Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/05/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Todd, I'd like to respond to several points. >LeicaM13@aol.com wrote: > > I think shooting stock photography is a great way to start out earning a > living with your camera. You are in complete control regarding subject > matter, outlook on style, etc. As a change from doing assignments it is absolutely wonderful to do what I want. Of course, the agency doesn't have to pick them. So you much consider time and expense versus marketability versus personal satisfaction.. > > You won't get rich money wise, but you will get extreme satisfaction seeing > your shot in some publication or whatever printed media it ends up in. Interestingly, after making hundreds of sales through agency in US and in probably 30 countries, I've run across one of my photos. And only occasionally has the agency passed on a sample (all from Germany). > > Although some stock shooters do make a lot of money. It's a facter of # of > shots on file with an agency > This is a great outlet for 'street' shooters to earn a few bucks. > Numbers and subject. Industrial and medical sells best. As for street shooting, today most larger agencies will hardly take a photo that does not have a model release. To succeed in stock today, if is almost imperative to be good at setting up and directing models. Mine even demands releases if any body part shows, even a foot. The competition both from other photographers within an agency and between agencies is so fierce that typically only high level advertising-worthy pix are being accepted. Partly this is due to agencies abandoning the editorial markets as too low paying. As an example of competition, my editor told me last year at this time that they were receiving from contract photographers 60,000 to 80,000 images a month. A month! While the typical sales still averages around $1 per image per year in a file, I did $5 last year. I attribute that to the demand for industrial, biomedical that I have in the files. And to one picture, a special effiects picture of a hand drawing a graph (going successfully upward, of course) that often sells 8-10 times a month. Stock is not for the dilettante any longer. But it is wonderful for the freedoms it creates. I'm working toward the point where I can get the flow strong enough to take a year or two off and go cruising on a sailboat. Plus it doesn't matter where you live. And you don't have to market. Donal Philby San Diego