Do you want to get a bigger share of the revenue for your images?

Sooner or later, if you are a keen amateur photographer you will have considered how to make what can be an expensive hobby into an income generating activity. Now you may just want to gain some income to offset the costs without running an actual business. Some people (me included) want to actually make their hobby pay for itself or even make it into a profit generating activity.

As to how, well there are almost as many options as there are camera manufacturers in the world. Here just a few:

Becoming....

1. a wedding photographer....
2. a portrait photographer....
3. an events photographer...
4. an advertising photographer...
5. a corporate photographer...
6. an editorial photographer...
7. a fashion photographer....
8. a fine art...
9. a social photographer...
10. a sports photographer....
11. a photojournalist...

you get the idea!

You may have spotted that I didn't mention 'stock photographer'. The reason is that few photographers start out as a 'stock photographer'. There are several reasons for this but principally you are unlikely to be accepted by most stock libraries just by submitting some of your images. Becoming a stock photographer (a successful one that is) requires dedication and some degree of specialisation. You also need to be able to grasp a brief and shoot what the stock library needs. Most stock libraries will already have on board other photographers who have in all likelihood submitted thousands of images already.

That's not to say you shouldn't consider becoming a pure stock photographer as your first step into the world of professional photography. My recommendation is that you first find your own style of photography... what is known as your USP (Unique Selling Point). What can you bring to the table... are you shooting images no-one else is (unlikely) or do you have your own distinctive style?

Also, can you commit to providing the stock library with fresh images on a regular basis? Stock libraries are businesses and they need images that sell, not just once but on a regular basis. So, either you have built up a significant library of images already that is distinctive enough and is of the required quality, or you can shoot enough images of the right subject and quality on a regular basis for the stock library to take you on.

Another trend you have to take on board is that microstock has now made inroads into the stock photos market. This means that there are millions of images out there available royalty-free for pennies. The days when you could expect hundreds of pounds (dollars, euros etc) for every single image are almost gone. I say 'almost' as it's still possible to get pounds (dollars, euros etc) for usage of your images, if they are of high enough quality and meet the needs of clients out there. If you succeed and manage to get some images accepted by a stock library that pays more than peanuts you will have to accept that 50% (or more) of the revenue generated is taken by the stock library. This has always been seen as fair as they do all the cataloguing, marketing and invoicing on your behalf.

However another development in the market has had an impact on the world of stock photography. We have already mentioned microstock. This means that it's possible to search millions of images online to find what you are looking for at the price you (as a client) can afford to pay. This is only possible because of the internet. Even photographers have benefitted in that they don't need to take their portfolio around the country trying to get a stock library to accept some of their images. Believe me, it's no fun and as I found, there is no guarantee they will take you on!

For the stock library it means they can see the work of many more photographers without leaving their office. Computers are also much more powerful than they used to be 10 years ago. This means cataloguing can almost be automated by databases and make it much easier (with the right keywords) to find the images clients' want.

With these and other developments the market has opened up to two options for photographers wishing to retain more of the revenue from the usage of their images. One is to set up their own stock library. Some photographers prefer this as they retain full control over their image usage and they get to keep all the revenue. It does mean that you also have to do all of the work (or pay someone else to do it).

The other option is to go with a stock library that takes a smaller cut of the revenue. There are some of these around and as technology drives costs down I expect there may well be others entering the market in the future.

This brings me to PICFAIR. They are a relatively new stock library. Their USP is that they pass on more of the revenue from image usage sales to you, the photographer. The way they operate is that you the photographer set the price for usage of your images and they they add on 20% plus a small fee for processing costs. Here is an example of how it works:

Other than that, they operate much as other stock libraries do. The same rules apply in that you need model releases if your images feature people and property releases for some buildings. However, this model has the potential to significantly increase your income from your images.

So, what sort of images do they look for? Well, looking at their website they currently offer images on the following subjects:

1. Celebrate Africa (2,810 results)
2. Eating and drinking (59,1817 results)
3. Travel (1,108,785 results)
4. Nature (1,298,982 results)
5. Sport (285,032 results)
6. Cities and buildings (852,601 results)
7. Animals (373470 results)
8. Business and technology (1,174,463 results)
9. Transportation (262,164 results)
10. Family (322,714 results)
11. People (2,426,094 results)
12. Black and white (64,669 results)
13. United Kingdom (60,172 results)

As for pricing, their price for editorial and personal usage starts at £10 (your share) plus the 20% on top with a small processing fee (charged to client). So, you would get £10. If you sign up for their Standard & Advertising you will be able to charge higher fees. 

If you want to explore in more detail what they do and sign up as a contributor, visit their site here. (NB: This is an referral link - if you click on it and join up or buy images from them I will get a small amount of money - helps keep me blogging. Thank you in advance).