150,000 images – maybe that is not a huge amount of images... But when you are talking about 1000 new friends – it is quite a lot! This year was a start. A lot of mistakes, and attempts to fix them (Thank God, our Contributors helped us a lot) and we slowly, but surely, are entering into this complicated world of stock photography. We started this business because of Photography. The word "stock" has been added just because it is the correct term for photos that are not custom made for a specific purpose. - Stock photo is a 20 cent photo. Big and successful micro payment Mega-distributors payouts may be not so much per download, but they can provide a reasonable income because they sell a lot. It is one business model. We (at FeaturePics.com) are offering a different model. Photographers are setting their own prices and getting generous 70% returns. We are not a micro payment site, and if your images are competitive, better, unique – feel free to set a price that is not even close to 20 cents. - Stock photos are "Handshake of Synergy" /"Business woman on the phone" type of photos.This is wrong. Stock photography consists of existing photographs – no less, no more. The beauty of stock photography is that a photograph can be used and reused multiple times. This photograph can be about family, business, agriculture, nature, traveling, you name it. - Stock photography is killing professional photography.Wait a minute. Professional photographers have the powerful benefits of 24/7 e-commerce capability. The point is to find a good match with an agency or agencies. Some of our FeaturePics.com Authors prefer to set a higher price for their professional images, and distribute the images less frequently. They believe that the price is justified because of their time and expense for equipment, models, studios, etc, and therefore a better product. - The Photographer is losing 'image control'.There is always a chance... A client may use an image after the license has expired, beyond the license parameters, or an image can be transferred to someone else who has no right at all to use the image. The reality is, that our buyers ask several times in what way they can use an image. Why? Because they are usually extremely careful and do not want to be sued. A few times we faced situations when "Authors" uploaded photographs that did not belong to them. The stock photography world is very big, but it is a "small world" from the inside. FeaturePics.com has the privilege (due to not being oversized) to know the majority of our Authors by communicating with them through electronic means, phone, and sometimes meeting them personally. A quick reminder to our Authors – please include a copyright notice in your image. You make a client sleep better and protect your image in a better way. - Stock photography is just for the money.. We have a lot of examples of when Authors were very happy to see their free images (with credits) published in articles, or on big sites. Recognition is very important. A possibility to discuss photography subjects with other Photographers is very important. We believe it is "A Basic Need" to present your point of view and your artistry through photography. - If you license your images through agencies – there is no need to do something by yourself.. I would disagree. First of all it is fun to create your own site, to show your images the way you want, to write articles, and run discussion groups. The second – it helps a lot to promote your own images. When you see 1,000,000 photos, 1,500,000 photos in stock – it is easy to be lost in this world. Please check excellent examples of individual promotions by FeaturePics Authors - I just take a picture. People will find it because it is good.. Just type "stock photos" on Google. What do you see? 71,100,000 results. I think "image description" should be a subject for our next talk. Yes, we were talking about technologies that can "recognize and describe images in words" (../Editorial/Alipr.aspx)
It will take a little time to build a real technology that can describe your image correctly without human intervention. In the meantime, we take very seriously our responsibility to do this job ourselves. No, it is not the end of our observations. We are learning and analyzing working in this wonderful world of stock photography. |