Thank you Toma Bonciu. I'm a professional Web Developer and Amateur Photographer. I want to start the stock photography journey. So from the last month, I'm trying to learn about it and to google search, I got your content. It's rally super content for beginners
Great video, thanks for sharing! I had come to some of these conclusions in a few months of experience as well, including about the consistent volume of good uploads. Although you can do both in parallel (that's the good news), selling photos to stock is not the same as selling photos to art collectors (contemporary art gallery, for example, as I do) and some beginning photographers make the mistake of mixing things up. I think that's the most important tip. Another very important observation is that right now I see a wave of "escape from your comfort zone", when I think the exact opposite: stay in it! When you're comfortable, you make a lot more. Greetings from Brazil.
I tried selling some of my photos exclusive to some contemporary art galleries but I didn't found any interested. Are these galleries local to you or can you give me some examples? Thanks
@@BonciuToma My situation is as follows, hope it helps. I present some of my photos in a physical gallery (Peach Photos) near where I live, in São Paulo. I have an exclusive contract with them that includes some of my photos for numbered and certified fine art prints, some larger formats with limited edition. The gallery pays me image royalties while it profits from the raw material. They are high value-added products, museographic quality, that aims at a much more restricted market. And how did I get their interest? Interesting! :) it was through the Wiki Loves Earth Brazil 2016. A 1-year contract to display his photos in the gallery would be proposed to the winner. They liked my job and have since been renewing my contract. In my case, financially speaking, although sales are constant, I have not made much money with them lately. But it is not this market's fault in particular. I believe in this. It is because of the disastrous and unprecedented situation in history (economic and ideological situation) of which only recently my country has been liberated. I'm not even sure how they survived all this time around! But now the atmosphere is different. Everything has improved overnight. I am sure that from now on sales will greatly improve and I will be very happy around here as a photographer ready to explore an entire unknown country of lush nature, continental dimensions that has been almost dead for decades.
Portrait, landscape, nature, food, lifestyle, city scape, travel, indoor, everyday objects Let yourself be free Don't let 'guidance' change your art. Be original and do it YOUR way
Thank you so much Tom for your tips! I am just starting out (not yet approved or uploaded) and I am so excited about this journey! I look forward to more guidance from you in your channel! Thank you. 🙏
Thanks for watching and good luck. Remember that if you want to succede you have to treat this like a job and spend every day doing something about it. It can be an hour or two or how many you want ... but every day you have to do something
I'm just trying to get as many photos on my portfolio as possible without just posting a bunch of garbage. I'm aiming to get at least three photos approved to Shutterstock every day, but I've only just started it so I'm still learning how to get photos approved.
Hello There... I really liked your video and agree with many things you have to say there. I actually shoot stock myself for 11 years and I also recently created a video about the same topic. It is not an easy type of photography but there is money to be made if you think it through very well. Thank you for sharing... where is your accent from??? just wondering... I am Czech... I have an accent too;... anyways... great video
Realy Accepted its not only exclusive photos but I get all my sells from it. So I stopped uploading on the other stock photo sites and I now upload all of mine exclusively on dreamstime. It made sense for me. I still haven’t been able to get anything from all the other ones. Including shutterstock with over 500 photos on it. My $12 is stuck there since I can’t cash it out unti I get to a certain amount. 😂 It’s so different for everyone.
It sells differently: the stats are available only to the uploader. It sells completlt different. I also had images rejected on Fotolia that sell so good on Shutterstock
This depends on your contract. Some libraries are image exclusive and so it must remain in one place. With sites such as Shutterstock you can have the same image on Shutterstock; Dreamstime and Fotolia. However, even here you can make it so that an image is site exclusive. IStock is another one whereby you can have an exclusive contract or a non-exclusive contract.
Thanks so much Tom for sharing these very interesting tips. Regarding landscape stock photography… Do you think it is better to upload photos from very famous places or from more anynimous locations. I am asking this because I am living on the Dolomites and of course many of the pics I would upload are focused on specific Dolomites locations. But I don't know if this could be a good selling strategies... Thanks again!!
If you live there you should also upload photos of the famous places. I, personally, didn't had too much success with the photos from the Dolomite. So I suggest to also go for places that are not recognizable although it's difficult in the Dolomite to also have the chance of selling to people that look just for mountains. Another thing that I learned is that where I failed you may succeed, there is nor rule that says if I didn't sold something it's gonna be the same for you.
Very cool, thanks for the nice video. Alamy is predominately an editorial agency with mainly UK and US clients. Therefore, I would imagine that pure landscape stock photos would not do so well on there. All the best, I've subscribed to your channel and look forward to more videos - Alex
I would add, without too many similar images, such as you have! This kind of thinking (quantity based ports) to stock photography can be counterproductive.
There is a list in Shutterstock what famous landmarks you cannot photograph. For example you can take photos of the Eifel tower during the day but not during the night because of copywright laws
I do mostly travel landscape and I have just started uploading to stock agencies , I have made a couple of sales on alamy with about 400 images and three sales on Shutterstock with 50 images, so I sell more on Shutterstock but I have a much bigger payout on alamy sales..
There is no such thing as tips for stock photography. there are so many photographers out there because they watch videos like this.. the more photographers there are, the cheaper the photo will be.. we are talking about 19 cents to 25 cents per image.. and if it grows you can get more.. but stock agencies put their contributors on the front pages of any subject you search, those are contributors that advertise the page, work exclusively for that 1 agency, that had a contract with them.. if you are starting out even with 1000 of your best photographs the maximum you will make is up to $100 to $600 after months. and that i mean if you are in a lot of different agencies. you will spend a lot of money to make those 1000 photographs.. and if even half of them are accepted in the page not to mention taxes, model releases, property releases, stock agency profits, and equipment Note: i am not offending the person in the video, this is my experience
Hi there. Thanks a lot for your feedback and for sharing yout experience and thoughts. You can't offend me when you offer information. It's true it's harder now to make money from this than it was 5 years ago and in the end who will learn to adapt to new trends and changes will be able to make some money. Thanks again
if you don't mind sharing, how much do you make on average from stock photography per month?
Thanks for the video! :)
Wow, well done and thank you for the superb information you just shared! Subbed!
Again, totally new perspective focused on Landscape photography. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for your time
Amazing tips. I've been doing it for a few hours a week in a year and not selling as much as I'd like. I will be applying your tips.
Thank you Toma Bonciu. I'm a professional Web Developer and Amateur Photographer. I want to start the stock photography journey. So from the last month, I'm trying to learn about it and to google search, I got your content. It's rally super content for beginners
Great video, thanks for sharing! I had come to some of these conclusions in a few months of experience as well, including about the consistent volume of good uploads. Although you can do both in parallel (that's the good news), selling photos to stock is not the same as selling photos to art collectors (contemporary art gallery, for example, as I do) and some beginning photographers make the mistake of mixing things up. I think that's the most important tip. Another very important observation is that right now I see a wave of "escape from your comfort zone", when I think the exact opposite: stay in it! When you're comfortable, you make a lot more. Greetings from Brazil.
I tried selling some of my photos exclusive to some contemporary art galleries but I didn't found any interested. Are these galleries local to you or can you give me some examples? Thanks
@@BonciuToma My situation is as follows, hope it helps. I present some of my photos in a physical gallery (Peach Photos) near where I live, in São Paulo. I have an exclusive contract with them that includes some of my photos for numbered and certified fine art prints, some larger formats with limited edition. The gallery pays me image royalties while it profits from the raw material. They are high value-added products, museographic quality, that aims at a much more restricted market. And how did I get their interest? Interesting! :) it was through the Wiki Loves Earth Brazil 2016. A 1-year contract to display his photos in the gallery would be proposed to the winner. They liked my job and have since been renewing my contract. In my case, financially speaking, although sales are constant, I have not made much money with them lately. But it is not this market's fault in particular. I believe in this. It is because of the disastrous and unprecedented situation in history (economic and ideological situation) of which only recently my country has been liberated. I'm not even sure how they survived all this time around! But now the atmosphere is different. Everything has improved overnight. I am sure that from now on sales will greatly improve and I will be very happy around here as a photographer ready to explore an entire unknown country of lush nature, continental dimensions that has been almost dead for decades.
Thanks for the reply 👍😀
Thanks a lot! I've just been approved by Shutterstock and uploaded my first photos :) Your insights will help me to understand the process better :)
Glad I offered some help
Thank you !
Portrait, landscape, nature, food, lifestyle, city scape, travel, indoor, everyday objects
Let yourself be free
Don't let 'guidance' change your art. Be original and do it YOUR way
Thank you so much Tom for your tips! I am just starting out (not yet approved or uploaded) and I am so excited about this journey! I look forward to more guidance from you in your channel! Thank you. 🙏
Thanks for watching and good luck. Remember that if you want to succede you have to treat this like a job and spend every day doing something about it. It can be an hour or two or how many you want ... but every day you have to do something
@@BonciuToma Yes..I am so excited to put in the work! Thank you for your guidance.
Very useful info! Thanks for sharing and I subscribed.
This helps a lot, thanks for uploading!
Thanks for your time
**Blinking intensifies**
now i cant unsee it :/
Thanks! This is something I've been thinking about.
😀
Thank u so much u are real person and very deeply explain
Great tips! Thanks for uploading.
Thanks for your time
I'm just trying to get as many photos on my portfolio as possible without just posting a bunch of garbage. I'm aiming to get at least three photos approved to Shutterstock every day, but I've only just started it so I'm still learning how to get photos approved.
Hello There... I really liked your video and agree with many things you have to say there. I actually shoot stock myself for 11 years and I also recently created a video about the same topic. It is not an easy type of photography but there is money to be made if you think it through very well. Thank you for sharing... where is your accent from??? just wondering... I am Czech... I have an accent too;... anyways... great video
Thanks for the comment and feedback. I'm from Romania
I was guessing something like that.... best of luck to you
thanks :)
Hi Zdenka... I found you here again.
You speak excellent English
thanks!
Great video, very helpful.
Thanks! Great video!
Thank you for your time
I think it depends on the person, Shutterstock is my lowest. Dreamstime is my best.
Hey! I'm starting photography and i'm a student who needs money. Could you tell me why Shutterstock is better than Dreamstime?? Thank you :)
Really? first time to hear dreamstime sellls more than shutterstock.
Realy Accepted its not only exclusive photos but I get all my sells from it. So I stopped uploading on the other stock photo sites and I now upload all of mine exclusively on dreamstime. It made sense for me. I still haven’t been able to get anything from all the other ones. Including shutterstock with over 500 photos on it. My $12 is stuck there since I can’t cash it out unti I get to a certain amount. 😂 It’s so different for everyone.
Realy Accepted welcome!
Can you post same image on multiple stock websites? Its something that makes me curious for a long time
It sells differently: the stats are available only to the uploader. It sells completlt different. I also had images rejected on Fotolia that sell so good on Shutterstock
This depends on your contract. Some libraries are image exclusive and so it must remain in one place. With sites such as Shutterstock you can have the same image on Shutterstock; Dreamstime and Fotolia. However, even here you can make it so that an image is site exclusive. IStock is another one whereby you can have an exclusive contract or a non-exclusive contract.
Useful tips ! thanks and keep it up )
thank you for your interest
Do you need a model release when photographing normal people, for example some friends or family?
Yes ... even for self portraits
@@BonciuToma Mulțumesc!!!!
Thanks so much Tom for sharing these very interesting tips. Regarding landscape stock photography… Do you think it is better to upload photos from very famous places or from more anynimous locations. I am asking this because I am living on the Dolomites and of course many of the pics I would upload are focused on specific Dolomites locations. But I don't know if this could be a good selling strategies... Thanks again!!
If you live there you should also upload photos of the famous places. I, personally, didn't had too much success with the photos from the Dolomite. So I suggest to also go for places that are not recognizable although it's difficult in the Dolomite to also have the chance of selling to people that look just for mountains.
Another thing that I learned is that where I failed you may succeed, there is nor rule that says if I didn't sold something it's gonna be the same for you.
Very frank and useful ideas. Thank you.
glad you found it useful
Hi sir. Can you how much mega pixel is needed to send the stock photography ,
4mp minimum
Thank you
I would think if your making a video about photography that you would color grade your footage
what do you think of Blackbox?
well! Thank you for your sharing video. 👌🙋
Very cool, thanks for the nice video. Alamy is predominately an editorial agency with mainly UK and US clients. Therefore, I would imagine that pure landscape stock photos would not do so well on there. All the best, I've subscribed to your channel and look forward to more videos - Alex
Thanks for the info. It's true that Alamy didn't worked for me
I would add, without too many similar images, such as you have! This kind of thinking (quantity based ports) to stock photography can be counterproductive.
Thanks for your perpective
Hello man! Cool video! What do you think about Blackbox?
Thanks. I never used it but I know from experience how handy is to have a service that submits your photos to multiple website automatic.
how you deal with shutterstock property release when uploading famous landmark? f.e. Tower bridge?
There is a list in Shutterstock what famous landmarks you cannot photograph. For example you can take photos of the Eifel tower during the day but not during the night because of copywright laws
Excellent!!
thank you
I do mostly travel landscape and I have just started uploading to stock agencies , I have made a couple of sales on alamy with about 400 images and three sales on Shutterstock with 50 images, so I sell more on Shutterstock but I have a much bigger payout on alamy sales..
If you manage to sell on Alamy you'll get more money from it but for me it didn't worked at all
Hi Tom, usually how many photos did you uploaded every time?
Not too many: maximum 30 per upload. I'm not uploading consistent: sometimes 3 times per week, then nothing for two weeks (when I'm out photographing)
If I have 100 photos, do you recommend uploading them at once or I should do 5 of them in 20 days?
5 /20
What's so annoying, as a buyer, is all the terms of use. I know allot of people who go to pixabay just to avoid the legal bs.
What is most in demand?
Images with people doing normal things or business type related
@@BonciuToma Thanks
Shutterstock is garbage tbh
Shutterstock is just evil to me. They don't accept any photos i put
Volume is way too low, to much talking and not enough showing.
Tom, I noticed that your photos from fineartamerica.com have disappeared... Can you share why?
I've deleted the account. No sales
There is no such thing as tips for stock photography. there are so many photographers out there because they watch videos like this.. the more photographers there are, the cheaper the photo will be.. we are talking about 19 cents to 25 cents per image.. and if it grows you can get more.. but stock agencies put their contributors on the front pages of any subject you search, those are contributors that advertise the page, work exclusively for that 1 agency, that had a contract with them..
if you are starting out even with 1000 of your best photographs the maximum you will make is up to $100 to $600 after months. and that i mean if you are in a lot of different agencies. you will spend a lot of money to make those 1000 photographs.. and if even half of them are accepted in the page
not to mention taxes, model releases, property releases, stock agency profits, and equipment
Note: i am not offending the person in the video, this is my experience
Hi there. Thanks a lot for your feedback and for sharing yout experience and thoughts. You can't offend me when you offer information. It's true it's harder now to make money from this than it was 5 years ago and in the end who will learn to adapt to new trends and changes will be able to make some money. Thanks again