anna182016 Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Hello people I am New to stock photos taking picture now is my hobbies, I am single mom with Disability and just wondering if i can make money doing Photography,I did sold 5 times to other companies but that is not enough i don't have a lot of photos yet i did uploaded 3 photos here 1 on sale.So how is everybody doing here you making a lot of sale here? Please give me advise help me out thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Welcome from a fellow Canadian. I hate to disappoint, but unless you have thousands of images on Alamy (and I mean over 10,000) it is unlikely you will make a living. And as a non-European photographer, it is even tougher. Alamy is UK based, so its biggest clients are in the UK. And the prices have fallen drastically. You are competing against some of the best professional photographers, so your photography skills, camera skills and post processing skills have to be top notch. I make enough with my meager 2100 images to pay for my Adobe subscription for PhotoShop and cover the cost of my camera gear with maybe a little left over for the odd dinner out. It is not my main income, but I would like to to be in about 5 years, but somehow I think that will be unlikely. The competition is very tough. Good luck, Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna182016 Posted March 23, 2017 Author Share Posted March 23, 2017 Thankyou Jill I didn't say to make money for a living just a little bit extra income is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Place 2000 to 3000 really good images with subjects buyers want time and time again and well keyworded (tagged) with Alamy and you should see sales. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna182016 Posted March 23, 2017 Author Share Posted March 23, 2017 Thanks Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Shantz Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 I think the answer to your question depends mostly on two things that only you can answer, and that really aren't any of our business. The first you've touched on -- that you only want a little additional income. The catch is what you mean by "a little bit". In my opinion, $2000 per year should be possible, $10,000 hard to do, and much over that would require real work and business ability (And note that the ability to take good photos is not the same thing as taking saleable photos -- it is necessary, but not enough.) And with stock prices going down, you may find that you have to work harder each year just to stay even. But then you might get lucky and find a niche that does very well for you. You won't know if you don't try. The second problem is the amount of work required to create a portfolio that has a realistic chance of generating income. Even if one of your first uploads were to be selected for purchase on the day it was uploaded, it could be several months before the sale was reported and several additional months before you were paid. I see stock as a business where you will have to put in a serious amount of work for a year or so before you even begin to know if you have made a good decision. I'm sure many people who might have succeeded get discouraged and quit long before there was any chance to generate meaningful sales. My average net income for the last four years was $1400 per year on an average of about 12,000 photos. But please note that my photos are almost all of subjects I like to photograph, not ones that I think are most likely to sell. Others on this forum routinely note much higher sales per image than I do. As Jill pointed out, Alamy is UK based although they do have US offices. Being in Arizona hasn't helped my sales, but I do still make them often enough to buy an occasional toy. But don't let that discourage you -- there are plenty of subjects that have somewhat universal appeal. And I have had distributor sales of Arizona subjects to several different foreign countries. If you look at many of the portfolios on Alamy you will see a large number of travel photos, or photos of subjects ( celebrities, politicians, historic buildings, etc. ) that you may well not have access to. Don't let that put you off. Several successful contributors have noted in their posts that almost all of their images were taken within 50 miles or so of their home. And a significant number within walking distance. The range of possible images for you is limited only by your imagination. I've had an image of a dead skunk in the road sell, as well as a steel fence post supporting a barb wire fence. I have no idea what they were used for. I see many images of food on Alamy, but since I'm not into it I can't tell you whether or not they sell. Maybe you have a friend with a restaurant. Likewise, cut-outs (objects on a white background) are fairly common photos. If there is a thrift store near you, you might be able to work out a deal to borrow interesting items for photos. Your neighbors might be willing to trade model releases for a little babysitting. Alamy accepts archival photographs -- many are just copies of illustrations in old books and / or magazines. I've stayed away from them so far because I don't see the return as being worth the risk of copyright problems, but others obviously feel different. Your local library might turn out to be a good source of saleable photos. The possibilities are endless. Just don't forget that even simple subjects will take time and effort to process, upload and keyword. Most posters here seem to feel that around 5000 images are required for a meaningful return, and I agree with them. Some who have a feel for, and access to, more saleable photos generate a meaningful return with a much smaller number of images. Once again, the only way to find our what your results will be is to invest the time and effort necessary. You won't get rich with any of these ideas, but you might reach your goal. It will be a lot of work, but work that may be more in line with what you can do that any other options for paying work. Good luck. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Welcome, Anna. As others have mentioned, this is a tough business. However, it can be very enjoyable, and you will learn a lot on the forums. There are some very knowledgeable people here. A general rule of thumb is that, as a newcomer, you can expect about one sale per month per 1000 images that you have on sale. I do better than that -- roughly two sales per 1000 images every month -- but I've been with Alamy for almost ten years. Good luck from Vancouver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeCee Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Hi Anna, and welcome to Alamy. As others have stated, it's a long journey to success here, but like all long journeys, they start with the first step. You've taken the first, hope the rest of the journey gets better and better. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna182016 Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 Thank you all for your advise but can you check my images i have 10 on sale but u can see 3 photos see if im doing ok? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Your images are fine but you are over keywording your images. If it isn't in the image, you shouldn't put it in your keywords (tags). This will give you false views of your images and end up hurting your Alamy ranking. You have the following tags for one image of the Telus Science Building. - coastline, skyline, seawall, stadium, skyscraper, coastal, creek. None of these are visible in your image. Yes, the building is on the coastline and would be part of the skyline if you were looking out from the water but that isn't the view of the image. You will end up with false vies of people searching these words. Someone searching Vancouver coastline isn't looking for an image of a specific building on the coastline. It is a battle to get your images on the first few pages of any search so you want to keep all views you get relevant to what the buyer searched for. Then you are more likely to get zooms which will improve your ranking. Always think before you add tags: If a buyer used this search term, would they be looking for my image? If the answer is no, then don't include the tag. Remember, the more views you get without zooms, hurts your ranking and you don't want to end up at the bottom. All new members start with a median rank and you only want to go up, not down. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Some of your captions need work as well. They should be as descriptive (and accurate) as possible. e.g. "One of the rides in Play Dome on spring break" doesn't give enough info -- describe what is happening in the image, give name of ride and location of Play Dome, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna182016 Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 idk the name of the rides ehhhh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 idk the name of the rides ehhhh If you can, the more info supplied the better. Taking notes at events, etc. can really come in handy later on. Looks as if you have the only images of "Play Dome" available on Alamy. Good going. TELUS World of Science images are another story, though. There's no shortage of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Anna, you've been offered some good advise on this thread. I think Robert Shantz's post is very detailed and helpful. I'll just add one point: Alamy stock is a long game. To succeed you have to hang in there and keep producing. Too many new contributors upload a few hundred images and then sit back to see what happens before making a full commitment. That's a program for failure. I've been with Alamy since 2008, and only in the last few years have I been getting regular sales and payments. Good luck, whatever you decided to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cecile Marion Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Hello, Anna, and welcome to Alamy. As someone who is also new, it is really helpful for me to keep hearing the "long game" reminders posted fairly regularly on this forum. I joined in January and had one one sale in February, which was certainly a big surprise. Nothing since, but I have a little hope for the future and continue to build up my portfolio. Reading posts from more seasoned contributors here has been most helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna182016 Posted April 3, 2017 Author Share Posted April 3, 2017 thankyou everyone for the great advice i will work with the description and tag you guys are very helpful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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