I know this is a bit off topic.
I have been submitting photos on stock photography websites for a year now, I have posted over 200 photos of abstract, wildlife, macro, fine art, conceptual, landscapes, travel but I have still never sold A single photo, does anybody have any tips or tricks I could use to sell them? or just any tip from stock photography.
Thanks
Make sure they are clean and edited well. Think about the commercial value of them. What would someone use them for? What stock sites are you using? Do they have a lot of customers? Make sure you maximize your keywords and descriptions. Search for photos that are similar on those sites and see what sets apart those from your own to see how you can improve them.
Thanks, Kieran.
I use Shutterstock and Alamy. they both have a High customer. I will keep those other tips in mind when I shot and post.
Shutterstock's keywording options are good, and you can use up to 50. Have a good mix of broad keywords (copy space, background, abstract) and specific things too (number of objects, location, species).
OK.
I always use things like space, background, abstract, but I haven't ever used Numbers of the objects and locations. thanks for the tip I nearly always use 50/50 keywords and the new tool from Shutterstock is really helpful.
Thanks, Kieran.
I've got a few of my landscapes sold on Shutterstock. Which is good because landscapes don't really go well on the stock sites. On the flip site, I earned just a few dollars. Wasn't worth the effort.
The pay off comes in the long run. A few dollars per sale isn't much. But with a large portfolio and a few years those small sales add up to each photo being worth it. I had my camera at a cafe and took a photo of a croissant, it's made me over $100USD, for a $5 croissant!
Thanks for all your tips Kieran
Just a thought, but maybe you are submitting photos in too many different categories. When I was a magazine editor looking to hire a photographer, I would search for a subject-matter specialist, like a portrait photographer or industrial photographer, to match my magazine's needs. I suggest you pick your top two specialties and submit only your best photos in those categories; delete all the rest. Good luck!
I believe the point of stock photography is the opposite - magazine editors (or whoever else) are not looking for a photographer for "future" shots to shoot. they look for specific shots that are ready, no matter who shot them. they filter via key words, so even if a photographer has broad portfolio, they will find only those with specific tag.
the other thing is, if a photographer who is not specialized can provide good enough shots for every category, but that is a different topic. if there is someone with 99 mediocre shots of 100, but the one is appealing, it can still be purchased many times, no matter the rest.
Thanks, Stefan
Thanks for your advice Martin
Hey Jeremy - I buy a lot of stock for my work. As a consumer of this type of photography, I thought it would help to give you the other side of the coin - the buyer's perspective.
I buy stock when taking the photo myself would take more time than the expense of the photo. I usually need something pretty specific. My most recent purchases were for a brochure about things you can do in the parks. I can take all the pretty scenes and plants and animals. What I don't have the time or money to do is hire a model and get 'people' shots. And, while I can hide around in the shrubs and shoot people actually using the parks, it is soooo much quicker and cleaner to buy "people" as stock. BUT - there is a common thread to what I buy - it isn't a whole person and this might be good for you because you can use your family and friends! I needed hiking boots walking on a trail (not the whole person - just their feet walking on the trail), a trail biker so I bought one taken from behind over their shoulder (so side of helmet/face, down one arm to hand on handle bar looking ahead at open trail), a couple of kids running in a field (from a distance - not about the kids but rather the open space), an old couple sitting on a bench... You get the idea. If I were you I'd start taking people from weird angles so you can't really identify them and have them doing stuff (reading the paper, using their phone, tying their shoe, foot on a stair, whatever)
The second thing is, if you are going to do scenics or items, I use these are backgrounds and I look for ones with open space where I can drop some text on the photo.
Lastly - all the museums and non-profits that I have worked with buy stock because they can't hire photographers. Start googling things like"non-profit annual report" and see what the photos are in these. I would bet money that they all look like they were taken by the organization but few actually were.
Good luck and keep at it!
Thanks for the info Ruth
I will start taking photos like that.
Hearing what a customer thinks is a lot of help.