Experience with sales and earnings

[Vita]

Hello guys! I just started at Alamy, and I`d like to have some idea on sales and earnings. Now, I know it`s really hard to say as it depends on number and quality of photos and many other things, but if you can give me an idea what to expect and what is the dynamic here on Alamy, especially comparing to other agencies ( I presume names of other agencies are not allowed and that`s fine), but generally, how would you rate your experience on Alamy in regards to sales and earnings, comparing to other agencies. I`m interested because I really like the platform and simplicity of Alamy, although I`m not quite sure what`s with all the pseudonyms and why there can be so many of them...Thank you everyone for any reply and information! 

[Michael Ventura]

Hi Vita and welcome to Alamy. I can't speak to other agencies as I have pretty much been exclusive with Alamy for the last 15 years.  You do need a fairly large volume of decent quality  photos to see consistent sales.  By large, I mean at least 1,000 different photos, not too many similars and a variety of subjects.  I have close to 9,000 photos here and I see about 15-20 sales per month.  Prices are all over the place...from a few $ to $$$...if you get lucky an occasional $$$$ could happen.

[Mr Standfast]

Vita, feel free to search the forums. For instance;  at the end of each month there is a "how was your month" thread.  You do answer your own question though, "as it depends on number and quality of photos".

 

Stay safe.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2020 by Mr Standfast
typo's so many typo's...

[Vita]

5 hours ago, Mr Standfast said:

Vita, feel free to search the forums. For instance;  at the end of each month there is a "how was your month" thread.  You do answer your own question though, "as it depends on number and quality of photos".

 

Stay safe.

 

 

thank you Mr Standfast

[Vita]

1 hour ago, Michael Ventura said:

Hi Vita and welcome to Alamy. I can't speak to other agencies as I have pretty much been exclusive with Alamy for the last 15 years.  You do need a fairly large volume of decent quality  photos to see consistent sales.  By large, I mean at least 1,000 different photos, not too many similars and a variety of subjects.  I have close to 9,000 photos here and I see about 15-20 sales per month.  Prices are all over the place...from a few $ to $$$...if you get lucky an occasional $$$$ could happen.

Thank you Michael, since Im new here, Im not even sure what kind of images sell well, apparently people submit a lot of editorial photos, as far as I could notice, my portfolio is a bit more about travel and not so many editorials, but I guess there will be market for those too. I really like Alamy`s simplicity of submission and the contributors here seem to be satisfied, so Ill give it a good try. Thanks for your kind help!

[Michael Ventura]

2 minutes ago, Vita said:

Thank you Michael, since Im new here, Im not even sure what kind of images sell well, apparently people submit a lot of editorial photos, as far as I could notice, my portfolio is a bit more about travel and not so many editorials, but I guess there will be market for those too. I really like Alamy`s simplicity of submission and the contributors here seem to be satisfied, so Ill give it a good try. Thanks for your kind help!

Travel does pretty well here. Having real people doing real things is a plus.  No need for model releases for editorial.  

[Vita]

1 minute ago, Michael Ventura said:

Travel does pretty well here. Having real people doing real things is a plus.  No need for model releases for editorial.  

Great, thanks Michael. I really appreciate your help!

 

[MizBrown]

Sometimes, very weird things license.

 

Besides people doing things, animals (fish, mammals, insects, spiders) doing things seem to be more appealing than simple static illustrations.  If you have things zoomed that don't sell, look at the other photos taken of that object and figure out what you can improve. 

 

I looked at your portfolio.  Be careful of similar photos.  Some of your appear to be the same thing twice.  The other thing, that I don't always do myself, is make sure you have human subjects in as good light than the things around them -- reflectors and fill flash used carefully can help here.  

 

 

[Alex Ramsay]

14 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

 I have close to 9,000 photos here and I see about 15-20 sales per month.  Prices are all over the place...from a few $ to $$$...

 

Agreed - much the same experience here (like Michael, largely exclusive to Alamy)

 

Alex

[NYCat]

I think your photos are gorgeous. You can do more with your captions. Be very specific about what is in the image. You have "small fishing boats" as a caption for a variety of images -- one just the rope tied up -- one the bow of a boat. Are the dolphins really in a "pool"? Where is the pool? I think most animal pics should give a location as that may be what the article is about. Don't be afraid to say it is a zoo. Zoo photos do sell for articles about zoos or that particular zoo.

 

Paulette

[Vita]

15 hours ago, MizBrown said:

Sometimes, very weird things license.

 

Besides people doing things, animals (fish, mammals, insects, spiders) doing things seem to be more appealing than simple static illustrations.  If you have things zoomed that don't sell, look at the other photos taken of that object and figure out what you can improve. 

 

I looked at your portfolio.  Be careful of similar photos.  Some of your appear to be the same thing twice.  The other thing, that I don't always do myself, is make sure you have human subjects in as good light than the things around them -- reflectors and fill flash used carefully can help here.  

 

 

Thank  you Miz Brown! Yes there are some images that look similar, almost the same, Ill try not to do that, and also I made some mistakes uploading and now I don`t know how to remove those that are doubled, it seems that there is no delete button anywhere? 

[Alex Ramsay]

2 minutes ago, Vita said:

Thank  you Miz Brown! Yes there are some images that look similar, almost the same, Ill try not to do that, and also I made some mistakes uploading and now I don`t know how to remove those that are doubled, it seems that there is no delete button anywhere? 

 

In Image Manager look under 'optional'  and you'll see the 'delete image' option at the bottom of the column

 

Alex

[Vita]

5 hours ago, NYCat said:

I think your photos are gorgeous. You can do more with your captions. Be very specific about what is in the image. You have "small fishing boats" as a caption for a variety of images -- one just the rope tied up -- one the bow of a boat. Are the dolphins really in a "pool"? Where is the pool? I think most animal pics should give a location as that may be what the article is about. Don't be afraid to say it is a zoo. Zoo photos do sell for articles about zoos or that particular zoo.

 

Paulette

Thank you NYCat! Well, I admit, sometimes I get bored with filling data, so I tend to put simiral images all together, which is probably not the best idea  And for the dolphins, well, they were in some kind of a pool actually, like in a dolphinarium, or whatever its called...and other animals were in their wild habitats.. excluding my dog  

[Vita]

1 minute ago, Alex Ramsay said:

 

In Image Manager look under 'optional'  and you'll see the 'delete image' option at the bottom of the column

 

Alex

Aaaa!!! thanks Alex! I found it, great!

[Vita]

Also, what`s the story with different pseudonyms, is it ok to have one, or its better to have more, what are they good for really? Thanks for clarifying! 

[Cal]

On 26/10/2020 at 11:01, NYCat said:

I think your photos are gorgeous.

I would agree. 2CPYRFX   is particularly striking.

[Colin Woods]

On 26/10/2020 at 12:06, Vita said:

Well, I admit, sometimes I get bored with filling data

Most people are the same, but do not forget that you can have the best photos ever but with poor keywords they will never be seen. Keywording is as important as taking the photo and post processing. Don't do it poorly - when you get sick of it then stop and come back later or the next day. You won't lose out much if your photos go on sale a day or a week later than you wanted but if they are poorly keyworded then they will be lost forever (or at least until you rekeyword them).

[Chuck Nacke]

Vita,

 

Something to think about;  Anyone can make an image, but few can move that image properly processed, color corrected, captioned and keyworded

out to the world.  I would suggest that you spend your time learning that and it will pay off for you.

 

Keep in mind that I am an English photojournalist, so it is easier for me, I never did well with Cyrillic, but I do speak good Russian. 

 

If you read well in English I would suggest that you get a copy of Strunk & White's 'Elements of Style'  Great small book that  could

teach a lot to anyone who reads it. A current copy of the AP Style book is also useful for licensing to the Western Market.

 

Chuck

 

Addition: it is important to learn how to select the images that you finish and upload.  I do have a second pseudonym that I put images

that will license, but are not at the level that I want associated with my main library, and they license at a much smaller rate,

Edited October 30, 2020 by Chuck Nacke
addition

[John Mitchell]

1 hour ago, Chuck Nacke said:

Vita,

 

Something to think about;  Anyone can make an image, but few can move that image properly processed, color corrected, captioned and keyworded

out to the world.  I would suggest that you spend your time learning that and it will pay off for you.

 

Keep in mind that I am an English photojournalist, so it is easier for me, I never did well with Cyrillic, but I do speak good Russian. 

 

If you read well in English I would suggest that you get a copy of Strunk & White's 'Elements of Style'  Great small book that  could

teach a lot to anyone who reads it. A current copy of the AP Style book is also useful for licensing to the Western Market.

 

Chuck

 

Addition: it is important to learn how to select the images that you finish and upload.  I do have a second pseudonym that I put images

that will license, but are not at the level that I want associated with my main library, and they license at a much smaller rate,

 

Good book suggestion, Chuck. 'The Elements of Style' is a classic, a must for anyone wishing to improve their writing skills. I also found William Zinsser's 'On Writing Well' extremely helpful when I was doing a lot of freelance writing.

Edited October 30, 2020 by John Mitchell

[wiskerke]

8 hours ago, Chuck Nacke said:

If you read well in English I would suggest that you get a copy of Strunk & White's 'Elements of Style'  Great small book that  could

teach a lot to anyone who reads it. A current copy of the AP Style book is also useful for licensing to the Western Market.

 

+1 for Strunk & White!

If you search for Strunk & White PDF or Strunk & White EPUB, you will find numerous free downloads. Usually of older editions or just parts of it from universities or creative writing classes.

Also a bunch of tutorials based on it on youtube.

 

wim

[Vita]

Hello guys, thank you for all the suggestions, they are much appreciated and welcomed!! Ill try to get that book that you mentioned, I know there are many things I still need to learn and I`m looking forward to it!

 

[Vita]

Also, people say its not the number of keywords that matter, but its important to have all the right ones, so Im trying to improve on that aspect too, thanks for all the help! 

[meanderingemu]

1 hour ago, Vita said:

Also, people say its not the number of keywords that matter, but its important to have all the right ones, so Im trying to improve on that aspect too, thanks for all the help! 

 

one more thing i would add, is for well covered subject try to make sure you have the KW or description for what differentiates your image from other so that people who are looking for those characteristics can find it,

Here is an example

 

Machu Picchu Lost city of Incas, Peru - Image ID: 2D7WRGJ

You have "tourist" as a keyword.  Actually your image as no one in it, so someone searching "Machu Picchu Tourist" will pass on your image however someone looking for your specific traits might not find it, KW like "empty", "nobody"

 

The other "different" is you have an image on a cloudy, dark sky, maybe as "storm" roles in (i would actually have pushed the storm nature in post but that's me.

 

Where there is 30000+ image for Machu Picchu, you only get 1000 hits for "Machu Picchu cloudy" and less for "storm".  

 

You got your image in non traditional perfect postcard image, advertise it as such.  

[Vita]

2 hours ago, meanderingemu said:

 

one more thing i would add, is for well covered subject try to make sure you have the KW or description for what differentiates your image from other so that people who are looking for those characteristics can find it,

Here is an example

 

Machu Picchu Lost city of Incas, Peru - Image ID: 2D7WRGJ

You have "tourist" as a keyword.  Actually your image as no one in it, so someone searching "Machu Picchu Tourist" will pass on your image however someone looking for your specific traits might not find it, KW like "empty", "nobody"

 

The other "different" is you have an image on a cloudy, dark sky, maybe as "storm" roles in (i would actually have pushed the storm nature in post but that's me.

 

Where there is 30000+ image for Machu Picchu, you only get 1000 hits for "Machu Picchu cloudy" and less for "storm".  

 

You got your image in non traditional perfect postcard image, advertise it as such.  

 

Great tip, thanks!

[Vita]

On 30/10/2020 at 06:28, Chuck Nacke said:

Vita,

 

Something to think about;  Anyone can make an image, but few can move that image properly processed, color corrected, captioned and keyworded

out to the world.  I would suggest that you spend your time learning that and it will pay off for you.

 

Keep in mind that I am an English photojournalist, so it is easier for me, I never did well with Cyrillic, but I do speak good Russian. 

 

If you read well in English I would suggest that you get a copy of Strunk & White's 'Elements of Style'  Great small book that  could

teach a lot to anyone who reads it. A current copy of the AP Style book is also useful for licensing to the Western Market.

 

Chuck

 

Addition: it is important to learn how to select the images that you finish and upload.  I do have a second pseudonym that I put images

that will license, but are not at the level that I want associated with my main library, and they license at a much smaller rate,

Something to think about;  Anyone can make an image, but few can move that image properly processed, color corrected, captioned and keyworded

out to the world.  I would suggest that you spend your time learning that and it will pay off for you.

 

Thank you Chuck! First of all thanks for the book suggestion, I already found it and will dedicate some time to better wording. As for processing and color correction that you mentioned, can you give me a suggestion regarding that, what works well here, I try to keep my images natural but maybe I should do something differently. Any advice is appreciated!

[Chuck Nacke]

8 hours ago, Vita said:

Something to think about;  Anyone can make an image, but few can move that image properly processed, color corrected, captioned and keyworded

out to the world.  I would suggest that you spend your time learning that and it will pay off for you.

 

Thank you Chuck! First of all thanks for the book suggestion, I already found it and will dedicate some time to better wording. As for processing and color correction that you mentioned, can you give me a suggestion regarding that, what works well here, I try to keep my images natural but maybe I should do something differently. Any advice is appreciated!

Vita,

 

I am no the person to ask for advice about post processing, I only know what I need to know and it is not my strongest suit.  On my monitor and with Alamy's previews your images

look fine.  I will say again, invest you efforts in Captioning and Keywording, in English, and your time will be better spent.

 

Best,

 

Chuck