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Tips on Marketing Your Photos through a Stock Photography Agency
(This article has been approved by Index Stock Imagery, a leading source of photographs, illustrations,
and digital images.)
Most artists know that they can make money by marketing their work. Stock photo
agencies make millions of dollars each year in licensing fees, for their artists.
However photographers - both amateur and professional - used to worry about sending
their images to a stock photo agency. There was always a risk that the agency or
one of its clients would lose the film original (agencies had to have the "first
generation" of the image, to market it successfully).
A photographer could duplicate each image (expensive) before sending it in, or scan
them (time-consuming and not likely to match the quality needs of the stock agency).
High quality digital cameras have removed this barrier. An artist can shoot an image
in the morning and send a perfect copy of it to a stock agency that same day, with
virtually no additional out-of-pocket costs.
Therefore, if you are a professional photographer, or a high-end amateur who believes
he or she has something great to offer the photo market, it is time to learn more
about stock photo agencies. In order to give you a better sense of what agencies
are looking for and how to prepare your work for submission, we asked Bahar Gidwani,
CEO of world class stock agency Index Stock Imagery, for some tips on what stock
agencies want and how best to work with them.
Some agencies buy images outright. However, most work as a marketing partner with
their photographers. Because they serve hundreds of artists and tens of thousands
of photo-buyers around the world, stock agencies have fairly rigid rules and standards.
If you follow Bahar's advice, you may find it easier to fit smoothly into their
system, and receive the full benefits of your partnership with them.
Bahar's first tip is to understand what agencies look for in an artist:
Well Organized
- Agencies store hundreds of thousands of images. You need to carefully track yours,
as they merge into this stream.
- In order to keep track of all of your photographs, make sure you have an organized
file of images and a system for keeping track of where each photo was shot and who
is in the image. Give each image a reference number. Most digital camera systems support
this type of naming, automatically.
- Keep a file of model releases and property releases for any image that includes
recognizable people or locations. Most agencies require you to submit these releases,
along with your images. Keeping your records intact helps the partnership with the
agency work as smoothly as possible and will protect you if a legal issue arises.
- Record what you have sent to your agent and which images the agent decided to
keep. Most agents take as little as 10% of the images they are offered. It is a waste
of everyone's time to send a rejected image back to the same agency. It is a good
use of time to study what was rejected and what was kept, to learn what the agency
thinks is marketable.
Competitive Edge
- There are many fine photographers out there, and many of them submit their work
to agencies. With this in mind, make sure to send in your best work; the ones that
are publication-worthy. Save the rest for the photo albums.
- Stock images are most useful to advertisers when they communicate an idea at a
glance. Communicating a conceptual message can be as important as portraying the details
of a scene. Buyers also need top quality descriptive shots to illustrate a vast range
of specific subjects, such as flower species. The most needed subjects are people,
lifestyles, business situations, sports, and industry. Multi-ethnic situations are
also in high demand.
- Subjects should be marketable over the long-term. Staying abreast of current advertising
trends in order to avoid fads in clothing or styles will help you effectively extend
the shelf life of your image.
Ability to "Specialize"
- Artists with unique approaches and techniques or who shoot unusual or hard to
find imagery do well with many agencies, especially those that prefer originality.
- No matter what you are shooting or how they are being taken, stick to subjects
you most enjoy photographing. Such photos are usually your best ones because they
are the ones you like to shoot. A bored photographer inevitably produces boring pictures.
- Once you are part of an agency, it will send you want lists or requests to shoot
certain subjects. Cooperate, but be sure that you do so with your own style and approach.
The image will both meet the agency's immediate needs AND build your file of images
that carry your own recognizable style.
Commitment
- Successful stock photography is based on a long-term photographer/agency commitment
and your prolific, high quality contributions. A few pictures, no matter how good,
cannot generate as much income as a lot of great pictures. Best-selling photographers
consistently submit new work.
- If you don't know what to shoot, ask your agency. Most agents prefer artists who
want to succeed over those who complain when they don't. Remember, the agent keeps
a share of each license it makes. It has invested in marketing your images - it wants
you to make an equal commitment to produce new ones.
Here are Bahar's tips on what agencies look for in photos:
Artistic
- Each image should have an artistic purpose. It should communicate an idea or emotion.
- No one should try to copy the work of another artist. Some agencies send out "samples"
of the kinds of images they want. Others refuse to, for good reason, as they fear
this will lead to replication of concepts rather than the creation of new work.
Well-done
- No fuzziness where it shouldn't be, good exposure, a balanced composition and
colors that make sense. Much of the work available through stock agencies is done
by full-time professionals. Photographic works should reflect experience and knowledge
of the trade.
- Careful post-processing. Most artists who shoot digitally do some post-processing
of their images. This could include color or contrast adjustment, removal of spots
or lens flare, and cropping or rotation of an image. Each change to an original image
tends to degrade and distort its overall quality. Most agencies have strict rules
about what filters and tools should be used and what software program outputs they
will accept.
Licensable
- Think of the things you would want to use to sell a product, illustrate a book,
or awaken emotions in a potential customer. Images that show a concept that can be
used in a business publication like a brochure or an annual report. Keep in mind both
your target audience as well as your target's target audience.
- Err on the side of caution when submitting anything that could be construed as
illicit. Most agencies' customers don't need of this type of photo, so the agencies
usually don't either.
Finally, Bahar has some tips on how to submit your work to an agency:
Check the Web site. If you are a digital artist, look for agencies that accept
digital images directly. Look also for agents whose other artists have done work
you like and would respect. You are not only joining an agency, you are joining
a community of artists. Look carefully for an agency whose overall business philosophy
and artistic approach matches yours.
Prepare for a Portfolio Review. Your chosen agency may not choose you! Find
out how to submit your initial portfolio. Then, work hard to put together a solid
set of your best work. Include some of the "personal work" that you have stashed
away in a drawer. Some of those images you love, will both inspire your agency and
turn out to be highly marketable.
Digital Photos can be submitted in several ways. For instance, many agencies
accept digital images on CDs, DVDs, attached to emails, or via FTP download.
Caption and release information must be provided. Most agencies accept Excel
spreadsheets or other electronic means of providing caption and release information.
Make sure your captions are complete and follow the guidelines of the agency you
are submitting to. It doesn't hurt to spell check your work, too!
There is usually no charge for submitting your photographs to an agency.
If the agency is interested in your work, it will contact you and offer you a contract.
Typically, you will be offered a royalty of each license made of 40%, although some
agents offer as little as 10% or as much as 50%. Most agents no longer allow changes
to their contracts. It is a standard document, and they treat it as such.
With these tips you should be set to begin your journey into the world of commercial
photography.
There's no end to the types of pictures companies will be looking to license. Your
beautiful niece, worldly grandfather or that great lion shot from your African safari
might be the perfect images someone is looking for. You never know . . .
Keep your camera ready, your lens clean, and keep on taking those photos!
Editor's Note: TPN is grateful to the folks at Index Stock Imagery for contributing
this unpaid article to help any readers who might be considering joining a Photographic
Stock Agency. It must be noted that any decision to join an agency is an individual
choice that should be done with prudent care.
Comments on TPN travel photography articles? Please feel free to send them
to editor@travelphotographers.net.
We would be pleased to hear from you!
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