Go iStockphoto.com
Look at this. I don't get it one bit but I love that Corbis is bowing to the power of the crowd. iStockphoto must be onto something.
Here's hoping Ed Hidden and Bill Crawford are doing well.
Make pictures.
February 15, 2007
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14 comments:
I heard place like iStockPhoto were a rip off for what they pay the artists to what they probably make. Ive' steered clear but I do like the studio lighting.net podcast, sometimes can be fun...tis where I found out about here :)
i'm not claiming iStockphoto is good for artists. you aren't gonna find me selling my images for a dollar anytime soon and I don't know why anyone would. my point was simply that the big guys are being affected by the little upstart and i like rooting for the underdog.
in the end, it's all probably bad for photographers who make a living on stock. i'm glad that doesn't include me...yet.
iStock's photographers are making as much or more per image per year as traditional stock houses (except maybe for Getty whose photographers make quite a bit more). Check it out before you dismiss it.
I'm not dismissing it. I wish it and everyone associated with it well. I am merely a bystander.
You edit.
huh? i edit? yes, i edit. what are you getting at? that i should submit my secondary images to microstock? no thanks. i can't be bothered. that's just me. others may love the idea and have the time.
The question is what kind of a photographer does one want to be...traditionally, photography was one of the more expensive endeavours and hard to get any returns. My fear with places like iStock is that they might lure you into working just for them.
Or maybe I'm just afraid that they make photographers compromise their standards.
i could argue that the cost of being a photographer hasn't gone down. Having to buy a new camera every two years, computers, RAIDs, etc. It gets pricey fast.
That said, those tempted or who think that getting fractions of a dollar for one of their images to be used in perpetuity are probably not thinking it through as a business. While I understand there are some folks making lots of money with that model, they are likely still selling themselves short and are the exceptions to the rule.
Ro, don't lower your standards. My understanding is they are actually very picky about which images get accepted to iStockphoto. Where you would be compromising is in demanding more for your efforts.
Look, I'm fighting a rising tide here. The crowd-source model is a powerful and persuasive one. For now, I am fleeing to higher ground to continue my evaluation. And maybe, just maybe, I'll submit a photo or two into that sea just to see what happens.
Clay, I've been a fan of yours for a while. I often follow your flickr posts and you seem like a swell guy. I appreciate that you can see the forest for the trees on most topics. And this post in particular has made me appreciate your views even more.
I am a friend of Ed and Bill and one of the top 35 photographers on istockphoto and also an istockphoto image inspector. I can definitely understand the feelings that most pro photographers feel towards microstock. But it makes me feel good that you don't diss on it so harshly like most people have. There are several people like me who have joined istockphoto as hobbyist photographers who thought that they could make some money from the photos that they have hanging around. However, I give istockphoto all of the credit for helping me to evolve into the pro photographer that I've become. My knowledge of photography has grown and so has the experience and opportunities that I've had outside of istockphoto. Besides the money that draws people to the site, the closely knit community and willingness of everyone to help each other out is what really means a lot to me and other people on the site.
So just stopping by to say thanks! I look forward to seeing more of your work and I hope that I'll get to meet you someday. After all, Ed has told me that if he were a chick, he'd think you were hot. So now I know that I MUST meet you. haha :)
yes! i love that. i never even thought about how something like microstock could be such a wonderful community and a stepping stone for folks.
awesome.
there's a reason i entitled the post "go istockphoto," I'm rooting for them. my allegiance is with them and not just because i have friends there.
let it be said too that istockphoto has some amazing images. if i was still an art director, i'd be buying images from them by the dozen on a daily basis. they have some strong stuff. no doubt, thanks to the rigorous standards of the inspectors.
This ended up being quite the chatty comment thread, but I think it is good and interesting plus hearing the views of andipantz also as a hobbyist turn istockphotoist is very interesting as well. I would think that flickr has done the same thing, that is creating an environment for those new to photography to learn and grow. I am personally at the point where I want take a college course to learn more and gain more street cred to my images I do create (which I create for the fun of making pictures). Though all interesting points of views, and I am sure this topic will and is beat to death on numerous sites and forums :)
i started this blog with the hopes of inspiring and informing folks. if they find it here or on flickr (a facinating site) or with istockphoto that's a good thing. making strong images is paramount. how you come that is up to you. good luck to everyone.
iStock is a flaming ripoff in beautiful hip clothing. They pay you $1 per image sold, and dont tell you where its going.
If you just check a little box, your image is sold all rights, all markets for a whopping $75. I know there are photogs with 80k downloads, so maybe that's 50k dollars, for what, five years of solid work? Everyone in their forums sounds like a zombie licking their master's a**. If that's the way they wanna go down, then ok, but BLOW ME ISTOCK.
Blow me iStock is right. I've worked multiple hours, over multiple years to have images rejected over and over - finally to spend umteen more hours filling in the forms and getting model releases. And after five years? A whopping $40 bucks in my account. I'm not doing this full-time, but it's defintely pushed me to doing something else to supplement my photography as a busines. Now a hobby thanks to iStock and cheap returns.
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