Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Les wrote >For now, I'm going to stay with what I'm currently doing. I'm going to >continue enjoying the community of this mail list, continue taking >photographs that I enjoy, and continue with my boring job Fortunately, you can have your cake and eat it........... The most rapidly expanding market area that I am aware of is stock photography. A very great deal of what passes for stock photography is bland, tasteless, garbage. Agencies are genuinely on the look-out for good "different" work. Niche-marketing is the key here- there are gozillions of pretty waterfalls and baby snaps, so if you have an unusual interest (other than photography itself), and some good pix, do up some prints or dupes, or better still stick 'em on a CD-Rom, and hack them round a few agencies. A quick search of the internet will turn up some addresses, or there are publications which list the addresses of agencies. Don't waste anyone's time- get a look at what the agency carries, and if it's not your thing, go elsewhere. Pay heed to any advice you get regarding your work. If someone says, "we need to see a bit more sunshine/rain/definition/anything at all," do some pictures which take this into account and then go back and show them. Chances are if they see you're making the effort to fit their market, they'll be more positive. In days gone by agencies would only take on photogs who had really large collections, because of the costs of storage and marketing; those days are thankfully gone, and agencies will look at collections of 100 or so- less if the images are really good. I would avoid letting an agency hold original trannies, BTW- a high quality dupe should be enough, or even better (from your point of view), a digital image. Also steer clear of exclusive deals- you must at least retain the right to market your own work yourself. Most agencies these days seem to appreciate that photogs have the right to sell elsewhere, so this does not cause the problems it once did, but beware all the same. Most agencies will take 50% of sale, though some only take 40%- more important is make sure that you really will get paid!- 60% of an unpaid repro is still sweet Fanny Adams. Also many agencies now buy in for resale on what is called "royalty free" arrangements- ie the end user buys a CD-Rom, say, or pays an annual subscription to the service, and then gets to use what they like. Don't expect a huge amount of money for this sort of deal, if you countenance it at all. It has the advantage that you're paid up front though. I don't need to remind you lot about the importance of using top quality lenses and materials, do I.................... Now listen. I have work to do- Cheers Rod