Selecting Good Stock Photography in the Age of Digital

 Selecting Good Stock Photography in the Age of Digital

 by: Beth Brodovsky

The business of stock photography has drastically changed over the last few years. Ten years ago, selecting photographs for your brochure or newsletter meant spending hours pouring over stock photography catalogs and ordering photo research to find the exact image. When the order came in a giant overnight package, designers would spread transparencies out on the light table, squinting through a magnifying loop to check every detail.

Enter the digital age.

High speed Internet connections. CDs. Searchable Archives. Royalty-free stock. These elements have changed the face of communication design forever. The quality, quantity, affordability and accessibility of stock imagery have made it the resource of choice for many organizations.

The advantages of instantaneous access to searchable archives of good images are numerous.

• Speed :: We can never have enough of it. Search. Download. Import. Its remarkable.

• Choice :: Searching "stock photography" on Google delivers 1,470,000 results. You can find pretty much anything out there.

• Price :: While there are free resources, unless you are doing a school report, you may need something slightly more exclusive. Also, many of the free images are only good enough for online display and the selection is very limited. Royalty-free images are reasonably priced, you pay for only the size youll use and images can be used as needed with no extra charges.

• Flexibility :: Image selections can be grouped, saved and emailed to others in the review cycle. People in different locations can simultaneously review ideas.

• Archiving :: Some companies even keep a record of your buys that you can re-download whenever you need them. To use this resource effectively, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

• Plan ahead :: Will you ever need the picture to be printed? The low cost of "low resolution" images can lure you into costly mistakes. Images need to be 300 dpi (dots per inch) at the size they will be printed.

• Low-cost tradeoff :: Pictures are now so affordable, everyones buying them. That means your image could show up in your competitors brochure. Some projects call for more exclusive imagery.

• Image-enhancement :: When you need something totally unique, such as your product in the shot, it may be more economical to hire a photographer than to have your designer spend countless hours in Photoshop trying to get it just right.

• Availability :: Good images still cost money. While many firms have images on file, dont expect your designer to have a database full of images right for your project.

When searching on the web, search for "stock photography" rather than doing an image search in Google or another search engine. Google returns all images from the web -- including those that are the property of others and not legally usable.

Beth Brodovsky is the president and principal of Iris Creative Group, LLC. Brodovsky earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design from Pratt Institute, New York. Before launching her own firm in 1996, she spent eight years as a corporate Art Director and Graphic Designer, providing a sound foundation in management and organizational standards and structure. Iris Creative specializes in providing marketing and strategic communication services to clients in service industries and small businesses. For more information contact Beth at bsb@iriscreative.com or 610-567-2799.

Terms Used the in the Stock Photography Business

 Terms Used the in the Stock Photography Business

 by: Kelly Paal

So you are a small business person or web designer and you want to purchase some stock photography for your website. Great. Photography is a wonderful way to improve the emotional impact of your site. But there are a few terms unique to the stock photography business that you should know.

Royalty Free - youll see this term often. What it means is that you pay a one time fee for an image and you can use it for as many times as you want for as long as you wish. It is a great way to get inexpensive photos. Now if you are concerned that your competitor would or could use the same image as you, photographers and agencies can continue to sell the image after you purchase it, then you need:

Rights Managed - this one is next term youll see. This means that you pay a fee for the image based on how, where, how long, and how many people will see the image. This one will cost you a lot more in most cases. This is worth it if you do not want your competitor using the same image for the same purpose. Usually the stock agency or photographer also agree not to sell the image to others in your field for the time that you are using the image. So you can see why this option protects your use of the image but youll also pay much more for this protection. Remember too that, at some point, you decided to discontinue using/paying for the image the agency or photographer can then sell the image to someone else, even someone in your field.

Flat Rate - this term isnt quite at common but it is similar to royalty free. Usually this means that you pay a one time fee for an image, but it can only be used for one purpose by one person. Pricing will be higher than royalty free but less than rights managed.

Copyright - even with royalty free you are still only purchasing the right to use an image not the image itself. All images are property of the agency or photographer who owns them. How do you know who owns them, there is usually a symbol with date and name of the person or agency who owns the image. No matter what you paid for the image you are NOT the owner of the image. This means you cannot remove the copyright information, alter the photo, use it as part of a logo that you own a copyright, or resale the image as your own.

These terms will get you started but remember there can be differences in these definitions from agency to agency and photographer to photographer. Every agency and photographer selling stock images should have a legal or license page to explain these terms and any others that they use, if they dont you may want to move onto another site. Be aware, read all the information, and know what you are buying.

Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting nationally and internationally. Recently she started her own business Kelly Paal Photography (www.kellypaalphotography.com). She has an educational background in photography, business, and commercial art. She enjoys applying graphic design and photography principles to her web design.

How to Choose Stock Photography for your Web Site

So youve decided to take the plunge. You know that stock photography is an effective tool for your web business, but where do you start and how do you choose the stock photo thats right for you. Here are some tips to get you started so that you are happy with your choice.

1. Decide where you want to purchase your stock photography. There are large agencies and small independent photographers. While the agencies will have more to chose from and sometimes lower prices an independent photographer will offer more personalized service and opportunities for you to have custom work done, if that is what you need.

2. Dont go in expecting to find an exact image that is in your head, a large agency or an independent photographer will not have the man in a blue suit, holding a cell phone, next to the white blinds nor will they have the beach landscape with the green and white striped chair. You need to have a clear idea in your head of the message that you want to convey and search for an image that creates the message that you want. (If you want something specific youll have to pay for a photography to shoot to your specifications.)

3. Make use of a free comp image to try out the image and make sure that it fits with your project or web design. Most stock agencies offer some sort of free comp image for position only so that you can make sure that you like what youre going to buy. Please use this option, if available, and make sure that the image is going to convey the message that you want it to.

4. Pay for what you need. Dont pay for a 300 dpi image for a web design, and dont buy a 72 dpi image for something you intend to print. Make sure that the agency or independent photographer offers at least a printable and a web version of every photo. Buy only the size image that you need for your job.

5. How much do you want to pay and for how long to you want to use the image? This comes down to royalty free or rights managed. If you dont want the chance of your competitor using the same image or you plan to use the image on or for a product you may want to look at rights managed. This will cost you more but it will lessen the chance of your competitor using the same image. Keep in mind that if youre using the image for an extended period of time you will have to pay for the use of the image every year or so. If you dont feel that your competitor using the same image is a threat or you dont have the money for rights managed photos look into royalty free photography. This product is also great if youre planning to use the images for an extended period of time.

I hope these tips help to get you started in choosing stock photography for your web site, business, or product. Remember to shop around and look for what you need. Also if an agency or photographer doesnt have what you need ask, you may be surprised how helpful they can be even for specific requests.
If you have some specific questions please visit my Photography Forum at: http://kellypaalphotography.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/index.php and post your question there.

1. Decide where you want to purchase your stock photography. There are large agencies and small independent photographers. While the agencies will have more to chose from and sometimes lower prices an independent photographer will offer more personalized service and opportunities for you to have custom work done, if that is what you need.

2. Dont go in expecting to find an exact image that is in your head, a large agency or an independent photographer will not have the man in a blue suit, holding a cell phone, next to the white blinds nor will they have the beach landscape with the green and white striped chair. You need to have a clear idea in your head of the message that you want to convey and search for an image that creates the message that you want. (If you want something specific youll have to pay for a photography to shoot to your specifications.)

3. Make use of a free comp image to try out the image and make sure that it fits with your project or web design. Most stock agencies offer some sort of free comp image for position only so that you can make sure that you like what youre going to buy. Please use this option, if available, and make sure that the image is going to convey the message that you want it to.

4. Pay for what you need. Dont pay for a 300 dpi image for a web design, and dont buy a 72 dpi image for something you intend to print. Make sure that the agency or independent photographer offers at least a printable and a web version of every photo. Buy only the size image that you need for your job.

5. How much do you want to pay and for how long to you want to use the image? This comes down to royalty free or rights managed. If you dont want the chance of your competitor using the same image or you plan to use the image on or for a product you may want to look at rights managed. This will cost you more but it will lessen the chance of your competitor using the same image. Keep in mind that if youre using the image for an extended period of time you will have to pay for the use of the image every year or so. If you dont feel that your competitor using the same image is a threat or you dont have the money for rights managed photos look into royalty free photography. This product is also great if youre planning to use the images for an extended period of time.

I hope these tips help to get you started in choosing stock photography for your web site, business, or product. Remember to shop around and look for what you need. Also if an agency or photographer doesnt have what you need ask, you may be surprised how helpful they can be even for specific requests.
If you have some specific questions please visit my Photography Forum at: http://kellypaalphotography.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/index.php and post your question there.

Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting nationally and internationally. Recently she started her own business Kelly Paal Photography (www.kellypaalphotography.com). She has an educational background in photography, business, and commercial art. She enjoys applying graphic design and photography principles to her web design.

Photographers Worldwide Unite to form their own Royalty Free Stock Photography Library

United Independent Photographers from around the world unite to form an affordable Royalty Free and Rights Managed Stock Photography Library.

United Independent Photographers from around the world unite to form an affordable Royalty Free and Rights Managed Stock Photography Library.

At last, a stock photos library offering the highest quality stock photography royalty free stock photos, rights managed stock photos at one flat rate, low price and the actual artist receiving all the payment... No agency commission!

Beginning with a royalty free stock photography photo library called www.Flower-Photos.co.uk back in 2002, you may guess correctly that it was focussed (no pun intended, honest!) on flowers, plants and tree with some really high quality close-ups that made me feel as though I was entering another world.

As the art director, graphic designer and website designer of a garden centre, garden center to our American cousins, which was the flag ship of our group and our group belonging to the UK's largest chain of independent garden centres, I was in the perfect location to photograph flowers, plants, shrubs and trees at the drop of a hat.

The website really took off, paying for its self, the film and processing including scans from Fuji Labs UK and then began making a profit. Not a huge profit but enough to plough back in and expand the library.

I was contacted from a number of horticultural photographers over the first few years but declined their portfolios as I simply didn't have the time to manage a team of photographers and their work.

Over the years however, I couldn't ignore some of the quality of work being submitted and it wasn't just flower photography, it was every theme imagineable.

In 2004, with many of my own photographs, all the photos from www.Flower-Photos.co.uk and the sister site www.My-Flower-images.com I launched an all subject royalty free and rights managed stock photography website and image library called: www.Photo-Image-Stock.com or www.BuyRoyaltyFreeStockPhotography.com with 6 other photographers from around the world contributing a wide spectrum of themes from food photos and cuisine to motorbikes to landscapes and seascapes... it grew and grew and now in June 2005, there are 20,000 photos up on the site and that's only a small percentage of what I still have waiting to be sent up with more being submitted every week!

I and the library don't take a penny or any commission from sales. The payments go directly to the photographer, I get a larger viewership as there's more to see and hopefully broaden my chances of actually selling some of my own photos! I was sick of paying $200 for an image from stock photo libraries and then as I went through the online form and entering where the image was to be used and how many issues were to be printed, the price soar to $1,500 or more!

I thought it was about time someone started a library offering really high quality stock photography at a flat low cost price that didn't get higher the more editions or posters were being printed, where it didn't matter if the photo was being used on an inside page of a magazine or the front cover, where you could use the image over and over again with no additional charges.... www.Photo-Image-Stock.com provides just that - One flat rate of $77.00 / £40.00 / 58.00 for a single image and discounts for multiple image purchases as below:

2-4 images (10% discount): $69.00 / £36.00 / 52.00 per image

5-9 images (20% discount): $61.00 / £32.00 / 47.00 pi

10-19 images (30% discount): $54.00 / £28.00 / 41.00 pi

20-40 images (40% discount): $46.00 / £24.00 / 35.00 pi

The majority of stock photos are taken using slide / positive film but where digital cameras have been used, only the highest quality digital images have been accepted.

The slide film used is either Fuji Velvia or Sensia at ASA50 or ASA100, then the film is processed at FujiLab UK and scanned to CD at 450dpi and a physical size of 20cm x 13.5cm (8" x 5.5")

which is higher than the industry standard requirement of 300dpi but means that these images are crystal clear if used as a front cover of a glossy magazine.

There's also a second option for web designers or for those with low budgets so low they can't even afford our low rates, subscibing to our service for a low monthly or annual rate and downloading almost an indefinite number of medium res' photos high enough res' to be used on printed material if reduced in physical size but easily high enough res' to be used for in-house posters or on web pages.

I set out to provide excellent quality stock photography at a very low and affordable price that would enable graphic designers, web site designers, art directors, picture desks and anybody else, to stretch their budgets further and not choke every time they ordered a photograph from an stock photography library.... I hope I have accomplished this in some small way.

Anybody wishing to purchase our images can visit us at the websites above and any keen photographers with quality work wishing to submit their work can also find a submissions page with further information on our website also.

Neil J Bradford studied Fine Art, Graphic Design and Photography at St Albans College of Art and Design, Watford College of Art and Design and Watford Technical College between 1979 and 1984.

 

Selling Stock Photography for Amateurs

It may have crossed your mind at some point that you would like to sell your images with some of the photographic stock agencies online. You may have then visited their sites only to be put off by the costs involved with regard to the equipment needed to "produce the goods". Many of the larger agencies need file sizes of 50MB which require professional or semi-professional equipment and for which the costs run into thousands.

It may have crossed your mind at some point that you would like to sell your images with some of the photographic stock agencies online. You may have then visited their sites only to be put off by the costs involved with regard to the equipment needed to "produce the goods". Many of the larger agencies need file sizes of 50MB which require professional or semi-professional equipment and for which the costs run into thousands.

What a lot of people don't understand is that there are "micro stock" agencies that cater for a different market altogether! You see, the huge image files required by the larger agencies are what are needed for large advertising or marketing companies that need to either show off exceptional quality or reproduce the images in print, at greatly enlarged proportions. But what about the rest of the world?

What about small companies that cannot afford the rates offered by large stock agencies? What about the sole trader or self employed that simply needs a few decent images for his/her website or small marketing campaign? What about colleges or faculties that have a strict budget but still need good images for their workshops or tuition? This is where you come in!

The agencies I am talking about, only need good, nice clean images of 2.5 megabytes or above which can be produced by cameras of around 3 mega pixels or higher. This would include your everyday advanced digital compact like a Canon Sureshot for example.

The cost of buying the images is kept very low for the consumer as the file sizes restrict the applications for which they can be used, but are perfect for the type of outlets I have just described. Therefore the payout is less to the photographer but sales happen a lot more frequently and you can earn yourself a nice residual income for as long as your images are online. Obviously the more you have the more you earn.

It doesn't mean that you can send any old tat in; the images must be clean (in all respects), interesting, well taken and well exposed. The agencies normally have a "wants" list which is excellent as it lets you know exactly what you have to do to earn money! Apart from anything, it also gives you more of a reason to go out and make use of your camera in a more exciting way.

There is a forum on the site that I use and recommend, that has a bunch of regulars that are always there to lend a hand with advice, hints and tips and also to give inspiration and motivation. It has a community of photographers that will put you at ease and help you on your way to earning money from your camera, and I can guarantee you will make friends there too.

After I had registered (which is free), I was a little bemused by it all as I had only ever used the larger agencies, so before I uploaded any images, I introduced another photographer to them. He had about 20 moto-x images on within a week and sold 6 of them immediately. I uploaded 1 image after that and sold a copy that night. I then uploaded 48 more, 5 were rejected but I sold 18 of the others within a week. I then submitted another 90 and so it goes on, all very exciting as the sales stats are updated every 15 minutes and you cannot help but keep "refreshing" the page!

It is by no means my main source of income, but the way I see it, I can upload smaller copies of the 50MB files I have on with larger agents here and add another stream of revenue for very little work. If you have images sitting around on your hard drive, or would like a reason to get up in the morning and go out and do something constructive, give it a go, there is nothing to lose.

One word of warning though, read very carefully the criteria for uploading images. If you consistently upload rubbish, your account will be suspended for 6 months pending review. I suggest that you read the submission guidelines for all stock agencies at my site here;

Selling Stock Photography at "All Things Photography"

and look for the yellow information box halfway down the page.

This will require work and a bit of commitment, but you can earn some nice pocket money here from your hobby and some of the regulars earn a good living from it, but you must follow and abide by the rules.

Good luck and hope to see you in the forums!

Nick Stubbs
www.all-things-photography.com

Nick is a professional photographer with over 20 years experience in wedding, portrait, industrial and advertising photography. He is a member of the SWPP (Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers) and BPPA (British Professional Photographers Association).