3 moves for stock photo success

More than ever stock shooters need to value quality over quantity, and search is fast becoming more important than the quantity of content.

Search Is King

Word on the street is that buyers are increasingly turning to boutique stock sites where they can see more quality images and have less quantity to have to wade through. Search is becoming more important than quantity…though agencies still seem compelled to promote the number of images they have. So what can we, as individual stock shooters, do about this inundation of imagery that sucks the earning power out of our own collections?

I see three things that we can do to combat the tsunami of stock photos deluging the marketplace:

Quality Over Quantity

First, focus on quality not quantity. Obviously the more great images you have the better, but now is the time, more than ever to focus on quality. And by quality I mean images that are truly needed…not the low hanging fruit that any one with a new DLSR can go out and shoot in the spare time…but rather the images that truly need some effort. The images that will rise to the top are the ones created from the effort of casting, of prime locations, and with styling and propping and careful post-production work. It is the images that rise above the ordinary that will attract viewers, rise in the search ranks because of sophisticated algorithms, and have a correspondingly long life resulting in the multiple sales that will determine the success of both the shoot and the shooter!

Promote Your Imagery

Second, promote your imagery. Whether you do it via social media, the Internet, or even printed catalogs, if your images don’t get seen they won’t earn you money. If you can generate sales directly, wonderful. In my case I don’t actually want to deal with direct sales so I promote my images via my website and direct potential buyers to the agencies that carry the work. It is working for me. I get thousands of dollars a month more because of those efforts. And remember, by driving viewers to your images on an agency site you will bring those images up higher in the search insuring yet more views of those images. The great Jim Erickson even prints a thick catalog of his stock images just like the agencies used to do back in the day. One of the few Getty photographers I know who is doing well…really well…attributes it to his facebook ad campaign.  However you do it, be proactive in getting your work in front of prospective buyers!

The Right Stock Agency

Third, pick the right stock agency(s). It is tempting to sign with any agency that sends you a nice invitation praising your work, but do your research before signing. Talk to photographers that they represent. Is that agency really working for them? Does your work fit in with the agency (Stocksy, for example, turned me down)? Is that agency on a growth path (sales…not quantity of images)? What kind of guidance does the agency offer? How challenging is it to upload your images (and do you have to do your own key wording etc.)? Be thorough…your livelihood depends on it!

Blend Images And Curated Collections

Blend Images (of which I am a part owner), for example, has what I believe is a very smart strategy. They offer broad distribution through channels such as Getty, Masterfile, Gallery Stock and many others (including imagery with some microstock agencies at traditional RF prices)...and their own tightly edited collection of images. We Blend I get that broad distribution AND the attraction to art buyers of a boutique agency.I think it is the right approach at this time for success in stock photography. But again, I also work very hard to get my images exposure via my website, and link back to both Blend and Getty. I am also stepping up my efforts to gain visibility via social media. Wish me luck!

New Streamlined Rights Managed Licensing

A new approach to Rights Managed imagery offers a simpler and streamline approach to licensing imagery.


A Simplified Approach To Rights Managed Imagery

We all hate paper work and complexity, and Rights Managed imagery has a reputation for being complex and unwieldy. But that is changing.

Blend Images is pioneering, or perhaps re-pioneering, a new way to approach Rights Managed imagery (Getty tried “Rights Ready” years ago but it was still too unwieldy and ultimately was abandoned). RM, as it is known, was the original model for stock photography, but has fallen far behind in volume to RF (Royalty Free) and microstock (which is simply lower-priced RF).

High Prices And Complex Fees

Part of the popularity of RF imagery over RM is that RM has the reputation, if not always the reality, of higher price points. Of course, after getting a lot of my sales reports it sometimes seems to me that RM can underbid any RF image (RF images are sold by image size)! I have actually had RM sales in which my share came to 4 cents…more than once! But perhaps an even bigger problem in today’s world for RM images lies in the complexity of the fee structure.

Pricing RM

Have you ever gone to Getty’s site (or for that matter any RM site) and priced RM? Yikes! It is complicated, frustrating and time-intensive. I find it intensely irritating to be trying to come up with all the various parameters only to, at some point in the process, to be stumped as to what category, industry or specific application that is offered in the pull down menus fits my unique needs. You also need to know such things as the duration of the use, size of the use, print run numbers and circulation figures. It is enough to turn one to RF!

Making RM Simple

Blend Images has come up with a new approach that makes licensing RM imagery much simpler. They are offering a series of bundles of rights that greatly simplifies the licensing process. If you need exclusive use then one can talk to a sales person. There will always be a need for Rights Managed imagery…in my own case I have exclusive agreements with greeting card companies so I cannot offer my humorous animal images as RF. And many clients just don’t want to risk having their competition using the same images. Now those clients have an option that can fill their need for RM photos that approaches RF in terms of simplicity of licensing.

RM Licensing Bundles

On the Blend site you can choose either “editorial” or “commercial”. If you choose editorial you then can choose “Cover” or Digital Non-cover. Next you choose and “industry” and finally “duration”. It is even simpler than it sounds. If you choose “commercial”, you get a choice of three different bundles and a forth that includes “all commercial uses”. You gain choose an “industry” and a “duration” that ranges from one to five years. This is going to change how creatives view Rights Managed imagery!

A Discount On Your Stock Photo Licenses

And for those of you who are interested in checking the new pricing out, whether you need RF or RM, if you use the discount code JL-PROMO2016 you can get a 25% discount on any stock image you license on the Blend site. As a matter of fact, tell your friends and co workers as well (disclaimer…I too get a bonus when that discount code is used). Hey, what are you waiting for!

Ideas, The Biggest Stock Photo Challenge

Ideas, The Biggest Stock Photo Challenge

My biggest challenge, as a stock photographer, is coming up with ideas that I believe are both needed in the marketplace and are different or better than what is already available. I believe that there are an unlimited number of such ideas out there, even though I am constantly afraid I have come up with my very last decent one.  So what are some ways I tap into various resources to generate new imagery?

Setting The Intention And Writing Ideas Down

Well, first, I spend an inordinate amount of time looking at photos. I set the intention to come up with ideas and then start looking at imagery. I Google images, I peruse my own files and I search stock photo sites. Sooner or later an idea will surface usually followed by a couple of more.  Now it isn’t unusual for me to find an idea lacking that I thought was terrific the day before…and then to find a new appreciation for the idea on yet another day.  Keeping that in mind, and the fleeting nature of ideas, I keep a pad and pencil, or word document open, and write down the ideas as they come to me.

Cloud Computing And A Tug Of War

In the case of this tug of war/cloud computing image, I was checking out my own archives. At some point the cloud image caught my eye. I made a mental note of the clouds, keeping it in mind as I continued to roam through my files. BTW, I use Adobe Bridge for that purpose. Eventually I ran across an image of a tug of war match between two groups of business people and immediately realized that I could have the competition taking place in “TheCloud”. It would create a visually interesting image with all kinds of concepts. And it is great to have a stock image that can work for multiple concepts!

Teamwork, Challenge And Visual Metaphors

“The Cloud” is becoming so pervasive with so many activities and implications that it requires numerous visual metaphors for use in advertising and editorial communications. In this case some of the possible concepts include teamwork, challenge, competition and determination. One important idea is that the cloud, like everywhere in the business world, requires teamwork, strength and endurance to succeed.

Intention, Visual Research, Execution And Distribution

Now I have no idea how successful this stock image may or may not end up being, but the technique I used to come up with it, intention and visual research (looking at images) is at the core of my stock photo business.  Come up with enough ideas, execute them at a minimal cost, and get them into distribution and success is still attainable in stock photography!

Shooting Stock For Whats Hot

A virtual or digital assistant is represented in this stock photo seeking to cash in on hot concept.

Creating Imagery That Is In Demand

Part of succeeding as a stock photographer is in creating imagery that is in demand…and ideally, images that are both in demand and have less competition. One way to achieve that is by creating concept images that for new, important ideas. This image of a pixilated butler was created with just such a concept in mind; the digital or virtual assistant.

Virtual and Digital Assistants

I became aware of the growing importance of virtual assistants in a recent Kickstarter campaign I was involved in.  Successful crowdfunding campaigns invariably make extensive use of virtual assistants...and crowdfunding is hot (hmmm...more fodder for stock ideas)!  Also, as the world increasingly moves towards the cloud the use of digital and virtual assistants will no doubt increase…and the need for imagery that can advertise and editorialize about such assistants will also ramp up.

Butlers And Pixels

As I thought about how to illustrate the idea of a digital assistant I thought of a butler. A butler is an iconic symbol of service. Pixels are iconic symbols of a digital world. Combine them and you have a perfect metaphor for virtual assistants! In my files I already had a photograph of myself as a butler. I stripped that image out and put it into a corporate lobby setting. Then I “pixilated” the image by taking small squares out of the butler and repositioning them. The butler can be seen as forming from the cloud, or dispersing into a networked environment.

Vertical, Horizontal And Copy Space

The image was composed to allow for cropping to square, vertical or horizontal uses with ample copy space for the needs of art directors, designers or photo editors. The result is a flexible image that can illustrate a wide variety of concepts around digital, personal and virtual assistants. Time will tell if it actually becomes a successful stock image or not.

The Important Stock Photo Question: What Else?

In this image about creativity, ideas and imagination, a light bulb, released from a cage, rises up to a sky filled with the rays of the sun.

An Evolving Approach To Stock Photography

The way I have approached stock photography in the last few years has evolved. It was as I finished a recent image that it occurred to me that there is a very important question any stock shooter needs to ask themselves in regards to whatever image, images or shoots they are undertaking. That question is: What else? Asking what else can lead to higher productivity, more creativity, and more income.

Ideas, Creativity And Thinking Outside The Box

This image of a bird released from it’s cage is a great example. The concept is primarily one of freedom. Once I finished the image I sat back and asked myself what else I could have escaping, or released from, the cage. As I mentally ran through different possibilities it suddenly struck me that a light bulb lifting into the sky would make a great concept image for ideas, creativity, and the importance of not placing limits or restrictions on our imagination. This new image is about thinking outside the box…but without the box.

Tried And True Symbols In A New Environment

Sure, the light bulb is a tired and hackneyed symbol, but it is also iconic and instantly recognizable as demonstrating ideas. Putting a tried and true symbol in a new and different environment or situation is a powerful way of catching a viewer’s attention and offering a clear and strong message.

What Else?

In this example I asked what else at the end of an image…but it is a great question to ask when planning a shoot, or even editing one as well.  If you have a particular idea in mind for a shoot it can be easy to miss viable shots that happen to be outside the parameters of what you were actually aiming for. Take one last look at the shoot asking yourself  “What else”?

Hot Water, Kickstarter And A Beautiful Photo!

This beautiful water image has been created as an exclusive reward for $1.00 backers of our HydraQuik Kickstarter campaign.

Wow, it has been a busy couple of months gearing up for our HydraQuik Kickstarter campaign, which goes live in just a few minutes, at 1:00 PST. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this project, my brother invented a device that we call the HydraQuik that gets your hot water to you fast (up to 80% faster) without wasting water down the drain. When he asked me to become involved I saw it as a chance to make a positive difference in the world (the HydraQuik, if used extensively, could save BILLIONS of gallons of water a year).

My thinking is that a product that makes life easier and more convenient (not waiting for hot water) might actually catch on with the public...far more likely than a form of conservation that requires sacrifice! It the HydraQuik is widely adopted it can truly impact our planet in a positive way!

I am asking for your support in backing us. If you back us to the tune of $1.00 you will be helping the environment as well as helping us! That $1.00 of support will also get you a digital file I have made exclusively for our Kickstarter backers that is, at least in my opinion, a stunning photo suitable for fine art printing. All $1.00 backers will get this digital file as part of their rewards.

By clicking on our HydraQuik link you can share our project, watch a very brief video starring yours truly, and give your support. I really appreciate your support!

And don’t worry, when the campaign ends in a month I promise to get back into blogging about stock photography!

Watch the video!

Kickstarter Video-A Lesson Learned

Chris Faber of Faber Productions shooting motion of John Lund for his HydraQuik Kickstarter video.

Kickstarter Video And A Lesson Learned

This past week we put together a kickstarter video for a project my brothers and I are doing (a product that gets your hot water to the fixture really fast without wasting any water down the drain…we call it hydraQuik).  The only other video experience I have with motion is in creating slow motion clips with a Phantom HD.

My epiphany in this video effort was how freeing it was to be liberated from operating the camera! I hired a DP and Producer, Chris Faber, of Faber Productions who used his own equipment including camera, lights, dolly, slider and sound gear. It was awesome!  It was also necessary because I was the client, the director and the talent. I couldn’t very well be on both sides of the camera at once!

After this experience I am convinced that, at least for me, for any video shoot I do in the future I will hire at least a DP. Doing so will create a more stress free shoot for me and insure that I can place the emphasis on what is most important...my vision. I can leave the "driving" to someone who has it down cold. If the client doesn't have the budget...then I don't want that client!

We had a tight script and spent two days shooting, and I had a blast. Turns out I like being on camera as well! The only downer is when I saw myself…I look kind of old. Maybe because I am! Oh well…..

It is also exciting to be involved in this new kickstarter project. A nice break from 30+ years of photography…and a project that can help the world as well.  If you haven’t heard of kickstarter, check it out. It is a crowdfunding site with some really amazing projects going on. It also might be a way for you to fund your own project…and yes…there are lots of photography projects on there as well.

I can’t wait to see the video. As soon as I have it in hand I will post it here.  Stay tuned!