Stock Photography Future - Do You Fit?

Do you have a computer and an email account? Do you have basic computer skills? If yes, stock photography is for you. Determine what tools you need and how to use them effectively.

Photography Success - The Lazy Man's Way
By Rohn Engh

Where do you keep your images? If your answer is a shoebox, plastic slide holders, or KODAK boxes, -- you are not alone.

Many photographers are organized and can find a specific picture when a photobuyer calls for it. But most, unfortunately, are not. However, there’s hope. I’m going to outline what I call the “Lazy Man’s Way” of organizing and selling your photos.

First of all, I’m going to ask you to step into the 21st century and quit grumbling about how Kodak and Fuji no longer provide film for you at the local drug store. Whether we like it or not, the Digital Age is upon us. So, let’s get with the program.

You asked about being able to be lazy?

The Digital Age that you see others experiencing is the key to your newfound workable laziness. Why?

No more: chemicals, tin rolls, delivery of film, arguing about color balance, light table mix-ups, filing slides in pages and notebooks, humidity problems, sleepless nights worrying about delivery (or return) of your original slides to a client or a stock photo agency.

If you’ve lasted this long in stock photography, then you must be a dedicated person. It’s time to make your dedication move in a new direction: Digital. This is where the laziness comes in. It’s not so much the taking of pictures, or cataloging them, but in selling them.

A little history first.

After fifty years of dominating the stock photography field, stock photo agencies are gradually losing their exclusive grip on the industry. In the last century, the agencies were pretty much the only game in town. If you decided to go with one, you had to make sure it was a specialized stock photo agency. If you had five different specialties that meant you put one-fifth of your collection in each of the five specialized agencies. Today, whether you are a specialist or a “generalist,” it’s now more effective to market your pictures at an electronic “portal.” And this is where the laziness comes in.

Portals are digital stock photo agencies that feature your images in a massive collection. They utilize keywords to help visitors (buyers) locate special photo needs. Since all the photos are in digital format, you have no worry of picture loss as you would in a classic stock photo agency. Also, you are able to join several portals at the same time if you wish, and determine which one is doing the best job for you.

Photobuyers like portals. Photobuyers use the search power of the Internet when they start a search for the photo they need. Using keywords, a photobuyer might land on a series of portals. Each portal has its own keyword search section, so finding the ”just right” picture becomes much easier. In the next decade we are going to see photobuyers working almost exclusively with portals for this reason.

And if you want to be a lazy marketer of stock photos, portals provide you the opportunity to literally dump all of your top-notch marketable images into the portal. There’s no cataloging necessary. Remember, keyword searches find your picture (in seconds), not a visual search. Here are more reasons photographers and photobuyers are placing their images in portals: portals are quick, (a photoshopper can browse a portal’s collection swiftly); they offer charge card payment; they pay you, the photographer, monthly (unlike stock agencies who may pay only every six months); they offer real time reports on sales; they often offer direct download (24 hour service); they offer a variety of photographer styles and personalities; they provide fresh, new ideas and trends because their photographers are constantly adding new pictures; they calculate the fee for the photobuyer which eliminates the need for any negotiating; thus they allow you to photograph and they do the selling for you; they offer a higher percent of the sale than most standard stock agencies; they are, in effect, an outsource catalog of your work.

Here’s a group of portals you’ll want to look into. Some are for Royalty Free photos, others are for Managed Rights, and others are a combination of both. Some aim at low-end buyers. The pay is low, too. Others are middle ground, and others are high-end.

adobe.com; alamy.com; artzooks.com; bigstock.com; istock.com; myloupe.com; painet.com; stock.xchng.com; shutterstock.com; stockphotomedia.com; vizpix.com; photosourcegroup.com

So you see, once your stock photos are in a portal, or portals, you can go about doing what you do best, take pictures. This new work style may mean that you’ll have to convert your top slides to hi-resolution digital images (about $10 each) and buy a digital camera. But if your dedication is alive and well, you’ll soon pay for those expenses from your sales. Now you can lie back in your hammock and have another mint julep.

Rohn Engh is director of PhotoSource International and publisher of PhotoStockNotes. Pine Lake Farm, 1910 35th Road, Osceola, WI 54020 USA. 1 800 624 0266; Fax: 1 715 248 7394. http://www.photosource.com

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Technology, especially the Internet, has made it much easier (than in the past) for photographers to sell their images to the stock photography industry. Having the tools necessary to succeed in the stock photography market is critical. It isn't about bell and whistles or high-priced gadgetry. It's basic knowledge about technology and successfully selling stock photography.

Technology, especially the Internet, has made it much easier (than in the past) for photographers to sell their images to the stock photography industry. Knowing what technology resources get the job done and what you need is critical. There are no 'secrets' to the technology necessary for stock photography success. Stock photography resources are available. Make good use of the resources and profit.