Alexander Hog Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 Would consider myself as a hobbyist/amateur photographer I have been going through a lot of the threads to get more of an understanding of the stock industry and realising how hard it is and agree with a lot of points mentioned Also agree when someone said about being newer contributors that it is easier to leave than to carry on if I have picked it up correctly Now I am wondering if it is worthwhile continuing with carrying on with this and only been uploading small amounts since September 2020 with still got a long slog ahead Have had one sale so far and 2 zooms so far Have still got more images to upload Is it true that it is better to give it at least a year or more before deciding whether to carry on or not Any kind of advice will be helpful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 I hate to discourage you but with such low sales from a small port next year you will almost certainly be going down to 20%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hog Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 I know I've not uploaded enough images yet That is what I'm worried about and continuing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve F Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 (edited) Hi Alex, This is a bit of a 'How long is a piece of string?' question. What are you looking to get out of stock photography? The days of decent money for image sales have long gone and the market is very saturated. You will generally not make anywhere near minimum hourly wage for the time that you actually put in. Is it important to you to see your images published? How important is the money? Steve Edited August 8, 2021 by Steve F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hog Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 Hi Steve It was to make enough to buy better camera gear and or going towards a holiday I have heard it is over saturated and seen in some threads on how long it takes to make some sort of living out of it I know I'm a way off my mark when I say this but it was to make up to 500 a month( not all the time) and am years away from making that amount I do enjoy photography and since joining here has helped a bit for improving the skills Still a lot to learn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 15 minutes ago, Alexander Hog said: 500 a month Sure, you could do that. With 150,000 images or thereabouts.😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hog Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 I'll have to pull my finger out and get a move on I appreciate you honesty spacecadet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Standfast Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 Alex, I think you've worked out that the effort to reward ratio is rubbish. Don't let it put you off photography, that would never do! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hog Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 Mr Standfast I agree It hasn't put me off I do enjoy Photography and will still upload photo's at the moment Maybe give it another year and see what happens I appreciate all the good advice Will never be a professional photographer but getting out and about is the key Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin L Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 Alex I am not the worlds best at this but with a similar size port and having joined at the same time, I generally get approx 2 licenses per month (although last month was rubbish for me) I didn't make this comparison to try and boast or belittle as my pics are not that much better but I think what might be the difference is keywords and captions (and I struggle at those as well) To be honest your keywords and captions are a bit feeble. No matter how good your pics are if people can't find them they won't be bought. Sometimes it just involves quite a lot of research e.g. - Image ID: 2GB7533 - Statue looking with binoculars in North Berwick What statue? What does it commemorate? Where exactly? You also have 'bench' in the keywords. I know there is one in there right in the corner but if somebody searches bench they are probably looking for the bench to be the main focus so will just skip yours and that could hurt your ranking. I have used this analogy before but what I can work out is that selling on Alamy is like a long drainpipe, you stuff pics in one end and eventually licenses fall out the other end. How short the drainpipe and therefore how quickly they fall out depends on if the pics can be found, the quality of pics and is it something that buyers are looking for. Good luck, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve F Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 5 hours ago, Alexander Hog said: Hi Steve It was to make enough to buy better camera gear and or going towards a holiday I have heard it is over saturated and seen in some threads on how long it takes to make some sort of living out of it I know I'm a way off my mark when I say this but it was to make up to 500 a month( not all the time) and am years away from making that amount I do enjoy photography and since joining here has helped a bit for improving the skills Still a lot to learn Photographing for Alamy does improve my photography too. I would strongly suggest you read the advice on contributor page and on the blogs for keywords and captions. Also, the portfolio critique section of the Forum. Purely to make sure you don't have to go back at a future point and try to re-keyword and caption all your images by getting it right now. Well £500 net a month is very ambitious. You'd need to gross about $1,750 dollars a month. So you'd need a collection of approx. between 20,000 to 100,000 images depending on how saleable your images are. Still, it's nice to have a goal 🙃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hog Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 Thanks I will have another look again at the keywords etc and the other info and change things tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hog Posted August 8, 2021 Author Share Posted August 8, 2021 Martin L I will take on the advice and have another look tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesky049 Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 Hello, from U.S.! I joined this site to share and sell some of the photographs that I have taken over the years while hiking, camping, traveling. I have thousands of pictures that I would love to share. I never tried stock photography but its worth the try. I will like to see where this goes and give it a shot. Time is changing, the landscape is changing. Fields are being leveled and concrete buildings taking their place. I think of photography as a one time sight. Now you see it and then you don't. Time is changing....why not share what we see now and for our future colleagues. I find pictures to tell their own stories. If you look closely at your pictures you see the contrast, colors, shapes, scenes that can tell an amazing story. Time to learn something new. I have read some of the blogs and found that people struggle with key words and depending on what the consumer is looking for. I will keep reading and learning as we all will. Thanks 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radim Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 (edited) 8 hours ago, bluesky049 said: Hello, from U.S.! I joined this site to share and sell some of the photographs that I have taken over the years while hiking, camping, traveling. I have thousands of pictures that I would love to share. I never tried stock photography but its worth the try. I will like to see where this goes and give it a shot. Time is changing, the landscape is changing. Fields are being leveled and concrete buildings taking their place. I think of photography as a one time sight. Now you see it and then you don't. Time is changing....why not share what we see now and for our future colleagues. I find pictures to tell their own stories. If you look closely at your pictures you see the contrast, colors, shapes, scenes that can tell an amazing story. Time to learn something new. I have read some of the blogs and found that people struggle with key words and depending on what the consumer is looking for. I will keep reading and learning as we all will. Thanks I see you are full of enthusiasm, that's good and good luck Edited August 9, 2021 by Radim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptoprocta Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 23 hours ago, Alexander Hog said: Hi Steve It was to make ...... up to 500 a month( not all the time) and am years away from making that amount. Hi from a compatriot! Just to say, have you seen the end of month threads where some contributors post their sales: E.g. https://discussion.alamy.com/topic/14668-how-was-your-july-2021 https://discussion.alamy.com/topic/14559-how-was-your-june-2021 Of course, only a very small percentage of contributors post on the forums and fewer on these threads. Clue: the money is in Live News, for which there is a lot of competition already in Edinburgh (I don't do Live News). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hog Posted August 9, 2021 Author Share Posted August 9, 2021 I think I might have seen it briefly before Had a wee look It is interesting It will be a long time before I get these as I need to upload a lot more Going through the images again as I may be hurting the CTR for myself Should be finished by tomorrow morning I don't do live news But I do agree with you I appreciate you letting me know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hog Posted August 9, 2021 Author Share Posted August 9, 2021 (edited) Radim Am trying still got a lot to learn Edited August 9, 2021 by Alexander Hog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatsyCollins Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 Hi Alex. I'm really new to this too. No sales so far, but I've not uploaded a lot of pictures yet. My thinking is that I enjoy photography, taking potential stock shots gives me a focus*, and there's the possibility I could get some cash. * he he focus! Geddit? Wanders off laughing at own, frankly terrible, joke. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hog Posted August 9, 2021 Author Share Posted August 9, 2021 Hi Patsy Just new to all this as well and still got a lot to learn Hopefully we both get sales at some stage It is a learning curve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now