Making Money With Cell Phone Pictures

 

 My first cell phone stock photo! I just uploaded this image into Blend Images' New MEMENTO collection.

Making Money With Cell Phone Pictures

While there is much I don’t like about cell phone photography (see my previous blog post “Why I Hate Instagram”), I cannot deny that there is commercial potential. Heck, Time magazine just ran a cover shot with a cell phone photos! Stories are beginning to abound about the success of photographers using cell phones as their cameras.  But most importantly for me is the announcement by Blend Images of their new MEMENTO collection, a collection of commercially relevant images shot on cell phone cameras. With this new collection there is no doubt in my mind that I can be making money with my cell phone pictures.

A shout out to Blend's Jasmine Hartsook who designed the new logo!

My First Cell Phone Stock Photo

As a matter of fact, I just finished my first upload to Memento. My very first cell phone stock photo is that of the hand of my girl friend holding a color sample card in front of a color display for paints. It is a great example of one kind of image that is greatly facilitated by cell phone cameras…being there!  I had my cell phone in my hand, the color display was sitting there…and within a minute or two, with no fuss, muss or unwanted attention, I got the shot. Uh, I should mention that I used Photoshop to eliminate all the little logos on each card...but it didn't really take much time, and I used my laptop while watching mindless TV. BTW, so far I am avoiding the filtration apps and just using the standard iPhone camera. I am such a luddite that trying to figure out the ins and outs of the apps and so forth...well...I just don't have the patience for it. Maybe in the future....

A walk across the Golden Gate Bridge...and a stock photo!

The Best Camera Is The One You Have With You

As they say, the best camera is the one you have with you. Today I walked across the Golden Gate bridge with my fiance. I didn't have my regular cameras with me...but I did have my cell phone and managed to get this image (I did remove the ship's name from the stern). This is probably how the iPhone camera will most affect my own stock production...shots of opportunity...rather than pre-planned shoots.

A Supplement For Stock Imagery Production

I don’t see this kind of imagery really supplanting what I normally do, but I can see how it could supplement my stock imagery production. And you know what…it was kind of fun to do! Give it a shot…if it works out great…if not, no big loss.

A Collection For All Photographers

Back to Blend for a moment. Blend is opening up their Memento collection to everyone. This is a bold step for a “traditional” stock agency. But unlike many collections MEMENTO will be edited to insure that it is commercially relevant. It won’t be a fine art collection and won’t be a waste of time for people looking for cell phone type images to utilize in their advertisements, blog posts, editorial offerings… or whatever other need they have for photography. 

Blend’s List Of Content Needs

MEMENTO images need to be jpg files great than 10MB when open and can be either 72 or 300 dpi.  The color profiles can be either sRGB or Adobe RGB. And hey, you microstockers, Blend does the key wording (gotta like that!). Unlike other Blend collections this is not limited to multi-cultural business and lifestyle imagery…but does need to be commercially applicable and must have releases where required just as with traditional stock photos. Here is a list of Blend’s list of content needs for, as they put it, “pocket camera photographs”:

Americana

Quirky, humorous

Voyeur approach to lifestyle

Regional Interest (*see separate creative brief from 2011)

A day in the life of a person, couple, or group

Emotive

Adventures - Road trip, urban, exotic, iconic, recreational sports, vacation

Celebrations & holidays

Being social with loved ones

All 4 seasons / day & night

Multicultural, traditions, and cultures

Food

Nature – environmental concepts, weather (4 seasons, natural disasters, etc.)

The Occasional Image or A Body of Work

Again, for most us shooters this represents a chance to add the occasional image to our output. For some, however, this could be a bigger opportunity. If you have a love affair with your cell phone camera or  “pocket camera” and are constantly shooting I can see how a sizable body of work could be produced that might just result in a significant amount of revenue.  Only time well tell….

Great Money In Stock Photography
Those who jumped into Stock Photography in the early 90s made some great money. Those who jumped early into RF made some great money. Those who jumped into microstock early made some great money (okay...not All of them). For me, it just makes sense to at least test the waters in this latest direction of the stock photo industry.

To find out more shoot an email off to Blend’s Creative Director Sarah Fix. Her email is her first name @blendimages.com. 

Analysing My Top 100 Selling Stock Photos

 

Stock photos under scrutiny: Analysis of my top 100 selling images.

 

Top 100 Selling Stock Photos

In my last post I shared that my top 100 selling stock photos for the last year have averaged over $1,000.00 apiece. In this post we will look at a few more details of those hundred images and see if we can draw any conclusions.  I need to point out that not the entire top one hundred images were shot by me. The collection includes images shot by a number of other photographers who have submitted through me.

Motion Clips

Three of the top hundred photos were actually motion clips. Kind of surprising since our collection includes over 8000 still images and only a few hundred clips. A word about motion clips here. In my experience the clips are more difficult and time-consuming to produce, and return me fewer dollars.  I don’t advise making a big commitment to motion unless you absolutely love shooting it.

Rights Managed, RF And No Microstock

Fifty-seven of the images are Rights Managed. The rest are RF. We do not have any microstock images in the collection. Two of the video clips were RM and one was RF.

Trying to decide if RM or RF is a better bet, based on these results, is not as simple as it might seem. For that information it would be better to compare shoots as opposed to individual images because with RF shoots you get a lot more images accepted. What I am seeing is that great RF images can bring in just as much as great RM images…which is sort of surprising in light of the fact that the photographer gets a bigger percentage with the RM images. If you include the increase in number of selects with RF, I have to say that I would give the edge to RF at this point.  It kills me to say that because I really love RM… oh well.

People Images, Landscapes, And Weird Composites

Approximately half of the images have people in them. The rest include landscapes, still lives, and hard-to-categorize images such as abstract lights, cloudscapes and weird composites. If anything, what I get from studying the best selling images, is that it doesn’t matter what category the image falls into, what matters is that concept images have a clear message, and lifestyle images have a feeling of authenticity.

Aging Images

In another interesting tidbit I found that sixteen of the top one hundred selling photos were ones I made over ten years ago! There were many more that were older than five years…but I didn’t count how many.  Another age-related trend I have noticed is that it takes a good six months from the time I send images in until they hit their licensing stride. I have heard that microstock images have a much shorter gestation period, but for me, in the more “traditional” market, it takes a fair amount of time. I surmise that part of the explanation lays in the time it takes for the images to get fully distributed through out the world.

Multiple Model Photos

Thirty-eight of the stock photos have three or more people in them. To me that is significant. I would guess that there are far fewer images out there with three or more models, so it makes sense that with less competition multiple model imagery has a good chance of having better sales.

Odds And Ends

Eight of the stock photos have a white background. Thirteen include computers. Two have ear buds.  There were only two of what I would call “traditional testimonial portraiture”, but they were both the same woman. I know some photographers who swear that the model is the most important element…perhaps this lends credence to that theory. I might add that this particular model, a woman, has an air of relaxed self-confidence…and curly black hair (which I have also heard is a good-selling trait).

Concepts And Business

Finally, I’d like to point out that our collection is heavily weighted towards concepts and business. Trying to get really meaningful information from an image collection dissimilar to one’s own is pretty tough. Heck, even looking at our own collection the main takeaway I get is that a little bit of everything sells. I always end up with the same direction: Create well-executed images with clear concepts and an emotional hook of either humor or authenticity, and it is hard to go wrong.

Is Stock Photography Dead?

 

Is stock photography dead, or is the sky really the limit?

 

My Top 100 Selling Stock Photos

Over the last year my top 100 selling stock photos (out of 8,000+ images) averaged $1,169.00 each.  Based on that statistic alone I would have to say that stock photography is still alive and well. True, it isn’t like the old days when the competition was thin and the return per image was off the charts, but nonetheless, I believe that it is evident that making a good living at stock photography is still an option.  It is also worth noting that I know a number of stock shooters who are both better photographers and more productive than I am.

Increased Productivity And A Wider Audience

While it is true that my stock income has dropped over the last five years, I am now optimistic that my income will actually start climbing again.  I base that on my own increased productivity of late, and also in the increasing exposure of my imagery to a larger audience, something I have Blend Images to thank for.  Blend is doing a great job expanding their potential client base by getting their images in front of not just a vast number of traditional art buyers, but also getting them in front of microstock audiences at traditional RF price points.  Certainly the success of the “Vetta” collection and the  “Agency Collection” at iStockphoto.com have proven that the microstock audience is willing to pony up for higher priced stock photos.

Now Is The Time To Create Imagery

If you are invested in stock photography, now is the time to be creating images. When the world’s economy eventually pulls out of the doldrums then all those images will serve you well.  Too, because of the long-term nature of the business, it is important to be constantly building your library of images, and in my opinion, to be building traffic to your web site for additional sales and exposure.

Quality, Quantity and Success

In the insanely competitive world of stock photography success is a blend (no pun intended) of quality and quantity and can only be the result of dedication, passion, and a long-term commitment (if nothing else, I’ve got that long-term part down).  With the ever increasing use of photography and better distribution it just may be that the sky is the limit!

Clients, Cancellation Fees And Success

-->

 The clients you want are part of the team, make sure you have the time and resources you need, and are willing to pay you what the job is worth.

 

Today I received an email from a friend and fellow photographer relaying the following story:

I drove all the way to SF to set up for a simple portrait in SF.
At the last minute the client called to say they found someone cheaper.  I was pissed. I called, tried to work it out with them. Was willing to come down by the small $50.00 difference. They said no.

So I sent them an invoice right away for a cancellation fee of the full amount.. They just called and gave me their credit card. Of course, they will never work with me in the future, but they were never going to anyway.

So I get the same amount I was going to get for shooting the shot, now I can go home early.

My friend was fortunate that he asked for a cancellation fee and got it. The story reminds me though of some things I learned in my twenty-five years of shooting assignments. You don’t want to waste your valuable time on second-rate clients. You are far better off turning down jobs from clients that aren’t willing to pay you an appropriate amount, and provide you with the resources (time and expenses) necessary to do a quality job. You are better off spending that time finding great clients. Great clients understand the value of your time…all of your time, don’t have a problem putting down a deposit, keep you informed, and pay you on time. Great clients are part of the team...not part of the problem.

A poor client will drag you down, label you as someone who can be hired cheaply, and then spread the word.  Remember, you will be known by the clients you keep. Want to succeed? Hold out for great clients and then work your ass off for them. 

Five Rules For Success In Stock Photography

You can't be effective at any endeavor whether it is stock photography or stock market investing if you don't have a clear view of the reality of the world.

1. Get your head out of the clouds and understand what images the market needs.

2. Forget waiting for inspiration and get to work making inspiring images.

3. Quit looking at what others are doing and create the images that only you can create.

4. Remember that quality trumps quantity, but quantity is necessary.

5. Prepare for the long term by setting realistic goals and creating images that fulfill you creatively

The Power of The Unexpected

 

There is power in the unexpected and a continuing need for images depicting creativity, ideas and thinking outside the box.

 

The Power of The Unexpected

There is power in the unexpected. Showing the unexpected, the unimagined and even the bizarre has the power to capture a viewer’s attention, which is, after all, the function of a stock photo. Harness that power in your stock photography.

Shattered Expectations

In this photo of a hammer, unexpectedly shattering against a light bulb, there are a wide variety of concepts that are being illustrated from creativity and inspiration to the impact of the unexpected. In a world drowning in images there is advantage to standing out from the crowd by creating visuals that can easily illustrate ideas and that have the advantage of not being seen before.

Creativity, Ideas And Inspiration

The light bulb obviously represents such concepts as ideas, creativity and inspiration. Having the hammer, an iconic symbol for strength and power, shatter against the light bulb makes a strong illustration of the power and influence of creativity and ideas…and does so in what I would argue is a creative image. This photo is further an illustration of the power of the unexpected and possibilities. It is an argument for opening your mind, thinking outside the box, and allowing for serendipity.

Rights Managed vs. Royalty Free

I don’t see this as a image that will sell a gazillion times, rather as one that will definitely have multiple sales, but sales totaling in the tens rather than the hundreds. As such I think it would be better served as an RM image, and I will suggest that to my editor at BlendImages (thought I will leave the final decision up to him).  BTW, these days one of the hardest aspects to stock photography is deciding whether an image should be RF or RM. Anyone who still thinks RM images will earn more money is probably in denial, and yet there is still a place for Rights Managed imagery. I do my best to make intelligent decisions but there just isn’t a foolproof set of criteria for such choices. Oh well.

Why I Hate Instagram

This cyber warfare photo became possible when I happened across an army tank and grabbed a shot of it with my iPhone.


New Freedom With Photography

When I say I hate Instagram I am using the word "Instagram" as the category of pictures shot with a mobile phone. Now I didn’t always have such a dislike of mobile phone camera photos. I first took notice of such images when a friend of mine, Nevada Wier, showed me the images she was shooting with her iPhone. Damn they looked good! We were on a trip to India and here she was getting awesome looking images with her phone. I had visions of finally being able to discard my DSLR bodies and lenses and all that other camera gear and enjoying a new freedom with my photography.

An Excursion Into iPhone Photography

Unfortunately my brief (so far) excursion into iPhone photography hasn’t quite gone as planned. First, I find it very difficult to shoot great pictures with my phone. I have a hard time holding it steady, a hard time not getting my fingers in the pictures, and a hard time triggering the shutter at the moment I want. Too, I have a hard time finding the beauty in my phone pictures when viewing them on my desktop display (as opposed to my camera screen). Did I mention it is a pain in the butt to learn new things too? Looking on the good side, I sure have a lot of pictures of my cat now!

A Different Reality

Further, grab shots are not what I do. I shoot carefully composited concept images. Sure, the idea of never missing a shot appeals to me, as well as the idea of supplementing my stock library with those spur-of-the-minute opportunities. Yet I find the reality a bit different. I don’t seem to be finding those significantly good spontaneous opportunities and instead I feel constant pressure to produce, and constant disappointment in my own failure to come up with the awesome phone-camera shots that so many of my peers achieve.

Opportunities And “Breaks”

Yes I do continually look for opportunities with my iPhone in hand. Which means that now I never get a break from work! I spend so much time thinking about and “doing” stock photography that I am in constant danger of burn out.  Not having my equipment with me gives me a kind of break from that self-imposed pressure.  Or rather it did, because now I have my "equipment" with me all the time! To be fair I do get some interesting and useful images. In the “cyber warfare” image at the top of this post, the war tank was shot with my iPhone when I unexpectedly saw it on a trip to the dump. Without my iPhone handy I would never have created that stock image.

A Good Attitude And A Great Tool

Okay, yes, the camera phones are a great tool and, I guess, are already contributing to my career. The trick for me, as with most endeavors, is having a good attitude and the self-discipline to keep my approach a healthy one, one that contributes to my way of working rather than distracts from it. For some photographers mobile phone cameras can open up a whole new set of opportunities (check out David Sanger's Instagram work), for me it is one more love/hate relationship to be managed. And, I guess I don’t really hate Instagram after all:).