Recently, a writer for Nikon Pro magazine asked me a series of questions in preparation for an upcoming article on the stock photography market. I have no idea how much of what I had to say will be used, but the questions were very appropriate for a readership of photographers with professional equipment who hope to make a little money from the images they produce.
My readers may be interested in my responses.
Nikon Pro -
On the one hand there is an ever-increasing demand for images, on the other a vast pool of low-priced stock. Where in this market do you think the opportunities lie for photographers?
JP – Much of the answer to this one is outlined below. But, I don’t agree there is an “ever-increasing demand” for images that customers will pay to use. When it comes to paid use the number of images licensed over the last few years is at the best flat, and may be declining. Whatever increase there has been in the actual number of images used comes from three sources:
1 – customers being allowed to use 10 images for what they used to pay for one (mostly for editorial, on-line, multimedia presentations).
2 – getting images for free.
3 – creating the images themselves.
The opportunities are mostly for the part-timers who would like to earn a little extra money from their hobby, or those who simply want the satisfaction of knowing that someone liked their image well enough to use it.
Anyone, considering still photography as a career should look to stock photography as, at most, a sideline, not their main source of income. They also may want to consider an entirely different career.
Nikon Pro -
What kind of market should photographers aim for? Microstock, mid-stock or macro-stock?
JP - Definitely Microstock. The numbers tell the story. I estimate that in 2012 there were about 125 million paid downloads, worldwide, of images distributed by Microstock companies. There were maybe 1.5 million Rights Managed images licensed and maybe 2.5 million non-microstock Royalty Free images licensed. On top of this many of the macro-stock images (RM and RF) were licensed for prices less than it would cost to purchase a microstock image. The odds of making any macro-stock sale at all are much, much lower than they are with microstock.
That said, keep in mind my answer to the first question. Don’t expect to make a lot of money and be prepared to spend a lot of non-picture taking time to get your images ready for market.
Photographers should also keep in mind that we are on the cusp of smartphones taking an increasing share of the stock image market which will certainly cause demand to fall for pictures taken with a Nikon and demand to fall as well.
Nikon Pro -
Do you think the flood of images by non-professional photographers sold at very low prices threatens the livelyhood of the professionals, or has this been exaggerated?
JP – It is absolutely a threat. The change taking place in the industry is not exaggerated. Unfortunately, many of those who would like to have a career in photography are not willing to accept that a paradigm shift in the business is taking place.
Nikon Pro -
And do you think something can and should be done to stop prices from being driven even lower?
JP - It would be lovely if something could be done. But, there is nothing that can be done to stop prices from declining. First, there is too much over supply of every conceivable subject. In addition, many of those selling images today have no concept of what a reasonable price (one that covers the cost of production and provides a profit) should be for a given use. They are willing to accept anything that is offered just for the satisfaction of knowing that their image will be used.
On top of this it is very easy for people to grab images they want off of the Internet and use them without paying anything or even recognizing and acknowledging the creator.
And with recent developments in equipment it has become easier and easier for anyone who picks up a camera – with very little training, or experience – to produce the images they need. Consequently, they don’t need someone else to produce images for them.
Professional photographers like to think that their “unique vision” is valuable. It is not enough to have a different perspective on a common subject. In order to command a higher price an image, on any particular subject, must be the only thing available that illustrates the point the customer needs to make. AND the image must be something that the customer absolutely must have. Very few images meet these criteria.
Some photographers try to solve this problem by holding back their images and only making them available to customers who are willing to pay higher fees. This is virtually impossible to do when licensing images through a stock agency. Thus, it often happens that customers who really could really use those unique, expensive images, and who would be willing to pay for them, don’t know where to go find them. As far as the customer is concerned that great image that would be just right doesn’t exist. Consequently, the customer ends up settling for something less than what they want and the photographer still doesn’t end up making the sale.
In general, the best strategy is to get the images as widely disbursed in as many distribution sites as possible and accept whatever prices they can get for their use.
Avoid mid-stock. Nobody is really sure what that price is. I see no evidence that any of the companies that claim to be mid-stock are doing much business.
Nikon Pro -
Do you think there are a few star photographers supplying the vast amount of images, and the great majority, who only have the odd sale, or do you think it is a more even spread?
JP - Yes, a few star photographers are responsible for the vast number of images licensed. See (
http://www.selling-stock.com/Article/downloads-at-istock-56-lower-than-2010). But, revenue is going down for most of those “star photographers.” Every year fewer and fewer photographers earn enough to recover expenses and support themselves. I see no evidence that trend will turn around.
There will always be a few photographers who earn a good living producing stock images, but their numbers will steadily decrease and it will become harder and harder for anyone starting out now to become one of them.
Nikon Pro -
How do you find out what kind of imagery is in demand?
JP - The best way to determine what is needed is to decide what you would like to shoot. Then go to
www.istockphoto.com;
www.fotolia.com, and
www.dreamstime.com. Using keywords that describe the subjects you like to shoot, do searches on each of these sites. Organize the search returns by downloads. Then look at how many images are available on that subject. See how many times the best selling images have been used. Look at the quality of those images. Ask yourself why a customer would want to buy the image you’re going to produce rather than one that is already on the site.
Also keep in mind that most customers only look at the first 200 or so images found in any search. Many keywords will produce 10,000 or more returns. Anything after the first 200 returned in either a “Best Match” or “Download” search will almost never be seen by any customer. Thus, the question is not only what you must do to get your image accepted by a distributor, but can you get it high enough in the search return order to be seen.
If you can find a subject where there are few images available then your new image has a chance of making a sale – assuming there is some demand for that subject. Given the huge number of images available on virtually every subject it is extremely difficult to find an under supplied niche. Keyworking is critical, maybe even more important than image quality.
Nikon Pro -
How important is it to tailor your images to the market you are supplying?
JP – Customers do not buy stock images because they are looking for art. Stock images must fulfill a market need. Thus, it is absolutely necessary to figure out what the market needs if you hope to make sales.
Nikon Pro -
How globalised is the market? How important is it that images for a national market are shot in that country?
JP - Roughly, 35% of the market is in North America, 45% in Europe and the Middle East, 10% in Asia and 10% in Latin America and Africa. There are certain images that must be shot in the area of the world where they are used. (People in Japanese kimonos are most heavily used in Japan.) Still life’s can be shot anywhere. Models from various ethnic groups can be found anywhere in the world. With Internet distribution a significant number of lifestyle images used in the U.S. and Western Europe are now being shot in South Africa, Eastern Europe and Russia.
Nikon Pro -
Do you think there are opportunities to try and sell images through stock libraries that have been shot for other commissions, or are they unlikely to succeed?
JP - Yes, there are some opportunities. For example, often it is difficult to get good pictures of industrial locations without a specific assignment to shoot such locations. Sometimes it is possible to get permission from the original customer, and it can even be to the customer’s advantage, to distribute such images more widely as stock. But, there are fewer such opportunities than there used to be.
Nikon Pro -
What do you think the future holds for stock photography?
JP - See above. The revenue generated will steadily decline. More and more it will become the way amateurs earn a little extra money from their hobby. Anyone who needs to earn a living will look for other ways to do it.