Stock or custom photography?

[HayleyEPaterek]

Can stock photography really benefit you? Have you ever thought about joining one or know someone who has? What are the pros and cons?

[simon3116]

I have some shots available on Getty via Flickr but haven't had any sales yet. The shots that were selected were not what I would call my "best" shots. It all depends on what type of photographer you are really. The type of shots that tend to sell well are children, fluffy cute animals or technology shots which aren't really the type of shots I take. Luckily, photography is only a hobby so I don't have to rely on it for my income. It would be nice to see one of shots in a magazine or on a book cover but I won't be ordering a Nikon D4 just yet.

[simon3116]

I've just had 21 more shots selected for sale on Getty via Flickr and I think I'm slowly getting an idea of the type of shot they are selecting. Again, only a few of the shots are what I consider to be my "best" shots but I can see why the others have been selected and why some shots have been rejected. I still won't be ordering the D4 just yet!

[Troy]

So do you submit them for consideration Simon? I've always been interested in the stock photography business, would be great to hear how it all kicks off.

[simon3116]

So do you submit them for consideration Simon? I've always been interested in the stock photography business, would be great to hear how it all kicks off.

I had selected the "Enable the "Request to License" badge on my photos AND allow Getty Images editors to invite my photos" on my Flickr account and in February this year I received a invite to join the private Getty Group which is only available to contributors. You can add 25 photos a month for review plus they also check the other photos in my stream and if they are selected then I upload them on to the Getty site which are then keyworded and made available for sale with the other 5 billion (approx) photos that Getty has available, so far I have 31 images available!!!!

[Troy]

Sounds easy enough, didn't even know you could do this through Flickr. What sort of shots do you find are getting selected?

[simon3116]

Sounds easy enough, didn't even know you could do this through Flickr. What sort of shots do you find are getting selected?

The majority of my shots are of wind turbines followed by some landscapes, a few flower shots and a few with my daughter in them.

The shots that seem to be selected a lot are of people but if they contain faces then they need to have a model release. I'm not really into portraits so I can't see to many of my shots being selected compared to others.

The way I look at it is that my shots are on Flickr and if Getty want to sell them for me then I'm not going to complain although I also don't expect to be rich anytime soon.

[Troy]

I know some people who sell their photos through stock sites make a bit of extra money. Enough to buy a new toy here and there, which is no bad thing.

[simon3116]

I certainly won't be complaining about any extra cash, but will probably have to wait a while before hitting the buy button on Amazon for any new toys.

[Troy]

I certainly won't be complaining about any extra cash, but will probably have to wait a while before hitting the buy button on Amazon for any new toys.

Join the club Simon!

[digitalfingers]

I joined Flickr just to get some feedback on my images. You can choose to leave your images visible for possible selection by Getty which is a good idea imo. I had 12 images selected for Getty through Flickr and like Simon, I haven't had any sales yet!
When the Diamond Jubilee Kicked off, Getty put a call out for photographers to submit thier photos, I submitted 20 or so shots and only had 2 'selects' for editorial purposes (no model release required) but again, no sales.

I have been offered a main contributor account with a brand new stock site which is to be launched very soon, called Macrografiks (specialising in macro photography) and I'm just in the process of organising my category submissions for them, I hope to do well but can just wait and see. For those interested you can sign up to them here.

http://www.macrografiks.com/join

[louise_scriver]

So do you submit them for consideration Simon? I've always been interested in the stock photography business, would be great to hear how it all kicks off.

I had selected the "Enable the "Request to License" badge on my photos AND allow Getty Images editors to invite my photos" on my Flickr account and in February this year I received a invite to join the private Getty Group which is only available to contributors. You can add 25 photos a month for review plus they also check the other photos in my stream and if they are selected then I upload them on to the Getty site which are then keyworded and made available for sale with the other 5 billion (approx) photos that Getty has available, so far I have 31 images available!!!!

Do you have to have a pro account to enable getty?