[internetworkers] Stock Photography web sites

Michael Czeiszperger michael at czeiszperger.org
Tue Aug 5 18:01:31 EDT 2008


On Aug 5, 2008, at 3:53 PM, Lyman Green wrote:

> I know there are a few photographers on the list.  Have any of you  
> had any experiences with http://www.istockphoto.com or similar  
> sites?  If you have other sites that do the same thing, can you  
> relate anything about them?
>
> I'm interested more in experience with selling/licensing your photos  
> TO a stock photography site, but I'm also interested in hearing  
> about people who use them.
>

If you're a photographer the only reason to go with istockphoto.com is  
just to see people use your images.  With the pennies you earn per  
photo you'd need to sell thousands to make any money, and even then  
its still not worth the effort it would take.

I've been making more money just correctly tagging my images on my own  
personal website, http://learningtosee.org and Flickr.
For example, a large local hospital recently paid me thousands of  
dollars for just a few images, and I regularly sell to advertising  
agencies for brochures and reports. At 25 cents each, it would have  
taken over 10,000 individual sales on istockphoto to get the same  
money, which probably would have put me in the top 1% earners.

If your work can compete against the pros and have a cool style, then  
try http://fstopimages.com/.  One of the editors lives in Chapel Hill,  
and they pay between $250 and $400 per use.

There's lots of people calling for a boycott of istockphoto.com, and I  
say let the market decide.  From a consumer perspective, if you need a  
quick image and quality isn't an issue, then by all means pay 25  
cents.  If your work has a real budget and quality is an issue then  
hire a pro.

 From the photographer side, if you want to make a little extra money  
from your hobby, go right ahead, but if you're any good at all you'd  
probably be better off somewhere else.

__________________________________________________________

Michael Czeiszperger
Chapel Hill, NC


"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons  
exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." ~G.K.  
Chesterton
__________________________________________________________








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