Photoshelter Selling Stock Photos

WINTER 2011

An educational guide from

Selling Stock Photography

TABLE of CONTENTS
PART I: A GUIDE TO SELLING STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY 4 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 16 17 18 19 20 What is Stock Photography? Definitions A gency vs. Independent Stock Licensing What Buyers Look For 1 5 Things Photo Buyers LOVE to See in an Email What Makes a Good Email? Key Takeaways to Help Grow Your Stock Business Keywording Stock Photos Where Do Buyers Get Stock Images What Do Buyers Search for On Google? W hat Features Should Photographers Include on Their Website How Do Buyers Prefer to Handle Pricing? What Gets a Buyer’s Attention? PART III: INSIGHTS FROM PHOTOGRAPHERS SELLING STOCK 31 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 Izmostock Visuals Unlimited Moodboard David Sanger David Coleman Randy Santos Brad Mangin Thomas Pickard Brian Smale PART II: INSIGHTS FROM STOCK PHOTO BUYERS 22 24 26 28 Condé Nast Traveller Random House T3 Billboard.com

© 2011 PhotoShelter, Inc (111811) No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, without the prior written consent of PhotoShelter, Inc. The logos of the companies described are the trademarks of their respective owners. No endorsement is implied. PhotoShelter, Inc. makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation.

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What is Stock Photography?
Introduction to this guide
Times have changed significantly in the stock photo industry. And unfortunately for the producers of stock photography, it’s been a pretty rocky road. The disruption and demise of the old model of selling stock photography has been well documented. Inexpensive, high quality cameras in the hands of the masses have flooded the market with “good enough” imagery at significantly cheaper prices. The glut of stock photography combined with diminished photo budgets have continued to create downward pricing pressure. The impact of these changes was most notably felt by the photographers who previously earned a very healthy living licensing their images to ad agencies, corporations, publishers and news organizations. But, like all paradigm shifts, the most flexible members of a species figure out a way to evolve and survive. We set out to find photographers who fit this description and understand what they’re doing to generate income from stock photography today. Up front, we should be clear that we didn’t find anyone getting rich from licensing their images - this guide is not and should not be mistaken for “how to get rich and retire fast selling stock photography.” That guide does not exist. However, we did find a number of strong photographers who have found ways to generate income from stock photography both independently and through major agencies. We’re sharing their stories and tips because like them, you may find ways to adapt your marketing and sales tactics to generate more income for your work. We also interviewed several stock photo buyers to help you better understand how the clients think - an essential step in marketing your photography as stock. Wherever relevant, we’ve included data from our 2011 Buyer Survey as well. and even when you watch TV and see stills incorporated into the programming – you are probably looking at stock photography.

What is the subject matter?
You could take a picture of almost anything and call it stock photography. Here is a range of potential subjects and uses: • An advertising agency is doing an international print campaign for a consumer goods client and needs a picture of two kids brushing their teeth in their pajamas. • A general interest magazine needs a picture to help illustrate ‘green living.’ • A music magazine needs a picture of a Michael Jackson concert from 1984. • A travel agency needs a picture of a very specific castle in Ireland to use in a brochure. • A book publisher needs a photo that somehow conveys ‘reckless experimentation’ for a book cover. • A bank needs 10 pictures of African wildlife to hang on the walls in their new branch. • A celebrity magazine needs a picture of Kim Kardashian working out. • A newspaper needs a ‘cut-out’ picture of empty pill bottles against a white background to use in a story on rising drug costs. Stock photography covers almost anything you could think of – from everyday objects, to people in every age, color and situation imaginable, families, business settings, travel, concepts, landscapes, nature, underwater, sports, news, and entertainment.

What is stock?
Stock photography is completely ubiquitous to the modern world. The images that companies of all shapes and sizes use in their media (whether it’s for editorial, marketing, creative or educational purposes) come from basically two sources: 1) they hired a photographer to shoot it; or 2) they licensed a pre-existing image. When someone purchases a pre-existing image license, they are purchasing stock photography. Businesses license stock photos that have been previously created to help them illustrate concepts, services, situations, etc. Every time you read a magazine or whenever you look at newspapers, billboards, textbooks, book covers, blogs, brochures, direct mail, or corporate literature of any type –

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How is stock different than other photography?
There are no hard and fast rules regarding the aesthetics of stock photography, but there are some considerations for the photographer. First, commercial stock photography isn’t photojournalistic in nature. Stock photography doesn’t have a brooding quality that is sometimes characteristic of documentary photography. “Light and airy” is a phrase that is frequently used to describe contemporary stock photography. The goal is to make things visually appealing. Stock photography is also frequently used with embedded marketing messages, and therefore, the experienced stock photographer thinks about composing the shot in such a way that it can appear in an ad or publication. The subject matter can be literal, but often stock succeeds when the photographer is effective in conveying a concept. Also, stock photography is used commercially and requires a certain level of production quality. Rarely can you just casually take a picture of something or someone and sell it for use in an advertisement. Why? First, buyers looking for commercially available images often expect model released images so that they don’t have to deal with the overhead of gaining clearance. And second, because of the production details. The lighting might not be right, the person’s clothes might not be presentable enough, the person might not be model-quality, the background might be too cluttered, the expression on someone’s face might not clearly evoke an emotion – there are so many considerations taken into account when photographers shoot stock.

How much do buyers pay for stock images?
There is a huge range of prices in stock photography – and prices often depend entirely on usage and exclusivity. Today, the range can be from $1 for a “microstock” image all the way through several thousand dollars for an image licensed exclusively for a worldwide advertising campaign to be displayed in multiple forms of media. In many cases buyers are not actually purchasing an image, but rather a license to use the image. The licenses are typically “rights-managed” (a specific usage, duration and location), or royalty-free (generally, the right to use the image in perpetuity without the right to resale). If you are selling your stock photography through an agency, the agency typically manages the negotiation and sale for you, and takes a commission. If you are selling stock independently, you need to become much more familiar with pricing nuances. In either situation, you should educate yourself on the basic license types (rights managed and royalty free) – and get familiar with general usage-based pricing.

What qualifications do you need to shoot stock?
1. You need an imagination, creative vision, basic photography skills, and a decent camera. 2. You need to educate yourself. Start obsessing over magazines and other forms of print media and start to train your eye on the aesthetic of commercial imagery. 3. You need to get out there and start shooting and submitting work. The best way to learn is just to do it – and to understand which images get accepted, which get rejected, and which ones sell. Different collections and agencies have different aesthetics. Stock photography often conjures up adjectives like “cheesy” (think business man with two thumbs up shot against seamless), but in fact, many stock collections have very contemporary imagery that can be indiscernible from commissioned photography.

Who are the buyers?
The types of buyers who license stock photography include: • Advertising agencies • Magazines • Publishing houses (fiction, non-fiction, textbook) • Corporations (in-house communications departments etc.) • Websites + blogs • Non-Profits + government agencies • Graphic designers

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Definitions
Rights-Managed
Rights managed photography is the traditional model of licensing whereby the licensing fee is derived from a specific usage. For example, a quarter page ad in a North American publication with a circulation of 500,000 for one month yields a fee that is different from a single billboard running for three months. Rights managed images are associated with higher fees, and also have the ability to be licensed with various forms of exclusivity. For example, a bank might use an image of a person at an ATM and ask for categorical exclusivity to prevent a competitor from using the same image. Exclusivity adds another component to the price of the license, but it can be very important to certain clients. Rights managed “calculators” are used to derive pricing of an image. The calculator is a large matrix of various usages with an associated price. PhotoShelter’s rights-managed pricing calculator (must be logged in to view) is based on the ubiquitous and highly regarded fotoQuote program developed by Cradoc Corp. properly licensed). The model arose out of a need to simplify the overhead of using stock, and the rise of CD-ROMs in the late 1980s and early 1990s was a key factor in the proliferation of Royalty-Free images with companies like Photodisc Royalty free images used to be associated with poor(er) quality, but nowadays, image quality is not a good indicator of licensing type. More often, it’s just a function of the photographer’s (or agent’s) desire. Proponents of rights managed licensing point to royalty free images as a reason for price deflation in the industry, but just as likely a culprit was the glut of photos and more efficient mechanisms for distribution.

Stock Agency
Today, stock agencies are searchable online databases of images that license those images to fulfill the needs of creative assignments. Often times, people turn to stock agencies instead of hiring a professional photographer. Stock agencies either own the copyrights to the images that they sell, or they sell images on behalf of smaller stock agencies or individual photographers. If a stock agency sells images on behalf of someone else, then they will negotiate the licensing fees and take a percentage of all sales. Getty Images and Corbis are currently two of the largest stock agencies, and seller collections are comprised of both wholly owned imagery as well as represented imagery. Other agencies, like Alamy, populate their collection with images from smaller agencies and individual photographers. Alamy and other similar stock agencies do not own the copyrights to the images that they sell. Examples of microstock agencies include iStockphoto (which was acquired by Getty Images in 2006) and Shutterstock. Every stock agencies sets up its own contracts with defined commission bases and licensing feeds. Most stock agencies require a model release if the people in the image are identifiable. Stock agencies often set their own policies regarding releases, so always check with the agency first.

Licensing
The images that a photographer produces are his/her intellectual property. Unless there is contractual transfer of ownership, the photographer is the sole owner of those images. So photographers license images for specific uses to generate profit from their work. Clients who pay to license your images do not have the right to use those images beyond the agreed usage.

Commercial Use
Commercial use of an image refers to photography used to promote or sell products, services, or ideas. The term has to do with photography’s usage, not what the image actually is. For example, a photographer who takes a series of photographs at an event and then licenses those images to a company that uses them in a promotional email would be licensing for commercial use.

Microstock
Microstock has emerged as a significant force in stock photography. The concept emerged from photo trading amongst graphic designers, but soon became commercialized and popularized by low pricing. Images are often sold on a credit basis with contributors often being paid back in credits, which they can redeem for cash. Microstock is a volume game, where a contributor has to sell literally thousands of images to make a decent wage. For most participants in microstock, it’s less of a business and more of a hobby and vanity exercise, since the microstock companies earn a disproportionate share of the sales and earnings can literally be in the pennies for the photographers.

Editorial Use
Editorial use refers to photographed used in journalistic or educational materials. In the above example of the photographer who photographs an event, if those images were used in a newspaper or magazine, then they would be licensed for editorial use.

Royalty Free
Royalty free emerged in the 1980s as a way to license images without regards to usage. The model gained popularity with buyers because they could amass their own image libraries and re-use images without having to re-license the image for each usage. (If you’ve ever tried to track software compliance on multiple computers, you can understand the challenge of trying to make sure all your stock images have been

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Part I: A Guide To Selling Stock Photography

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Agency vs. Independent Stock Licensing
One of the biggest decisions photographers have to make is whether to sell their stock photography through a stock agency or on their own. Photographers who choose to sell their stock independently typically do so directly from their website and are responsible for almost every step of the sales process. Selling through an agency, on the other hand, is usually less work for the photographer but may return a smaller profit due to large commission fees. To help you make the best decision for your needs, here’s a general overview of the differences between selling stock through an agency versus independently. Agency
• Photographers share a significantly large commission with the agency • Specific submission guidelines depending on the agency (e.g. image size, camera model, file format, etc) • Selective editing process - meaning that not all your images may be accepted • Agencies do the marketing and sales work • Agencies control the pricing and negotiation with buyers • Agencies can change their terms at any time • Some agencies demand exclusive rights to sell your images, as well as any similar images • Your images are just a few among thousands (if not millions) • Agencies are frequently affiliated with other agencies, expanding their reach to potential buyers, but also creating an additional agent that gets a cut of your sales

Independent
• Photographer keep a greater share of every sale (usually 100%) • Photographer controls the pricing and terms for every deal • Photographer controls which images go up for sale • Marketing and sales work is photographer’s responsibility • Responsible for administrative tasks like billing buyers • Photographer needs to keep up with the latest technology • Photographer has direct contact with buyers • Opportunity to garner new customers with good SEO

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Part I: A Guide To Selling Stock Photography

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What Buyers Look For
We recognize that not every photographer is going to intuitively know what buyers expect or even want from them. Truth be told, there’s not much of an open gateway between photographers and buyers to learn from one another. If buyers don’t respond to an email, the photographer probably just assumes that they didn’t like their work. In some cases this may be true, but there are many other factors that go into a buyer’s decision-making process when it comes to selecting photography. For example, did you blast out one hundred emails to buyers of all types that start with the line, “Dear Photo Buyer”? Turns out photo buyers appreciate an individual and personalized email as much as you do. In the coming pages, you’ll read first-hand accounts from top-tier photo editors and creative directors at Conde Nast Traveler UK, Billboard.com, T3 Agency, and Random House. There’s no reason that photographers should blindly approach these people when there are some clear takeaways on what buyers want. Of course there’s no magic bullet to this stuff - one buyer might want you to attach your images to an email, while another might prefer that you include them in the body of an email. But if you focus on these insights, you will certainly help optimize your outreach and marketing efforts.

Key Takeaways
• It’s best to do the outreach yourself. Even if you have representation, buyers appreciate when emails and promos come from the photographers themselves. • Create a well-branded experience for the buyer. If you have strong design skills, then take the time to design a custom logo that you can use across your website, blog, email, and business cards. If you’re not a designer, then consider investing in one to do the work for you. • Do your research before reaching out. Ask yourself, does my work fit the needs of this particular buyer? Carefully consider the buyer’s style and how it matches your own. Nothing irritates a buyer more than taking the time to check out a new photographer’s website, only to see sports photography when the buyer is looking for travel photos. • Also do some basic research on the buyer before you write an email so that you can personalize your message. Addressing your emails to the right person and the right name is always a must! • Understand that building a relationship between a photographer and buyer takes time. Even if a buyer loves your work, he/she may not be able to hire you for a big project right off the bat. Periodically check in with buyers to show them new work and hopefully remain in their frame of reference for future projects. And be open to taking smaller projects at first to show that you can get the job done. • Think about how you can make your images stand out before you take the shot. For example, if you think your work could be used commercially, consider taking images that are bright and modern-looking, and use models that are diverse in age, gender, and ethnicity. In any case, take both horizontal and vertical images, as well as some with negative space where clients could add copy. • Include examples of how your work has been used by other clients. Whether it’s in a magazine spread, on a website, or in an advertisement campaign, it’s good to see how your work looks in a professional product. You might help inspire buyers and give them new ideas about how to feature photography. The simplest way to do this is to include tearsheets on your website. • Make sure that your website and emails are mobile and iPad-friendly. Like everyone else these days, buyers can’t always view their emails from their computer. Most importantly, don’t use Flash on your website, make sure that it loads quickly, and make your contact information easy to find.

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1. Images must be beautiful,
striking, and high quality

15 Things Photo Buyers Love to See in an email
3. Image(s) and copy
immediately relevant
Make sure that the images and/or story idea that you’re emailing about is clear and obvious right away, and it’s appropriate for the recipient. Get right to the point. Photo editors are extremely busy, and they should know what your email is about within a few seconds of opening it. Keep that in mind as you write. This probably sounds obvious to you, right? But what’s less obvious is the fact that you are incapable of being an objective judge of your own work. Consider getting someone else involved here – in fact, consider getting several other people to play editor for you. (Preferably someone who is already a photo editor/photo buyer.)

6. Highly targeted vs. clearly a
mass mailing
There’s no replacement for doing your homework. Very few people actually do it, so this is an easy way to stand out from the crowd. Know who you are emailing, what they’re interested in, what they’ve recently used, what styles work with their publication, and the subject matter that hits their sweet spot. By sending an email that’s personally tailored to each person, you look like a savvy in-the-know photographer instead of a lazy spammer.

2.

State relevance in subject line
If you could take a look the typical inbox for a photo editor, you’d probably be shocked at how many photographers are flooding them with emails each day. Let’s face it, there are a lot of photographers out there – and they all want work. And you know what? Not all of those emails are read. The subject line is of critical importance when it comes to open rates. But what’s most important is what comes next – after the email is opened. If you create a misleading subject line just to get them to open it, and the content doesn’t match the subject, you’re going to lose some trust points with that editor/buyer.

4. Unique style or technique
Don’t be like everyone else. You should have your own unique style and approach to photography, and it should be loud and clear in your email. If you end up looking (and thinking) like everyone else in their inbox, you stand a good chance of being ignored.

7. Simple and direct

5. Images truly represent a
photographer’s work
Make sure that the images (style, subject matter, technical approach) in your email are also present on your website – in an easy-to-find location. If a photo editor loves your style enough to visit your website, make sure you can give them more of what got them excited in the first place.

Similar to point #3, keep things simple. Avoid the long-winded stories about your background, or the details leading up to the reasons why you are super passionate about photography. Be simple and direct, get to the point right away, and leave them with a link where they can find out more information if they want to.

8. Emotionally riveting/
evocative
Don’t be afraid to play with their emotions – in a good way. Make them feel something when they see your images, or read your stories. In doing so, they will get a feel for how their readers will react. Connecting on an emotional level is one of the best sales tactics in human history. Describe feelings, moods, and use expressive terms to sell your story, photos, and yourself.

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Part I: A Guide To Selling Stock Photography

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9. Demonstrate problem
solving
Photo editors want to work with people who don’t create additional problems. When a challenge comes up during an assignment, the photographer will find a solution without bothering the editor. If at all possible, you should be showing that you are a problem solver, not a problem maker. Let them know that you take direct and personal responsibility for making things run as smoothly as possible — and that it’s not all up to them.

12. Sensible, accessible
geographic location
Photo editors want to know where you are. What’s your home base? They want to know this because most assignments don’t have budget for travel, and they want to find someone local to that area. Don’t hide this information (many photographers do!) If you have a fear of not getting a cool assignment that involves travel because you’ve mentioned your location – you should instead have a fear of missing an assignment in your own backyard.

14.Highlight the

photographer’s abilities, specialties
Similar to what’s mentioned above (in point #13), if you have a specialty, or a set of unique abilities, make sure you make this very clear and obvious. Don’t assume that every photographer has the same set of skills that you do. Remember that photo editors want to find a photographer who is going to perform and come back with the images they need. You can build up their confidence in you by listing your abilities – thereby increasing the chance that you’ll get the assignment over someone who doesn’t.

10. Clever and creative copy/
headlines
This is another way to make yourself stand above the crowd. It’s not all about photos – it’s also about writing and words. Your images should to have their own style and approach to them – so should your words. Avoid obvious cliches and typical boring words and phrases. Being clever and creative can set you apart.

13. Good self promotional
design
When you’re sending out a mass-mailing or newsletter to many people, make sure that you’ve designed the email to give you the promotion that you need. (That’s the whole reason for the email in the first place, right?) This means making sure that your images are large enough to have impact; your name and contact information is clearly visible; and your specialties are obvious. These things should be built right into the design of the email itself, and not buried at the bottom in small text. It’s OK, and expected, to promote yourself in these emails.

15. Consistency/ regularity in
sending promos
One email isn’t going to cut it. Your overall goal is to become a household name for photo editors, and that can take a while. This is the reason why big companies run ads in magazines over and over again. It takes a certain amount of repetition for you to go from an unknown to a known. Be consistent and regular with your promo emails. If you’re promoting a specific style, don’t showcase a totally different style with each email – stick to the style you want to be known for. Also, you should stick to a regular schedule for your email promos. This shows that you are dependable, disciplined, and consistent in your approach to business.

11. Share work in use by other
campaigns
If you’ve been published recently elsewhere, don’t be afraid to share it. Photo editors/buyers love to see how your photography has been used before because it gives them a better sense of your range and professionalism.

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What Makes a Good email?
In summary, here are the top email do’s and don’ts direct from buyers.

Do
• Images must be beautiful, striking, high quality • State relevance in subject line • Image(s) and copy immediately relevant • Unique style or technique • Images truly represent a photographer’s work • Highly targeted vs. clearly a mass mailing • Simple and direct • Emotionally riveting/ evocative • Demonstrate problem solving • Clever and creative copy/ headlines • Share work in use by other campaigns • Sensible, accessible geographic location • Good self promotional design • Highlight the photographer’s abilities, specialties • Consistency/ regularity in sending promos

Don’t
• Irrelevant content (don’t know the product, market, demographic) • Website inconsistent with sample photos in email • Poor subject lines • Boring or over-the-top images • Emails that lack photos (only links to a site) • Image display errors • Too many/large attachments • No context around the new work being shared • No indication of location • Conversational tone with no prior relationship • Links that don’t work, or link to a slow loading site • Repeating the same email/ too frequent • Single image with no copy • Careless errors (e.g. spelling mistakes, agency/publication title incorrect, photographer or rep name & contact info missing)

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Key Takeaways to Help Grow Your Stock Business
Licensing stock photos today is much different than 15 years ago because 1) the Internet makes it easy for us to get what we want faster and 2) there are millions more photos available online. So with constant changes in the industry, what are stock photographers doing today to bring in revenue and increase their bottom line? We spoke to pro photographers who shoot lifestyle, automobile, sports, travel, business, and music stock to ask their best strategies for getting noticed and increasing business opportunities. Some work directly through agencies and others license their stock independently. Here are top tips on how to make it work either way: If licensing independently:
• Decide what specific types of stock photography are under-served, and then make an effort to produce images that fulfill that specific need. Narrowing down your subject matter will give you a competitive advantage. • Continuously update your blog or website with new content, including written pieces (gallery titles, captions, blog posts, etc.) and new photos. Text helps Google understand what your images are, and helps your website or blog rank higher in search engine results. • Consider specializing, which will help you focus on a target market and become known for delivering a specific subject matter really well. • Be direct with your clients and discuss budget head on. This will improve your professional relationships and help you tailor your pitch to meet their needs. Clients in hospitality, decor, corporate, and government sectors often look to license stock photos in large quantities to display in person but aren’t considered traditional “stock” buyers.This is a marketing opportunity. • Although licensing your stock photos independently may increase your responsibility, you’ll have more flexibility to take the reigns and sell and negotiate with clients. • If just starting out, you’ll benefit from building your blog and engaging followers. Having a voice that’s uniquely yours will help you stand out in the pack of stock photographers. P H O T O S H E LT E R | S E L L i n g S T O C K P H O T O g R a P H y: W i n T E R 2 0 1 1

If licensing through an agency:
• When working through major stock agencies, be sure to diligently keyword all your images. If people can’t find your photos, then you’re out of luck. • Agencies like Getty Images present your work chronologically. This means that you need to continuously produce good and interesting work that’s keyworded well and includes the date. People often gravitate towards what’s current. • Develop a well-defined niche. If there aren’t a lot of people doing what you’re doing, then there’s a good chance your stock photos will get noticed. • Research a variety of stock agencies to find the best for you. They all have their own workflows and target audiences, so it’s important to figure out which ones fit your style and needs. • If an agency offers or requires you to go through an editing process, be open to the advice that you receive. You might make more sales if you take their opinions into consideration. • Run the numbers and figure how which agencies are bringing you the most revenue.

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Keywording Stock Photos
Keywording is probably the single most important step of preparing your images for sale through an agency or your own site. You may have taken a beautiful image that fits a buyer’s needs perfectly, but if your keywords are inadequate, it will never be found or licensed. Fortunately, there are ways to improve your keywording skills: Think like a buyer
Since buyers are who you want to find your images, it makes sense to keyword with that audience in mind. Try to anticipate the ways in which your image could be useful to a buyer, and reflect that in your keywording. Buyers search for images by both subject (actual content) and concept (ideas or mood). They might also have technical requirements, such as the type of shot (aerial, close up, etc) or the amount of copy space. It’s a good idea to keep all these concerns in mind while keywording. • Are there people in the picture? If so, describe them specifically. • What colors are prominently represented? • What objects are prominently included in the picture – as key subjects of the picture? • Is the location relevant/worth mentioning? If so, be both specific and general: city street, and 5th Avenue • Are you using a special angle or other technical points worth mentioning? Panoramic etc. On a second pass, list some of the items you may have missed. Continue to look at the image holistically, and do not list insignificant details. With each keyword you apply, put yourself in the shoes of a buyer. If you searched on this keyword and found this picture in the search results, would you find it appropriate… or distracting? Here are some specific questions to ask yourself: • Age Range (newborn, baby, kid, toddler, teen, tween, 20s, 30s, 40s, senior (and/or mature adult) etc.) • Generation (Gen X, Baby Boomer etc.) • Ethnicity (Caucasian, White, Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino etc – cover your bases on what buyers might use in their searches) • Gender (man, woman, guy, girl, boy etc.) • How many people generally? (group, crowd, friends, etc.) • Is a family role relevant? (parent, sibling, sister etc.) • Is an occupation relevant? (postman, businessman etc.) • What action are they doing? (sitting, standing, throwing, etc.) • What is their emotional state? (happy or sad but also more subtle: concerned, disappointed) • Is an interaction being portrayed? (parent, scolding, child etc.)

Have a System
Keywording is commonly referred to as both an art and a science. This is because while good keywording requires creativity and flexibility, it can and should be approached in a systematic way. Many photographers find it simplest to tackle visual descriptions first, moving on to concepts and technical keywords later.

Visual Description
Imagine yourself describing your image to someone who can’t see it. Try to forget any contextual information you know about how and where it was taken and focus only on the visual information. The first words that come to your mind will probably be some of the more relevant and important ones to include as keywords. Literally describe all aspects of the image:

People
Pay special attention to any people in the image - their clothing, hair color, build, and other aspects of their appearance might be important to a buyer. Think of the diverse markets buyers might want to target, and always indicate the ethnicity and age range for the subjects of your photos. Age range is especially useful for children. Also, describe the physical position of the people in your image. Are they sitting? Walking? Looking at the camera with their arms crossed?

Include general and specific keywords
A photo buyer at a niche bird-watching website might be searching on a stock site for images of a very specific type of bird to feature in an article. Meanwhile, a city tourism board might be putting together a travel brochure and looking for general nature images to attract visitors to their public parks. 13

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There is no reason why these two searches must have mutually exclusive results.Try to anticipate possible specific and generic uses of your image, and keyword accordingly. If you use the keyword “bird,” also include the specific scientific or common name. If you use the scientific or common name, also use “bird” and “animal.” Some markets, like textbook manufacturers, will require scientific names for veracity. As in any business, it’s important to understand the nuances and characteristics of any given niche. Keep in mind that stock websites differ in how their search engines handle phrases, plurals and verb stemming. Submitting a single image to multiple sites might not yield the same results from each site’s search engine. Often, it pays to be more liberal with your use of keywords.

A good, safe way to start adding concept keywords is to elaborate on and describe the keywords you already have. For example, for a picture of pizza, you might add “greasy” and “delicious.” As long as they make sense, you don’t have to necessarily agree with the descriptions you choose. Some additional questions to ask yourself while coming up with concept keywords include: • Is there any feeling or mood that jumps out at you when looking at this image? • Does the image appear to be telling a story or addressing a particular theme? • Is the image symbolic of a larger idea? • If there are people in your image, look at their facial expressions and body language. Are they expressing any obvious emotions? • What was your original motivation for taking the picture? What were you trying to express?

Place
When describing the setting of your image, try to focus on what it looks like, and don’t necessarily be held back by what it actually is. You might know that you took your photo in a day care facility, but if it looks like it could be a school classroom as well, then that’s a good direction to go with your keywords. Include both specific place names as well as more general terms. The tallest building in New York City is the “Empire State Building,” but it could also be a part of a “skyline.” In some cases, it might be acceptable to include place keywords if the image is very evocative of a specific place. For example, an image of a koala could certainly include “Australia” as a keyword.

Don’t miss the obvious
It’s great to include specific keywords for buyers who know exactly what they’re looking for. Not all searches are exact, however- so don’t miss the obvious keywords. It often helps to think about keywords hierarchically. Remember: • A mother is also a “woman” • Strawberries are also “berries,” “fruit,” and “food” • Basketball is also a “sport” played by “athletes” • Chicago is also a “city” • And so on

Photo Attributes
In many cases, it’s a good idea to include technical keywords about the image itself, completely apart from its subject matter or mood. As always, any keywords you apply should refer to something you can actually see in the image. The exact model of your camera or lens is never interesting to a buyer. In fact, don’t reference your photo equipment at all, unless using it leads to a very specific visual effect, like a Holga or a wide-angle lens. Here’s a short, incomplete list of the types of technical, photo attribute keywords that are appropriate: • Lighting- (golden hour, backlighting, etc) • Focus- (bokeh, differential focus, etc) • Photo Orientation- (horizontal, vertical, etc) • Color- (black and white, color, etc) • Exposure- (long exposure, motion blur, etc) • Techniques and Manipulation- (light painting, HDR, etc) • Stock Photo Category- (nature, still life, portrait, etc)

Associations
Once you get the hang of applying conceptual keywords, it can be tempting to take it to the next level and start looking for associations. But be careful. If you took a picture of a goose, that’s what it is. It can be identified more generally as a bird, but it can’t be identified by the name of a different type of bird. So you should not use keywords such as “swan,” “chicken,” or “duck” for this image. This guideline is even more important to consider for images of famous people and places. Hillary and Bill Clinton obviously have a strong association with one another. But think of how frustrating it would be for a buyer to search for pictures of Hillary Clinton only to find pictures of her husband instead! Only use proper names as keywords if the people or places actually appear in the photograph. Remember, your keywords should only reflect what you can actually perceive or derive from the image.

Concepts
Buyers do not always search for images knowing what they want them to look like. Very often they are searching instead by the concept they want to get across- humor, optimism, health, loneliness, etc. Illustrating “opportunity” could be an image of an open door, a blue sky, an extended hand. Use your creative juices to help buyers find and select your images.

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Keyword Format
Keywords should consist of individual words and short phrases. Long descriptions and sentences might not match up well with how the buyer searchers, and might be difficult for the search engine to find. It’s important to make sure your keywords are formatted properly, with the correct punctuation, for the stock site you’re submitting to. Read all guidelines ahead of time to minimize the amount of work you have to do. Also, always spell-check all your keywords very carefully. This is extremely important because in most cases, images with misspelled keywords will simply not be found!

1. Ask Someone Else
You might want to simply ask another person to look at your images and say whatever comes to mind. Ideally, this would be someone who doesn’t have any background info about your images and has never seen them before. Alternately, consider the myriad of keywording services like Jaincotech, which charge about $1 per image. If you’re new to the stock photography game, it’s not a bad idea to spend $20 on professional keywording so that you can understand how people who do this for a living see your images.

• Photoshop • Lightroom • Aperture • Photo Mechanic Additionally, online services like PhotoShelter can automatically extract this meta data from your images upon upload so you don’t have to re-enter them.

2. Use Software
It’s often possible to save time by applying keywords to your images using some form of photo editing software. Very often this software will allow you to create templates of frequently used keywords, or even to import an existing controlled vocabulary or create one of your own. All of these solutions will save the pain of having to keyword similar images consistently over and over again.

Keywording and SEO
Adding IPTC meta data (e.g. keywords and captions) has nothing to do with Search Engine Optimization per se. Search engines like Google do not support extracting meta data from images, and therefore rely on you (or your website) to redisplay this information automatically. PhotoShelter, for example, can extract keywords and captions from your images and gives you the option to display them next to the images, as well as more advanced techniques like extracting the caption and inserting it into the HTML image tag. It’s important to note that keywords exist for two very distinct audiences: 1) search engines, and 2) your buyers. After many years of people abusing keywords to try to enhance their SEO, search engines largely ignore them altogether, so there is no penalty for including keywords on the page. Therefore, keywords on a stock photography site generally appear for the convenience of the buyer. Many stock photography sites create links for each keyword that will execute a search for more images with that keyword (or have checkboxes so that the buyer can multi-select words and phrases). If your Google Analytics suggest that buyers are not using this functionality, it’s arguable whether you should clutter the page with more text. Nevertheless, keyword tag clouds seem to be the norm in the industry.

Number of Keywords
There is no magical number of keywords that will work for all images. However, it’s a good rule of thumb to aim for about 5-10 keywords at the minimum. Professionally keyworded images often have upwards of 100 keywords to describe literal and conceptual traits. But in general, keywording is a balancing act. Not enough good keywords and your image might be overlooked; too many and you will wind up frustrating the buyer and damaging the quality of the search results. Rather than focusing on reaching a specific quantity of keywords, you should focus on the quality. Make sure your keywords are above all, accurate- and thorough enough without getting bogged down in irrelevant details.

3. Find Similar Images
Come up with at least a few keywords you might use to describe your image, and search for these on stock sites, other photography sites, or a general internet search engine. When you find images that resemble yours, take a look at their other keywords for inspiration. Please note you should never copy another image’s keywords in their entirety. It’s rare that any two images that were not from the same shoot should have exactly the same keywords. Always make sure any suggested keywords actually apply to your image, and that they are not flatly inaccurate or too much of a stretch.

And If That’s Not Enough, More Keywording Tips
Keywording is admittedly difficult, but it’s essential in getting your images found and sold, and it can be a fun challenge to develop your keywording skills. Here are some additional ideas to make it easier on yourself if you get a little stuck.

Where do keywords go?
The meta data standard for keywords and captions is the IPTC specification. Most major photo software packages support keywording of images using this standard including:

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Where Do Buyers Get Stock Images?
We asked 500 buyers to tell us the agency webites they visit to license photography beyond the industry giants Getty & Corbis. Their open-ended results yielded literally dozens of different sources.
172 mentions 81 mentions 53 mentions

Alamy AP Images Dreamstime
age fotostock Flickr Fotosearch Gallerystock
123 RF 4Corners Action Images AFP AgstockUSA APA Ardea Art Resource August Aurora Axiom Bigstock BlackBook Bloomberg Bridgeman Camera Press Celebrity

National Geographic Society Photos.com PhotoShelter Punchstock
IDS Imagebank Imagestate Imagezoo Inmagine Interiorarchive.com IPN JPI Keystone Landov Lensmodern Library of Congress/ US National Archives Lonely Planet Loupe Magnum Matton MCT Media Bakery MedicalRF Millennium Minden Morguefile Narratives.com Nature Picture Library Newscom Noor Oseeris PA Photos Panos Photographers Direct Photonica Photoshot Photostock

Fotolia Jupiter Masterfile

Photolibrary
Superstock ThinkStock

mentions

16-30

mentions

8-15

Citizenstock Common Ground Comstock CP Images CSA Images Cutcaster Ericksonstock Eurostock Everett FirstLight Foodstock Glow GMA Granger Grant Heilman Graphic Obsession Greatstock Icon SMI

Photostogo Photostogo Phototake Picsearch PictureDesk Plain Pictures Pond5 Redux Retna Reuters Rex Features Rubberball Science Photo Library Sipa Smyle Media Spiderpic Splash Sportsshooter

Startraks Stock.xchang Stock4B StockFood Stockthat doesn’t suck The Image Work The Travel Library Topham Trevillion Trunk US Presswire VII Visuals Unltd.1 Wallace Garrison Wallpaper Wikimedia Wireimage Workbook Zuma

mentions

7

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What do Buyers Search for on Google?
We found that buyers regularly use Google to find images, less often to find photographers.

Key Insights
61%
We asked two separate questions: • Do you search for PHOTOGRAPHERS using the major search engines? • Do you search for IMAGES using the major search engines?
Respondents are regularly using search engines like Google to find images, less often to find photographers. Looking deeper, we learned that respondents at Editorial Publications (38%) & Book Publishers (39%) use search engines more regularly to find photographers than their counterparts at Advertising (32%) & Design (16%) agencies, and Corporate In-House designers (23.4%). Meanwhile, over 75% of book publishers use search engines to find images (well above the average).

30%

Images

Photographers

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What Features Should Photographers Include on Their Websites?
Our survey of 500 buyers revealed key features to have, or skip, on a photographer website.

Do
• Fast image loading • Email address always visible • Phone number always visible • Ability to click to view all thumbnails • Search all images by keyword • Ability to send or copy a link to a photo or gallery • Showcase a ‘newly added’ section • Captions below photos or on roll-over • Ability to view at full screen • Ability to create/send a lightbox of select images • Ability to price/purchase/license images right on the site • Navigation menu consistent on all pages • Ability to email a photo • Make browsing easy and logical • Simple navigation • Group photos in logical categories/ galleries/ portfolios • Enable a buyer to request a comp download

Don’t
• Music • Ads (i.e. Google text ads) • Full-screen ‘intro’ (e.g. animated photographer name/logo) that plays before you get to main menu • Slideshows as default/slideshow-only galleries • Contact forms instead of listing email address • Slideshow as intro • Photographer’s recent Facebook/twitter status • Hidden “next” arrows that move • Long, Flash intros that can’t be skipped • Complex, unique navigation

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How Do Buyers Prefer to Handle Pricing?
Instant Online 44.6%

Our survey of over 500 buyers revealed their preferences for getting the deal done.

Key Insights
When licensing an image from a photographer’s website, buyers shared mixed preferences for getting the deal done.

Negotiate

10.7%

Instant & Negotiate

37%

Don’t Care

7.8%

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What Gets a Buyer’s Attention?
Creative directors, art directors and photo editors told us how you can catch their eye.

Show samples of your work from other publications.

Share recent as well as historical work.

Personalize it with my name.

Find out what I need— or don’t send anything. Connect by Linked In and then follow up with email intro. Avoid Flash presentations. Present something unusual, out-of-the-box.

Do some really good work that stands out. Hook me with a good blog. Tell me stories. Contact us direct with work or ideas that are relevant.

Send a piece that’s innovative or flashy.

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Part II:

Insights from Stock Photography Buyers

PHOTO BUYER PROFILE

Condé Nast Traveller UK
Caroline Metcalfe, Director of Photography at the UK edition of Condé Nast Traveller, explains that the magazine’s photography is actually unique because there are 13 different location-specific titles across the globe.
The major Condé Nast Traveller editions are based in New York City and London, but it’s a growing brand with additional editions distributed in Spain, Greece, Italy, Russia, and India. Usually several editions will share the same material - so while a specific shoot may be commissioned in the UK, the Italian edition may license the same images to use in their magazine, too. Selecting photography for an internationally recognized magazine like Condé Nast Traveller is literally a job in itself. First, there’s special consideration for the three main sections of the magazine: the front, the “well,” and the back. The “well” is the main core of the magazine with up to 52 pages uninterrupted by advertising. In Condé Nast Traveller, this is usually compromised of five 10-16 page stories. Many call it the “meat” of the magazine. At a magazine like Condé Nast Traveller, it’s rare that any imagery included in the well isn’t commissioned. And since the well makes up a significant part of the magazine, it can mean that about 60-70% of all photography is from commissioned work. The front and back of the book also include commissioned work, but these tend to be smaller stories such as double page spreads of a particular neighborhood or 4-6 page features of a particular destination. Speaking specifically about the UK edition’s photography, Caroline says that the magazine has a number of contributing and freelance photographers that typically shoot the well material. That group has formed over the years from photographers that Caroline or someone else on staff has reached out to, mostly after seeing their work published in other notable magazines and books. Often times, Caroline will seek out a specific type of photography from personal contacts or agents, and discover talent that she was previously unaware of. “With Condé Nast as a whole, there’s an element of word-of-mouth,” Caroline explains. “I’ll look at other publications from the company and think, ‘That’s exactly the style or look that I’m after,’ and then reach out to them. Photographers understand that if they’re fortunate enough to get commissioned by one of Condé’s titles, then their work will be seen by more people and they may get more projects as a result.” Caroline’s group of go-to photographers is far from static - she is always on the lookout for new talent. Her general procedure is to hire new photographers for smaller projects, like those included in the front of the book. Then if the photographer delivers the project according to the original plan, he or she may become a regular contributor.

Website:

cntraveller.com
Twitter:

@cntraveller
Facebook:

facebook.com/CNTraveller

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Also, Caroline has tried to purposely build relationships with photographers who have different styles and approaches to how they shoot. “You need to build up a repertoire of people with different strengths. Every story should try to look a little different from the others, so you need this variety.” Asked how many new photographers she takes on in a year, Caroline is quick to note that she thinks there’s a misconception about the number of photography jobs available in the magazine industry. “I think photographers probably think that there’s more work available than there really is,” she says. “We usually have five stories in the well and 12 issues per year, so that’s just 60 well stories per year. By the time we’ve found the right photographer, it makes more sense just to use the one that you know can get the job done. There just isn’t that much leeway to offer stories out to new people.” For every issue, Caroline has a set photography budget that she must adhere to. Commissioned work takes priority, and then she uses the remainder of the budget to license other images including stock photography. When licensing from independent agencies or photographers, Condé Nast Traveller ’s (UK) set page rate is 200£ per page and 100£ per half-page. If Caroline chooses to license an image from Getty - where Conde Nast has a buyer’s account - then she can get each image for about 35£. Although Condé Nast Traveller has deals with major stock agencies like Getty and Corbis, Caroline prefers to work with smaller libraries specializing in travel stock photography. Some of her favorites include 4Corners Images (UK), LOOK Foto (Germany), Scandinavian Stock Photo (Sweden), and AURORA. Recently, she’s also been using PhotoShelter to search for images, which she first came across through PhotoShelter member Three Blind Men Photography. Caroline licensed several of their images for a story on the Four Seasons Hotel’s boat adventure in the Maldives. “I prefer to use individual photographers and smaller stock agencies because you’re going to get something that’s more unique, not 300 pages of a version of the same image over and over again” says Caroline. “I’d also rather the photographer have the money than the big agencies.” That’s also one of the main reasons that Caroline prefers not to search for images on Google. “I might use Google to get an idea of what a place looks like, but I would never use it as a way to find a photo for the magazine. In my experience, when you finally find something that you like through Google, it’s an absolute nightmare to locate the original photographer or find the high res image.” And every time Caroline wants to license an image from a new photographer or stock agency, she has to get them set up with the Condé Nast business account. All and all, the hassle isn’t worth it in the end. Like many people in her position, Caroline spends much of her day going through emails from photographers who think they have what it takes to get hired at Condé Nast Traveller . Simply put, Caroline wants to see an email that tells her where the photographer is based (since they often commission photographers who live closest to a shoot’s location), what they’ve been working on, and a link to their website or PDF of images that tell her a story. “I always like to see someone who’s worked to put together a little story of their own,” she says, “since everything in the magazine is put together with an editorial bias.” On a final note, Caroline admits that there’s one specific area of travel stock that presents some serious frustration: spa images. “I simply cannot have one more picture of black stones down a bare spine or a foot in a bath of petals! So to any spa photographers out there...send me some spa images that are alluring, inspiring, and extraordinary.”

Takeaways
• Understand that it takes time to build a relationship, especially with a high-profile client. You might need to take some smaller jobs and prove yourself before you get hired for the main feature. • Really spend the time researching what a specific publication or project is all about before you reach out. Don’t waste your time or the buyer’s time sending work that’s doesn’t have the same style or quality. • If you’re pitching to an editorial publication, consider presenting your images in a story-like format. Magazine photo editors are used to finding photography for specific stories, so it’s helpful for them to visual how your work might fit into an editorial feature. • Listen to what photo buyers think is missing in the stock industry - in this case, unique and striking spa images.

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Random House
Ellice Lee is an Associate Art Director at Random House, the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. She helps develop the artistic concept behind stories and finds photographs to illustrate grade school novels and young adult books. Working alongside a team and staff across multiple departments to find perfect photos for soon-to-be published book covers, Ellice has developed key strategies to help her on her search.
Her photo search begins with a clear artistic concept in mind — a vision that is deliberated and agreed upon by multiple Random House managers. The decision process is not always simple. “There are many factors to agree on when solidifying how to illustrate a book,” Ellice says. “If we want to show a picture of a young girl on a cover, this means we all have to agree on everything from her hair color to her facial expression, to the clothes she’s wearing, to where she is, to how she’s sitting, and the list goes on. These are all important factors to consider because we want to intrigue readers and also be true to the book’s storyline. Not only will a photo’s concept begin the search process, but it will drive the search the entire way through. “Once we decide on a concept, we really let this vision guide us as we search and we try not to change our minds based on the photos we find. There are so many reasons why we agree on a specific vision, so we don’t want to deviate from it once we start looking.” After agreeing on the photo’s concept, Ellice keeps an open mind on how to proceed from there and often turns to Google first. Typing in keywords based on what she’s looking for, Google leads her to find quality images on Flickr or even photographers’ blogs — both sources she’s used to propose cover options to the team. Ellice recommends that individual photographers should diligently keyword their online archives and provide updated contact information if they hope to get noticed. “If your photos don’t have contact information, how can we get in touch with you?” Ellice says. If she does come across a great photograph she finds through Google, she won’t hesitate to contact the photographer directly. Always searching for royalty free images due to budget constraints and the need for photography flexibility, Ellice’s team has proposed cover options from a diverse range of photographers they’ve found organically — even one from a 16 year-old (in which they legally obtain permission from the parents). Ellice does utilize Getty Images to find stock photos for book covers, but admits that photos she finds through that service can at times appear “too fixed.” But because Getty Images houses an expansive image archive with tens of millions of stock photos, Random House turns to them as a resource, working through a corporate agreement. This, in turn, allows Ellice the convenience to efficiently search and download high resolution images that might be a good fit. Website:

PHOTO BUYER PROFILE

randomhouse.com
Twitter:

@randomhouse
Facebook:

facebook.com/RandomHouseInc

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“Finding a stock photo that’s right for a book cover almost always starts through an online search through an agency or search engine,” Ellice says. “But in addition to that, I always connect back with people we’ve worked with in the past.” With years of experience finding photographs, she’s developed strong relationships with photographers and creative agencies who she knows might be able to help her out again. For example, with the popularity of science fiction books among young readers over the past few years, Ellice and her team have developed a go-to list of great sci-fi photo illustrators who they’ve found through trustworthy creative agencies. Ellice notes that it’s rare for her department to commission photographers to create photos for a specific book. “We hardly ever produce our own shoots because t’s a large expense. Plus, if we need something we can’t find or we want to create it ourselves, we do have folks on staff who are also photographers and can help get the job done.” So how does a photographer attract the attention of art directors at a major book publisher like Random House? Ellice admits that she’s inundated with pitches and promos from artists, which makes it difficult to decipher one from the next. To catch her eye, she instead encourages photographers to make sure they have high visibility on a search engines or connect with creative agencies that have a reputation for quality customer service. “We are drawn to creative agencies that are helpful and responsive to our needs and represent a wide-range of talent,” Ellice says. “They serve as a great middle man between the artist and ourselves and make the process of finding the right image much more efficient. So if you’re a photographer looking to gain representation by a creative agency, make sure you pick one with a userfriendly, accessible site, and a great selection of quality work.” Although an expensive choice, Ellice mentions how impressed she was working with Trevillion Images, a photo agency that responded quickly to their requests and even flew in from the UK to visit Random House in person and clearly lay out book cover options to choose from. “We really treasure relationships,” says Ellice. “If we don’t find you through Google, we want to work with creative agencies that truly know and care about photographers and can help us find the right photo.”

Takeaways
• Even major book publishers find stock photos starting with a simple Google search, so make sure your photos are keyworded well. Without good captions, you eliminate chances of getting found organically. • Continuously update your blog with your photos and make sure you contact information is easy to find. • Realize that major book publishers are often inundated with pitches and promos from photographers. Improve your chances of getting featured by working through creative agencies who have a reputation for great customer service.

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T3

PHOTO BUYER PROFILE

T3 is one of the largest independent advertising agencies in the U.S., and Amy Cooper sits at the helm of its art buying initiatives. As Digital Asset Manager and Art Buyer, Amy is responsible for both selecting stock photography and managing T3’s digital image library. During her time at T3, major clients have included Chase Bank, UPS, and Pfizer. The majority of her work involves selecting images for these clients’ web-based advertising and email campaigns.
When researching stock imagery for clients, Amy turns almost exclusively to major agencies like Getty and Masterfile, and sometimes subscription-based microstock agencies like iStock and Shutterstock. “Clients are more on a budget than they were five years ago,” Amy says, “so it’s easier to buy stock photos than to commission an entire shoot.” In rare cases, Amy or one of the Creative Directors at T3 will search Flickr or Google for specific imagery. But Amy remains partial to agencies like Getty who still have a staff of dedicated representatives available for their customers. “They help me out with whatever I need,” Amy says. “I have my own rep who I can call with questions about things like licensing and research.” Working with a large stock agency makes life easier for art buyers like Amy who are catering to big clients and need a wide breadth of imagery to choose from. As a photographer, it’s good to know what the buyers want so if you choose to list your work with a big agency, then there’s a greater chance that they’ll choose your work. To that end, here are Amy’s top tips for what ad agency art buyers are seeking: • Fresh, modern and bright images that make can make an ad or email pop • Shots of people using the latest technology, especially new cellphones and tablets • Negative space so that ad agencies can add their own copy • Horizontal images for web-based campaigns • Objects and people on white backgrounds so that agencies can clip elements out and rearrange as needed • Young and hip looking models • Diversity in race and ethnicity, especially in group shots P H O T O S H E LT E R | S E L L i n g S T O C K P H O T O g R a P H y: W i n T E R 2 0 1 1

Website:

t-3.com
Twitter:

@T3thinktank
Facebook:

facebook.com/T3thinktank
Blog:

blog.t-3.com

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A specific example of what’s missing from major stock agencies, in Amy’s opinion, is a new interpretation of fine dining: “We always get stumped trying to illustrate fine dining for our clients’ reward promotions,” she says. “We want something other than dark restaurants with bottles of wine everywhere.” Overall, Amy’s biggest piece of advice is to keyword your images. She starts nearly every search by inputting specific keywords like ethnicity, mood, background color, and more. Even if photographers aren’t in control of how stock agencies keyword their images, she says that it’s still a good idea to keyword your metadata. That’s because when T3 licenses an image, they import it into their digital library with all the original metadata intact. That way, they save time in their internal search. As a final piece of advice, Amy says: “If you’re thinking about selling stock, think about who you envision buying it and what they need. Think about advertising right now - what it’s about and what their customers look like.” It’s this type of planning that can put your stock photography ahead of the rest.

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Billboard.com
Billboard.com is like the fun, outgoing offspring of the trademark Billboard charts and magazine: the website is more consumer and lifestyle-oriented, covering all the latest in music news, fashion and behind-the-scenes looks at today’s hottest artists. When Billboard.com first launched, there was not much emphasis on photography, so Creative Director Rachel Been started shooting about 60% of the images in an effort to amp up the quality.
After showing her team the value of good photography, Rachel finally received an increase in her art budget and started to commission photographers for shoots as well as license independent photographers’ images. Interestingly, the biggest push for an increased budget came from the ad sales team, which was taking Rachel’s beautifully shot images and using them to make more sales. Ideally, Rachel would hire photographers to shoot everything from musician portraits to album release parties, but the truth is that there isn’t enough time in the day nor the budget for Billboard.com to do so. Still, there are images that Rachel insists be commissioned like musician portraits. Billboard.com pays per shoot and usually holds 2 to 5 shoots per week, as well as hire photographers to cover big music events like SXSW and Lollapalooza. She realizes that many professional photographers cringe when they hear it, but Rachel is a tried-and-true fan of Getty. “They almost always have the shot I need,” she says, “and I can always call up my rep to ask if they’re going to shoot a specific event.” Rachel also turns to the wire and agencies like Splash and W.E.N.N. to get the latest concert and paparazzi-type images. “If Katy Perry was at a perfume launch,” says Rachel, “I’m not going to try to hire someone to be there, so I just pull from the wires. I don’t have the kind of team available to cover it all.” If there’s imagery that Rachel can’t find at the major agencies, she will often turn to individual photographers. Rachel is the first to say that she’s one of the few creative directors in the business who loves being pitched consistently. Because Billboard.com posts a lot of photo galleries, there’s opportunity for photographers to pitch Rachel on their work. Once she sees work that she likes or meets a good photographer in person, Rachel will ask them to send along ideas for the website. For example, Rachel once met one photographer at a music festival who later got in touch about covering the Rock The Bells festival in San Francisco. Rachel gave her a chance, and the photographer came back with amazing photos that were eventually posted on Billboard.com Rachel aims to pick up one new photographer per week, whether that’s to license their work or to hire them for commissioned work. And she doesn’t only hire music photographers. “There is often an embedded aesthetic with the ‘band shot’ that I try to escape from, and sometimes genre-specific photographers play into the aesthetic. So I often hire photographers who have never shot live or musician portraits before.” P H O T O S H E LT E R | S E L L i n g S T O C K P H O T O g R a P H y: W i n T E R 2 0 1 1

PHOTO BUYER PROFILE

Website:

billboard.com
Twitter:

@billboard
Facebook:

facebook.com/Billboard

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Rachel is pretty clear on what types of promos catch her eye and which turn her off. Short and sweet, here are her top tips for marketing for photographers. She says: Do... • Reach out to me yourself (no reps!) • Have a nice typography that fits your style and personality • Use big images that are immediately striking • Make your website and emails iPad and mobile-friendly • Have an overall well-branded experience • Consider using a professional design and mailer • Think of your email as a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end Don’t... • Densely pack a ton of images into one email • Attach your images to the email • Use PDFs • Use Flash or music on your website • Put obtrusive watermarks on your images

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Insights from Photographers & Small Agencies Selling Stock

Part III:

AGENCY PROFILE

Izmostock
Google “car stock photos”, and you’ll find that Izmostock is the #1 result. How? Izmostock has positioned itself as a niche stock agency running one of the largest, most comprehensive libraries of car images in the world. Most importantly, Steven Poe, Creative Director at Izmostock, has spent the time and resources to get their website to rank high in Google search results, driving an average of 21,500 page views per month.
The majority of Izmostock’s photography production goes into producing standard image sets and 360-degree car animations used by car review sites, dealerships, and advertising agencies. Their clients include big names like Hertz, Yahoo! Autos, and SolutionSet. “The basic premise is that we shoot every make and model vehicle made in the U.S. and Europe,” says Steven. From there, Izmostock produces three types of imagery for their clients: stock photos retouched for the biggest possible output, which will be used for large-scale campaigns like billboard ads; media library and research configurations - for example those neat tools that let you see what a brown vs. black leather interior would look like; and car accessory collateral, mainly for dealers that want to show customers the car’s available add-on’s. To get it all done, Izmostock has built two studios that each have a staff of two photographers, one producer and one assistant. Each studio can handle about 10 cars per week, producing about 30 images and 8 animations per car. Over time, this car stock agency has successfully nailed photo production. But what about marketing and selling their stock? Here’s where Steven’s top tips come in handy: • Focus on a very narrow niche subject matter, ideally one that has high value access. Izmostock has relationships with U.S. and European automobile companies, so they have access to the cars for shoots. This is a competitive advantage that has proven to make them one of the car industry’s go-to stock agencies. • Drive traffic to your agency’s website from your own blog. Creating fresh content on the company’s blog helps bring new visitors and therefore potential new clients. • Create galleries around targeted keywords. Every new gallery, if properly keyworded, is a new opportunity to rank in search engines for your targeted terms. So Steven writes individual gallery descriptions and image captions using Izmostock’s targeted keywords. • SEO, SEO, SEO. Do your research and select three or four keywords that you can target. Being a niche agency can give you an advantage over larger players who are trying to rank for everything. Then create content on your website that uses these keywords. P H O T O S H E LT E R | S E L L i n g S T O C K P H O T O g R a P H y: W i n T E R 2 0 1 1

izmostock
Car Stock Photos

Website:

izmostock.com
Blog:

izmostock.com/blog
Facebook:

facebook.com/pages/Car-Stock-Photos/165959400134877

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AGENCY PROFILE

visuals Unlimited
Robert Folz is the co-owner of Visuals Unlimited, a leading provider of science, medical, and natural history stock imagery. A family owned business since the 1960s, they host hundreds of thousands of sciencefocused photos including microscopic, agriculture, and geology imagery shot by over 100 active contributors. In addition to representing science photographers, Visuals Unlimited also collects and markets work from illustrators, wildlife, underwater, and nature photographers.
Historically, the agency was known largely to those in the textbook industry, licensing tens of thousands of photos per year. But today, almost 40% of their customers are now from outside the textbook community and include HealthCare and Pharma Advertising, Graphic Designers, News Media, and buyers of wildlife and nature imagery including Bing.com and calendar companies. “People often come to Visuals Unlimited in need of images for science or medical topics,” Robert says. “And for the customer’s convenience, our collection is keyworded in-house by our very own biologist with the education and experience to add proper keywords.” So with hundreds of photos submitted from photographers each week, how do Robert and his team choose which photographers to represent? “We really look for photographers who have something unique and pick those whose work we believe shouldn’t end up on micostock sites,” Robert says. “We’re not looking for average wildlife – we want to see dramatic and creative photographs as well as pictures of rare and unusual species shot in a unique way.” He notes that Visuals Unlimited represents many contributors who are scientists and researchers in various fields of science. When photographers approach Visuals Unlimited seeking representation, Robert typically requests to see the artist’s website as well as a portfolio of at least 100 images to get a solid grasp of their work. “When approaching an agency, take time to understand what the group is looking for and make sure you can provide them with exactly that,” Robert advises. “Photographers also need to understand that there is a bit of time required before they should expect to see initial sales. What we can promise is selected photos will almost immediately be available and very visible to buyers worldwide.” Robert also adds: “When seeking representation by a stock agency like ours, be sure to ask yourself what your strongest topics are and then search for them on our site. How do your photos compare to what’s already here? Are they better or different? Is there a hole you can help fill?” Answers to these questions help Robert and his team decide whether or not to bring a photographer on board. As a predominantly rights managed site powered by PhotoShelter, Robert says that when working with clients, they often price their images on the higher side based on the scientific nature of the collection. P H O T O S H E LT E R | S E L L i n g S T O C K P H O T O g R a P H y: W i n T E R 2 0 1 1

Website:

visualsunlimited.com
Blog:

alt.visualsunlimited.com/blog
Facebook:

facebook.com/pages/Visuals-Unlimited-Inc/115557268468544

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He adds, “And although we have long, established relationships with our textbook clients, because today’s generation gets their information quickly through Facebook, we’re now leveraging social media to reach more people to continually widen our market.” Robert and his team also reach new and existing customers through an e-mail distribution to their network of over 25,000 contacts. “Every week we send out an e-mail highlighting new images, new photographers or new topics. Every other week, we send out a specialized email to health care firms with science-focused themes with 2-3 images highlighting various science topics. The purpose of our outreach is to display our images and also remind potential customers that we’re out here.” Outreach also includes newsletters with “Editor’s Picks,” which are carefully selected after reviewing all incoming photos. Robert notices that the customer’s process of finding and licensing stock photos has changed over the years. “We find that more and more, customers pop onto the site, search, and download. Gone are the days when we received lists of needed topics for us to create a lightbox. Today, if the images are not searchable, well edited and thoroughly keyworded, they will not be licensed.” Over the years, Visuals Unlimited has brought in customers from all over the world. With agreements with large agencies like Corbis and Getty Images as well as 20 international image suppliers, they seek out partners who are successful in the market today. However, the agency’s major challenge is to maneuver the over-supply of stock images online and the clear drop in prices due to the presence of microstock sites. “But overall as a science specialist, it’s a very exciting time for photographs,” Robert says. “There are so many new discoveries every month and fortunately many are visually exciting as well that we can help capture and distribute. My advice to photographers is to do something different and special, and always remember that 100 unique images can appeal to agencies more than 1,000 average ones.”

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AGENCY PROFILE

Moodboard
Right as microstock was having its heyday, UK-based Moodboard came along and put its foot down. They said no to $1 image sales, and insisted on high quality photography and revenue that would adequately profit professional photographers. It’s a tough feat in an industry where every stock agency seems to have 1,000 photos of the same thing. So to stand out from the crowd, Moodboard decided to get more creative and fill selected niches that they thought needed some love.
CEO Craig Robinson says that Moodboard’s imagery focuses on business conceptual shots and portraiture with a creative twist. “If you turn to anything that has to do with business, it’s always a shot with men shaking hands,” he says. “I think that’s very basic and doesn’t have much emotion. So we work on having more creative thought to how we set up those shoots. Instead of getting a bunch of suits shaking hands in a blank studio, for example, we took a cherry-picker and shot into an office at nighttime and highlighted businessmen with some back light doing different office activities.” So to make their own niche in stock photography, many of Moodboard’s images stem from what major agencies aren’t doing. “We look at the stock market and try to see what they’re missing, and then we try to fill that,” says Craig. About 65% of Moodboard’s stock comes from their own photographers or freelancers, who are instructed to create photos that fill the aforementioned voids. The other 35% of images are by independent stock photographers represented by Moodboard, who Craig notes are often young and have an outlook on stock photography that matches the creative and competitive attitude at Moodboard. “We have a two-pronged business model,” Craig explains. “We have our own website, moodboard.com, which sells all over the world, though we’re strongest in Germany, the UK and the U.S. Then we have a network of over 150 agencies in about 50 different countries who represent our work and sell it to their clients. So not only are we getting a worldwide distribution of photography, but we’re also selling images at the macro level.” Past and current clients include Ogilvy, British Airways, Volkswagen, The Times UK, and Barclays. “We’re licensing about 80% of our stock as royalty free, partly because the licensing is a lot more flexible. But for unique or exclusive imagery, we have Moodboard Plus, which we feel is our strongest imagery with the stronger emotional take on business and lifestyle stock.” But in the future, Craig thinks it will be important to produce more rights-managed material for Moodboard Plus because it’s difficult to compete with larger agencies that license royalty free images. These days, to maintain Moodboard’s competitive edge, Craig talks about a handful of successful marketing and sales tactics. The first is Moodboard’s actual site, which is powered by PhotoShelter. “We send our work to the biggest agencies, like Corbis, but they have many stock photographers and agencies, and then we get only a cut of the profits, which we have to divide even further for the P H O T O S H E LT E R | S E L L i n g S T O C K P H O T O g R a P H y: W i n T E R 2 0 1 1 Website:

moodboard.com
Twitter:

@moodboardphotos
Facebook:

facebook.com/moodboard.stock. photography

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actual photographers. That’s why it’s so important to be growing our own website - so that everyone takes home more revenue.” Craig also understands that Moodboard’s marketing strategies have to reflect the agency’s size and market. “We’ve done advertising in magazines, been to trade shows, and done Google AdWords. We’re a young team, we’ve grown up in the age of social media, so we’re using a lot more Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and YouTube,” he says. At one point Moodboard was seeing the most activity from YouTube, where Craig would upload creative videos that he put together for clients every month to showcase their new images. This directed thousands of people to Moodboard’s website. But despite growing up in the so-called Facebook era, Craig has no affinity for the social networking site. Instead, he’s turned to Google+ which he thinks is the next big thing. “My understanding of why anyone should use Google+ is that first, it’s free and takes just a few minutes to get set up. Second, Google doesn’t own Facebook, it owns Google+. And who is the biggest search engine in the world? It’s Google, and they’re absolutely going to link their search engine with their own social media site before anything else.” In face, Google does factor links shared on Google+ into its algorithm. Meaning that if a lot of people click the +1 button on a link or share a link on their Google+ account, then it will rank higher in search engine results. It’s evident that Moodboard keeps up with the latest trends in online marketing, so it’s not much of a surprise that they also build much of their business around SEO. “It’s so important that images are properly keyworded,” says Craig. “You can take the best photos, but unless they’re found then they technically do not exist online. When we’re shooting, we’re already thinking about the keywords that we want to use. If it’s a mother-daughter shoot, then I’m thinking ‘security’ and ‘safety.’” Understanding the full spectrum of keyword terms has been key in generating business. Keywords related to “stock photography” are basically owned by agency giants like Getty and iStock, so it’s important that smaller agencies like Moodboard target longtail terms and lots of them. That’s why Craig and his team get really specific when naming their images. “We’re spending more time keywording the colors of the shoot, the exact ethnicity of the models, and the number of people in the shot. Rather than naming a gallery ‘senior portraits’, we’re naming it ‘senior Caucasian portraits over 65.’” This method also serves them well because it helps clients find exactly what they’re looking for. At its core, Moodboard has a devotion to creative energy and high quality content. Asked where he sees the stock photography industry in the next few years, Craig replies: “It has to be about shooting more content with greater variety at a higher quality. It’s a big ask, but I think this new generation of photographers is open to it.”

Takeaways
• Look at other stock agencies and identify what subjects they’re missing. Then try to fill that void with your photography. • Think about the keywords you’re trying to rank for before you shoot. It can help set up your shot and create images that are more likely to sell. • Be very specific in your keywords. Don’t just use “elderly group”, but instead include the number of people, average age, background color, and any other specifics that you think might be helpful to someone searching for photos. • If you haven’t checked out Google+ already, give it a try. It’s a growing social media network where you can help spread the word about your photography business.

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PHOTOGRAPHER PROFILE

David Sanger
San Francisco-based travel photographer David Sanger has been shooting and marketing stock photography for over 20 years. Throughout his career, he’s traveled to 100 countries in six continents primarily shooting stock photography for editorial and commercial clients. David’s clients include The National Park Service, the East Bay Municipal Utility District, Cargill Salt, and Interorient Shipping.
His work has been featured in publications like Fodor’s, Frommer’s, Coastal Living, Endless Vacation, Time, BBC, NBC, and Insight Guides. With an extensive travel stock archive, his images have also filled the pages of books and magazines across the globe. David has witnessed firsthand the evolution of licensing stock photography online. “Early on, I saw the direct link between the Internet and greater business opportunities for photographers, which is why I got my website set up as soon as I could,” David says. A decade ago, as David expanded his online presence and got more of his photos on large stock agency sites like Alamy, he saw his revenue steadily increase. From 2006 to 2007, David then served as the President of the Stock Artists Alliance (SAA). Now formerly a member of the Alliance of Visual Arts, the association was dedicated to protecting the rights of stock photographers. As its President, David was directly involved with negotiating with large stock agencies to better photographers’ rights on contract issues, business practices, licensing standards, and copyright infringements. Starting his term as SAA President, David came on board at a time when the nature of stock photography licensing was quickly shifting. He wrote on his blog back in 2006: “The business of stock photography is rapidly changing. With the spread of digital images and on-line photo sales, individual photographers are continually challenged to find new and profitable markets for their images and to keep attuned to rapid technical advances.” David’s predictions back in 2006 were dead on, as today’s major shifts in stock photography licensing stem largely from the sheer number of images online. “When I started licensing my stock photos through Alamy their collection was small and my images were always visible in search results,” David says. “Now they have 20 times the number of images online, especially in the travel genre, and sales are down.” Licensing a majority of his work through Getty Images today, David sees the same trend with a significant reduction in sales volume. “Other photographers across the board are reporting similar declines,” he notes. “In this market it helps to have as wide an P H O T O S H E LT E R | S E L L i n g S T O C K P H O T O g R a P H y: W i n T E R 2 0 1 1

Website:

davidsanger.com
Twitter:

@davidsanger
Facebook:

facebook.com/davidsangerphotography

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audience as possible.” To date, more than half of David’s sales through Getty Images occur outside the United States. “Also, although newspaper and magazine stock licensing might be greater in volume, stock images used for advertising purposes will produce greater revenue so it’s important to reach out to those networks,” he adds. Although today’s industry is changing at such a rapid pace, David believes there’s still opportunity to gain revenue through selling stock. “You have to have a niche that’s different from the rest.” David notes. “For example, I have a friend who specializes in rare aerial shots and his work sells because those shots are not something you come across every day. My advice to all photographers is to find a well-defined specialty and produce the best images you possibly can. If there aren’t a lot of people doing what you’re doing, then there’s still a good chance your work will sell.” When pursuing business in stock photography, David stresses how important it is to have multiple revenue sources and not put all your eggs in one basket. This may include hosting workshops, consulting, working with editorial clients, and doing freelance assignments - in addition to efforts to license stock. Today, David is also a huge proponent of social media and online communications, and believes in the positive effect of growing a following. “I encourage anyone starting out in the stock industry to build a blog and a website and get engaged with as many people as you can through social media. In whatever work you’re doing, you’re going to be successful if you find your voice and have a presence that’s uniquely yours. There are so many photos out there, that it’s important to put in the effort to stand out.”

Takeaways
• Develop a well-defined niche. If there aren’t a lot of people doing what you’re doing, then there’s a good chance your stock photos will get noticed. • Have multiple sources of revenue. Licensing your stock should be only one piece of your business plan. • If just starting out in the stock industry, you’ll benefit from building your blog and engaging followers in social media. Having a voice that’s uniquely yours will help you stand out in the pack.

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PHOTOGRAPHER PROFILE

David Coleman
“I think it’s fairly well said around the industry that you need to have a specialty,” says David Coleman about stock photography. As a freelance travel photographer, you’d think that David has enough of a specialty being in travel photography. But in one of his many smart business decisions, David recognized the need to further narrow the subjects of his stock photography in order to remain competitive within the travel niche.
“What I’m trying to do within travel photography is move increasingly to a focused, three pegged approach,” he explains. “It includes people and places travel imagery, video, and underwater photography.” To maximize his efforts, David has also started to specialize by geographic location. He has spent the past four years building his stock portfolio with images from Mexico, Guatemala, Australia, and more. “I’ve increasingly seen the need to go very deep in my photography on a specific geographic region,” says David. “I want to get images in places where other people might not be able to go. That’s the trick with travel photography - go to places or access events that not everyone can do. And then, just maybe, your images make people want to go there.” Having photographed across the globe, David can now say that there are a handful of regions that he knows quite well, and he is starting to focus mainly on Central America and Southeast Asia. Many of these places have growing tourism industries and thus a higher demand for stock photography from tourism operators, hotels, magazines, etc. David estimates that he makes about 30-40% of his total revenue from licensing stock photography. The rest is from commissioned work, much of which has actually taken place in Washington D.C., which is David’s current residence. “You usually forget that your local area is a travel destination for someone else,” he says. David has been selling stock on Alamy, which boasts a library of over 26 million images. “They obviously have an enormous number of photos, so it’s very impersonal, but I’ve been quite happy with them,” he says of his experience. Despite being less focused on individual photographers than some of the smaller stock agencies, David appreciates the ease with which he can get his work in front of the huge built-in market of buyers who come to Alamy. Even though it’s been easy for David to submit to Alamy, actually selling anything has been difficult. In David’s words, “Your work tends to drown in there because there’s so much. It’s quite like a big sea of images.” In the future, David hopes to be represented by smaller agencies that specialize in travel stock photography. So far this has been tough, as the smaller agencies have been repeatedly bought out by the bigger ones. That, among other reasons, has motivated David to build the multidimensional website that he has today. “One of the things that I like about having your own site is that you’re often dealing directly with the buyers,” he says. “Obviously that involves more work P H O T O S H E LT E R | S E L L i n g S T O C K P H O T O g R a P H y: W i n T E R 2 0 1 1

Website:

havecamerawilltravel.com
Twitter:

@havecamera
Facebook:

facebook.com/havecamerawilltravel

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from me, but what I’m finding is that a lot of buyers contact me directly. Even with the ability to buy my images online, buyers will contact me for quotes. So it’s a lot more personal.” “I think what used to happen was that buyers went to dedicated outlets to find stock. But from my experience, a lot of buyers are now Googling for images and then finding my site,” says David. Of course, increasing your website’s traffic is not something that happens overnight. “Have Camera, Will Travel” is the name of David’s extremely comprehensive website where he displays, sells and blogs about his photography. One of the things that makes David’s site so comprehensive is all of its unique content. David has an editorial background, and he’s put those writing skills to serious work. Here’s his strategy: “In the main part of my website, I have links to the images in my stock archive, but I also use them in short pieces of writing. If you can build stories and include images that fit with the context, then Google picks up on those really well. So I write short essays about travel destinations and embed my images, and those pages rank far higher in Google search results than the individual images do. So if you Google my keywords like ‘Mayan ruins Ek Balam’, you might not find my images, but you will find the page with my story. Then I link all the stories’ to images so that when someone clicks on them, they’re taken directly to my PhotoShelter stock photography archive where they can buy or license them.” This strategy takes work, but it’s proving to keep David’s stock photography ahead of the curve and selling for a profitable price. “I decided long ago that I was going to market my work at market rates, and that I wasn’t going to get drawn into a discounting game with microstock.” With his commitment to high quality work and specialized focus, David maintains a positive outlook on the future of stock photography. “It’s a challenge and it’s constantly evolving,” he says, “but that’s part of the fun.”

Takeaways
• Narrow your focus. In the stock industry, it’s usually better to be known as one of the top photographers for a specific subject rather than a jack-of-all-trades. • Use your blog as a way to link back to your photographs. You can write stories about the images and embed them in the blog post with links to the originals. It’s an easy and effective way to drive traffic to your work. • If you’re a travel photographer, think about where you actually live as a tourist destination. There might be clients that are looking for photography of your hometown. • Your website is chance for people to get to know you personally. Take the opportunity to let visitors know about your expertise, specialities, and anything else relevant to your work.

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PHOTOGRAPHER PROFILE

Randy Santos
Washington DC-based stock photographer Randy Santos loves calling the nation’s capital his home. A native Washingtonian, Randy taught himself the fundamentals of photography early on and landed a job working for a commercial studio. He worked for corporate and commercial clients, which gave him access to some of the most exclusive buildings in the city, including The White House. But after seizing an opportunity to fill a void in the market, today Randy brings in 100% of his revenue by independently licensing his stock photos of iconic D.C. landmarks.
As Randy’s archive of D.C. stock photos grew, he wanted more opportunities to work directly with buyers and manage the licensing process independently through his own website. Determined to break into stock photography completely, he established dcstockphotos.com powered by PhotoShelter to organize and display his archive and begin selling his work to more clients. “In the beginning when I started selling stock, I had questions about how to best negotiate with clients and license my own work,” Randy says. “So I decided to be really upfront with buyers ask directly about budget and rates. This is one thing I really urge photographers to do at the start of their career and talk to buyers about their needs, their budget restrictions and exactly what they want to accomplish. Not only is this important to improve client relationships, but addressing these questions head on and educating yourself about proper licensing and contracts will make you more confident, more professional, and help expand your business.” Randy also suggests that when approached by your first few clients, it’s important to ask them specifically about what they’re looking for and what more you can provide. In his case, he found that most clients wanted photographs of D.C. that weren’t clichéd. “I learned early on that buyers loved my detailed photographs of D.C. architecture. They didn’t want a photo from a postcard and was surprised they were having trouble finding anything but that. There was a clear void in the market and I was determined to fill it.” Randy also saw the marketing advantages of being niche-driven. If he focused on D.C. imagery, he could devise a targeted promotion strategy and zone in on specific keywords to improve his SEO and get noticed online. Today, Randy’s success is largely due to the new buyer traffic he gets thanks to his high rankings on Google. From the beginning, he keyworded every single image and wrote photo captions that were optimized for SEO. Soon enough, he jumped up to #1 on Google in a search for “washington dc stock photography.” Today, Randy realizes that the term “stock photography” means different things to different people. “When most people hear ‘stock P H O T O S H E LT E R | S E L L i n g S T O C K P H O T O g R a P H y: W i n T E R 2 0 1 1

Website:

dcstockphotos.com
40

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photography,’ they think of licensing images for websites or magazines, but in reality there’s a whole world of buyers out there who don’t subscribe to a one download rule of thumb,” Randy says, pointing out those industries in decor, hospitality, government, as well as corporations that often request stock photography on a large scale. “To appeal to this part of the market, you need to differentiate yourself and provide good content that is well organized and can be delivered easily to your clients. If you can do that, then you can bring in real revenue.” Randy registers all his work with the U.S. Copyright Office and says that although he enjoys having total control over the work he produces, operating his own stock licensing site can be challenging and time consuming with demands to manage all project and client relationships. This varies from the demands associated with working through big agencies. “A benefit of working through an agency is that although they typically take a large percentage of your sales, they do a lot of the work for you,” Randy says. “When you license your photos independently, you have a great deal of responsibility throughout the entire buying process. You can’t hand something off to a third party.” But as Randy will tell you, the advantage of independently licensing your own stock is that the process improves connections with clients, which makes a big difference with buyers who want to know “who the hell they’re working with.” Randy also points out that when you consistently provide what you promised and deliver quality content, you have leverage to charge a premium price because you’re providing real value to the client. This builds value and fosters long term client relationships and encourages referrals. For example, Randy works hard to understand a project’s goals from image selection to production to final product, and in turn this helps him suggest additional stock content from his archive that goes beyond any given original inquiry. So, Randy finds that a successful independent stock photo business is first about producing strong content – but what enables him to thrive is his focus on exceeding client expectations. “A successful business is grounded in developing and maintaining successful relationships,” Randy says. “So if you focus on your niche and establish those connections, you can make it work.”

Takeaways
• Licensing your stock photos independently through your own site may increase your responsibility, but can provide you greater flexibility to sell and negotiate with clients. • What’s missing in the market? Research what buyers want, but can’t find. • Be direct with your clients and discuss budget head on. This will improve your professional relationships and help you tailor your pitch to meet their needs. • Clients in hospitality, decor, corporate, and government sectors often look to license stock photos in large quantities to display in person but aren’t considered traditional “stock” buyers.This is a marketing opportunity. • Register your work with the US Copyright Office. • Join and participate in professional photographer organizations to expand your understanding of the business. • A successful business is grounded in developing and maintaining successful relationships.

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PHOTOGRAPHER PROFILE

Brad Mangin
Sports photographer and sportsshooter.com founder Brad Mangin is a born and bred San Francisco Giants fan. First hired by a local small bay area newspaper after college, Brad made his big break at the age of 25 when The National Sports Daily based in New York City expanded their offices to San Francisco. With his love for sports photography and dedication to the business, Brad was asked to join the team.
In a single year, he shot the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals and the World Series. Now shooting professionally for almost 25 years, today Brad is a full-time freelance photographer who licenses his sports photos through major stock agencies and also works directly with editorial and commercial clients in the sports industry. Gaining exposure to sports photography starting in 1987, Brad made close relationships with pros in the field that ultimately led him to create strong ties with both Sports Illustrated and Major League Baseball. Today, Brad works directly with both organizations shooting professional baseball almost 100% of the time. His revenue stems largely from his client-based work, as well as through licensing images to editors from his 50,000+ image archive, which is powered by PhotoShelter. Brad also uses Getty Images to license his photos for commercial use. Brad currently has over 36,000 of his photographs available for licensing through Getty Images. Each month, Brad pays close attention to the sales reports that he receives to keep tabs on which photos attract buyers. Trends in sales are unpredictable, but there is often a correlation between a team’s success and the popularity of the players’ photos on that team. Brad constantly updates his work on Getty to keep his expansive stock archive current. “Getty presents your photos in chronological order and many buyers are lazy and won’t look past the first page,” Brad says. “This means that I need to continuously produce good and interesting work that is keyworded well enough so I’m easy to find.” As an SEO guru who ranks #1 on Google when you type in “sports photographer,” Brad understands that the difference between someone licensing a photo or not licensing can come down to searchability. That’s why especially during off-season, Brad can spend months tagging thousands of photographs so they are fully keyworded and can easily be found by those looking directly on his site or on Getty. “The key is always to appeal to those searching, “ Brad says. “If my photos aren’t labeled, no one can find me. That’s why I do my best to write full captions, including team name and the year the picture was taken. If I can get the actual date the game took place, that’s even better. No ‘circa 1990’s’ for me.” Website:

manginphotography.net
Twitter:

@bradmangin

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With Getty’s archive of over 80 million photos and illustrations, it’s crucial to get noticed, and photographers like Brad must provide the agency with a sizable number of photos. Brad’s challenges selling stock today fall in line with the changes in the stock photo industry as a whole and the impact of the Internet. “As the Internet expands and more photos come online by the millions, the value of a photograph goes down. As a result, there are very few people willing to pay good money for original content.” As many stock photographers will echo, Brad believes that if you want to succeed in selling stock photography, “you have to have a unique niche and market it well. Most importantly, you have to give people something they can find easily.” With a contract that allows him to also license his stock independently, Brad stresses the importance of copyrighting every shot and being in control of your archive. “Being in control of a powerful online stock library is a very liberating thing,” Brad says. “These are my pictures. No one can ever take them away from me.” Today, Brad advises full-time photographers that selling stock photography should be only a piece of your efforts. He suggests that photographers should bring in work from multiple sources including commercial and editorial clients and assignment-based projects. But in order to gain headway selling stock, Brad also urges eager photographers to make great business connections early on, as he did with both Sports Illustrated and Major League Baseball. “Establishing strong relationships is one of the most important ways to help grow your business,” Brad says. “Maintain the connections you make because you really never know when you might be able to work together again down the road.” Brad adds, “In the end, you need to do everything you can to separate yourself from the pack. In the future more and more image buyers will be moving away from larger stock agencies and coming to independent photographers who are easy to deal with and have a searchable online stock library. As this change comes I will be ready for them.” Today, Brad gives his closest clients high resolution download access to his searchable archive using PhotoShelter’s Trusted Client feature, which makes acquiring images convenient for them - and keeping them happy helps ensure a future pipeline of work.

Takeaways
• Establish strong professional relationships at the beginning of your career and maintain those connections as you move from job to job. • What’s missing in the market? Find a unique niche and market it well. • When working through major stock agencies or your own independent archive, label all your images. • Getty Images presents your work chronologically. This means that you need to continuously produce good and interesting work that’s keyworded well so you’re easy to find. People gravitate towards what’s current.

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PHOTOGRAPHER PROFILE

Thomas Pickard
Thomas Pickard’s professional photography career seems like it’s right out of a dream: from 2006 through 2007, Thomas lived in the sun-soaked Maldives photographing island culture and five-star resorts for magazine clients. Having begun the process of building an image library of Maldives photography, Thomas saw an opportunity to sell his extra images as stock.
“When I started my Maldives work, I realized that I was shooting quite general stuff, and that’s when I decided to post the imagery for distribution,” he says of his beginnings. “I began submitting my work to a microstock agency back in 2007. There was a lot of talk about microstock at the time and I just decided to try it for myself. Although I have just over 200 photos in microstock with them, I have had consistent, though small, sales month-to-month.” After his initial microstock experience, Thomas decided to get more serious about selling his stock photography. Though he had set up his personal website with PhotoShelter back in 2005, Thomas learned very quickly that it’s one thing to display your images online, and a whole different ballgame to actually connect with buyers. Thomas looked at several different stock agencies to see which was a good match for his work and decided to go with Aurora Photos in 2009, which specializes in outdoor, lifestyle, editorial, and travel photography. Overall, Thomas had a very positive experience with Aurora Photos over the past two years. He likes that Aurora has distribution channels set up with Getty and Corbis, among other agencies, and has an excellent workflow. The submission process is quick and easy - Thomas’ images are usually live on Aurora’s website 5-10 business days after his submission. Thomas also commends Aurora for its great customer service and dedicated photo editors. “I never realized this until I had a photo editor at Aurora, but it’s good to have the objectivity that I can’t have about my own work,” he says. A few months after Thomas got involved with Aurora, he signed up as a stock contributor with Getty via the Flickr Collection. But he found their submission process to extremely difficult: “I haven’t made a submission in a number of months, as the process is painfully slow,” he says about Getty. Images must be uploaded one at a time, and it can take anywhere from two weeks to four months for images to reviewed. Thomas has also found that Getty typically takes only 5-10% of his submitted work, so it hasn’t been worth his time to invest much in the process. To help make informed decisions about which sales channels are worth his time, Thomas began tracking his monthly revenue per agency. In 2011, he’s seen a larger number of sales from stock agencies Aurora and Getty; however, his revenue breakdown has been 22% from Aurora, 21% from Getty, and 40% from his personal website. So despite having made fewer total sales from his site, he has made considerably more revenue from it. Thomas believes that you can’t ignore the importance of marketing your work in some way if you expect to make sales. The biggest hurdle, he says, is getting buyers in front of your images. Fortunately, he built a moderately sized client base during his stay in the P H O T O S H E LT E R | S E L L i n g S T O C K P H O T O g R a P H y: W i n T E R 2 0 1 1 Website:

thomaspickard.com
Blog:

thomaspickard.com/blog
Twitter:

@thomaspickard

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Maldives - a mix of tourism operators and in-flight magazines. Because his Maldives stock makes up such a niche, the majority of his marketing has been word of mouth and direct emailing. Outside Magazine in the U.S. and Collections Magazine by British Airways, for example, were both the result of pitching to the magazines’ photo editors via email. Other in-flight and travel magazines came about from existing client relationships or direct pitches that he’s made to the publications’ creative team. Thomas says, “I have often pitched photo ideas to new clients and though the publication didn’t go with that specific idea, they still looked at my work and hired me for assignments.” In 2009, Thomas purchased a buyer list from Agency Access and used MailChimp to send email blasts to large lists of prospective clients. But this year he changed things up and decided to send individual, custom emails and focus on people who have already shown an interest in his work. “While it’s true that I lose the analytics that MailChimp got on those emails, I feel like it’s a much more personalized approach,” Thomas says. When Thomas has new work to share, he goes through his contact list on BlinkBid and creates a group of photo buyers that he thinks his work is suited for, which are typically editorial buyers. Then he builds individual emails for each. The email typically includes a promo for one specific gallery of images, which he links to, and a brief explanation of why the photos might be of interest to that particular buyer. Thomas also emails past clients when he plans to return to the Maldives, which he tries to do every year (though lately it’s been more like every two years). “I inevitably get some assignments out of those contacts and also some stock sales down the line,” he says. “One of the things I’ve learned is to photograph absolutely everything that I see on my trips to the Maldives. I say this because I am often surprised by which photos my clients end up using.” He has also received direct requests for his work from his website. “The World’s Greatest Hotels, Resorts & Spas” put out by Travel+Leisure and Condé Nast Traveller UK, for example, both contacted Thomas by email, which leads him to believe that some photo buyers are finding his imagery online. Probably the best thing Thomas does to help his images get found online is to caption and keyword his images in a consistent format. He also tries to publish posts about his work on his blog 1-2 times per week, then shares those links on Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. “I enjoy writing and maintaining my blog,” he says, “and it’s good SEO practice, so it’s a bit of a no-brainer for me.” When it comes to the technicalities of stock photography, Thomas is the first to say that he initially hated the idea of royalty free licensing. “In 2005, when I started out, I loathed royalty free licensing. But that thought was driven by a general lack of understanding of stock and rights managed versus royalty free,” he says. “Today, I believe that the accessibility of good, cheap digital cameras combined with the Internet as a distribution platform has resulted in so much more imagery available to buyers. It’s a buyer’s market, and whether you love it or hate it, royalty free licensing is here to stay.” In the future, Thomas thinks that big players like Getty and Corbis will continue to be the go-to for a lot of buyers, mostly because they have such huge image libraries. “They’re just such massive gate keepers,” he says, “but I do think that with technology like PhotoShelter, there is more opportunity for photographers to maintain their own libraries and market that to buyers. When you look at how technology has changed in the past ten years, it makes me wonder what changes will happen in the coming ten years. Internet image search is due for a big step forward and I wonder what impact could this have for photographers looking to connect with potential buyers.” Now there’s some food for thought.

Takeaways
• Consider using models in your shots. Some buyers want people in their imagery, so including them may help your work appeal to a broader audience. • Look at the numbers and determine what sales channels are actually working well for you. Don’t guess what you think is working best. • Personalized emails are important in certain situations. A large email blast might be appropriate for things like general news announcements, but if you’re trying to pitch a buyer, be sure to send an individual note. • Stay abreast of news in your industry by setting up Google Alerts. The system sends you an email with a roundup of articles so that you’re up-to-date on the latest happenings.

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PHOTOGRAPHER PROFILE

Brian Smale
Brian Smale is a celebrity photographer - business celebrities, that is. He’s taken portraits of big-time CEOs and founders for companies like Microsoft, Expedia, Adobe, Nike, and Starbucks. He’s also photographed newsworthy people like the parents of Amanda Knox and Captain Chesley Sullenberger of US Airways Flight 1549 that survived the 2009 crash into the Hudson River. All of these portraits are subjects of stories published by editorial publications like Fortune, Business Week, and Forbes.
So where does stock imagery come into play here? 90% of Brian’s stock photography is reuse of existing images taken from assignments for the aforementioned publications. He gives the example of his work with Bill Gates: “Take a guy like Bill Gates who’s very busy and can’t sit for many pictures. There are smaller magazines who don’t have the access or budget to commission a new photo shoot for him, so instead they’ll use my stock photos of him.” Brian’s stock imagery is essentially a result of limited access to high profile and in-demand people. By re-licensing these photos as stock, he generates somewhere between 30-40% of his total revenue from these sales. In almost every case, magazines will purchase the usage of an image for one edition of their publication, and increasingly also for their website. After that use is done, then Brian is able to re-license the images to others. Given that he has libraries of frequently sought-after photos, Brian has to make sure that when people search for portraits of figures like Bill Gates, they find his images. Like many stock photographers, Brian initially tried working with a stock agency, but was frustrated by small profit percentages that left him will essentially nothing after a sale. “I find it difficult to make any sort of profit on a stock sale if it goes through an agency,” he says. “It’s getting to the point where all the agencies are competing on price and using sub-agents. So by the time the money gets to the photographer, there’s nothing left.” Instead, Brian set up his own website using PhotoShelter. “Having my images online through my own site can be as good as getting them at one of the bigger agencies, because in theory, the search engines will find them just as well as if they were housed at Getty or wherever.” He says that method has worked out well for him, maybe more so than other photographers because many of his subjects already have name recognition - meaning that their names naturally rank high in search engine results. “I figure that a lot of young photo editors are just going to start searching with Google rather than going to the big agencies,” says Brian, “and I realized that I could get my images to show up in ‘Google images results’.” But even after he set up his website, Brian wasn’t seeing his images when he searched for terms like “Howard Schultz portraits.” So he took at look at his SEO and made significant changes to his images’ metadata and captions. Now when you search for “Howard Schultz portraits”, Brian’s images are on the first page of results. P H O T O S H E LT E R | S E L L i n g S T O C K P H O T O g R a P H y: W i n T E R 2 0 1 1

Website:

briansmale.com

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At the least in the near future, selling stock through his own website is Brian’s preferred business strategy. He doesn’t see much value in working with large stock agencies. “Places like Getty have such high volume now that the chances of selling your pictures are very slim,” Brian says. “Photographers put a ton of effort into creating an image, but if they only make a few dollars when it actually sells, what’s the point? I don’t think that the theory about listing with one of the big agencies and making up for their small percentages with a large volume of sales really applies to most photographers anymore. There are just too many images out there. It’s the agencies that make the profit on high volume, not the photographers.” For now, Brian only licenses his images as rights managed and he would never post a portrait of someone in a royalty free library. But despite his steadfast stance on licensing his portrait work as rights managed, he still entertains the idea of posting some older, non-portrait images with the large agencies. “As much as I hate royalty free, at some point I think I’ll probably add some of my miscellaneous snapshots to a library somewhere,” he says. “They’re better off generating some income rather than just sitting in my digital file cabinet.” Brian says that staying competitive in the stock industry, or any photography business for that matter, is mainly about supply and demand. “At the end of the day, scarcity makes your work worth more. Fortunately for me, there are only so many images of these people, whether they’re CEOs or average Joe’s who did something interesting. A portrait of a person is more scarce than a shot of the Eiffel Tower.” And as the industry continues to get more and more competitive, it may be this specialized approach and focus on scarcity that allows stock photographers to thrive.

Takeaways
• Take advantage once a client’s usage on your images has passed and license them to new buyers as stock. • If your photos are of subjects with highly searched terms, like celebrity names, be sure to include them in your metadata and captions. There’s a greater chance of them ranking highly in search engine results. • Don’t let quality images gather dust in your archive. Include them on your website so that people can find them and you can make sales.

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