Need advice on selling wildlife photos.
Nov 17th, 2009, 06:19 AM
#1
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Need advice on selling wildlife photos.
Hello, all. I have never tried to sell a photo before, but I was convinced to explore the possibility with some of the photos from my recent trip to Tanzania. And maybe the gentlemen I was talking to were just trying to blow smoke up my you-know-what. I don't know, but I do have some beautiful birds in flight, a couple of really close-up leopards on the ground, and a giraffe taking a drink in that oh-so-awkward pose that they do, to name a few examples. Any advice on where to start?
Thanks in advance!
Sandi
Thanks in advance!
Sandi
Nov 17th, 2009, 06:54 AM
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Hi Sandi,
I will start off by being quite blunt, you are trying to enter one of the most saturated markets in the photography industry. There are options available though and if you can find a niche and have an interesting style it is possible to sell images. Alot comes down to marketing as well.
There are two routes to selling images, either prints or stock. Stock is what is used for magazines, advertising etc.
For selling prints, it you can use either your own website or one of the photosharing sites like Smug Mug.
For Stock photography, where companies pay to use your images. Unless you are a brand name, selling from your own website is not really advisable. So you options are limied to companies that sell images on your behalf.
For the top agencies (Getty, Corbis, Gallo Images) you will have to submit at 50-100 test images of a very high quality. These need to be quite different from a typical leopard close up and not be same as images already in their image bank.
Above these general agencies, you have the specialist nature libraries, that are even harder to break into.
You then have agencies like Alamy. It does not have the same industry name and market coverage as the top agencies, though gives you quite a good market place. You do not need to pass a quality test as such, just one that makes sure your images are the correct size and sharp.
You can earn anything from a few $100s to a couple of $000's for a single image sale through these agencies.
The other option is Microstock. You put you images up and get a couple of maybe $1 for every time it is downloaded. All images are royalty free, so the person buys them once at that is it. They can use it how and when they like.
An interesting development is the arangement between flickr and Getty, which would be an interesting avenue to look at.
Links; (to name but a few)
www.alamy.com
www.galloimages.com
www.istockphoto.com
www.flickr.com - search Getty images
It is a long slog in this industry. Put them up and if you get a sale, great. Though don't become too disillusioned if you don't, it is just a reflection on how many images are "out there".
I will start off by being quite blunt, you are trying to enter one of the most saturated markets in the photography industry. There are options available though and if you can find a niche and have an interesting style it is possible to sell images. Alot comes down to marketing as well.
There are two routes to selling images, either prints or stock. Stock is what is used for magazines, advertising etc.
For selling prints, it you can use either your own website or one of the photosharing sites like Smug Mug.
For Stock photography, where companies pay to use your images. Unless you are a brand name, selling from your own website is not really advisable. So you options are limied to companies that sell images on your behalf.
For the top agencies (Getty, Corbis, Gallo Images) you will have to submit at 50-100 test images of a very high quality. These need to be quite different from a typical leopard close up and not be same as images already in their image bank.
Above these general agencies, you have the specialist nature libraries, that are even harder to break into.
You then have agencies like Alamy. It does not have the same industry name and market coverage as the top agencies, though gives you quite a good market place. You do not need to pass a quality test as such, just one that makes sure your images are the correct size and sharp.
You can earn anything from a few $100s to a couple of $000's for a single image sale through these agencies.
The other option is Microstock. You put you images up and get a couple of maybe $1 for every time it is downloaded. All images are royalty free, so the person buys them once at that is it. They can use it how and when they like.
An interesting development is the arangement between flickr and Getty, which would be an interesting avenue to look at.
Links; (to name but a few)
www.alamy.com
www.galloimages.com
www.istockphoto.com
www.flickr.com - search Getty images
It is a long slog in this industry. Put them up and if you get a sale, great. Though don't become too disillusioned if you don't, it is just a reflection on how many images are "out there".
Nov 17th, 2009, 07:17 AM
#3
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lbj2 should be commended for 'telling it as it is." It's a very difficult market.
But you could also take a look at:
http://contributor.veer.com/ (a Corbis (mentioned above) brand)
But you could also take a look at:
http://contributor.veer.com/ (a Corbis (mentioned above) brand)
Nov 17th, 2009, 07:37 AM
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My husband has sold photos. One was a lioness jumping over a stream. An outstanding image. It was evaluated by the type of use: flyer, magazins, newspaper, how many copies and area/country/continent of distribution. And of course copyright nor not.
It was a great deal - but yes: It's a very difficult market. You must have a long breath.
Good luck!
SV
It was a great deal - but yes: It's a very difficult market. You must have a long breath.
Good luck!
SV
