Stock photography websites


irritainment

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Sep 16, 2008
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Hi anyone selling your photos on stock photography websites? A.k.a shutterstock,istockphoto
May i know hows the turnout?
 

you need to work very hard,

planing, sourcing, shooting, post processing, keywording, uploading,
than start this cycle again and again,

after two to three years, you should have thousands over files if you spend at least 10 hours a week,
than able to see some returns.



hope this help.
 

for shutterstock, you should able to make your first US$50 payout within a year if you have some quality stuffs. if you want more money, you need to treat it as a full time job.

for istockphoto, their standard of inspection is very high, many people have troubles getting their images accepted, if you can get above 50% acceptant rate, you are consider very good.
 

Ahh..time consuming huh..was considering it as a passive income source..
Thanks for ur input!

No such thing as "lazy money". You need to work hard, otherwise everyone would be doing it.
 

No such thing as "lazy money". You need to work hard, otherwise everyone would be doing it.
actually there is,
USDJPY carry trade...
 

I've got around 50 plus shots on Getty Images that were picked from my Flickr account. I think I've been quite fortunate so far to receive around USD100 per month for royalties. This month's earnings are even better at around USD280, haha. I've always wondered who buys them, but I guess one could only be thankful. Anyway, as a hobbyist, some pocket money from photography is always welcomed.
 

I've got around 50 plus shots on Getty Images that were picked from my Flickr account. I think I've been quite fortunate so far to receive around USD100 per month for royalties. This month's earnings are even better at around USD280, haha. I've always wondered who buys them, but I guess one could only be thankful. Anyway, as a hobbyist, some pocket money from photography is always welcomed.

Congrats.

I have seen your works, awesome.
 

I've got around 50 plus shots on Getty Images that were picked from my Flickr account. I think I've been quite fortunate so far to receive around USD100 per month for royalties. This month's earnings are even better at around USD280, haha. I've always wondered who buys them, but I guess one could only be thankful. Anyway, as a hobbyist, some pocket money from photography is always welcomed.

Good job...

Obviously you have a great eye and create images that is sellable... if you think this will lead you somewhere, you should try to expand it... however, never lose sight on your inner creativity.

Regards,

Hart
 

Good job...

Obviously you have a great eye and create images that is sellable... if you think this will lead you somewhere, you should try to expand it... however, never lose sight on your inner creativity.

Regards,

Hart

Thanks Hart! Yeah, I still do consider myself a hobbyist, but if I were to go full-time in the future(after my studies), I'd probably need to intern in a studio for more practice on studio stuff, since I'm mostly a landscape/cityscape guy. Yeap, we should never forget the passion which led us to this craft. :)
 

Scintillation said:
I've got around 50 plus shots on Getty Images that were picked from my Flickr account. I think I've been quite fortunate so far to receive around USD100 per month for royalties. This month's earnings are even better at around USD280, haha. I've always wondered who buys them, but I guess one could only be thankful. Anyway, as a hobbyist, some pocket money from photography is always welcomed.

Landscape works are most difficult to be picked up by Getty in Flickr. This is a genre where it's most competitive under the Getty/flickr collaboration IMO, both in getting picked up by them, and in selling them. You have done really really well.

I think one thing TS needs to understand is, a stunning shot to the eye may not be stock worthy. An award winning shot may also not be stock worthy. In fact, many pictures on sale in stock websites are ordinary shots, but there may be a hidden message in the shot which makes them stock-worthy. You may want to go to NLB to borrow some books on stock photography and read up on them. Things like negative space etc play a big part in stock photography. That's why some of the most stunning portraits will never make it into stock photography websites.
 

Landscape works are most difficult to be picked up by Getty in Flickr. This is a genre where it's most competitive under the Getty/flickr collaboration IMO, both in getting picked up by them, and in selling them. You have done really really well.

I think one thing TS needs to understand is, a stunning shot to the eye may not be stock worthy. An award winning shot may also not be stock worthy. In fact, many pictures on sale in stock websites are ordinary shots, but there may be a hidden message in the shot which makes them stock-worthy. You may want to go to NLB to borrow some books on stock photography and read up on them. Things like negative space etc play a big part in stock photography. That's why some of the most stunning portraits will never make it into stock photography websites.


to be very frank, TS is not suitable to do stock photography, as I read one of his thread before, this is what he said in the thread:
.......
i dont like to do edits/post processing.
Freelance weekends only.
after events,i will pass the files to the main photographer.


can you tell me which stock image agency will accept files like this?
 

can you tell me which stock image agency will accept files like this?

Of the 2 agency he mentioned at the beginning of the thread, I believe don't even have the chance to get past the first door.....They are notorious for 0 noise tolerance out of the many other criteria :sweat:
 

Of the 2 agency he mentioned at the beginning of the thread, I believe don't even have the chance to get past the first door.....They are notorious for 0 noise tolerance out of the many other criteria :sweat:
that is very truth, for istockphoto, new photographers need to sit for a paper test before submitting 3 sample image to see are they qualify to be a contributor.

new contributors only have upload quota of 15 images per week, inspection time take about 7-15 days.
and those photos once get accepted by istockphoto, hardly have any issue with any other stock image agencies.


For shutterstock, sign up is easy, as long you have experience work with other agencies before.
 

just a little info on my stock photography journey.
I have sign up 7-8 agencies when I just started, after about a year later, I decided to go exclusive with istockphoto, but I still have to wait for six months to clear my images with one of the agency before I can go exclusive.

the earning from stock photography is not much, and there is a lot of hardwork you need to put in.... constantly.

long gone are those days you can upload any images you dig out from your hard disk, and any images can sell.
they are not looking for those photos of standard stuffs nowadays, such images they already have too many in their collection.

there is a cost involve for every images you upload to agencies, your time and efforts, if have zero sale, you are losing money. if have little sale, you also losing money.
that is why many people gave up after a year or two, cos they still don't make enough to buy a 50mm f1.8 lens.
 

I tried uploading a few images to istockphoto a few years ago and they actually require some sort of approval for images of famous building like esplanade and MBS. Just wondering how do we get these approval?
 

And I remember you need model release for each portrait photo. So likely can't post any street photography with ppl in it?
 

I tried uploading a few images to istockphoto a few years ago and they actually require some sort of approval for images of famous building like esplanade and MBS. Just wondering how do we get these approval?
lol, you won't able to get property release from owners, the best you can do is upload it under editorial licencing collection.

stock-photo-17726249-parliament-house-of-singapore.jpg



And I remember you need model release for each portrait photo. So likely can't post any street photography with ppl in it?
every recognizable human face, identifiable body, and body parts, even tattoo, all need release.

no release, the best you can do is upload it as editorial licencing collection, but there are more rules need to comply in editorial imagery.

stock-photo-19859817-bugis-street-market.jpg
 

I've got around 50 plus shots on Getty Images that were picked from my Flickr account. I think I've been quite fortunate so far to receive around USD100 per month for royalties. This month's earnings are even better at around USD280, haha. I've always wondered who buys them, but I guess one could only be thankful. Anyway, as a hobbyist, some pocket money from photography is always welcomed.

Hi scintillation,
Congrats on ur success so far.
I wish to view ur images over at Getty. Could u link me pls?