EXCLUSIVE or NON-EXCLUSIVE photographer on ISTOCK? | Stock photography tips and tricks
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- Опубліковано 9 лис 2020
- EXCLUSIVE or NON-EXCLUSIVE photographer on ISTOCK? | Stock photography tips and tricks
In this video I am talking about iStock exclusivity. Is it better to be an exclusive or non-exclusive photographer or videographer and what are the benefits of exclusivity.
Check out this video, if you want to learn how to sell more photos:
• How to MAKE MONEY with...
Follow me on instagram: @lukaazman
Follow also other accout that I have with my brother: @azmanproductions
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Gear I use to produce content for iStock:
Sony A7RIV - geni.us/ugGavk
Sony A7SIII - geni.us/8dVBFVT
Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 - geni.us/qGsI
Sigma 35mm f1.4 - geni.us/B9dk1
Sigma 85mm f1.4 - geni.us/Tsac
Camera cage for A7SIII - geni.us/Tj2wBx
Memory card for photos - geni.us/FuDFNn
Memory cards for videos - geni.us/FuDFNn
Video recorder - geni.us/UDkyR
Gimbal - geni.us/SOgdmy
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Gear I use to make this videos:
CAMERA WITH KIT LENS - geni.us/filmingcamerakit
MOST USED LENS - geni.us/mostusedlens
MICROPHONE - geni.us/filmingmic
AUDIO RECORDER - geni.us/fpktQ
VIDEO RECORDER/MONITOR - geni.us/UDkyR
MAIN LIGHT - geni.us/6HqPduN
SOFTBOX - geni.us/TyGjLUG
SIDE/BACK LIGHTS - geni.us/AAWD
TRIPOD - geni.us/HlFJobt
TRIPOD HEAD - geni.us/Qs5HP
MUSIC I use for my videos:
artlist.io/Luka-239195
Some links in my video description are affiliate links, that means I will make a small commission if you click them and make a qualifying purchase, but it doesn't cost you anything. - Фільми й анімація
Good video, thanks! I'm the iStock EX, too. Just my 5 cents. When you telling that exclusivity is not for everyone, it's 100% true, but I believe that you missed two important points.
Firstly, it would not work for "hobby" weekend photographers. Actually, stock photography will not work for them as a real revenue source at all, but it would bring at least some money and exclusivity will make virtually nothing.
Why? It's because of the second point :) Exclusivity at iStock is required very different kinds of content than other agencies. Yes, exclusive content is more expensive, so no easy-to-produce things will be selling well if they will selling at all. iStock has very particular requirements for style and subjects, strongly leaning towards people and high-quality realistic lifestyle and concepts. If you are unable to produce this kind of content and following briefs, and you rely on a generic "stock content", your chances to make money here are close to zero.
Thanks Alex! Yes, I totally agree with your thoughts! That is true. I remember when I was a non-exclusive photographer, my shitty images (well, all of them were shitty back than), but those most simple, most crapy ones were not selling on iStock, but they were selling on other sites, like Shutterstock, Dreamstime,... I remember that my best selling image on SS was never sold on iStock! So yeah, thanks for pointing that out!
Just saw this comment. I am on five sites and considering the jump to exclusive. Thanks for this input!
Your videos are one of the best on youtube, please make more.
Thank you, that is really nice to hear 🙏
Love you content, Luka! Keep it up!
Glad you enjoy it!
thanks Luka!
I am taking my first steps in Stock, I just uploaded my first photos and asked to be exclusive for the same reasons that you transmit in your videos.
Thanks for the data, it is very enlightening!
Fantastic! Nice to see that! If you just have few photos online, they might reject your exclusivity application. You need to have some images to be approved. But no worries, you can always apply again :)
Great content as always Luka! For me, if I wasn’t exclusive, I wouldn’t be doing stock. Hopefully see you again soon somewhere round the world. Stay safe
Thanks Jonathan! Yeah, it is the best thing for me too :) I hope that too, I would love to go back to Japan! Or some other place, it doesn't matter, really :)
Great insights! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you very much!
Check out this video if you want to see my best sellers: ua-cam.com/video/OftHFI8HE-w/v-deo.html
Great content Luka! I am new in stock photography and your videos really help me with decisions around this :)
That is nice to hear!
Great video.
Thanks!
well done! really enjoying your content and its helping me alot to start! greetings from brazil
Thanks, great to hear that 🙏
Make video about Custom Content. Great as always ;)
Thanks, I am planning to do it, yes :)
Great content, bravo!
Personally it took me three years to decide and go exclusive, in 2018, and the only thing I regret is not doing it even sooner than that 😁 Also, I've been to just one lypse, in BA, and then this pandemic started and put a pause on everything...
Thanks :) Yeah, those lypses are the best thing here! I hope there will be at least one this year :)
Thanks for the video. As I understand it, you can be exclusive to iStock and still upload photos to other sites too, as long as the photos are significantly different to the ones you upload to iStock. That would get round your point of having all your eggs in one basket. I'm not sure I'm good enough to go exclusive yet but I'm going to keep practising. I'm going to submit my first batch of images today and I'm half excited and half terrified I'll get rejected. But I guess it's all part of the learning process. I've been toying with the idea of doing this for years so it's time to be brave and bite the bullet!
Well, I am not sure about that. As I was told, when you are exclusive on istock, that you can’t upload your work anywhere else under a RF licence, but one of the subscribers pointed out that you can, that it is nothing in the contract that would forbid you to upload different content to other sites. But I don’t know, I will just stick to istock :)
Luka, great video. I felt positive about being exclusive and then Shutterstock cut the splits. I'm learning and should know that these companies have no concerns about their photographers. Welcome to 2020. So if the numbers on a company spreadsheet somewhere say that your income splits need to be cut, they'll be cut. This is the reason, to me, to be non-exclusive. If drastic things happen financially, you are spread between numerous sites.
Thank you! Yes, I totally understand what you are saying. But I am willing to take that risk, because iStock and Getty are quite big companies, and even if they do something stupid, or go bankrupt, I can still go non-exclusive and upload images to other sites. It would take some time, but I can probably recover that loss in a few months. But we all have to adapt to new changes, exclusive or not!
@@LukaAzman I am at a point directing more to stock and still undecided. I hear about the events that Getty puts on and you are able to shoot. That's great. Other than that How do you connect with people for lifestyle shooting? Theatre, Facebook?
@@garyculley9939 Yeah, Getty events are great, because you meet people from all over the world who are doing this same thing! I have friends all over the world now and if I go to their country, I would connect with them and plan a shoot or multiple shoots together. That is always fun.
Well, here in Slovenia I am usually working with my brother, and we have a database of models already. We are also working with other stock photographers from our region here and there. But if you don't know anybody, you can ask in groups on FB if there is any stock photographer willing to cooperate in your region. You can also find talent through FB or IG. Also Model Mayhem site can be great for searching for models. We are using it when traveling abroad. Well, it depends where you live :)
This is a really difficult subject, but thank you for telling you sincerely.
Yeah, I know, it is not an easy decision! I have met a lot of people who love being exclusives, but I also know few of them who went from exclusive to non-exclusive and that works for them now! So, either way can be good :)
@@LukaAzman :) We look forward to your next video.
@@arslanbar Thank you :)
Hi Luka, my first comment here!
I'm thinking to make this decision too so this is very helpful. What do you think about it in 2023? Some things are changed? I would love to discuss more on iStock and Getty with you!
I'm from Italy so not far away, maybe we can meet one day for a shooting session :)
Thanks for you precious work here on YT!
Thanks! Well, we will see what 2023 brings, maybe a little bit less sales because of AI, but video and Custom Content are still growing, and I think it will continue in this direction.
Solid info, Luka. Just got approved as exclusive and waiting for the agreement now. Same story as yours - 18 months as non-exclusive on IS, SS and AS, but now going all-in on iStock :-)
Great decision! I hope it will also work for you and that your revenue goes up in the following months 💪
Do you remove your photostock on SS and AS before you sign up the agreement, i'm accept too, but im confuse to remove or not my photostock from other platform
@@marhendra3932 Hi. Don't remove content on other agencies before you are approved as Exclusive. The process is:
1. Apply the Exclusivity at iStock
2. When accepted, remove content on all other agencies
3. When done, inform Getty and they will activate your exclusivity
Please be aware that Alamy and Dreamstime needs 90 to 180 days before you can remove content.
Very interesting 👍
Hvala mati :)
Nice videos mate!
Just curiosity... have you been living In Sydney, Australia?
No, I was just there to do some shoots and to attend iStock event there.
Hy Luka! Thanks for the interesting video. Which One do you think Is Better for editorial video footage: Pond5 or istock? I Always felt istock, being Getty, was the go to for editorial. But don't know and as I got exclusive on both... I am trying to figure out. Thanks
Thanks! Sorry, I don't shoot editorial, so I can't tell you what is better!
Hey :) I just found your channel and you mentioned very interesting and important stuff. Maybe my question is stupid but if you decide to upload content for example iStock can you also upload them in different social media? For example Instagram or Facebook? I am new to photography and I am curious about how this works. Thanks again for the videos :)
Yes, of course, you can upload your work to social media, that is ok 😀
Hi Luka you make a very well explained video ! I have a question about editing. Will i sell if i put JPEG pictures on istock without adjusting contrast and colours before ?
Yes you can, of course, but I like to edit the photos to my taste! If the topic is good, you can sell your images even without post processing. I think cameras these days do a good job, but not great! I shoot everything in raw and I edit all my photos.
100% exclusivity for me :D
💪🙏
I have been invite apply to becoming exclusive, all I need to is undertake the fast track program
In Australia statues that are in the public domain do not need an artistic license release to be used as editorial. When I submitted these images to Getty's they are rejected.
Hi luka How are you? I just got exclusive. I am also in Getty. What is the best in your opinion? To upload images to Getty or to Istock or depend of the image. Istock pay better than Getty. I'm a bit of a mess. Thanks a lot for your help my friend
Hm, that is a tough question. In my opinion, it is better to be on iStock, because on Getty you only get 20%, and I think more people is buying on istock. Maybe you will get less money per image, but you will probably sell more images. And if your images are good enough for S+ collection, those will go on Getty anyway.
Luka, enjoyed your video! Quick question, just want an opinion - have been iStock non-exclusive for maybe five months now. Have around 900 images in my portfolio and am just starting to shoot some video clips. I love shooting nature type pics - lakes, forests, things like that. I have read in more than one place that iStock/Getty wants images with models and aren't that interested in nature photography. Do you have any opinion or experience regarding this? I love contributing to iStock/Getty and am not going to contribute elsewhere. I would, however, like to think that at some point I could have a shot at exclusivity. What do you think, and thanks in advance!
Hey Ed! Thanks for that 😀
Well, of course you can make some money with nature photos, but I think it is very very hard or even impossible to turn it into a full-time business. But if you are shooting nature anyway, of course, just upload your images! And I think video clips of nature are even better idea!
And about exclusivity, if you know you will not upload your images anywhere else, just apply to be an exclusive contributor. You don't have anything to lose.
how do you become an exclusive contributor on gettyimages? do you have to first apply to istock, and then apply to getty, or when you apply they decide where do you go?
If I am correct, when you upload your images (through Contributor App), they will decide if your content is more for iStock or more for Getty. I don't think you can just apply to be Getty contributor. But if you are iStock Exclusive contributor, all S+ images (images that inspector think are premium quality) automatically go to Getty also, so those are also available there.
I liked the way you see in things so subscribed your channel. I am a contributors in Getty (not istock) both for images and video... how’s your sales in Getty ? Earlier it was nice with often big sales but now Chinese firms are buying images for 0.01$. Even 4K videos are getting sold for 1 or 0.85$... Big sales are occasional now.Howz your experience now ? I’m mostly considering shooting/uploading footage now but also considering to upload exclusively to pond 5.
Ps- I never tried shooting for custom contents and briefs! Actually I haven’t been uploading since last 2 years. Howz your experience with Custom contents and briefs available in Getty. Do buyers really buy from the contents submitted for briefs or it’s just illusion by Getty to ispire us to keep uploading new stuffs ?
One more question.. if you have got any success in custom contents and Briefs... do we get similar price for both or buyers from custom contents pay more than briefs ?
Yeah, there are a lot of these small "premium access" sales, but for me, also bigger ones are happening, so it is a mix of both. And around 40% of my sales are from Getty and 60% from istock.
If I would only sell footage and I would not attend iStock events, I would also consider to upload to other sites as well, not just iStock. I heard Pond5 can be quite good!
Briefs are definitely made because they need content like that! And I think it is worth shooting for those briefs!
And custum content was great for me in the last two years. Sometimes it sucks, if the client buys one image and all others are too similar to sell, but sometimes the revenue can be very high.
Fot CC the client pays from 200-400$ per image, and you get whatever percentage you have. So, if you are Getty contributor, that would be 20% I think. On iStock it is from 25-45% (as exclusive).
@@LukaAzman Yes 20% for images and 25% for footage if i remember correct. I feel its unfair that getty is selling HD and 4K both for same price.. did you see any drop in big sales this year? Last month i got a video sales with $$$ to me and previous to that 0.$ for 3 footage each... This month 1 footage sales for $$ but i have very small video portfolio .. I have a back lock of several footage and i'm wondering if i should upload to getty or pond5 exclusive account.. what would have been your pick? I know you are just with getty/Istock but still just would like to have your opinion...
Great video as always! ;-) Can you be an exclusive contributor for Istock photos but a non-exclusive contributor for videos at the same time?
Thanks 😁 Yes, photos and videos are separated, so you can be exclusive for photos and non-exclusive for videos.
@@LukaAzman Thank you ;-)
Please show me how to use the IStock website. How to fully view your portfolio and your portfolio of photos S +. I can not understand. Thank you!
Thanks for the idea! For S+ content, you can go on Getty Images, and search for your user name there. Because all S+ content also goes to getty. Or, I found a link some time ago, where you can see only your S+ content: www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/USERNAME?assettype=image&istockcollection=signatureplus&sort=purerecency
Just replace "USERNAME" with your username.
@@LukaAzman Thank you
Suppose I want to sell my photos exclusively on iStock (the same model as you). Should I only register on iStock or only on Getty Images? Or both? If so, in which order? Or maybe registering on any of them means that I will automatically have the same login on the other one?
Hmmm, that is a tough question, but if I am correct, I think you register to tone site, and when you upload sample photos, they will tell you which site you should upload your images to, based on those images. Anyway, I think just sign up on istock, and when you are exclusive, all images that are selected to S+ collection by inspectors go to getty anyway and are available on both sites.
Hi Luka!! Is possible answer this... what percentage of income comes from getty and which percentage from istock? I have an account on getty so I can get an idea of whether those images were also on istock to see if I am interested in exclusivity. Shutterstock has made a brutal drop in fees.
Well, I only have account on iStock, so that means that my S+ images and all videos go to getty also. And around 30-40% of my imcome comes from Getty.
Hello my friend, I'm now exclusive contributor for vector illustration on iStock. My question is, can I still upload to other platforms but with vector illustration that different from those I uploaded exclusively on iStock ?
I am not 100% sure about that. I was told that you can’t sell them under RF license on other places, even if it is a different illustration. But one of my subscribers pointed out that there is nothing in the exclusive contract that would prevent you from selling different illustrations on other sites.
@@LukaAzman Thank you 🙏🏼
Have you heard of Photoloo and Blackbox which are sites where you upload photos or videos and they upload your photos and videos to the stock agencies?
Yes, I have heard about that! Photoloo can be interesting if you are a non-exclusive, but I haven't check it out.
But for Blackbox, it can be good if you don't have time to do it yourself, but what I don't like is that your content is under Blackbox name on stock sites. Also, it is only for footage and they only upload to 4 agencies. And for that they take 15% of your earnings. So, even if you are not exclusive, I would rather do it by myself and keep that 15%. And also have content under my name on those agencies.
@@LukaAzman Thanks for the reply, I didn't know any of that Blackbox info.
@@LenShigemoto Yeah, I havent been reasearching very in depth, but yeah, that is what I have found out. But I think it is a good concept, especially because you can upload your footage there and someone else can do the metadata (keywords and titles) for you, and you can decide how much of earnings from thos clips go to this keyworder. So you can decide that you will pay him 20% of every clip sold, and the blackbox will automatically pay 20% to him and 80% to you.
So, yeah, if you just have a bunch of footage, and you don't want to deal with anything and just make at least some money from that, it can be great.
@@LukaAzman I saw a UA-cam video yesterday that said Blackbox uploads to Shutter stock, Pond 5. Adobe Stock, Story block and Vimeo stock.
I just checked and this is from their official webpage: “We deal with Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Pond5, and VimeoStock.”
Hello Luka,
I am istock exclusive illustrator,
I did not understand, i can upload same designs on Istock and print on demond websites like Redbbubke, Zazzle...?
I wonder if the physical print violates the rights of the exclusive license, can you explain me? :)
Yes, of course! You can do that, because it is different license. So you are not violating exclusivity agreement.
You can sell prints, mugs, t-shirts,... with your images. It is not a problem. You can also sell images under Rights managed license on other sites.
But you can't sell images under royalty-free licence on any other site.
@@LukaAzman thanks for your reply
, let's make some cash :D
Hello, I apply to be an exclusive with IStock about two weeks ago, does it normally take that long to get an answer if they’ll accept or deny my application?
Well, sometimes it takes a lot of time. I know my brother waited more than a month. But that was quite a few years back, so I am not sure how it is now!
@@LukaAzman thanks
He bro I like you
Thanks 😀