It has been a few months now since I wrote about nervously submitting my first travel photos to Microstock Agencies (see Selling Your Travel Photos).  So I thought it was time for an update to let you know how I am getting on and what I have learned so far.

All of the images in this post have sold at least once.

Shutterstock

Shutterstock is by far my biggest success, both in terms of the number of images sold and the income earned.  I reached the threshold for my first payout of $50.00, and am now well on the way to the next.

At first, the earnings seemed trivial.  The standard rate for each download from people who have a subscription is only $0.25.  So you would need an awful lot of downloads to make a significant amount.

But then a couple of people purchased images with enhanced licences.  One of these paid over $20.00 (see Mountains near Scuol, Switzerland, above), and one over $12.00 (see Footpath with dappled sunlight, below).   These are far more worthwhile, and they encouraged me to submit many more images.  Obviously the more you have on file, the more likely you are to make sales. (Though of course the subject matter and quality of the images are critically important factors).

I now have over 450 images on Shutterstock, and am submitting more on a regular basis.   If you would like to see all the images I have submitted click My Portfolio.

I am looking forward to the day when I reach total sales of $500 because the standard rate then increases from $0.25 to $0.33.  But I have a long way to go yet….

Other Microstock Agencies

As long as you submit your photos on a non-exclusive basis, you are free to submit them to as many Agencies as you wish, thereby increasing opportunities for sales.  As well as Shutterstock, I submit photos to Bigstock, 123RF, Dreamstime and Adobe.

There have been sales with all four agencies, but none have yet reached the payment threshold.  Although it is time-consuming, I definitely feel it is worth submitting to multiple agencies to increase exposure.  They will all reach the payment threshold in time, and as more images are submitted sales should increase.

Photos sold through Bigstock pay the same rate as Shutterstock (for subscriptions), while those with Dreamstime and Adobe pay more, and 123RF seems to have various rates.

If you choose to submit images to Adobe, be prepared for a lot of rejections, because they are very choosy about which images they accept.  My acceptance rate has been over 90% with each of the other agencies, but less than 50% with Adobe.  At least it is satisfying when an image is accepted (and even more so when one sells!)

Clickasnap

Clickasnap, a site I recently discovered, is different.  Unlike the microstock agencies above, with Clickasnap you are paid each time someone views your photo (for at least 5 seconds).  The amount you get paid per view is tiny (currently $0.0014), but over time these tiny amounts add up, especially if your photos are popular.

You can join for free and upload a limited number of photos to the site each week.  Or you can have a paid account which allows you unlimited uploads.

The great advantage of having a paid seller account is that you can also sell your images as digital downloads, prints, wall displays and various gifts.   You choose which products you wish to offer for any image, and set your own price.

To see how this looks, just click on any of the clickable images on this page.

I am in the process of linking various images on Self Arranged Journeys, Twitter and Tumblr to the corresponding images on Clickasnap.   Then anyone interested in downloading the image or purchasing a product can click straight through.  I haven’t made any sales yet, but hopefully will in the future.

Clickasnap also has a very friendly and supportive community of users, whether you are a professional or just a hobby photographer.  I really enjoy looking at the great photos posted by other members, and seeing their comments about mine.  Its a great site.

What Sells Best

From reading other people’s articles and posts, I believe the best selling photos are ones of interesting people doing interesting things.  Which is unfortunate because my photos tend not to include people.  I like to photograph landscapes, trees and flowers, all of which are a bit over-represented in the microstock agencies.  Therefore competition is stiff, and photos need to be either unusual or very high quality to get noticed.  I am not a trained photographer, and do not have expensive equipment, so I try to take photos that are a bit different.

The photos that have sold best for me have been of very specific locations, or locations that not many people visit (therefore reducing the competition).  Thus if someone searches for images of ‘Paris’, they will get thousands of results, and the chances of them finding one of mine are very low.  But if they search for images of ‘Corvo, The Azores’, the choice would be much less.

Often I have been surprised by which images have sold, and which have not (at least so far).   I was amazed when the photo below of a grassy path beside an old canal in Yorkshire was accepted by Adobe.  And even more amazed when it sold.

Similarly I felt the photo below of Praia on Graciosa Island, The Azores, was not very special, and almost didn’t bother to submit it.  But it has sold four times through Shutterstock!

So my philosophy is that there is no harm in submitting any photo that is half decent and doesn’t contain recognisable people, logos or trademarks.  There is always a chance that it will be accepted, and a chance that it will sell.

More Thoughts and Observations

• Describing and tagging your photos is very important.  Agencies have literally millions of images, and you want people to find yours from the search terms they use.  For the photo above the obvious tags are Praia, Graciosa and Azores, but I would also use boat, sailing boat, yacht, sea, ocean, coast, cliffs, white houses, fields, hedges, grass, hill ……. and any others that come to mind.
• If you have a lot of images, you may be surprised at how long it takes submitting them – especially if you are using several agencies.  Just try to submit a small batch every few days – it is better to submit on a regular basis.
• Be specific with locations.  If possible don’t just put ‘mountain in Scotland’ – include the actual name of the mountain.  Buyers are often looking for a very specific location and are unlikely to find your photo unless the name of this location is included.
• Be patient.  Sometimes I go for days without selling any images at all, and it is easy to get despondent.  But then several will sell in one day.
• Don’t expect to get rich.  Unless you are a very good photographer with a large quantity of images, the money you earn from microstock agencies is likely to be a small but useful supplement to your other income.
• Don’t over-process your images.  Buyers prefer to process images themselves to suit their requirements.  By over-processing you will lose a lot of the original data and limit the options of the buyer.  So even if you feel you can make an image look better, try to reduce cropping, sharpening and colour correction to a minimum.

My main thought is that it costs you nothing except a bit of time to submit your images to agencies.  I find it is really satisfying each time one is downloaded, and any income received is always welcome.  I am hoping the income will increase as the number of imaged I have on file increases, and hopefully (now I have a better camera) my skills as a photographer will improve.

Why not have a critical look through your collection of photos and see if any would be worth a try.  You might just be surprised……..

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