Money in the "Bank"...

[benjikan]

Have you ever thought of how you might generate a bit more income to buy that new laptop or electric bicycle but don’t have enough available cash to do so. Most people don’t realize that if they were to spend some time looking through their photo library that they may be sitting on a potential money making enterprise.

I have met amateur photographer’s that have literally thousands of photographs spanning several themes in their catalogue. What do they do with their images. Well they show them to friends and family. Post them on forums and some even print up a few to perhaps sell them at 50 dollars a print.

There are companies that seek images for their image banks that can be used for advertising products, life styles, scenarios etc. for use on the internet or print advertising. I know several photographer who make their living just by shooting stock photography (shooting specific scenarios that may be sold in the future for commercial use) and doing very well by it.

Most stock agencies take 50 percent and pay monthly to the artist any revenues realized for commercial use. I am certain that there are literally thousands of photographers with substantial archives of photos of many categories that have yet to realize that they may be sitting on that gem that could realize thousands of dollars for “That” campaign.

Just do a Google search of image bank libraries. You will find many credible agencies that may consider a part of your library to add to their catalogue.

Give it a shot. It can’t hurt…

http://www.benjaminkanarekblog.com/?p=299

[Tom S.]

Does this mean I can stop selling my blood?

[lithos]

Just your blood?

[ftpaddict]

Sounds like a good idea.

I just hate it when they force us to read their TOS and User Agreements. iStockPhoto even quizzes at the end of the wall of text.

[dylansalt]

I joined quite a few and all my images were accepted.

Zero renumeration after 3 years - so I have moved on - maybe the pics just were not commercial enough.

Dyl

[pingflood]

The few stock photographers I've run into that actually make any money say you generally need to throw thousands upon thousands of images into multiple libraries to see any revenue whatsoever.

Any advice on how to distinguish your photo of a red stapler from the 800 other photos of the exact same thing?

[Tom S.]

Originally Posted by lithos

Just your blood?

It's the only thing anyone would pay money for.

[Nowhere Matt]

Can anyone else offer any personal experiences with stock photo houses and more specifically Picture Stock?
In the instance of Picture Stock, they ask for 50 to 75 cents for each image you submit but once they have sold three of your images, all submission fees are waived. In my opinion, this forces you to submit images that are in some ways more special than others and of better interest rather than sending in a boat load of ordinary images for them to sift through.
They, as well as many others claim that photographers can receive half of what the image is sold for but that once the image is sold, it becomes their property. Even going so far as to request that any copies be deleted from harddrives or any other displays.
They will accept slides, film prints or compressed digital files and ask for model releases and original negatives and full size digital files once the image has been sold.
Can anyone tell us personal experiences with Picture Stock or more about any other stock houses and what success and disappointments you have met.

[vinzer]

Ben, thanks for the tip. I'll look into it, maybe earn a few dollars on the side.

[bogiesbad]

Originally Posted by pingflood

Any advice on how to distinguish your photo of a red stapler from the 800 other photos of the exact same thing?

Have Vahina Giocante hold it while she takes a shower. That should do it.

[pingflood]

Originally Posted by bogiesbad

Have Vahina Giocante hold it while she takes a shower. That should do it.

For some reason that name reminds me of Pussy Galore.