Betty LaRue Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Of the nine sales I’ve made so far this month, 3 are nature, 3 are people, 2 are of places/buildings of note, 1 is a macro object. 6 are RM, 1 is RF-editorial, 2 are RF. It pays to have varied subjects. How about you? Betty Edited to add...of 5678 images, 1733 are RF or RF-editorial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Yes, variety is the spice of stock. But since I'm a city boy and don't know birds, bugs, or bushes, my mix would be different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Don't have many RF, but certainly variety is key (for me) in both place and subject. I shoot anything that I think might sell and continue to be amazed at what does. My best $ sale this month is of an image that I was in two minds over whether to upload, and it's not the first time it has sold. I guess that my local shots do better overall than others but that's just a hunch, not based upon any measurement. I feel that I would probably do better living in a big city, looking at the UK national daily papers I guess the the default location ( for business photos) is usually London, but that's not always the case by any means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Quist Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Yes, variety - and quality - and telling as much of a story as possible. Best sale this month was a Copenhagen scenery for a non-commercial indoor display in an Asian state - up to full area (probably several walls). A good one - but some years ago would have made three or four times more. But we know that. Edited: Yes, definitely RM (only a few that deserves to be RF) - 5 sales first half this month. As if buyers wanted to buy up until the 17th - and then went on holiday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colblimp Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 6 hours ago, Bryan said: Don't have many RF, but certainly variety is key (for me) in both place and subject. I shoot anything that I think might sell and continue to be amazed at what does. My best $ sale this month is of an image that I was in two minds over whether to upload, and it's not the first time it has sold. I guess that my local shots do better overall than others but that's just a hunch, not based upon any measurement. I feel that I would probably do better living in a big city, looking at the UK national daily papers I guess the the default location ( for business photos) is usually London, but that's not always the case by any means. I have no RF, my port is quite varied. My local shots sell the best, but I don't have much else so that's no surprise. I certainly agree about London - I live in a location which is so quiet, if 5 cars pass the end of the drive it's been a busy day. I used to live in Cork, Ireland's second largest city but moved to the country before I started Alamy. Who knows where I'd be in terms of port size and sales if I still lived there... BTW, no sales this month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptoprocta Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 No RF here either. Only 5 sales, varied subjects; as usual, none local. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Morrison Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Yes, variety is good. With stock I enjoy the fact that I don't necessarily need to cover any place or subject in the kind of depth I used to do when I illustrated books. A single shot will slot into the collection, with a chance of selling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 MPs / celebrities foreign banknotes and stamps a Cartman key-ring I got in a secret Santa (2nd sale) London stained glass windows foreign travel a red-eared terrapin yes, quite varied (all RM) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Me too.. Chilean winery archive photo from 1890s B&W photo of a poster on Robben Island Museum display piece Scottish seascape Edinburgh Fringe Pretty varied.But all RM, as most of my images are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Variety definitely from macro through street/people/buildings/food/animals/etc.etc to landscapes/seascapes. BUT RM ONLY. Allan PS: if you are talking sales this month then NIL. ITMA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 London skyline in 1979; a war cemetery in France; a farm sign (still RF); an amateur astronomer; beer pumps; a sign on a ducal estate; foredeck of an ocean liner on the Kiel Canal; a railway bridge, ditto; an electricity meter. I'm tempted to submit an image of a kitchen sink just for a larf. That would make 33,324. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 3 hours ago, spacecadet said: London skyline in 1979; a war cemetery in France; a farm sign (still RF); an amateur astronomer; beer pumps; a sign on a ducal estate; foredeck of an ocean liner on the Kiel Canal; a railway bridge, ditto; an electricity meter. I'm tempted to submit an image of a kitchen sink just for a larf. That would make 33,324. I sold this one of the kitchen sink, Mark. If I'd known it was gonna sell, I'd have done a better job of cleaning it. I have only RM too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 I could not agree more that variety is nearly paramount in succeeding or surviving in the stock photo game, quality and quantity are right up there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said: I sold this one of the kitchen sink, Mark. If I'd known it was gonna sell, I'd have done a better job of cleaning it. I have only RM too. Right, that settles it. As luck would have it my OH is having a housework binge so all the sinks will be shiny for a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Varied and mixed seems to be my middle names. A solar lamp post , museum interior, library interior, street and sign in Seville, Christmas market, museum exterior at dusk, a famous grave, a museum sign, neon sign, mosque interior, empty stage, airport interior, the same neon sign again, a funny bridge, restaurant interior, container shopping mall, double doors (famous), shopping mall interior, a satnav, a license plate, a pirate flag (P.U. - fair enough). Only a couple I would think of as good images. And some I think of as clever images. Probably only one or two in both categories. Fees all over the place like usual. Like some good images go for peanuts and some ordinary ones get a high fee. You all do keep a record of what sells best and for what fees over the years do you? In other words: how do you learn what sells here and what doesn't? wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Wim, you might be interested in knowing that Montreal is trying to rival Amsterdam in bicycle transportation, at least in the Canadian summer. One almost hit me yesterday. As in Holland, you must know where to step. Or else. No, I am not off subject. Bike pics are big sellers. Edo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 10 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said: Wim, you might be interested in knowing that Montreal is trying to rival Amsterdam in bicycle transportation, at least in the Canadian summer. One almost hit me yesterday. As in Holland, you must know where to step. Or else. No, I am not off subject. Bike pics are big sellers. Edo I'm not seeing bikes as big sellers. But that's probably because of the wrong subject matter in my collection. Serious. While I do try to include a bicycle or a cyclist if at all possible, the sales for bicycles as a subject are not that great. They do sell: 17 times to be precise. And 2 of a neon sign with a bike (a beer from Denver). That's 0.9885535900104058% 0.99% of my total sales in numbers. With the neon signs included. And 6 out of those 19 have been distributors. What would sell: Holiday cyclists in a great landscape. Holiday cyclists in a well known city. Day to day cyclists in (mainly UK and US) cities that are known for their traffic jams. Day to day cyclists in cities and places that are known for their great cycling culture. (Like one of mine in the Rough Guide Amsterdam.) Cyclists in places where you wouldn't expect them. Novelty stuff in general like a solar bike path (9 of mine). wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starsphinx Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Well, I am still very much the newbie and have so far zero sales - but I am definitely on the variety track as I can and do get interested in many many things and take their pictures. I have no idea on the RM/RF thing - all my images at the moment are on RF because it is the default. If I ever start having sales I can learn more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Variety of subject matter is obviously very important these days, but I find that there are still benefits to covering subjects in depth. Vancouver is a bike-friendly city year-round because of the mild winters (by Canadian standards). In fact, there is such a maze of bike lanes now that driving a car has become very confusing and even downright dangerous in many areas. However, I don't find that my bike images are selling, so I guess I'm doing something wrong. I like Wim's suggestions above re bike pics. Food for thought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starsphinx Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 3 minutes ago, kay said: well you have one now!! congratulations (I was reading the thread and thought I'd have a quick look ) http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/16383402.paraglider-suffered-serious-injuries-as-canopy-collapsed/ Thank you for the congratulations. (I am blushing as I write this) that was actually a cock-up on my behalf - the local paper contacted me directly after I covered the story for a small local news site and I sold them one not published by the site who sent me (with that sites permission) and forgot I had metadataed it for Alamy. It is indeed a sale - and I am actually chuffed as my local paper (owned by Newsquest) has got stingy down to a fine art and they hardly ever pay for anything. I do some local news stuff - with the agreement I can put it on here as well - so hopefully I will pick up more sales like this. I am also hopeful for the general stock stuff fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 10 hours ago, wiskerke said: I'm not seeing bikes as big sellers. But that's probably because of the wrong subject matter in my collection. Serious. While I do try to include a bicycle or a cyclist if at all possible, the sales for bicycles as a subject are not that great. They do sell: 17 times to be precise. And 2 of a neon sign with a bike (a beer from Denver). That's 0.9885535900104058% 0.99% of my total sales in numbers. With the neon signs included. And 6 out of those 19 have been distributors. What would sell: Holiday cyclists in a great landscape. Holiday cyclists in a well known city. Day to day cyclists in (mainly UK and US) cities that are known for their traffic jams. Day to day cyclists in cities and places that are known for their great cycling culture. (Like one of mine in the Rough Guide Amsterdam.) Cyclists in places where you wouldn't expect them. Novelty stuff in general like a solar bike path (9 of mine). wim I'm really not sure what a Big Seller is. Although I joined Alamy in 2008, I've only been a serious contributor for the last 4 years. I have 15 bicycle sales. Only 3 were with riders. The other 12 were bikes parked on a street, and 4 of those were damaged abandoned bikes. Regardless of sales, I'm drawn to bicycles as a subject. I suspect it has something to do with the round shapes set against lines going up and down. And bicycles have a romantic quality. All forms of transport do (I hear the train a coming . . . come fly with me, fly with me away). Now take food as a subject. The subcategories of food sell OK, but I probably would be better off submitting less of them. As with bikes, I like food, like food on many levels. Food and bicycles will continue to be subjects for me. Edo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted July 29, 2018 Author Share Posted July 29, 2018 Took pictures of bikes today, now that you mention it. must be a weakness for a lot of us. I like them parked best. Whether they’re rental bikes or privately owned. I can imagine stories about who rides them. And it’s seldom skinny men or women in spandex and helmets that come to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 I have a set of images of people riding bikes in Mexico that I captured over ten years ago, and they continue to license regularly. Several sales of these particular shots have been in the $100+ and $200+ categories. During the same time period, I might have had one bike-related license from my Vancouver biking/bicycle photos even though these images tend to come up near the top of page one in searches. No doubt scarcity plays a big part in this. My Mexico bike images are fairly unusual, the Vancouver ones not so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vpics Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 No bicycle sales for me this month - might need to shoot some when I'm in Amsterdam next Saturday ... Sales in July include: British & European Royals Celebrities Red Carpet Celebrities & Gardens Chelsea Flower Show Art exhibitions Political protests Animals Flags of the World – RF (first RF sale in a long, long time) Fashion Shows People (portraits) But then, it's not over until the fat lady sings ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 If Segways count, 2 good sales, if not, not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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