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...
There are many scenic steam railways around the country, but getting a good image of a train is a matter of being in the right place at the right time as the land surrounding the line is usually private. The Western Maryland Railroad has solved that by offering Photographer’s days three times a year – fall, winter and spring – where the focus is on allowing still and video photographers to get the best image possible. I went along to...
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...
The summer lull has definitely passed, and September turned in the best month to date in terms of earnings. Shutterstock roared ahead with a personal best on that site of $415, beating a previous high of $386 set back in April. The sales of the cat images as enhanced downloads certainly helped – all told I had four enhanced downloads from that site. iStock has also turned into a nice little earner. I have tried to upload 20 images every...
I was doing my usual viewing of the sales on the main sites yesterday, and was surprised (and very pleased) by the number of large value sales of cats this month. I had a really good session with our bengal kittens back in February, and the images from that shoot have sold well on most of the stock sites. Here is a sampling of sales this month: This one is the winner of the bunch, with total downloads of 166...
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!
I’ve created a monthly newsletter that has just been sent to all the buyers of my eBook. Its purpose is to keep the book up to date by highlighting changes in the industry, new tips and tricks to increase revenue, new sites worth considering and any notable products I have come across that will make your lives easier in feeding the Stock Photo monster….
