An Intro to Online Stock Photography
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How to Make Over $2,000 a Month Selling Your Photos Online An Intro to Online Stock Photography Great Escape Publishing 1 How to Make Over $2,000 a Month Selling Your Photos Online: An Intro to Online Stock Photography Published by: Great Escape Publishing 245 NE 4th Avenue, Suite 102 Delray Beach, FL 33483 Phone: 561-278-5557 Fax: 561-278-5929 www.thetravelwriterslife.com www.thephotographerslife.com © Great Escape Publishing, 2014. All rights reserved. Protected by copyright laws of the United States and international treaties. No part of this publication in whole or in part may be copied, duplicated, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission from the publisher. 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Penalties for criminal and statutory copyright infringement are set forth at 18 U.S.C. § 2319. 2 Table of Contents Where to sell, How to Break in, and How Much You Can Expect to Make 4 The Difference Between “Traditional” and “Microstock” Photo Agencies 4 Why Start with Microstock? 5 How to Choose an Agency 5 Six Microstock Agencies Where You Can Get Started 6 How to Take Stock-Quality Photos that Sell 7 Cash in on Your Interests and Expertise 8 Can You Make a Living Having Fun with Stock Photography? 9 A Word About Model Releases 12 Selling Your Photos without a Model Release 13 Further Photography Resources 16 3 How to Make Over $2,000 a Month Selling Your Photos Online An Intro to Online Stock Photography -- Where to Sell, How to Break in, and How Much You Can Expect to Make If you’ve never heard the term ―Stock Photography,‖ sometimes called ―Royalty- Free‖ photography, then you’re in the same boat as three-quarters of Americans, according to a recent study by istockphoto.com. Yet traditional stock agencies have been around for decades. Stock photography is simply a term used for images that are not photographed for a specific client’s use. Instead, they are images photographed and cataloged for individuals to buy later from agencies that collect photos from hundreds of other photographers. Traditionally, stock photography agencies will provide their customers with a catalog of photos to choose from—either online or in print. And customers would flip through the pages looking for the photos that best match their needs. And in the end, they’d pay $200-$800 a pop depending on their choices. But there’s a new kind of stock agency everyone is buzzing about and that’s what we’re going to talk about today… The Difference Between "Traditional" And Microstock Photo Agencies Today we have both "traditional" stock agencies (and by that I mean big corporations that act as brokers for all sorts of images) and we have the new kids on the block -- "microstock" agencies -- which exist on the web and deal with digital files only. To break into a traditional stock agency you need five things: 4 1) Approximately 200 technically perfect images - good composition, perfect exposure, proper focus 2) Captions for each 3) Keywords for each photo (Some agencies do this for you, check their guidelines.) 4) A Word document that contains a list of all the photos you're submitting along with their captions. 5) A commitment to upload 100 to 200 further images every month. But the money is good. As a general rule of thumb, photographers with traditional agencies claim $1 per year for every image they have on file with an agency. Why are they happy to give up their photos for $1 a piece a year? Well, as noted above, with traditional stock agencies you often have a contractual obligation to submit photos every month. One hundred photos a month (which is typical) translates to 1,200 photos a year or $1,200. And your portfolio will grow exponentially each and every year. Why Start with Microstock? When it comes to microstock agencies, it’s much easier for a beginner to break in. And the pay is much greater. With microstock sites, photographers generally earn $1 an image A MONTH. So 1,200 photos a year means $1,200 a month or over $14,000 a year. What’s more, there's no commitment, no quota, and no exclusive contract. You can upload your pictures at your leisure, and you can upload them to multiple sites at the same time for more money if you want. And since they don't buy exclusive rights (like the traditional stock agencies do) to the picture, you can always sell it on your own for more cash. How to Choose an Agency To get started in the right direction and find the right stock agency -- or agencies -- for you, here’s a list of a few whose acceptance rules are fairly flexible -- agencies that only require you to submit between one and ten photos to get started. 5 I recommend you choose the agency first -- before you collect your pictures -- because that will affect the way you prepare them. Each agency has different requirements, from the size of image they accept to the number of keywords they want you to submit. So take a look through the sites and read through the requirements and the photographer agreement before you decide. Once you decide, you can upload your images at your own pace (there are no minimum requirements but there are some maximum limits). And you'll need to supply titles, descriptions, and keywords for each photo (be specific, descriptive and clear -- not prolific and creative). WARNING: Be your own worst critic when it comes to sorting through your photographs and deciding which ones to submit. Most microstock agencies monitor your acceptance rate and some will even put a hold on your account if you submit too many images that don't meet their needs or follow their guidelines. If you get five rejections in a row without a single acceptance, stop submitting and go back to practicing your craft. Six Microstock Agencies Where You Can Get Started: Bigstockphoto.com currently has 4 million royalty-free photographs and illustrations, which they sell for $1.00 - $15.00, depending on the number of credits you purchase and the size of the photo you want to buy. A photographer will earn $0.50 to $3.00 per download, and up to $60.00 for special licensing downloads. Bigstockphoto claims it will only allow JPG photograph uploads. Photos must be at least 800 pixels across the longest side, but images that are at least 2500 pixels. If you don't know how large your photos are, you can right click on the thumbnails in your computer and you'll find the size under "properties." Be sure to read the rest of their guidelines, too, before you submit. Just click this link for more information on selling your images on Bigstock photo: http://www.bigstockphoto.com/faq.html Shutterstock.com has 15,310,383 photos online and boasts over 296,601 photographers. Rather than selling photos individually, they sell a subscription that allows 25 downloads a day (up to 750/month) that costs $249/month or up to $709 for three months. Photographers earn $0.25 per download until they reach $500 in earnings, at which point, it goes up to $0.33. This price structure may scare away casual photo shoppers, but subscribers are encouraged to download many photos and are more likely to download a photo on a whim. They require 6 JPGs that have a minimum of 4.0 megapixels. Be very careful here: if you upload below-standard images, they'll lock your account for three months: http://submit.shutterstock.com/ Dreamstime.com has more than 11,000,000 images that they sell in a tiered pricing structure. To simplify, the more times an image sells, the more it costs, and the more the photographer gets paid. Prices start at $0.20 with a photographer's payout of 50% - 80%. They require JPGs that are at least 3 megapixels: http://www.dreamstime.com/faq13-what-requirements-do-you-have- Canstockphoto.com has over 4,000,000 images that sell from $1 - $5 or by monthly or yearly subscription. There are over 21,000 photographers that submit photos. The photographer gets 50%. They require JPG images greater than 3 megapixels, but less than 8 megabytes. They also have an application process that requires their approval of 3 photos before you can get started: http://www.canstockphoto.com 123royaltyfree.com is a subscription-based agency similar to Shutterstock. They have over 9 million royalty-free stock photos. As a photographer, you get up to 60% of net credit price, plus commissions for referring members or photographers. Be sure to read their requirements first: http://www.123rf.com iStockphoto.com has over 6,7000,000 photos that sell for $1 - $25, depending on size and rights, and pays contributors base royalty rate of 15% for each file downloaded with ―exclusive contributors‖ making 45%. You also have opportunities for more money as your file builds. iStock must approve 3 sample images, first, and accepts JPG images at least 1200 x 1600 pixels. http://www.istockphoto.com How to Take Stock-Quality Photos that Sell The most important thing to think about when you're shooting for the stock- photography market is the word "useful." You want photos that buyers will find "useful." Having said that, "useful" can be anything from photos of a textured wall or TV static (graphic designers buy these to use as backgrounds for their designs) to pictures of people and places (these get snapped up to illustrate magazine articles, company brochures, space ads, websites, and more).