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Photobuyers at the special interest magazines and publishing houses that have dominated the editorial marketplace since the 1980’s, prefer to deal with editorial photographers who specialize in the particular subject matter the buyers focus on. These buyers generally haven’t wanted to deal with freelance photographers who may have excellent photos, but whose subject matter is scattered all over the board, with only thin coverage in any one area. For the amount of time and the work it takes a buyer (up till now, that is) to establish a working relationship with a photographer, buyers have wanted to make sure that a photographer could be an ongoing resource, with in-depth coverage of the subject area the buyer needs.
TURNING THE CORNER
No more. "The Web is changing the marketing landscape," I said to Jim. "Thanks to search engines on the Web, photobuyers no longer need to be concerned with locating photographer-specialists in their subject area. Nor do buyers need to go through the former labor-intensive process to find, say, 'a recent image of a soapbox derby on the Fourth of July in Madison, Iowa.'
"In the past, a photo researcher who needed that 'just right' image would have to look through library books that featured soapbox derbies. Or they would phone associations of soapbox derby people and get standard cliche shots, some of them decades old. Or they would try to sift through images at a local stock agency."
"Now what do they do?" Jim asked.
"When a photobuyer needs a picture of a soapbox derby, they can locate a photographer who has the picture, or locate the picture itself, on the Web."
“But aren’t on-line photos expensive?” Jim asked.
"It depends on their use," I said. "If you are an ad agency and want exclusive use of the photos and need model releases on the photos, the on-line Web sites can arrange that for you, and you'll pay a hefty price for that exclusivity.
“On the other hand, if a buyer doesn’t need to be concerned about model releases or who else has also used a particular picture that they want to use, they’ll find a variety of fees, ranging from $5 to $35 per photo, on services that offer "royalty-free" images. With royalty-free images, however, they’ll also find a great range in quality of the photos, and have to expect to pick and choose.
“Because the process is automated, royalty-free companies can offer low fees. In contrast, managed-rights stock photo companies, because they can offer a purchase history of an image and because their service process is labor intensive, can charge high fees. Independent stock photographers can charge somewhere in between."
GENERIC IMAGES
"But could a photo editor or researcher find that Fourth of July soapbox derby picture in one of those massive on-line photo Web sites?"
"The large image services that are on-line would rarely have a picture as specific as that. They will post mainly generic pictures that can be used for a variety of situations. They like photos that can be used for multiple uses, giving the promise of extra mileage for each picture they accept for their service. But there’s a drawback. If the photo can be used for a variety of uses, it probably wouldn’t be the optimum choice for a specific use.
“Here’s where the Web now offers individual photographers the opportunity to compete with the major on-line agencies," I said.
"How so?"
"The emphasis of most independent stock photographers is the opposite of on-line Web site agencies. While the agencies feature generic pictures on their Web sites, independent photographers feature descriptions of highly specific pictures, such as `ultralite flight over Victoria Falls,' or ‘air traffic controller in Nairobi.’"
“You mean the photographers enter in text descriptions of photos on the Web? Shouldn’t they display the photos themselves?”
“No. If a photo researcher needs a highly specific picture, say of a `soapbox derby on the Fourth of July in Madison, Iowa,' they don't want to start off by searching through reams of Fourth of July pictures, or soapbox derby pictures. They'd rather first locate a source - a photographer who is an expert in soapbox derbies or parades. The quickest way to do that is to make a Web search by using a text description rather than searching through actual photos. It's been said, 'a picture is worth a thousand words,' but on the Web, a word comes up a thousand times faster than a 1 Meg high-resolution picture. Photo researchers are interested in first finding a source for their photos they need.
"They can use Web search engines to accomplish this. Then they'll ask to see the pictures."
THE SAME FIREPOWER
"Once the majority of photo researchers begin using the power of the Web, an individual stock photographer will have the same firepower as a major stock agency. It won't matter to a photo researcher if the image comes from a major stock agency or an individual stock photographer. If it's on-target, the photo editor will make arrangements to buy it."
Jim said, "Well, it just so happens I have a great shot of a soapbox derby taken on the Fourth of July in Madison, Iowa. I'm a member of PSA (Photographic Society of America), and the picture was chosen to be exhibited at our annual PSA International conference last year. What do I do next?"
"Rush, don't walk," I said. "Put text descriptions of all your top images in a Web site that lists text descriptions. Some Web sites also let you exhibit examples of your images.
“If you do place images on the Web, remember to also list text descriptions of them. Reason? Google, Yahoo! and other search engingines index millions of sample images in highly specific subject areas. Photobuyers will find your sample photos if you also include a text description."
Hundreds, thousands, of first-rate photos sit languishing in people's personal databases and files around the country, going no place but out of date. The Web now offers more photographers an opportunity to share their photos with the world.
Does this mean photographers no longer need to specialize in order to succeed in stock photography? Not exactly. It’s true you can sell a single photo through this Internet search method. But more importantly, if a photobuyer seeks you out through a web search and you have a deep selection of photos on the subject to offer the buyer, it means you can make multiple sales on the subject from your files. Also, you can become a valuable resource to that photobuyer for future sales because your photo collection and interest area matches their publishing theme, whether it’s dog training or race horses, Hollywood celebrities of power gliding.
Rohn Engh is director of PhotoSource International and publisher of PhotoStockNotes. Pine Lake Farm, 1910 35th Road, Osceola, WI 54020 USA. Telephone: 1 800 624 0266 Fax: 1 715 248 7394. Web site: <http://www.photosource.com/products> Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rohn_Engh