Selling Pictures To Stock Agencies

The Difference Between Traditional Stock Agencies 

And

Micro Stock Agencies

Selling Pictures To Traditional Stock Agencies

Selling to traditional stock photography agencies, they usually want anywhere from 100-500 pictures, slides or digital pictures before they consider accepting you. Be aware if your submitting digital pictures you will be expected to be using only the best digital camera's like Canon's 1D Mark II or 1Ds, costing thousands of dollars and that's not including the lenses which should be 'L' quality lens also costing thousands of dollars. The traditional stock agencies don't want a few good pictures, they want 100's of saleable pictures.

Selling Pictures To Stock Agencies: What They Want

Selling to traditional stock agencies, they look at pictures differently than the photographer does. Simple pictures that have space for a logo for advertising is what they are looking for. Landscapes can't be ordinary they must be extraordinary.

If your selling good stock pictures, they will have wide appeal and can be used in different ways. Cloud patterns, rainbows, ocean shots, flowers, must have room for advertising.

Pictures must be tack sharp, well composed, correctly exposed, no dust, scratches and for digital, no noise.

Pictures will need to be captioned with your name and brief description of the image: location, species (must have scientific name) anything that tells what is happening in the pictures.

Next decide if you want to be selling pictures to a large agency or one just starting out. The larger agencies get more requests for pictures but they also have many photographers so you need to be really good to be accepted.

Before selling ask questions. Ask whether the stock company publishes a catalog and what they will charge you to be in it. How about a research fee, usually $50.00-$75.00. This pays the photo researcher to pull your pictures for the client. Find out if this fee is figured into your commission. Find out the length of time you would be under contract with the, usually 3-5 years. Find out if the contract has a renewal option should you wish to be selling to different agencies. Find out how you get your pictures back. Most agencies take a long time to get your pictures back to you...maybe years. Find out if you are working for them exclusively or can you be selling your work, that they do not take, to other agencies.

Selling Pictures To Stock Agencies: Once You Sign Up

This is not a hobby. The more pictures you have on file the more money you make. In order to make money from stock photography you must continually submit pictures to them...several hundred tack sharp, well exposed, perfectly composed photographs monthly.

Selling Pictures To Stock Agencies: Income

A typical income from selling to these agencies is $1.00 per photograph per year. However, it can take 12-18 months before you make any money at all.

The number of pictures you need on file depends on what you shoot. People and lifestyle pictures tend to be selling better and there are fewer photographers taking them so 1,000-2000 good quality pictures could make you a lot of money. Landscape and travel has a lot more competition so selling fees per image will be lower. You may need 10,000 images and up to make similar money.

Each submission you wish to be selling will be reviewed by the staff no matter what type of stock agency you use. Cover your subject from every angle using telephoto to wide angle and if your shooting slides always shoot at least two every shot as dupes or duplicates. If a copy of the original has to be made it won't compare in quality. Always dupe in the camera.

Selling Pictures To Stock Agencies: Sell Your Own Stock

If you are selling your own pictures you set your own price and you get 100% instead of 50% usually paid to photographers by stock agencies. HOWEVER, you now get to do what the stock agency did, marketing, clerical, etc. You won't get lost in the crowd as happens in large stock agencies and there's no competition. You will know exactly where your pictures will appear. On what product or publication you will permit you pictures to appear in. You get to run the whole thing, from the shot, marketing it, negotiating and selling of your photograph. There is one major drawback to running your own stock company. All of a sudden you have changed from a photographer to a business man. Maybe not your cup of tea. There is management time involved in running a stock company. You will have overhead, limited market, you will not have the wide range of buyers to be selling to until you are very well established.

If you really want to do it selling yourself but don't really want the management part, there are companies now that find the buyers but you do the work. You negotiate with the buyer and you split is much better. If this interests you, check out Photographers Direct, Photo Source International and Photo Gain.

If you decide to have a stock agency selling your pictures don't limit yourself to one agency, if possible. The usual approach is to give the agency selling the most, first refusal. After the agency has picked the pictures they want, what is left can be offered to the next agency.

Another option is to shoot different subjects for different stock agencies. Do not be selling the same or very similar pictures to more than one agency. Actually do not sell the same or similar image to anyone in the traditional stock agencies, magazines, calendar publishers unless it is a royalty free image. More on that later.

Your best resource for selling stock photographs is Photographer Market which comes out yearly at any book store. It is a wealth of information for selling your photographs.

Don't get involved with a stock agency that requires it's photographers to hand over any kind of payment up front for catalog insertion fees or for every photography of yours they post on their website. Any fees should come out of your commission check from selling your pictures.

Most photographers make their money on only a small number of pictures and the rest never achieve a sale. Let the stock agency determine what are good pictures. Submit all (remembering tack sharp, perfectly composed, etc) because it usually is the photograph you don't care all that much about that makes the sales and the one your in love with languishes, never to be used.

With companies like Corbis and their library of 3,500,000 images on file how does the average person with the average camera stand a chance selling pictures...well they don't with these companies but there is something new in stock companies. They are called Micro Stock Agencies. You still have to take good pictures, use the best equipment you can, but this is an area you can compete in and win.

Selling Pictures To Stock Agencies: Rights Managed vs. Royalty Free

Right Managed is the traditional way of doing business usually through larger agencies such as Corbis and Getty. This would be for high end pictures. The fees are much higher and are 'per use'. If the client wants to use the photograph more than once, they have to pay the fee again. It is per use not per image.

Royalty free is the newer way to do business and has lower end pictures. The fees are much less and are 'per image' not 'per use'. The buyer can use the pictures as many times as he wants. The fee is determined by the image size. The buyer is not actually buying the image, it is still yours. He can use it, he can't change it, it is still owned by you.

Selling to the traditional stock agencies with their huge libraries, are becoming increasingly picky as to the pictures they accept and the photographers they work with so as a new photographer if you choose selling through an agency it will probably be a Royalty Free Agency.

Micro stocks as they are called are the easiest way to be selling pictures, you sign up and upload your digital stock pictures. They analyze them for the same thing the traditional stock agencies do, however, they are not as picky. They still have to be in focus, sharp and no noise. This is the fastest way to start your photography business or just make some money as a hobby. Micro stock agencies are actively looking for images from anyone and everyone. The best thing about micro stock agencies is that they aren't exclusive. You can upload the same image to as many agencies as you like. Sign up is free so sign up with as many as you like and see which agency works the best for you.

Selling Pictures To Stock Agencies: How Much Can I Make

On average you make about $10.00 per photograph per year. So you can figure how many pictures you need to take and submit to make the kind of money you are looking for. Selling part time or full time...it's up to you.

The traditional stock agencies selling to large companies who demand high quality from professional photographers using very expensive equipment. So where does the mom and pop business get the advertising pictures. Certainly not from the high price stock agencies. Small businesses can't afford them. That is where the micro stock agencies come in...and you, too.

Selling Pictures To Stock Agencies: Equipment You Need

To be selling stock, you need good pictures of every subject you can think of. Just look through their sites to get ideas. First you need a good 2 mega pixel or high (the higher the better) camera. Each agency will list on their site their requirements. Second, a computer and internet service to upload you images. If you are reading this you are 1/2 way there. No camera phones unless you get a breaking news story and are signed up with http://www.scoopt.com/ or http://www.citizenimage.com/

Micro stock agencies charge per download or per month. One company charges customers $139 a month for 750 images so there are people constantly downloading pictures. If you were selling here and made 20 cents per download and you had 100 pictures that would $20 a month now multiply that by more pictures and selling to more agencies. This is money coming in every month, month after month.

The more pictures you submit the more money you make. This is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and it's open to anyone with a camera and a computer. Every subject is stock material from coffee to cars to cats. Once an image is uploaded it can be selling for years and on multiple micro stock sites. Unlike traditional stock agencies you can get your pictures back simply by logging into your account and deleting them.

I hope this has given you a better idea of what is needed in selling your photos between these two competing categories of stock photography.