Things move on - sadly

[Richard Tadman]

I joined Alamy as a very novice photographer many years ago. I learned a lot from looking at accomplished 'snappers' efforts, comments and results. Gradually I like to think I made good progress and most importantly, I enjoyed it.
I was never going to prosper or remotely make this a profession or generate an acceptable income stream, but the camaraderie and tips and variety of exchanges and shared exchanges made it an enjoyable experience. 

Recently the spark has disappeared. The inexorable whittling away of the commission for the real providers of the source material is disappointing. The market cannot be wrong and I understand that, but my gripe is that while as contributors we continually take the brunt of the financial hit, the agents, Alamy/ PA and others are suffering far less and arguably not at all as the volume of images continues to flood the market.

I do wonder whether the wheelers & dealers who reap all the financial benefits have any concept of the hours of time, effort and expense that contributors incur in travel, equipment, accessories, skill and expertise to provide very high quality images (for the most part).

However, life moves on and markets change. I suppose I just hanker for a return to the good times, which inevitably have been and gone. 

I haven't bailed out yet as profit was never the motive, but there is only so much oppression and dismissive attitudes that one can endure. For me it's a hobby, but when I can generate more income from selling pictures in the local coffee shop, the writing is on the wall.

[Robert M Estall]

People pay ridiculous prices for coffee at horrid coffee chains and have invented a whole new vocabulary for a cuppa, but I don't fancy my chances of making a buck trying to sell prints there

Edited October 14, 2021 by Robert M Estall

[Richard Tadman]

I was thinking more about selling framed images at cafes, rather than busking outside Costa!

[John Morrison]

26 minutes ago, Richard Tadman said:

busking outside Costa!

 

Still more rewarding, financially, than shooting pix for stock in 2021...

[Allan Bell]

I heard that someone followed a busker, after he had finished his act, around a few streets then saw him get into the driving seat of a fairly new Rolls.

 

Allan

 

[John Morrison]

14 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

I heard that someone followed a busker, after he had finished his act, around a few streets then saw him get into the driving seat of a fairly new Rolls.

 

Allan

 

 

A venerable urban myth, I'm afraid...

[Sheesh]

I realise that market forces are what they are. However, I do have to wonder at being paid 22 cents each for 6 photos, all on the same theme of deckhands on ships.  If this is a taste of future payments then it really is hardly worth the time and effort.

[M.Chapman]

1 hour ago, John Morrison said:

 

A venerable urban myth, I'm afraid...

Yes, it was actually a Bentley.

 

Mark

[BobD]

I used to love going out on nice days, different places, since retiring that is. Now it just feels like I am subsidising Alamy, so I rarely go out now unless for another reason.

[Allan Bell]

 A photo opportunity has just cropped up for me later this year. It would be a wonderful experience too at A cost of ££.

Then I think hmmm would it be worth it just to put some pictures up on Alamy?

 

Allan

 

[sb photos]

53 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

 A photo opportunity has just cropped up for me later this year. It would be a wonderful experience too at A cost of ££.

Then I think hmmm would it be worth it just to put some pictures up on Alamy?

 

Allan

 

Depends upon wether it is something interesting you would really enjoy. If just to shoot stock, no, not economically viable.

[Betty LaRue]

8 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

I heard that someone followed a busker, after he had finished his act, around a few streets then saw him get into the driving seat of a fairly new Rolls.

 

Allan

 

Allan, there was a woman in Oklahoma City that didn’t busk, she just begged while holding up a sign about needing food, etc. She set up on a heavily travel road divide, and was there forever, every day in her old, shabby clothes, looking desperate.
This one man had handed her money every time he passed that way. 
One day, he came just as she was leaving, so while he sat in his car through a long traffic light, he saw her get into a late model upscale car. She drove away. He followed at a discreet distance until she pulled into the garage of a nice house.

He was furious. She was making a great living, paying no taxes, and hoodwinking people with soft hearts. He said that money could have gone to those who really needed it, like disabled veterans. He felt taken and stupid. Over time, quite a few beggars were outed because people started paying attention. Some were found to head straight to the liquor store. There were newspaper investigative reporters who found a lot of the beggars were doing it rather than getting jobs, which were plentiful. The beggars made more in three or four hours than the average working Joe.

I used to get the ones holding a sign saying “Hungry” who appeared (? How can one really tell) legitimate, a packaged meal and hand it to them. Some looked angry and threw the food down to the ground.

I give to legitimate charities now, and have a soft heart for veterans who have given limbs, and sometimes their sanity for their country.

[The Blinking Eye]

I was super jazzed about this site, this community, doing relatively well, gaining skills, building a portfolio, and motivated to become a better photographer. I feel insulted and devalued (even if I hardly made a dime before). I guess they can just churn through us because someone new will come along? I think it's a mistake to break the enthusiasm of your providers. But not my call, I guess. Looking for a different route to get my fire going, because this situation is discouraging.

[jayembee69]

The spark has certainly disappeared with me too.   I submitted my final photos in May, just before the new contract was announced.   In light of the bad news, I never bothered to tag and title them.

 

It would make irritate me to spend time working on photos knowing that Alamy would be the main beneficiary.

Edited October 15, 2021 by jayembee69
misspelling

[Marb]

I just made a relatively rare sale today for $1. You can’t blame microstock for these low prices as I am earning much better, and more frequent commissions on the main microstock site these days. I could live with $1 sales on Alamy if they were frequent but they aren't unfortunately. 

Edited October 15, 2021 by Marb

[meanderingemu]

4 hours ago, Marb said:

I just made a relatively rare sale today for $1. You can’t blame microstock for these low prices as I am earning much better, and more frequent commissions on the main microstock site these days. I could live with $1 sales on Alamy if they were frequent but they aren't unfortunately. 

 

Why can't you blame microstock for low price?  They pushed price downwards.   

[Marb]

1 hour ago, meanderingemu said:

 

Why can't you blame microstock for low price?  They pushed price downwards.   

Because their prices are getting better for me, and multiple sales every day. Alamy seems to be tiny sales these days.

[Michael Ventura]

28 minutes ago, Marb said:

Because their prices are getting better for me, and multiple sales every day. Alamy seems to be tiny sales these days.

Still if the microstock model had never been invented, we would all be seeing higher prices.  The world economy has been relatively stable and strong, in spite of the pandemic.  It’s true that many more images are in the market then ever before but the micro pricing did not have to happen.  That was created by executives, not photographers.

[meanderingemu]

1 hour ago, Marb said:

Because their prices are getting better for me, and multiple sales every day. Alamy seems to be tiny sales these days.

 

i don't blame people for contributing to them, same as i don't blame a restaurant for using Ubereat or a manufacturer using Amazon, still doesn't make a model that is focussed on shareholder wealth at the expense of producers, right. 

[sb photos]

On 15/10/2021 at 05:00, The Blinking Eye said:

I was super jazzed about this site, this community, doing relatively well, gaining skills, building a portfolio, and motivated to become a better photographer. I feel insulted and devalued (even if I hardly made a dime before). I guess they can just churn through us because someone new will come along? I think it's a mistake to break the enthusiasm of your providers. But not my call, I guess. Looking for a different route to get my fire going, because this situation is discouraging.

I often wonder if the images from the big agencies who also license their photographers work through Alamy receive the same low rates as we sometimes do? Newcomers will contribute images to Alamy, but how long will they stay. We will likely never know as most likely don’t read the forum or participate in it. We certainly live in troubled times.

[John Morrison]

28 minutes ago, sb photos said:

We certainly live in troubled times.

 

As folk have been saying since we first had the power of speech... 😎

[meanderingemu]

2 hours ago, sb photos said:

I often wonder if the images from the big agencies who also license their photographers work through Alamy receive the same low rates as we sometimes do? Newcomers will contribute images to Alamy, but how long will they stay. We will likely never know as most likely don’t read the forum or participate in it. We certainly live in troubled times.

i think the drop to 20% for many of them after one year will be a major moral hit

[Steve F]

On 15/10/2021 at 06:00, The Blinking Eye said:

I was super jazzed about this site, this community, doing relatively well, gaining skills, building a portfolio, and motivated to become a better photographer. I feel insulted and devalued (even if I hardly made a dime before). I guess they can just churn through us because someone new will come along? I think it's a mistake to break the enthusiasm of your providers. But not my call, I guess. Looking for a different route to get my fire going, because this situation is discouraging.

 

Hey Kirsten, long time no see. I was very annoyed, as everyone else, with the commission change. Especially as, it seems if you read between the lines, it may have been to bring us in line with the rest of the market. And the vibe here is definitely quite negative for now... Puts me off being on here so much.

 

But.... , as I grow my collection, I keep seeing better and better results, despite the recent changes. In reference to what you said, I'm still learning too. I'm much more commercial these days about what I shoot. So I say, keep shooting! Good luck,

Steve

[Steve F]

50 minutes ago, Alexander Hog said:

I am a new user contributing to Alamy since September last year and a member of the forum since November last year Last month I had considered leaving as I didn't know how difficult it was going to be with stock photography but sticking with it at the moment as I don't really want to go back to the previous employment which was a terrible place to work Have had good constructive advice from quite a few long term contributors here and appreciate all the comments 

 

Alex, are you doing this full time? It certainly keeps me busy in my spare time - shooting planned subjects always takes longer than I think! You will get results if you grow your collection. I certainly recommend as a priority getting off the minimum payment band from Alamy. You'll get there if you put the time in. Look for niches, there are still subjects that aren't very well represented. Good luck

[The Blinking Eye]

1 hour ago, Steve F said:

 

Hey Kirsten, long time no see. I was very annoyed, as everyone else, with the commission change. Especially as, it seems if you read between the lines, it may have been to bring us in line with the rest of the market. And the vibe here is definitely quite negative for now... Puts me off being on here so much.

 

But.... , as I grow my collection, I keep seeing better and better results, despite the recent changes. In reference to what you said, I'm still learning too. I'm much more commercial these days about what I shoot. So I say, keep shooting! Good luck,

Steve

 

Hi Steve, Yeah, I have had a really tough year that has taken me away from photographing. Thanks for your positivity. I want to keep going. I, too, have been doing pretty well recently, relatively (small portolio), despite my drop in submissions. My sales have gone up substantially in 2021 as compared to 2020, and some are selling for decent amounts.