This week I Tweeted by submission of some work for review by Alamy and istock and was instantly met with the Tweet “sell out”.
Now why exactly am I selling out?
Scouting forums and blogs it seems photographers hold stock photography in contempt and joy in equal measure. These schizophrenic opinions range from espousing it as ideal way to make a photographic living, to the financial rack and ruin of photographers and photography.
In the alcove | Anasazi Granary, Cedar Mesa
The plan
Let’s be clear I’m not planning to give over my entire photography collection over to a stock library — Alamy, istock, Dreamstime et al — for a dollar a shot. That would (at least for me) be underselling my photography.
For portfolio (or fine art pieces of pride) pricing control will always remain with me when (if?) a gallery comes calling.
It’s more a question of what to do with the rest of my photography collection that I don’t view as being exceptional, but worth something.
Making money from chaff
My hard-drive is clogged with many images that I feel are quality, they just don’t have that certain something that makes me want to put them in my portfolio.
Or they are alternates (perspectives and framing) of shots that made the cut.
So why not sell some of these? Rather than have them sitting ‘dormant’ on my HD forever? If they make a few bob as stock photography over the course of a year, that’s a few more pounds and cents toward feeding my photographic habit I would not otherwise have made.
Having worked for marketing agencies, and having bought stock photography I’m not new to the bias in slice of the pie going to the stock agent, and nor do I expect to make my living primarily this way, but every penny counts.
f29