Photo stocks, how many in this word. In short, for those who are not in the subject, photo stocks are resources where you can upload your photos, videos, vectors, etc. for subsequent sale.
Today we will talk about how things are as of 2020.
Personal experience is present, because to this day I lazily load something on selling platforms. We will talk about this and many interesting subtleties further.
prehistory
Photo stocks seriously came to light in 2003, with the advent of the top and now Shutterstock. Yes, back in 2000, the second powerful competitor, iStock, was born, but with the advent of Shutter, everything went much more fun. These two stocks "made wind" in the world of photo content and its sales.
In parallel with them and later, all sorts of depositphotos, bigstockphoto, alamy, dreamstime and a dozen more appeared. The sellers were actually 3-4 photo stocks.
Separately, I want to say about Fotolia. This photostock confidently kept in the top three, but then turned sour. Over time, it was bought by Adobe.
Point of entry
The entry point collapsed somewhere else in 2010-2012. The most βcreamβ was the βpouringβ of photographs from 2006 to 2010. Firstly, the niche was not mastered and many simply did not even hear about it. Secondly, every year professional/semi-professional equipment became more and more accessible, and photo-burning plants were already overcrowded by 2012.
The βcreamβ was that there were few people, a lot of unoccupied thematic niches, excellent conditions for authors (every year photo stocks became more and more goofy and cut down the percentage of sales). Having a portfolio of 5000+ photos in the portrait or subject category, the author easily received $ 1000-1500 / month from one photo bank. Given the fact that there were a few more - think for yourself.
But there were also disadvantages (although, for me, these are pluses). Strict criteria for photo acceptance, an exam, complex design and keyword tagging of each photo, low upload speeds (even via ftp), a passport for registration.
Personal experience
Getting on the Shutter was a real challenge for me. I never considered myself a photographer, and with my modest Canon 1000D and a pair of lenses, I shot family and landscapes with butterflies. I am a person who is interested in many types of activities, I decided: why not.
And so, I started to storm 2 tops - Shutterstock and iStock (now getty images). Stuffed cones, gained experience. The year was 2012-2013, i.e. I fell under the twilight of this whole newbie thread. In less than six months, I was approved for the top two, and I easily made it to the rest of the heels.
I turned around, what and how, took a closer look at what niches I could pull. People is one of the most sold categories to this day, but there are so many problems with licenses from those you shoot, game. I chose the niche of product photography. I made a lightcube and go ahead to take pictures of apples, and various objects. While delving into all this, the enthusiasm diminished. Then came the first sales. Funny, 30-40 cents. There were also $ 2-5, but very rarely.
There are several types of licenses for a purchased photo on photo stocks, and the price depends on this.
I twitched to a portfolio of 500+ photos and got tired. The competition during these years was already wild. The old people from 2005-2006 sat and giggled, as the youth tears and mosques. And what do they care, they have portfolios, a name, their regular customers.
So I twitched and realized that this is not my topic. This is real work, and photography should be fun. Over the years, second-class photo stocks collapsed, some still exist, but there are practically no sales from them. Even Russian photo stocks tried to launch, but that was more for laughter. The same Pressfoto, there was a passerby back in those days.
It became a pity to throw all this, and I stopped pouring photos from the SLR. I also played around with video banks like Pond5, etc., but it didnβt take off, because the quadrocopters jammed everyone with their spans.
Now, I sluggishly add photos from my mobile phone (can you imagine, they even buy them), but this is no longer purposeful, but at the same time. I rummage something on insta or facebook, why not duplicate it on the stock, if some kind of landscape is beautiful. What's funny, lately, sales of mobile photos are on the rise, well, everyone has a couple of photos in their portfolio that take the most. I have a toad on a water lily, a toy cat and dinosaurs. All this is funny. I quickly realized what was what and poured.
Why is everything more difficult now, it's time to "dry the oars"
Everything is simple:
- competition (units + vehicles);
- mitigation of quality requirements and relaxation of these authors;
- the percentage of sales is less and less (reached a couple of cents sometimes);
- certain and popular niches, in which many people do not have the opportunity and desire to shoot, are crammed with authors in abundance;
- if earlier a portfolio of 5000 photos brought a significant income, now you need 3-4 times more.
These are the main criteria by which this attractive hobby will turn into a routine.
Yes, I donβt argue, an intelligent and stubborn one will take his place under the sun, but he will quickly create his own website / studio and will work and earn money there.
I know some stockers who hung out on one of the best Runet forums in this topic - the Zastavkin forum, left stocks and started selling directly. Selling photos for $200 and getting $10-15 from it at best is demotivating. It's like with YouTube and its requisitions, the same thing.
Tips for beginners
For those who are not yet in the know and want to try their hand at this business, I advise you to start exclusively with Shutterstock and iStock (now getty images). These are two leaders who really sell something there. The rest - sour. There were promising ones, but, alas, ah.
Niches. People, subject, vector, sensible video - it sells well in the appropriate quality and portfolio volumes. It is necessary to forge a lot and often. Pour and pour. There are also narrow themes, such as old people playing golf, etc. It also shoots well. Landscapes, animals and the whole collective farm - this is for the home archive. On the drains, this is not ale. Although, you can buy a dog.
In general, if you have enough patience and skill, you can make another income item, but as an additional one. In order to live from the drains, this is not the beginning of the 2000s for you. Now you need to plow. Yes, I'll tell you, and throw 5k photographs - it was one more hell. I have thrown 500 so far - I waved. Now they are accepting everything. Previously, they cut up to 80% of the content from the batch. Either oversharp, then sharpness, composition, or just PMS from the moderator. Now, such game is accepted that a person who comes in to buy something will have to spend a lot of time searching for the right and really high-quality material.
Simplified loading and keywords. Now you can pour directly from your mobile phone. I inserted a photo, and it pulls up the key for you. Pressed 2 buttons and vzhuh.
This is from the photo, here is every mom's paparazzi. With a vector it is much more difficult and there is less competition. Here, at least some kind of brain is needed, and you cannot master Adobe Illustrator in two clicks. This is where you can stand out. Vector cool buy.
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Source: habr.com