I have been working in stock now for over a decade and have seen some big changes from Rights Managed (RM), to Traditional Royalty Free (Macro RF) and now to Micro. I have noticed that each time there is a new sales model added to the market to satisfy buyers needs, there is a backlash of animosity between the photographers that shoot for these different business models.

The Pattern

As a new model is created the original models volume of sales are directly affected by this new addition. There are a finite number of buyers and as much as everyone would like to believe, each new model does not create all brand new buyers. They do add some new buyers but at the end of the day each model’s revenue is affected by the addition of a new sales model. This happened when Macro RF first came on the scene. The RM business model took a hit on sales and the new Macro RF shooter was considered by some photographers in the RM business of stock to be the problem behind their diminishing sales.

Royalty Free Creates Tension

This was the first time I had witnessed the tension between the two models and it created a rift between RM and RF photographers for a couple of years. Tensions would flare at professional photographers meetings and there was quite a bit of anger thrown from both sides. Fortunately with time the photographers grew to understand each others models and that it wasn’t the other photographers that were at fault. If they were to have approached anyone, it should have started with the new agencies. Talking with them in a professional manor to share concerns and grievances. Approaching the new agencies from a frustrated stand point was and is an unproductive effort at communication. It would have been far better to try and work with these agencies and see if the new model fit your company and if you could adapt to meet the changes.

Then Microstock Creates Tension

Now fast forward a decade and I see the same situation taking place between Macro RF and Micro RF. This is even a tougher battle since both models really have the same business framework, the only difference being the price point. So some photographers that were established and making a good living in the Macro market perceived their lively hood as being threatened by this new model, Micro. Once again the established photographers were the first to throw stones if any. They were seeing their income dwindle because of this new model. Some approached the situation with fear and frustration by putting blame once again on the other photographers instead of approaching the new agencies with their questions and learning the new model in detail.

The Micro model has now grabbed enough of the market to be an active part of the stock industry. Micro is not going away, it is in fact growing very rapidly. There are however some Macro photographers losing their income along with their businesses because of this new model and their fear of not being able to adapt or their lack of interest has kept them from investing in a market they didn’t understand or believe in. This is where I believe the problem began again with the finger pointing.

Not One Sided

Unfortunately the tension between Macro and Micro is not one sided. Some Micro photographers have felt territorial as well. Macro photographers started providing content to Micro and competing for sales with Micro shooters. The Macro shooter has the resources and knowledge to produce thousands of top sellers. Also the idea of this new competition sharing helpful information with Macro and Micro shooters about this new tier to the stock world and how to succeed left some of the Micro photographers frustrated and concerned with this level of competition.

Growth and Unity

Hopefully as time passes, I feel that all models will learn to coexist. Photographers battling amongst them selves is not the answer to growth and unity in our industry. Not just a waste of time but it is making a fun and exciting line of work less fun and exciting.

These models are here to stay, that is all I can offer. You are always free to protest if that helps with the frustration but I would love to see and believe we will with time, a point where all three models can find their place in a three tiered market based on price point that offers buyers of all levels an option for their image needs. This is a win-win situation as I see it and the greater the effort made by each photographer individually to support and learn from one another might actually end up giving us photographers a strong voice.

As long as the battle is kept alive between the photographers the chance for some form of unity will never grow. I feel it hinders photographers from joining together and having some form of direct involvement over the future of the industry instead of leaving those choices entirely up to the agencies.

Creating a Strong Future

The opportunity to have representatives from all models working together to help educate the photographer as well as working closely with the agencies to help fulfill their buyers needs. This is what will keep our future strong and will allow us all to feel less fear and animosity towards one another while continuing to make stock photography a profitable investment for many years to come. I try to remember that photographers are artists and they quite often see life differently than the business side of our industry does. The more these people are empowered and educated the stronger our industry will become. Knowledge is power.

This article expands on observations Jonathan made in a recent presentation at the PACA conference. You can follow Jonathan on Twitter and see his Andersen Ross stock portfolio on his website.

PS: did you know that Crestock Stock Photos has the world’s fastest upload system?

Jack’s Results

Jack’s supply of images ran dry after the first week of June as he overloaded his retoucher with other projects. Subsequently he didn’t add much to his portfolios and his earnings growth slowed as a result.

Observations

• Daily earnings show a mildly sudden drop in sales a week after submissions stopped
• RPI and STR at the top few agencies are rising rapidly during the first few months

My Results

My earnings were down at all agencies this month, though the total earnings charts below shows the trend is consistent to this time of year.

Observations

• The axe still hasn’t dropped – each agency still produced historically reasonable results
• Cutcaster earned $8.48, more than two other agencies
• I had one Extended License sale at each of Shutterstock and Fotolia
• Still no sign of stock shoots for me, not that I’m happy about it

PS: did you know that Crestock Stock Photos has the world’s fastest upload system?

Microstock News

iStockphoto changed how the quantity of downloads for both individual images and contributors are displayed on the website. Rather than displaying the exact figure, it now shows an approximated number. While they weren’t specific about the purpose of this move, they indicated it was intended to limit the ability of people and computers to extract and use the information.

The Photos.com and Jupiterimages Unlimited pipe was removed from StockXpert and connected to iStockphoto as announced last month.  The partner program was turned on and iStockphoto contributors were given the opportunity to opt in or out.

Towards the end of the month iStockphoto announced the Premium Collection was launching and with the new name: The Vetta Collection. They simultaneously announced the introduction of localized search results and their expectation to hit $200 million in revenue for 2009.

Veer Marketplace opened to contributors with lots of positive feedback about the interface. The new Corbis microstock venture is already open to buyers with content ported over from SnapVillage.

Ex-iStockphoto executive, Garth Johnson, was recruited by Fotolia to head up contributor relations as Senior Vice President of North America.

German Telecom entered the microstock market with Polylooks, providing an interesting case study. Deutsche Telekom already have a buyer base and technology resources. If they can make a successful microstock agency out of Polylooks we may see other companies with the same assets enter the business.

David Mail, the programmer behind ProStockMaster, released his microstock agency Pixamba.

More portfolio milestones fell with iStockphoto passing 5 million and both Dreamstime and Fotolia passing 6 million.

PS: did you know that Crestock Stock Photos has the world’s fastest upload system?

Look at the three parts of the stock photography business.

1. Creating Stock Photos

Digital photography and Internet distribution have made creating stock photos easier and cheaper than ever.  These technologies have broken down the barriers, opening the market to photographers of all levels from all around the world.  iStockphoto reports over 60,000 contributing photographers and Shutterstock’s website currently reports over 170,000 photographers.

This army of photographers creates a lot of photos.  The bigger microstock agencies take submission of around 400,000 each month, approving 200,000 – 300,000 for addition to the portfolio.

Lots of photographers are creating lots of stock photos. The quantity of supply is a reflection of the difficulty level relative to the other parts of the business.

2. The Technology to Sell Photos Online

This part is getting easier and cheaper thanks to software advances and new cloud technology. Various providers now enable photographers to quickly and easily start selling photos online via their own website for less than $100 per month. Agencies need to build a system themselves, which is also getting easier, but still a significant investment.

The technology aspect of the stock photography business is not a significant barrier for individual photographers, but very much so for stock photo agencies.

3. Attracting and Retaining Photo Buyers

This is the most difficult part.  For both individual photographers selling photos directly and a new agency building a buyer base, it’s difficult to attract and retain buyers.  They must make buyers aware of the service, develop enough trust for them to transact, and leave them pleased with the value and service.  Most stock photo buyers know that they have lots of options for fulfilling their photo needs in today’s market, so they have high and rising expectations.

For a photographer to sell photos at a high volume and/or price via their own website is not easy.  There are many great services which help, but it’s difficult for a photographer to compete with agencies unless they specialize in an uncommon subject or are an in-demand brand.  That’s not to say that it’s impossible.  Some photographers do it very successfully.  However, it takes a lot of time or a lot of business skills, both of which mean time away from the camera.

It’s not easy for agencies to achieve a high sales volume either. The evidence is the high failure rate of agencies at all levels of the market. The few that succeed do so by fulfilling the two most difficult of the three parts. They build the technology and deliver photo buyers. We photographers do the relatively easy part – supplying the stock photos – and so we take the smallest portion of the reward.

We All Choose

As stock photographers, we all choose whether to have agencies represent our photos or not.  With so many options for selling photos, nobody is forced to use an agency.

Successful agencies have, by the definition of ’success’, built up a large buyer base.  If it were easy to do, then there would be more agencies and more photographers would sell photos directly via their own websites.  As it is, it’s very difficult to do, requires a lot of investment, and carries a large element of risk.

When we choose to send our images to an agency, we’re effectively renting access to the buyer base that they’ve built.  We enjoy the luxury of not having done the hard work to build the buyer base, not having invested our own time and money, and not having undertaken the risk to build it.

Reward follows value. There are 60,000 or 170,000 photographers creating stock photos, but only a handful of successful agencies. Creating a successful agency requires many times more energy than creating successful stock photos, so agencies get more reward.

An Alternate Perspective

If you’re frustrated with your agency and think they’re not delivering value, try an alternate perspective:  You’re a photographer and the part you do well is creating stock photos.  But that isn’t enough.  You need the technology part and the access to buyers part in order to get money into your pocket.  You have choices about who you hire to do this.  There are services which only help you with the technology for $100 a month.  Some of them will help you attract buyers too, maybe for a little extra.  Or, you can send your photos to an agency who manage all the technology for you and give you access to their massive buyer base.  They won’t even charge you an upfront fee.  You just have to pay them 30 – 80% of your sales.  It’s your choice.

From this perspective you can see why a successful agency charges you 80% for access to their buyer base and an unproven agency only charges 30%.

What do You Think?

Do you think photographers have valid complaints about agencies?  Does this perspective clarify why successful agencies have so much market power?

PS: did you know that Crestock Stock Photos has the world’s fastest upload system?

The Vetta Collection

The Premiere Collection, now known as the Vetta Collection, launches with 35,000 photos, and will continue to grow. Contributors and inspectors can nominate files for the collection, though standards are obviously very high.  The photos in this article are four of the 35,000 that made the cut.

Vetta Collection files will appear in regular search results but identified with a gold camera icon. They’ll sell for $20 for the small size up to $70 for XXXL which is a substantial premium to the $1 – $20 standard prices.

Localized Search Results

Continuing to innovate, iStockphoto’s search results will soon start showing the results which work best in each region of the world. There are theoretically different styles and subjects which work better in some countries than others. iStockphoto have been mining this data from the search and buying activities of their customers so the next version of Best Match will include country and language factors in the search result order.

Anything that gives buyers improved search results is great for contributors, though assessing the performance of our keywords is about to get a little more complicated.

$200 million in Revenue for 2009

While not included in the announcement, iStockphoto have publicized their expectation to reach $200 million in 2009 Revenues. They’re also paying $1.2million to contributors each ‘week’ and selling a file every second.

By comparison, the official figures for 2007 were revenue of $71.9 million, $20.4 million to contributors for the ‘year’ (equal to $392,000 per week), and a file sold every 1.4 seconds. Owner Getty Images predicted iStockphoto revenue to reach $262 million by 2012 back in November, 2007 which was considered impressive at the time. At this rate of growth they’ll reach that figure at least a year ahead of schedule.

PS: did you know that Crestock Stock Photos has the world’s fastest upload system?

The dice are rolling. There’s a new player in the microstock game. Polylooks is the name of the first German microstock agency powered by Deutsche Telekom AG (German Telecom) launched on June 3rd 2009. The agency is working with another German picture agency, Zoonar who have provided over 125.000 images to launch Polylooks.

Polylooks combines three areas:

1. Mediastore – this is the main area where images can be sold and bought
2. Community – photographers can present and rate images, there will be photo contests and a forum is in the making. This area is still in the beta-phase.
3. Magazine – this is basically the already existing “Augenblicke” magazine from T-Online, the online section of Deutsche Telekom. It’s an editorial area where photos and related stories will be presented.

The most important facts for image buyers:

• Prices range from 1 credit for the smallest (about 226 x 340 pixels) to 15 credits for the biggest resolution (about 3300 x 4961 pixels). A credit costs 1 Euro at this time. The standard licence is Royalty Free. There is a merchandising licence available for 50 credits. When buying more than 25 credits at a time you will get a discount.
• There are different subscription choices available from one to 12 months and 10 to 120 credits per month.
• Payment is done by credit card, large-volume-buyers can pay by invoice too. Payment via PayPal will be implemented soon.
• The search function offers to search by keywords, categories, emotions, alignment, size and date.
• The image collection focuses on nature, travel, wellness and business, but there will be concentrated efforts to add German and European motives.

The most important facts for suppliers:

• Images need to have at least 6 MP (about 2000 x 3000 Pixel) to get accepted.
• Other technical upload requirements: only JPG, RGB-colorspace (preferably AdobeRGB), 8 Bit color depth, no or only little compression (10-12 in Photoshop), max. file size 50 MB.
• 20 images per day can be uploaded.
• An image must contain at least 10 keywords.
• Keywords can be entered in German or English.
• Polylooks advises not to just keyword the basic word forms but the conjugations as well (for example: “play”: plays, played, playing).
• Illustrations should be compatible with EPS and Adobe Illustrator, an additional JPG (6 MP, max. file size 50 MB) should be supplied.
• The royalty share for the suppliers is 35%, or 50% for exclusive content. Subscription downloads will be credited accordingly.
• The payout limit is 25 Euros.

It is a rough time for new microstock agencies, but German Telecom has a solid financial basis and a ready-to-operate marketing department. It also has a strong hold in the mobile communication sector (T-Mobile) and is one of the biggest suppliers of broadband internet (T-Online). This provides easy connection to potential image buyers, e.g. wallpapers on cell phones or pictures for blogs and websites of T-Online customers.

German Telecom has no history in the stock photography market, but the deal with Zoonar makes up for it. Zoonar has been around since 2006 and the owner is a long-time stock photographer.

We will see how Polylooks develops in this tough microstock times and how the big players will react.

Check out Robert’s blog in original German or the Google translated version.

PS: Did you know that PantherMedia.net has the fairest commission structure and the most appealing pricing model?

A beautiful face, looking at camera, shot in context of location will sell today, tomorrow, forever.

What makes this shot work is matching green background to green japanese house slippers. simple tactic. big results.

You don’t always need to show the whole body (face) to communicate your stock message.

Sometimes all it takes is a little camera/motion blur to add iconic significance to a stock photo	Three elements here: wall, musician, couple. It took me five minutes to find the wall, grab a musician from street corner, place romantic couple, frame right.. viola!
Iconic landmarks, monuments, structures are the top-selling travel stock images	World capital skylines change monthly. There is a constant and growing need for updated shots like this of the Honk Kong skyline.
More than often than not it’s the simple, quiet shot, with plenty of negative space, that is used to illustrate travel stories.	The impact of this image is strong, defining late afternoon shadows of sidewalk ,tango dancers in Buenos Aires
“White and bright” is today’s picture aesthetic. When you find it, milk it (pun intended).	Shooting iconic monuments with foreground elements is a simple stock technique for adding drama and uniqueness.

For the past 3 decades, I have been globe trotting – seeing the world through my camera lens. Commissions, stock and personal work (see a 3 minute, 900 image showcase of my work here called See The World).

I have shot and sold literally thousands of stock photos – many iconic images of this planet’s skylines, landmarks, monuments, architecture, urbanscapes, cultural portraiture, cuisine, local color, and lifestyle.

The ’secret sauce’ in shooting and selling all this travel stock photography is seeing the world through cruising. That’s right…cruising. 30+ different itineraries, over 300 ports-of-call and thousands of logged nautical miles. I know what I’m talking about here. Whether you shoot micro, macro or both, if you focus on images that sell, you should be able to recoup your travel cost in 12-24 months (depending on how aggressive a shooter/editor you are). And do it all in pampered comfort.

Most cruises today do their traveling in the evenings, while you’re sleeping. You wake up, and voila!, you’re at the next exotic port-of-call, ready for action.

If shooting in groups is not your thing then do your own wandering, solo. Or hire a local guide and interpreter to take you on a ‘highlights’ tour. To me, it’s amazing how your frame of mind changes when you are cruising. You’re rested, alert, excited, and ready to go!

And, of course, you have a full ship staff at your disposal, each evening, to help you plan and chart the perfect excursion for your next photo adventure. I have found that most cruise staff are savvy and knowledgeable about where the best photos are.

Most modern ships are also equipped with internet and phone services. So you’re never out of touch. You shoot a full day, get back to your room, break out the laptop, download your memory cards, and begin to edit (after an absolute fabulously prepared dinner).

I am totally convinced that you can cover 2-3 times more location content by cruising. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, you can do it in style (it’s like have a floating hotel follow you around).

If you do hit the high seas, then i strongly recommend that you pack light. Small camera bag, a couple of zoom lenses, a tripod, extra batteries and CF cards, an on-camera flash and maybe a fanny pack. That’s all you need. But don’t forget those pocket-sized model releases you’ll need for shooting people (model released imagery sells 10 times more than unreleased imagery).

If you are interested in setting sail with “Captain Jack”, then consider joining us on an upcoming cruise from Rome to Venice, July 18-29, 2009. $4205.00 per person. For the latest details and the PDF brochure, email me directly at tours@jackhollingsworth.com

Take it from me, photography through cruising is the ultimate ’secret sauce’ to shooting and selling travel stock photography.

PS: did you know that Crestock Stock Photos has the world’s fastest upload system?

Last month they announced iStockphoto co-founder Patrick Lor as Fotolia President of North America. Today it’s iStockphoto’s former VP of Business and Community Development who joins Fotolia’s rapidly growing crack team in North America. Garth has been out of the industry since leaving iStockphoto last June in search or more entrepreneurial opportunities.

Garth’s community development responsibilities at iStockphoto included the development of the popular iStockalypse shooting events – the above photo is Garth interviewing me at the Buenos Aires iStockalypse last March.

The great news for microstock contributors in this announcement is that Fotolia have emphasized that Garth’s new role will involve advocating for Fotolia contributors. Fotolia doesn’t enjoy the same confidence among their contributors as their competitors, making Garth’s experience and skillset a valuable addition.

Fotolia have been busy so far this year:

• Raised prices
• Lowered commission to fund marketing, technology and human resource growth
• Added an RF exclusivity option (not just image exclusivity)
• Introduced microstock video
• Launched the large free photo site PhotoXpress
• Recruited Patrick Lor

They’re clearly working hard to increase their position in the market and, as a recent statement said, “gaining on the industry leader”. Not wasting any time, Garth and five of his new colleagues are currently on their way to the CEPIC conference in Germany where Patrick Lor will be speaking.

Now that Garth’s appointment is public he’ll be able to update his LinkedIn profile and Facebook profile to reflect his new position.  The iStockphoto tatoo on his arm may prove a little more painful to update.

Welcome back to the industry Garth.

PS: Did you know that PantherMedia.net has the fairest commission structure and the most appealing pricing model?

Jack has roughly 4,000 very simple images from a recent studio session which were originally intended for another purpose. He has uploaded roughly 700 to each agency, a few more to 123rf, and obviously less to iStockphoto given the upload restrictions. His acceptance rates are healthy, averaging 90%, excluding iStockphoto which is down at 75%. As this content is very simple, his expectations are appropriately low, expecting a monthly RPI of $0.50 is achievable.

Jack’s Results

These early results demonstrate the uphill battle of getting started in microstock:

• He is earning the lowest commissions with the lowest prices. At Shutterstock, Dreamstime and Fotolia the commissions or prices will rise over time as he sells more licenses, but new contributors start at the bottom.
• His search algorithm metrics are low. Both individual images and contributor accounts with a sales history provide an advantage in search result position. Jack’s photos appear lower in the search results because both he and his photos are new to microstock.

Observations

• Rapid portfolio growth lowers the RPI when calculated with the end of month portfolio sizes like this. Calculated with the average portfolio size (between the start and the end of the month) it would be substantially higher
• Calculating monthly RPI from a portfolio available perspective is 842 / $217.24 = $0.26
• Shutterstock’s fast-selling business model really stands out with instant results
• iStockphoto earned the fourth greatest amount despite having less than 10% of the portfolio of all others

You can check out Jack’s portfolios via the links on Jack’s Microstock Celebrity profile.

My Results

May saw my portfolio hit a new record high total earning (over $1,000 with agencies not in the table below) despite, yet again, not having uploaded any new files. So much for “feeding the beast”. I’m obviously happy about this, but now that the summer slowdown is approaching, I’m waiting for the axe to drop!

Observations

• My total earnings, including sales at Cutcaster, passed the US$1,000 mark for the first time
• Still no new uploads for me this month. (I have no idea why my iStockphoto portfolio jumped by 5 this month) So I’m amazed that my earnings went up again. I’m still waiting for the axe to fall.
• Extended license sales at iStockphoto, Shutterstock, Dreamstime and FotoSearch sales at CanStockPhoto played a significant part in my record earnings
• I set new records at iStockphoto, Fotolia and CanStockPhoto (fifth consecutive time for CanStock)
• Cutcaster sold four photos this month bringing my total sales quantity there to six and $18.02 in commissions

I also hit another personal milestone this month with my first blue flame at iStockphoto. Total royalty on this image at iStockphoto so far is $753.15 after over three years online. That’s more than the combined royalty for this image from all other agencies combined.

Despite being my most sold image, it’s not my fastest selling image nor my most lucrative. While checking my stats at LookStat recently I realized a more recent (but still quite old) image had earned more when combined across all agencies. This particular image appears to have outperformed itself at iStockphoto.

PS: did you know that Crestock Stock Photos has the world’s fastest upload system?

Microstock News

Getty Images made another step in absorbing the Jupiterimages properties. They announced iStockphoto content is to be sold on photos.com and Jupiterimages Unlimited where StockXpert content already appears. Some fundamental aspects of the program caused great upset among iStockphoto contributors, resulting in another monster-sized forum thread. The primary concerns were the inclusion of exclusive iStockphoto content and images that are already on these outlets via StockXpert being duplicated. True to form, iStockphoto management considered the feedback and made changes to the structure of the program.

Shutterstock announced plans to withhold tax for non-US contributors in line with US laws. The reaction from contributors was strong and divided.

Dreamstime raised the value of their credits which will result in higher royalties for contributors. They also announced plans to reduce the commission rates in the coming months in order to have more funds for marketing. Their commission rates will still be higher than competitors and the increased marketing will help raise sales volumes. It’s all about balance for Dreamstime who continue demonstrating superior skills in crowd pleasing.

Corbis stopped accepting new contributions at SnapVillage, but announced the new Veer Marketplace will open to contributors on June 8.

CanStockPhoto started accepting and selling stock video footage with an opening collection of 80,000 video files.

Patrick Lor, co-founder of iStockphoto, has come out of retirement to join Fotolia as president for North America. Fotolia later launched PhotoXpress, their free images site designed to grow the market market share.

TechCrunch rumored Fotolia had taken a round of funding between $50million – $100million from TA Associates. The credibility of the rumor was challenged in the comments, and it was pointed out that TA have a board member at Fotolia. Fotolia declined to either confirm or deny the rumor with this response:

TechCrunch has been very, very good to us. We are huge fans of the site and its reporters, and think they provide great value in to startup and tech community. The latest article is reporting on rumors, and we never comment on rumors. With respect to the facts in the article, we can confirm that Fotolia’s business is strong, rapidly growing, and gaining on the industry leader.

Vivozoom, the new non-crowdsourced microstock agency with image warranty launched to buyers this month.

PS: did you know that Crestock Stock Photos has the world’s fastest upload system?