MDG Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 The new blog post by alamy says they paid out $12.2 million that's about $0.28 per image per year. I would guess images without people in them would have a lower return than those with. Basically that means you need a lot of people images to make a return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Morrison Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 The new blog post by alamy says they paid out $12.2 million that's about $0.28 per image per year. I would guess images without people in them would have a lower return than those with. Basically that means you need a lot of people images to make a return. Of my 11 sales so far in Jan, only one has people in. Saleable pix come in many different forms: every possible kind of subject... plus a vast array of 'treatments' and 'looks'... old-fashioned, up-to-date, with people, without people, etc, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 The new blog post by alamy says they paid out $12.2 million that's about $0.28 per image per year. I would guess images without people in them would have a lower return than those with. Basically that means you need a lot of people images to make a return. Just seen a post on a microstock thread where they complain about Alamy shooters working for peanuts...don't know what they mean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Brook Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Nick Most of your images are either scenics or tourist shots. If buyers want these they will in all probability either trawl through the microstock sites or go to Getty for top drawer stuff. Or maybe Robert Harding. If they want a very specific location they can't find there, then Alamy will be in the running, but most of your locations aren't in that category. If they want flowers, or birds, or mammals, or geology or geography, then just take a peek at what Science Photo Library has to offer: stuff there that blows yours right out of the water. And then take a look at offerings at top creative collections (Corbis and Getty premium collections, independents like Plainpicture or Gallery stock). You will get high production values and/or a unique way of looking at things. If you really want to sell this stuff (your stuff), then you need to consider Shutterstock or iStockphoto, but make sure to check out the standard of visualization that many microstockers are now achieving ( http://www.istockphoto.com/vetta ). As far as I can see, Alamy is still agood place for true editorial photography, which I would see as being much closer to journalism than what you do. Most stock journalism is about current issues, whether approached in a conceptual way or via visually arresting images of real life. I really think it's time to stop blaming Alamy for our own poor performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDG Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I didn't mean images without people don't sell, I was just trying to point out that some images perform above average and so others must be performing below average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjones Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I confess to having yo-yoed from despondency (e.g. when Alamy dropped the commission rate) to elation when an image sells for loads of £££££s; sometimes boredom or demotivation sets in when sales are lacklustre, in the end I guess everything else being equal sales can be periodic or not depending entirely on your mix of images; if indeed a collection largely consists of "scenic" or "touristy" shots then there are going to be times when buyers aren't looking for those pictures. In the end some of the best advice I have received in this forum is to try to have as much variety as possible in a collection with keywording as excellent as can be; after over 5 years in this business and towards 5000 images I feel that I am only beginning to get it something like nearly right. G'luck, Peter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Keith has been very helpful to me in the past and yes, his focus is on "stuff that sells" - but to a specific market which I admit I don't do as I don't believe I have that skillset. It's a bit disingenuous to say it's not rocket science as different folks work to different strokes. I am not complaining about lack of sales on that basis - I am just saying that whareas my work DID sell better it isn't now - same work, different result. Well done Jools! Nick, There's no reason at all you cannot change your skill set, you make the choice not to. In this business if you are not going forward you're heading backwards. There's nothing new in stock about work which used to sell suddenly becoming invisible to buyers, been happening since the film days.....what is new is the speed at which it's happening now. I would have thought that focussing on stuff that sells is a paramount part of stock photography, at least if you want to make sales. Top agencies spend a lot of time and money on talks/webinars/research for their contribs so they know the trends/content etc that is most likely to be in demand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnapper Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 My focus is on stuff that sells? er, yes.... what else would i be doing at a stock library? km ha ha ha... i get a red mark for saying that i'm here to make money unbelievable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Don't abandon the ship yet. The year is still in diapers. Not to brag, but 2014 has started off well for me -- almost $700 (gross) in sales so far. This after a dismal December. The tide can turn anytime, it seems.. John, looks like you and I have swapped months. I am off to a very slow start this new year while December was great! Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Don't abandon the ship yet. The year is still in diapers. Not to brag, but 2014 has started off well for me -- almost $700 (gross) in sales so far. This after a dismal December. The tide can turn anytime, it seems.. John, looks like you and I have swapped months. I am off to a very slow start this new year while December was great! Michael Perhaps some buyers were eager to use up their 2013 budgets in December and others had to wait for the New Year before they could do any shopping. Perhaps you got the former and I got the latter. BTW, if February turns out poorly for me, I'll be glad to swap it for your December if you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jenkins Posted January 17, 2014 Author Share Posted January 17, 2014 Thanks for the helpful advice Robert. I guess I am fairly familiar with my work but good to be reminded! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giphotostock Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 focus is on "stuff that sells" - but to a specific market This is a key point and a very simple one indeed. Really, the formula has been around forever: 1. Figure out what specific market you want to sell to 2. Figure out what that market needs 3. Shoot 4. Submit to an agency that supplies to #1. In a sense, it is not a rocket science. The challenge is to execute religiously on #1-4. Just my opinion. GI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I accept the adapt or die. My mantra has always been: change is the only constant. I have been working very hard to do just that. Last year's approach does not seem to have worked so I will be trying something else in 2014 ... A question: Has anyone RECENTLY here on Alamy actually gone from a low rank and income, changed their approach, and ramped up their sales significantly? I ask because the mathematician in me doubts whether it is possible, how can one make an impact when there are 44million images with content on pretty well all subjects. Going from 3k to 10k images, however well keyworded, will not be sufficient in itself (still a drop in the ocean that is Alamy). I just need someone to help me believe that it is actually still possible for cream to rise to the top. Here today and possibly gone tomorrow, but I have seen a significant increase in the number of sales since I started to analyse the data on customer searches and then providing images that people are asking for. Under My Images I currently see 11 sales of which 6 are the result of my taking shots that I would not have done had I not done the research. Of those 6, there are 3 sales of one image and two of another. Of the remainder one has come about because I review the photos used in the newspapers most days and know the kind of thing they use - again, a subject that I would not have shot some while ago. One area where I struggle is with shots taken in France. I have umpteen, and have licensed a few, but they sell very poorly. I wonder how active Alamy is in that country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Elliott Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 France is dominated by a library called Hemis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 France is dominated by a library called Hemis. Yep, the Alamy images are represented by Hemis. But what is really ridiculous, is that they don't do the trouble to translate the keywords and captions in French. UNBELIEVABLE No wonder our images don't sell in France Alamy, perhaps worth pointing that out to Hemis? Please? Cheers, Philippe If you look at Photononstop you will find that all the significant commercial agencies are on PNS - maybe different for travel but I certainly find PNS is a country mile better for results than any other non-specialist in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Elliott Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 France is dominated by a library called Hemis. Yep, the Alamy images are represented by Hemis. But what is really ridiculous, is that they don't do the trouble to translate the keywords and captions in French. UNBELIEVABLE No wonder our images don't sell in France Alamy, perhaps worth pointing that out to Hemis? Please? Cheers, Philippe It's strange because if you on their website you'll see both languages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Elliott Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 France is dominated by a library called Hemis. Yep, the Alamy images are represented by Hemis. But what is really ridiculous, is that they don't do the trouble to translate the keywords and captions in French. UNBELIEVABLE No wonder our images don't sell in France Alamy, perhaps worth pointing that out to Hemis? Please? Cheers, Philippe If you look at Photononstop you will find that all the significant commercial agencies are on PNS - maybe different for travel but I certainly find PNS is a country mile better for results than any other non-specialist in France. Maybe, but from what I have seen living over here leafing through books and magazines Hemis have the edge on that. I am aware of PNS but Hemis come up more frequently on my radar the PNS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losdemas Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 France is dominated by a library called Hemis. Yep, the Alamy images are represented by Hemis. But what is really ridiculous, is that they don't do the trouble to translate the keywords and captions in French. UNBELIEVABLE No wonder our images don't sell in France Alamy, perhaps worth pointing that out to Hemis? Please? Cheers, Philippe It's strange because if you on their website you'll see both languages. Look for the keywords carrelet loire-atlantique here and here. You'll see different results though the keywords are exactly the same in French and in English. Apparently none of the Alamy images appear when you use the Hemis search engine, not when you use French keywords and not when you use English keywords. If you use the English version of Hemis and search with English keywords ........ NONE of the Alamy images appear. Why on earth would a Frenchman looking at a French agency searching for pictures in .... ENGLISH Again, no wonder our images don't sell in France :angry: Alamy, for your benefit and that of your contributors, please sort this out Cheers, Philippe Second link doesn't work, Philippe: a problem to do with the way the site constructs it's links. I haven't gone through the site yet, but even a main sub-heading does not inspire confidence: under the top-level heading 'Interiors', we have Artits' Houses. They also say in 'About Us': "we represent EXCLUSIVELY rights in France and / or the world." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losdemas Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 ^^S'funny: didn't work a second ago (nor did a couple of links within the site with the structure 'http://www.hemis.fr/kaaWeb/accueilWeb/') - does now. Apologies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Elliott Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I remember the fist time I contacted them a couple of years ago they weren't interested in what i did. Then I sent them an email a few months ago stating that I was with libraries such as the Big G and bingo, got 'em. Need to get back to them:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Elliott Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I remember the fist time I contacted them a couple of years ago they weren't interested in what i did. Then I sent them an email a few months ago stating that I was with libraries such as the Big G and bingo, got 'em. Need to get back to them:) "Nous travaillons en étroite collaboration avec nos photographes dont nous représentons en EXCLUSIVITE les droits sur la France et/ou le Monde." I don't think they'll accept images that are already distributed elsewhere. The "et/ou le Monde" worries me a bit. Cheers, Philippe New and exclusive material is easily found and photographed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Elliott Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 In any case, wea re not sorting Nick's problem here by deviating away. I suspect that his stuff is being buried amongst the rubbish. Nick is a decent photographer otherwise he wouldn't be doing what he does for people like Tatra. As well as Alamy I think another image library would be in order to see how things fare there. The only problem is of course the waiting game again. As they say, it is always a good six months before sales start appearing. Haven't really looked at what Nick has on here but I'm sure it is of saleable quality plus he visits a number of places that if he gets the right image should generate sales. Edit: just gave a cursory glance. More of this quality of image and you should be doing great Nick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I remember the fist time I contacted them a couple of years ago they weren't interested in what i did. Then I sent them an email a few months ago stating that I was with libraries such as the Big G and bingo, got 'em. Need to get back to them:) "Nous travaillons en étroite collaboration avec nos photographes dont nous représentons en EXCLUSIVITE les droits sur la France et/ou le Monde." I don't think they'll accept images that are already distributed elsewhere. The "et/ou le Monde" worries me a bit. Cheers, Philippe New and exclusive material is easily found and photographed! Very true I guess I'll have to think twice about where to submit my French pictures Cheers, Philippe Perhaps that is why I am struggling; I have a fair few pictures from France (and growing) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Elliott Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 As Mr Morrison would say about the Lakes "move along...nothing to see" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addict Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 And there lies the problem if you don't get out and shoot like red snapper you ain't gonna make any money and you need many 10000s of images to make $ as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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