doubling isn’t all that impressive when I tell you it has gone from an average of one sale a week, a coffee mug, calendar, or piece of apparel, to two sales a week. I have made a smattering of sales (licensing) of various images and have confirmed that people are going from my site to the agencies that handle my work (Blend Images, Getty, Corbis and Kimball Stock).

Quality Content And A Long Term Project
One thing is for sure, this SEO (search engine optimization) process is a lengthy one. Getting visitors to your site is a long-term project! It is a lot of work too. My twin brother is my web master and very adept at this. He says if you want Google to see your site as an important one, make your site important. That means quality content and lots of it. I now have over 2000 images uploaded, but at the rate I am going it will take several more years to get all of my stock photos online. One possible way to speed the process up is to hire a developer to create a robot that will harvest my Getty, Corbis and Blend images, and put them on my site.  I have a friend who has gone that route and I have to admit there is a certain appeal to it!  But for now I will just continue my snails pace of uploading.

Climbing Traffic And Click Through Ads
Traffic is slowly climbing.  Last week, according to Google Analytics, I averaged over 500 unique visitors a day. That is up from a one visit per week average ten months ago. My click through ad revenue ranges from $20.00 per day to about 32 cents a day (last Thursday). My average seems to have edged up to about $6.00 a day.  Hey, it pays for my coffee habit!

A Balancing Act And Making Images
One thing I constantly wrestle with is where to put my time. Making images and getting them up online is the fastest way to increase my income. On the other hand, I remain convinced that it is extremely important for long term success to increase my ranking with Google, and other search engines, through SEO and online content. It is a constant balancing act. Luckily I find myself enjoying this SEO process (other than the repetitive and sleep inducing meta data entry).

A Photography Blog And Building Community
A key part of my web efforts include writing this photography blog. It has actually turned out to be a fun challenge. I used to be a columnist for Digital Imaging magazine and for Picture magazine.  I would make myself crazy trying to come up with article ideas.  But with the Blog, it is more like sharing things and less like work. My goal and hope is that the blog is entertaining and informative. It is a key component of providing quality content and, I hope, of building community within both the creators and users of stock photography.

Value Added Stock Photos And The Way Forward

Value Added Stock Photography
After a couple of unexpected and rather invasive abdominal surgeries in the last year-and-a-half, four months ago I had a plastic surgeon perform an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) on me, to clean-up the scars and give me a new navel. Fun stuff! Anyway, the surgeon asked me to shoot a picture of one of his new laser tools in action. I did the shoot this afternoon.


A Beautiful Woman And Credibility
As I was packing up the old ProFoto 7bs, he mentioned to me that he needed to redo the picture on the cover of his brochure. The shot was of a beautiful woman in a nature setting. He said it cost him a fortune, but now another surgeon was also using it, so he needed a new one. I was a bit confused. I asked him where he got the picture from and he told me iStock. “But you said it cost you a fortune”, I said. “No,” he replied, “Not the picture, the printing for the brochures, the flyers and the advertising”. Ah ha! In a lot of cases, maybe in most cases, it doesn’t really matter if someone else is using the same picture…but if you are a plastic surgeon you sure don’t want the same picture being used by anyone else. That damages the credibility of your whole operation!

Stock Photography And Trust
As someone who has actually gone through the process of finding a plastic surgeon, I can attest that if more than one surgeon in the same geographical region is using the same stock photo, your going to see it. As you peruse the before and after pictures you can’t help but wonder if they are real. If you see the same face on more than one site…well, how are you going to trust anything else about the surgeon? In this case Rights Managed stock photography is definitely a value added proposition!


Power Point Presentations And Getty Images
Also of interest in regards to Rights Managed stock imagery, a couple of days ago I was contacted by a doctor who found one of my images through Google Image search and wanted to use it in a power point presentation to a group of his peers. The image in question is a Getty picture and I had neglected to link Getty from the photo on my web site. I sent the doctor the link and told him he needed to license the image from Getty. I wasn’t going to hold my breath. I figured that the process would be too daunting and the price too high. Oh well….


Licensing Stock Isn’t Brain Surgery
Surprise! He emailed me, said he licensed it, and thanked me for making the image available. I emailed him back asking how the process was and if he had ever licensed stock before. He told me that no, he had never licensed stock before and that it was no harder than ordering anything else on line. It wasn’t exactly brain surgery (turns out he is a vascular surgeon). He also told me it only cost him $15.00. Take that micro stock! Rights Managed is value added and economical as well!


Stock Photos And The Way Forward

As iStock and other micro agencies add higher priced collections, and mid-stock evolves, it becomes ever more apparent that micro is really simply an ultra low-priced RF product. There is a place for all price ranges of RF (micro included), and yes there is a place for RM, and yes, the road to success in the future, the way forward for stock shooters, will be paved with creative, dynamic, market-relevant photography no matter what the category.

Stock Photos, Shipping, And Royalty Checks

Organizing, Editing and Cleaning
It has been a while since I made a stock photo.  Today I spent my time organizing and cleaning up my studio.  I have spent most of the last month editing the slow motion video that I spent the previous month shooting. Things have kind of backed up and gotten a little overwhelming…hence the day of organizing. Actually, I never do get quite caught up on my organization efforts. And if I am smart I never will.  You see, organizing is something you can do forever.  I have known more than one aspiring photographer who has spent years getting ready to shoot.

The Most Important Thing Is Shipping
I saw a video presentation a while ago in which Seth Godin pointed out that the most important thing is shipping. I don’t think he had stock photography in mind, but it is probably as true of stock photos as of anything. If nothing ships…nothing sells. If you are anything like me, the closer you get to “shipping” the harder it is to get that last bit done. I was ready to enter the metadata for my third submission of footage last Thursday, and here I am cleaning my studio today (five days later)…instead of completing that submission!

Pulling It Together And Setting Goals
I have to pull it together tomorrow morning, remember what is really important to my career, and get that submission out. The junk mail piled on my desk is not as important. The emails waiting to be answered are not as important. The clutter in my shoot area, the card board boxes waiting to be broken down for recycling, and the dust bunnies camping out everywhere are not as important. You can spend your whole life getting ready, doing legitimate tasks, instead of doing critical tasks. Set a goal for shipping your work and reward yourself AFTER you met that goal, by letting yourself do at least some of that not-so-critical work.

Blend, Getty, Corbis, Super Stock And Kimball Stock
In a way you can say that everything else I do is in support of shipping. The ideas, the shooting, the Photoshop work is all in support of shipping my product.  Once I ship, that is upload the images to Blend, Getty, Corbis, Super Stock or Kimball Stock, then the agencies can do their thing, and I can get my royalty check. No “shipping”, no check.

Preparing For The Future Of Stock
I am supporting the stock images, and preparing for the future of my stock photography, by working on my SEO, by showcasing my stock pictures on my web site, and even by writing this blog. But all of that is secondary to shipping. Now I have to go, I have metadata to enter!

Stock Photo Success By Thinking Inside The Box

Sometimes thinking inside the box can work extremely well for stock photographers. After all, most of us think inside the box most of the time, and if we, as stock photographers, can create images that take advantage of that thinking, then we have a good chance for a great selling image. A good example of this is seen in the case of clichés.

A cliché is something that is very familiar to all of us, so familiar that it must have some basis in truth, or perceived truth, and, like going into Starbucks, can have that comforting feeling of the familiar. If you can find the right cliché and illustrate it in a new and interesting way, then thinking inside the box can really pay off.

In the example I have here, we have all seen cartoons of patients in a body cast and traction. We all have a mental picture in our minds from those cartoons, a stereotypical image that probably doesn’t actually exist in real life. I did a search on the major stock sites and found only a smattering of body cast images, none of which matched that ubiquitous cartoon version that resides in our heads.

I arranged for permission to shoot in a surgery center. My associate, Stephanie Roeser, created a body in a plaster cast using pipe insulation and, plaster impregnated gauze purchased from a medical supply company. I photographed the body cast prop in position on a hospital bed in the recovery room. Next I lay down on the bed and had Stephanie photograph me. Then it was a simple matter to use Photoshop to add my fingers, toes, eyes and nose to the cast double.

The finished image works for a wide variety of concepts in business to business (B2B), consumer advertising, and even editorial use. This “traction” image even goes beyond medical and pharmaceutical categories one would expect. It can be used to illustrate themes such as dependency, catastrophe, and risk. Creative art directors will no doubt be able to find yet other uses for the image (one of the fun things about shooting stock is seeing the cool ways other creatives use your work).

Thinking outside the box is a great goal, but sometimes thinking inside the box can produce some pretty good results. Learn to leverage those visuals that are familiar to your potential audience and your stock photos will be in demand for a very long time.

Committment To Your Photo Shoots (And Photos!)

Commitment

Word on the street is that the “low hanging fruit” in the world of stock photography is gone, harvested by Micro stock and the glut in RF images. I don’t know if it is totally gone, but I certainly agree that the bar is being constantly raised. For those of us serious about making a living at stock photography, now is the time to bring a new commitment into our shoots. For me, that means being more disciplined, more organized and more prepared.

In the past I would throw together a shoot and not worry too much about getting the most out of it. I pretty much knew that whatever I shot was going to earn me money. My dilemma now is how to have increased efficiency without bringing in a dark cloud of concern, how to make each production dollar and minute be more productive without taking the fun out of my stock career. Keeping the shoots fun is very important to me. I didn’t get in to this business to have it become work! For me, success in stock photography is more than just money, it is also an interesting and fun lifestyle.

I pulled together a shoot last Saturday that is typical of my new way of working. I managed to still keep it fun while having it also be one of my most productive stock photography shoots to date. What I did differently: Checked my shot list with an agency art director (Blend Images); Rehearsed and set-up each lighting scenario ahead of time; Added a video component to the shoot; And hired an extra assistant with the understanding he would also do some modeling.

To keep it fun I kept the shoot to only five hours in length and allotted extra time for each set up. I also had a separate photographer there to shoot the video; all I had to do was add a couple of suggestions (I also provided the camera, lights, studio and models). Another very important ingredient to insure that I am having fun is to be working on shots that I am genuinely excited about. I am not concerned about squeezing every last drop out of a shoot, rather I want to have a well thought out production that gives me the resources to do the best possible job of creating images that are interesting to me, relevant to the marketplace, and as low-stress as possible.

I base my shoots around one or two central ideas; then fill the shot list out from there. The central image for me, with this shoot, was based on Social Networking or what is now called Social Media. The shot is comprised of endless hands reaching out to each other. In some cases the hands will be clasped in a handshake, in other cases the hands will be about to touch. The need for images illustrating Social Media is huge and growing. I wanted to create an image that could be used to illustrate and advertise themes based around the social networking groups such as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and the like.

I ended up putting more prep time than usual into the shoot. I also hired more crew. The shoot ended up costing a bit more, but I was committed to the shoot and to the final images. In the long run, especially in these new more competitive times, the commitment to spending a little more money and a little more time (in this case pre-shoot set up) to get the best possible outcome will prove to be a very “economical” strategy…and a fun strategy as well!

The most dependable income

The most dependable income

I just read on the net that a study showed the most dependable way to earn money is to win a novelty half-time contest at a basketball game that requires sinking a basket from the half-court line. Apparently mathematical calculation also took into consideration that the consolation prize often includes a food item from the concession stand.

Yesterday, for just a few moments, I overhead a radio show in which the topic was recession-proof jobs. I heard the radio announcer say that the most recession-proof job was high school portrait photographer. He pointed out that no matter how bad things get parents will always want high school portraits of their children, especially high school graduation pictures.

My stock photo income

That got me to thinking. Right now my stock photography income is down about 18%. Now that is a lot, but I personally know four people who have lost their jobs in the last three months. Having my income dip by twenty percent isn’t nearly as devastating as losing my job. Even down by twenty percent stock photography is a cash cow for me!

Job security, a misconception

That brings up what I believe is an interesting misconception. Many people I have spoken to over the years cite security as the reason they wouldn’t want to be self-employed. Let me give you a couple of examples of “employment security”. My sister-in-law was working for Bank of America as a writer. Within a week of winning an award and being cited for her work by her supervisor, the entire department was let go. Surprise! A friend of mine was a senior art director for a greeting card company for many years. A venture capital firm bought the company and then proceeded to sell off the assets tell there was nothing left. So much for that job security! Self-employed people have far more security. We can measure what we earn from our efforts. Nobody else takes the blame; nobody else can claim the rewards. Our futures are in nobody’s hands except for our own.

As a stock photographer I feel exceptionally lucky in these difficult economic times. Sure, there are lots of those who are predicting the demise of the whole industry do to Micro stock, a glut of images and large agencies that don’t care about the interests of individual photographers. OK, so maybe I have to work a little smarter and a little harder. I can do that, and since I love what I do I don’t mind it.

The stock picture industry has become more interesting

In fact, the whole industry has become more interesting to me now that I have to really think about what I am doing. I am optimizing my site to increase sales both through traditional channels and directly to industry players and to the public. I am thinking more strategically in what I shoot and how I shoot it. I am paying attention to my sales and I am not forgetting that creativity is paramount. The changes in the industry and the economic climate have pushed me to collaborate more and I love it. I am growing more than I ever have.

The ultimate security

Further, as a stock photographer I can see my income rise or fall and take appropriate action. I don’t wake up one day and find that I am out of a job and have no income! Being self-employed as a photographer offers me far more security than any staff position. I am responsible for my self and my success or failure. I am under no (OK, few) illusions. That is the ultimate security!

Art Directors, Editors and Stock

Art Directors, Editors and Stock

A woman and a barrel

About a month ago I submitted a stock photo of a woman wearing nothing but a barrel, a modern take-off of an old image for having lost everything, to Getty Images.
They turned it down because they didn’t think it would sell. OK, I next sent the image to Corbis. They turned it down because it was “an old idea”. A few minutes ago I was in the grocery store and there, on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine, was a shot of several movie stars wearing nothing but barrels.

Photographer’s Choice…an option at a price

Whether or not my image will sell will be eventually answered because when Corbis turned the shot down I re-submitted it to Getty as a “Photographer’s Choice” submission. Getty, in response to numerous complaints over a protracted period of time by their photographers, came up with Photographer’s Choice brand. It is a program in which an image can only be rejected for technical reasons (though “sisters” are not allowed either). Of course, the photographer then has to pay a fee to have the image put into the system.

What is the value of an editor or art director?

This all brings up a couple of questions. First, what is the value of an editor or art director, and what recourse do we have if we believe an editor to be mistaken? I know that in my own case it does seem to be a conundrum. I have certainly have had the experience of having an art director offer criticism and art direction that has enhanced my images, sometimes by a huge margin. Editors have given me some awesome ideas as well. I have also had them make changes that I believe were actually to the detriment of a given image. Then there are the editing choices. I am sure that any photographer who actively submits images to stock agencies has had the experience of bewilderment in reaction to photos that editors have rejected.

Among my favorites: An image turned down by Getty was then used as a catalog cover for The Stock Market and the first sale was for $17,000.00. Another image turned down by Getty was used by The Stock Market to represent the agency in trade shows. An image turned down by Corbis has generated $2,000.00+ in the six months it has been for sale on the Getty site! An image of a young girl dressed as an astronaut, turned down by both Getty and Corbis, and then put into Getty’s Photographer’s Choice program, is my fifth best selling stock photo for 2008! I could go on and on with examples of images being rejected by one agent and taken by another; and examples of rejected images that eventually get placed and subsequently earn excellent revenue.

Now I no longer have an editor at Getty. Instead I submit via their portal and I never know which individual will be doing the editing. I love their portal, I don’t miss the art direction, and I occasionally wish there was someone I could turn to at Getty to bounce ideas off of, get feedback from, and help me decide wither an image belongs in RM or RF. I also know that their choices sometimes make me crazy! At least Getty has that Photographer’s Choice mechanism to provide some remedy for the stock images that I believe strongly about. BTW, virtually every photographer I know who participates in Photographer’s Choice tells me that they earn more per image with PC than with the regular brands. I don’t know if everyone is being truthful, but that is what I am hearing!

Optimization for distribution and licensing

Now in Micro stock, if you are not “exclusive”, you can always submit the images to another agency. For me though, since I do not participate in Micro, I now have a new option, adding rejected images that I believe in to my own web site. It is yet another way in which having a web site can pay off. I recently read that over half of all art directors are willing to search individual photographer’s sites for stock images. I’ll bet that percentage just keeps going up as Art Directors get more and more tired of the same old images and photographers get smarter and smarter about optimizing their sites for distribution and licensing over the net.

Getting back to art directors and editors. There is no doubt that they provide a valuable service; and equally in doubt is that due to the subjective and arbitrary nature of photography, they are not always right. In those cases where you can actually correspond with an editor, fight for the images you believe in. I find that in those cases I usually prevail about half the time. In those cases where you don't have that opportunity to correspond, send that image to another outlet or put it up on your own site. If you believe in your image someone else well too; you just have to get that image in front of those other believers!

Feeling Overhwhelmed

Feeling Overwhelmed

I find myself feeling overwhelmed today. I have stock photos to be processed and composited from several shoots, including last week in Hawaii. I have video I have to edit and put into clip form for Getty from a number of shoots. I barely know how to use Final Cut Pro and can’t remember how to download the video from my P2 card (when shooting with the Panasonic HVX200 I either shoot to a P2 card or a FS-100 drive).

I have a bunch of stock pictures that Getty has rejected and I can’t decide where else to submit them. I have accepted images that I have not yet uploaded to Blend. I have video I shot in Buenos Aires eight months ago I haven’t yet edited. I have images accepted by Kimball Stock I haven’t uploaded. I have image ideas that are half-completed but I am missing elements for.

I have two ominous envelopes from the IRS sitting on my desk and one from the state of California.

I bet I have thirty e-mails I haven’t answered yet. My CafePress.com store desperately needs my attention, as does my ImageKind.com project.

I have two interviews that are waiting to be done.

The meta data on my own web site database needs LOTS of attention and I still have 6000 more images to upload!

My twittering is falling behind, I haven’t looked at Facebook in days, and I have sales data from Corbis and Jupiter that I haven’t entered yet.

My garage leaks, my girlfriend says I am not courting her anymore, and my scale says I am getting fat.

All of this was set off when a friend of mine sent me an e-mail asking me what I thought about ImageSpan (www.imagespan.com). They are a possible solution to those who want to be able to market their own stock photos without an agency. If anyone out there has an opinion about them I would love to hear about it!

Back to being overwhelmed. I have to remind myself to take baby steps. Just look at my to do list. I know from experience that if i update it, re-prioritize it, and just take the items one thing at a time I will at least have the illusion of being in control...and that will help. I also know from experience if i do just keep putting one foot in front of the other I will eventually look-up, and sooner than I expected I will have arrived!

In the meantime…I have a conference call I have to get on!!!

John

First Impresssion UGCX (expo and conference)

I have just returned from the first UGCX (User Generated Content expo and conference). What I came away with (besides a good sized pile of business cards) was in increase in my optimism about the future. I heard over and over again from everyone from Guy Kawasaki to Patricia Vargas (Senior Director of Content, Jupiter Images) that ultimately great content is what counts most. To succeed in stock photography is largely putting great content in front of buyers.

I also consistently heard that rights managed stock photography is going do well. As if to confirm that general belief, I received word during the conference that Blend Images, a stock agency of which I am a part owner (more on Blend Images in an upcoming article), had made its first direct (on its own web site) Rights Managed sale…for $9,664.00. Not a bad start! Blend also had a very good 4th quarter of Royalty Free sales.

Another common theme was that the growth in the demand for imagery is growing rapidly, and will explode once the economy picks back up. Alan Meckler shared his belief that the next ten years will find 15 billion new web sites…most of which will need multiple photos. Key question, will they be buying Micro, Macro…or getting free images?

Perhaps the coolest thing I saw was TinEye.com. TinEye enables images searches across the web. Upload one of your own images, or any image for that matter, and you can instantly search their database of 1.5 million images (indexed by their web crawling spiders) finding every place the image has been used and how it has been changed. Can you imagine the ramifications if image theft can be virtually eliminated? Wow!

I didn’t fully understand the ImageSpan presentation, but it also struck me as something that could change the landscape enabling individual photographs to compete for a part of that online pie. I’ll have to check that out a little further. I also got a better understanding of Creative Commons and think that might also be able to play a role in diminishing online theft and increasing at least the awareness and mind set that every image has value. That can only help our industry.

Anyway, it is late and I am ready for some mindless TV. More later!

John

Time to Be Shooting!

It seems that a lot of photographers have cut way back, or have stopped shooting stock altogether. I can understand that. Every time I turn around I hear bad news for the economy and threatening news on the stock photo front. Today I happened across a micro stock blogger who was pretty pumped up that after six months of dedicated work, he had just earned a new monthly high of over seven dollars. Is that depressing or what? BTW, no offense intended to all you micro stockers. I encourage micro stockers to learn as much as they can about the other areas of stock. The market embraces all the forms of stock and all of us need to know as much as we can.

In my opinion though, now is a great time to be shooting micro or macro. I can’t help but feel the weight of all the bad news and it makes me want to conserve my money. But I haven’t lost sight of the fact that almost every stock shoot I have attempted has turned a profit. Seriously. And in this economic environment there are deals to be had; it isn’t hard to find people willing to work at bargain rates.

Great images rise to the top

My approach is to put extra effort into coming up with shoots that either cost me little to nothing, or that I am super excited about both in terms of the shots themselves and in what yield I believe they will return. Of course, I pretty much believe that if I am really excited about creating a stock image it will naturally end up turning a nice profit. Great images rise to the top. I have a number of images that to this day I can’t figure out how people use, but I was excited about creating them, and I still love to look at them (one of my big vices is staring endlessly at images I have created). And many of these ideas have brought in thousands of dollars. A quick example of an image that cost nothing but has returned thousands: a close-up image (RM) of an airplane lavatory sign indicating, “occupied”. Now don’t go and copy it…it still sells!

Creativity is the answer, again

Creativity is the answer, as it usually seems to be. Creativity not just in creating the shot, but also in coming up with photographic ideas, and in coming up with ways to create images that don’t require a lot of money. I keep a list of hundreds of ideas. I am constantly adding to this list. I can now go through that list and filter out the ones that can be executed with little to no expense and bring those to the front. It is a creative challenge. I am actually having fun with it!

One great benefit from these times is that I am fine-tuning my process; becoming more efficient and less wasteful. These processes not only serve me well now, but also will serve me well in the future. Already I have benefited from relying less on employees. When an assistant recently moved on I resisted replacing her. Not only does that save me some overhead, but also as a result of it I have learned to use programs myself that I used to relegate to others. Ultimately I not only save money, but I am also in more control of my business. It’s all good!¬