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...
As I mentioned in the annual review, I did think about committing to a stock photo a day target for 2012, but decided against it – too much of a commitment! Instead, I will post, at least once a week, images that I have uploaded in the past seven days. I’m not saying that all these will be great sellers, but it will perhaps give you some ideas of what to shoot. I often find other photos to be a...
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...
As you progress with your portfolio and your efficiency in managing large numbers of images improves, it is natural to look at other stock sites to increase your revenue. There are many, many online sites out there, so how do you decide which one to try? This post is an update on the various sites that I currently upload to – it covers the ease of uploading, potential revenue and any problems I have seen. By the way – if...
Another great month! I have now easily beaten the $1200 barrier and ended the month with sales of $1262.67, beating last months record by a cool $200. Most of the sites did well, with Shutterstock setting its own record with $451 and iStock maintaining a steady performance of over $200 in the past 3 months. Back in May, I was averaging $100 on that site, which shows what the Photo+ program has done (coupled with steady uploading each month.) I...
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...
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...
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!
