Last week I started with a New Year resolution to post once a week with some example stock images taken that week. I did this partly to keep the pressure on myself to take more images and I also hope it will be helpful to give you some ideas. This is the second week, but first an update on some images uploaded last week. I took as set of images of an Apple Macbook (no logos), but was surprised that...
I’ve been doing some analysis of my portfolio to try to work out if the earnings have risen because of the number of images online, or if other factors are coming into play. The answers are fascinating! Although there is a lot of doom and gloom in the stock industry, with the common view that earnings are falling faster than you can put images online, the key point from my analysis is that the earnings per image is actually increasing...
A question that I am often asked is how you can find out where your images are being used online. I use the Google Images search to do that – and here are the steps: 1. Although Google Image Search works with any size of image, it takes quite a time to upload the full size JPEG to their server for the search. It is much quicker if you make smaller copies (800 pixels wide and lower JPEG quality) of...
One of the interesting challenges in stock photography is to identify the next set of photos to take. When the weather is pleasant, exterior shots can be taken, but on cold rainy days, what better than to relax with a nice glass of wine? This came from a misguided attempt to produce one of those shots where the edges of the glass are light and the center is dark to highlight the wine. I was balancing a piece of velvet...
I noticed this week that the image submission form on Dreamstime now has two new checkboxes in the “Rights Management” area at the foot of the page. I have recommended not clicking on the “Sell Rights” checkbox as that requires you to remove all copies of the sold image from every other location – hard to do, and it may lose valuable future revenue. However, the two new options should be checked. These permit the sale of enhanced licenses for...
Readers of my eBook, Getting Started in Stock, have probably started by uploading images to the top 4-6 sites, and are slowly getting their work processes honed to perfection! The obvious question is – which site shall I upload to next? This is a difficult decision, because the effort involved in uploading may not be justified by less than stellar earnings. I still have images on Crestock that have earned a grand total of $26 – after 3 years! I...
Shutterstock has developed a capability for contributors to group their images into a set (very similar to collections in Lightroom) in a new area called “Catalog Manager”. It is available from the main contributors page. Once you are in catalog manager, you can filter your images by a keyword, and then drag the selected images to the “sets” area and name it with an english name. This allows you to then point potential buyers, friends, or just readers of your...
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I created a new 2012 Kauai calendar and put it up for sale on Zazzle about a month ago. Four sales so far! I also noticed that the choice of calendars for Kauai is not great and the others are priced higher than mine, and so I’m planning to put up the commission from 15% to 25% shortly to see if the market can bear a new price. I’ve given a short talk...
Many of us have a collection of great images, and one interesting opportunity is to create a calendar and sell that. I’ve tried to interest local shops with calendars, but it is a hard business with the need to print the calendars, persuade shops to take them and then deal with any overstock. Last year I created a calendar on the Zazzle website, and sold 8 copies with no marketing effort. Now will 8 copies make a fortune – no,...
The subject of what objects and buildings can be submitted for commercial stock and what is prohibited is a complex and ever changing feast! One of the sources of information that is kept reasonably up to date is on the Shutterstock blog – Shutterbuzz – known image restrictions. Well worth reading and bearing in mind as you plan your shoots!
