A better question might be, “What’s NOT up with stock photography?”  Answer? Royalties, number of paid productions, royalty free and rights managed revenues and photographer satisfaction.

A few points on the graph are on the upswing: number of people submitting photos, number of photos being used, number of photos submitted, growth of the microstock agencies’ revenue and the quality of images available to buyers from microstock.

The scales are overloaded with bad news for professional photographers that have depended on stock sales as their major source of revenue over the past few decades. Hand wringing, doomsday predictions and misplaced insults only create the illusion that one is doing something about the situation.

It's not the end of the world, photographers! © Liliya Abdullina | Dreamstime.com

The industry has radically changed.  It is not likely to ever return to its glory days. What to do about the current state of affairs?

1.   If stock makes up your sole income and your work is so specialized that only a few could fill your niche; congratulations, you are safe for now.

2.   If not, develop alternative income and soon.  What can you do with your skill set outside of stock? The hard fact is that some of you will choose to leave the industry. You will trade places with the amateurs that left their day jobs to become serious about stock.  Those of you who make that decision are not failing but growing.

3.   Create innovative images that will satisfy the most discriminating art buyer and place them in rights managed collections. (The revenues may be in decline but millions are still generated with these licenses)

The recession has contributed something to the decline in stock photo reviews.© Stephen Vanhorn | Dreamstime.com

4.   Shrink your overheads to match your declining stock revenues. You can do it; most of America has figured out how in the last two years. Start with reviewing renegotiating charges for insurance, products and services.

5.   Develop as many revenue streams as possible. That will include participating in microstock for some.

6.   Revitalize your assignment business. Only a few have the talent, equipment, business skills and eye to consistently bring back the money shot. Make certain that that person is you by constantly improving and updating your skills and business sense.  You may be an artist but you must be a savvy business person to succeed.

Part II What’s up with microstock?  To follow

This post first appeared in slightly different form on the ASMP Strictly Business Blog

In Chapter Five of Microstock Money Shots-Popular Themes Without People, I devote a few pages to the art of photographing food. I mention tips for creating images of appetizing plates of food if a stylist isn’t in your budget because even the most delicious tasting items often look unappetizing and utterly disgusting through the lens without the skills that a  food stylist brings to the table.

Although images with complex prop styling remaining popular, less emphasis on the props is a more contemporary look. © Jiri Bursik | Dreamstime.com

Not all culinary shoots can bear the cost of a stylist so build a few of their tricks into your skill set. There have been a spat of articles by food prop stylists as well as about food photography in the past months. (A prop stylist is the one responsible for the non food items in a shoot such as the type of flatware, centerpieces and other extraneous materials to add to a themed photo)  A food stylist may double as the prop stylist as well as preparing food for the camera.

The summer 2010 issue of the pricey and erudite magazine, Gastromonica, has an intriguing article about the evolution of prop styling for food photography. The author, Francine Matalon-degni, presents a lengthy review of how food photography has evolved from the flowery, heavily propped shots from the early 1990′s to the redesigned Bon Appetit and Martha Stewart minimalist images a few years into the 2000′s and on such as…”full-page bleeds of creamy sauces, landscapes of scalloped potatoes and enormous blocks of beef”. She discusses how a photo of a perfectly plated piece of pie went from being the norm to some of today’s images showing forks and  crumbs left on the plate as if the photographer has caught the eater just leaving the table.  Along the way in this lengthy piece, she equates food prop styling to changes in the American politcal scene…a reach but then we ARE what we eat.

Some food editors have gone to the extreme of showing no props and only crumbs of the food. ©Olivierl/Dreamstime.com

Cautionary note: I was reviewing a group of images shot in a kitchen with a model supposedly preparing a meal. What I saw was the work of an overly enthusiastic stylist: every vegetable for a soup was lined up in perfect rows and neatly sliced. Fruit in a bowl on the counter looked like a display at an eleborate buffet in a hotel’s breakfast room. The pans on the stove came straight from the store and had nothing in them. Lesson? Add a little reality to your cooking shots by actually having something in the pot on the stove. Make the kitchen appear as natural as possible and that means a tiny bit of a mess.

Secrets to great photos of salad? One tip: spray with water instead of salad oil for longer lasting, fresh look. © Attila Kadar | Dreamstime.com

The New York Times often features articles directed at photographers with instructions on the technical tips to use in food photography from the “Diner’s Journal columns. The latest, by Andrew Scrivani, is called “How to plan a food shoot” and an earlier piece concerned Four manual settings you need to know when shooting food.

Food stylist and author Denise Vivaldo gives some good tips for styling salads and preparing chicken in two separate videos. Want the lettuce in the salad to remain perky? Pack the bowl with wet paper towels before adding ingredients and plop some mashed potatoes under the lettuce. Stand a few leaves upright in the potatos. Catch the video here. Or to get a jump on prepping a lucious looking (but nearly raw chicken or turkey) for holiday shoots watch this. (Cover your ears after the first several “You Guys”.)

NPR’s All Things Considered offers help in building towering sandwiches…gaffer’s tape anyone? In an interview with food stylist Delores Custer, it’s suggested that mortican’s wax is a perfect adhesive to keep cutlery in place…remember just because it’s pretty doesn’t mean you should eat the stuff once the shoot is a wrap!

A photographer whose still life images are brilliant is Mitchell Feinberg. Check him out in this  Photography Post.

(Back to Chapter Five of Microstock Money Shots. It is about much more than shooting food. The photographers whose work  appears in the chapter are below:)

Chapter Opener: Carnival ride- Racheal Grazias

Dove in flight-Christopher Ewing

House of Parliment, London-Maksym Gorpenyuk

BBQ doesn't always mean beef! ©Armonn/Dreamstime.com

African with face paint-Lucian Coman

Colorful guitars-Ilya D. Gridnev

Shark from below-Joshua Haviv

Owl in flight-Brian Hansen Stock Photography

Wolf spider captures a blowfly-Cathy Keifer

Snow Monkeys-F. Mann

Peaceful landscape-Piotr Skubisz

Close-up of a leaf-Coolr

Coyote crossing the road-Nelson Hale

Lightning and small boat in storm at sea-Russ Allen

Toronto Caribbean Day parade-A.C. Gobin

Asian statues against red-Juha Sompkinmaki

Beach with palms and blue water-Petra Silhava

China’s Bird Nest Stadium-Orpheus

House of Parliment, London-Maksym Gorpenyuk

Shots against white are popular for menu boards © Juliengrondin | Dreamstime.com

African with face paint-Lucian Coman

Colorful guitars-Ilya D. Gridnev

Shark from below-Joshua Haviv

Owl in flight-Brian Hansen Stock Photography

Wolf spider captures a blowfly-Cathy Keifer

Snow Monkeys-F. Mann

Peaceful landscape-Piotr Skubisz

Close-up of a leaf-Coolr

Field of lettuce-Laurent Renault

An image of a key ingredient can be very simple and yet still effective ©Yekophotostudio/Dreamstime

Variety of deserts-Regien Paassen (Also on the cover)

Salad-Rohit Seth

Holiday turkey-Olga Lyubkina

Hamburger-Sergey Peterman

Casual Friday concept-Eutock

Big dog and little dog-Eric Isselee (Also on the back cover)

Inside the curl of a giant wave-Mana Photo

Snarling dog-ZelenenkyyYuriy

Close-up of bees in hive-Florin Tirlea

Dining room-Chad McDermott

Home exterior-Ken Hurst

Fireworks-Galyna Andrushko

The  panels at CEPIC, especially at the day long New Media Day organized by Microstock Diaries’ Lee Torrens, were thought provoking and for the most part, interesting.  I especially enjoyed the dialog between Sarah Fix from Blend Images and Taylor Davidson on my panel on the future: Taylor posed the question, “What core value does an agency create and deliver?” Sarah came back with some smart answers. I’ll interview her soon for a run down of her remarks. Unfortunately time ran out but we hope to continue the dialog  around the subject of disruption in the stock photo business at PhotoPlus Expo in the fall.

Ellen Boughn from Stock Photography Strategies, USA at the Rotunda in Dublin City Hall for a VIP Reception ©ctk photobank

Here are the best places to learn about what went on at CEPIC:

Tweek’s Daily newspaper

Videos posted to Vimeo: (Excellent selection of well made videos from the panels)

Selected (curated to use a popular word at CEPIC) vids on YouTube:

VIP Reception

Pavel’s interview with me

Beatte interview with CEPIC’s Klaus Plauman

FastMediaMagazine interview with Maria Kessler at Image Rights

StockPhotoPress Interview mit Norbert Weber von Polylooks auf der CEPIC 2010 in German

Flavors of CEPIC by Pavel

Interview with Pond5 video by Pavel

Flickr photo stream by Taylor Davidson

Complete photo coverage by ctkphotobank and previous years too

I have attended CEPIC almost every year since I held the position of Executive Editor at Corbis in 1997. (At least I believe an event in London was an early precursor to CEPIC as I recall being on a boat on the Thames with some Germans and Roger Ressmeyer taking a photo of me that he magically sent to my husband by the miracle of digital photography and email. AMAZING it was then.)

Once the delegates to the Congress are home , the content of the panels and discussions meld into the over all business view of those attending but the connections grow into good business.  We are daily connected in ways that dwarf our previous means of communication with business colleagues via the post, fax or even email. Even so there is nothing that compares to the many business relationships forged with international colleagues over a drink, serendipitously at a lunch table or during an impromptu or scheduled meeting. These can only happen in person and for stock businesses and archives, only at CEPIC.

Ellen Boughn in the stands at the new Aviva Stadium in Dublin for CEPIC interview with Pavel Losevsky

I have thought that CEPIC might be losing its relevance. But what was demonstrated by this year’s invigorated CEPIC is an industry strengthened and changed by outside forces that is smarter, quicker and, though smaller, stronger. Plan on coming to CEPIC in 2011 to keep up with the changes.

*Thanks to Russian photographer/videographer Pavel Losevsky who tirelessly documented CEPIC and the offical photographers from ctk photobank

Next week I will be joining colleagues Cathy Yeulet (MonkeyBusinessImages), Shannon Fagan (photographer), Taylor Davidson (business strategies), and Kelly Thompson (iStockphoto) in Dublin, Ireland as I host a panel entitled, The Future, at the New Media Conference. This crystal ball event (not of the disco type but more the fortune teller type of thing) will examine a central issue in the working lives of professional, stock photographers now in mid-2010: What’s next?

New Media Conference June 9, Dublin Ireland

Stock photographers worldwide are ringing their hands. They are seemingly in the midst of a perfect storm of events: relatively cheap digital cameras with decent resolution; a thundering crowd rushing toward microstock and helping turn the best of them into serious pros; established microstock photographers seeing declines in revenue as traditional stock photographers jump on that bandwagon; an Internet that sucks up photos by the billions; advertising budgets in the tank and magazines dropping dead. Some say revenues are falling like birds from the sky but overheads are still flying high.

Assigning blame for shifts in the industry is as silly as blaming the Internet for the fact that our way of life has been fundamentally changed forever. We are living through a period of unprecedented change and you as a photographer may get flattened as it rolls through the industry. What will you do to adapt; to stay on your feet?

Join us at the New Media Conference for ideas. You as a photographer are going to have to think your way out of the present into a productive future and here is a chance to bounce your thoughts off others who have been spending a great deal of time pondering the issues. Will Google Image search become monetized? Will Flicker, Creative Commons and Plus get together to organize another third party to issue image licenses…bypassing the Getty gatekeepers?  What’s next?

Taylor wrote about one of the events that will happen around CEPIC and the New Media Conference:

“Before the Future”, June 8th
Ellen, Shannon, Lee Torrens and I will be hosting an invite-only social mixer called “Before the Future” on the night of June 8th before the New Media Conference kicks off the next day. Our goal is to bring together a diverse set of thinkers in the photography industry and create thoughtful and valuable conversations and connections between people driving the future of the photography industry. And, well, have a good time.

Thank you to Jonathan Ross and Space Images for sponsoring the mixer.

A sad but true fact is that many photographers will leave professional photography behind and seek new challenges over the next months and years. Some will go completely broke while they wait for the business to return to previous levels. But others, and I hope you are one of them, will discover how they can use their skill and expertise in a related field. (I don’t think salvation for most lies in transitioning to video.)

What new ventures will appear? Will the time come that finally buries the stock photographer for good or will this be a time of energized regrouping and give us new businesses where the skills and talents of photographers/photoeditors/producers/stylists/etc are again valued?  I hope for the latter but know that the rewards of recovery will be going to a much smaller set of photographers.

Join us at the New Media Conference next week to listen and learn while adding your voice to the discussion about what’s next. Want even more information…illustrated? Lee Torrens has it all mapped out for you.

And if you are there, stop by and say Hello and thanks to the New Media Conference sponsor JaincoTech.

Last week I closed my post with the mention that two items had caused me to wonder about the possibilities of future changes in the microstock business. First there was Tony Stone entering the market with his statement that he would help Vivozoom ‘focus on the most relevant images” and then an announcement from Microstock Israel that it would concentrate on images of life in Israel and the Middle East.

Stock photographers have been developing niches and specialties since the camera was invented. Many independent photo agencies, in the past, were known for a niche or specialty. If a picture researcher wanted a photo of a historical event, she/he went to the Bettmann Archive; for current events to Black Star or Magnum; for access to National Geographic photographers to Woodfin Camp; for science to PhotoResearchers; for lifestyle to Image Bank or the Stock Market. Several of these collections still thrive but some are closed or the brand and its culture lost to the uber-brands of Getty or Corbis.

Instead of contacting independent, specialized companies, today’s image buyers rely on keyword search and hope to find relevant content. But since few editors/keyworders or executives in the large RF/RM portals have expertise in niche fields, important images within a specialized field can go astray. They are lost in the vast middle of an online collection because the keywords don’t identify the key aspects of a technical subject or do so inaccurately. Since niche collections have a niche group of buyers, the images are not downloaded as much as more popular themes like business or families.  Thus they don’t license as often and are often dropped because of it. A lot of specialized visual knowledge has been lost to the industry with consolidation. (Nevertheless keyword accuracy and relevant search are much more likely in one of the traditional companies than at any of the microstock sites.)

According to Selling Stock (subscription required) textbook publishers are still afraid of microstock images because they can’t trust the captions/keywords. Jim Pickerell writes, “The percentage of micro uses continues to grow, despite the complaints of editors that often the caption information on microstock images is not detailed enough and its accuracy cannot always be trusted.”

In microstock, photos of a technical nature or of specific plants, animals or locations are lost into the middle no man’s land in search because the keywords are even less apt to be correct than in the traditional companies.  The volume of images hitting the micro sites daily make it very difficult to check for accuracy or to add keywords to technical subjects. A perfect example of data that is key to many users is the scientific name associated with plants and animals. Or as I found, even the common name can be wrong.

I searched for ‘platypus’ on Shutterstock, iStockphoto and Dreamstime. One site returned a bald eagle against a flag, another several spiny anteaters and another several different species of fish. At least I could see why a spiny anteater was included since both the platypus and spiny anteaters are the only mammals that lay eggs but that wouldn’t matter a bit if I included an anteater in an educational program and called it a platypus. “So what?”  I can hear you think. Who cares when photos of people jumping on trampolines outsell platypus images thousands to one? Answer: Teacher’s care, students need to know, publishers will walk away if there is even a hint of inaccuracy in an image. Photos are tools of communication. Public communication has an obligation to be correct no matter how obscure the subject.

Does it matter that if you were looking for a platypus in a microstock collection, you could think it referred to an eagle, a duck, a fish or a lizard? If you are putting out a science book, you’d better be certain that what you see is what you want!

Dreamstime has made efforts to establish special collections that have been ‘curated’ by Dreamstime members. These often subject oriented groups of images can be helpful but there is still the lingering worry that the person that assembled the collection may not have any particular knowledge about the images besides the thought that the photos are ‘nice’.

Shouldn’t the case be made for specialty microstock companies that are staffed with reviewers that are versed in the subject? Either within a brand or as stand-alone companies? Would the costs be too high?  How about a medical collection reviewed by starving medical students? Or collections that are assembled by others with specialized knowledge? Or Like Israelis who know their land, its places, its religions and its businesses? iStock has taken a step toward the Tony Stone philosophy that only the relevant should survive in the creation of the Vetta Collection.

As a former biology teacher who  wrote educational materials and worked on science based exhibitions and books that required absolute confidence in the information associated with the photography that I selected, I believe that curated and specialty microstock collections could be an important next step in the business. What do you think?

Some advice bears repeating: The following was written as part of the ‘Inspiration” section of the Agency Access site and posted 3/16/2010. Slightly changed here.

The vote is in. Based on the many comments on Shannon Fagan’s guest post made by stock  industry leaders and photographers, the majority do not believe that the stock business is dead, perhaps sleeping but far from a vegetative state.  Millions of dollars are still being generated by the photography licensing business in all models even though to the individuals whose income has decreased by up to 50% it doesn’t seem so. The best time to review the tried and true is when you are searching for the new. Here’s a quick recap of some best practices in stock photography.

©billyphoto/Dreamstime.com

• Become known for a specialized style or subject.  Gain access to a unique location or group that is unattainable for others.  Work and work until your images are at the top of the list for your niche in technical quality, originality and marketability.

• Photography may seem to some to be a passive activity; photographers survive by being observers from behind the lens.  To succeed in today’s marketplace you must get out from behind the camera to build a following:

• Explore all the social networking opportunities available. Follow people outside of photography. Professional photography is about filling a need. Follow the Facebook and Tweets of those who might need you in addition to those photographers who are generous with their knowledge such as Chase Jarvis or Yuri Arcurs. (See more about the social web below)

• Get physically in front of your clients and potential clients. Step up your go-sees. As more and more people depend on electronic connections, those who take the time to visit their clients have a better chance of getting in to see the decision makers. This applies to those with specialty stock collections not only assignment photographers.
  

  Going it alone deprives you of connections, information and the opportunity to teach. ©Billyfoto@dreamstime.com

• Don’t depend exclusively upon a stock agency to distribute your work especially if you have a strong niche. Consider licensing your niche stock photography direct to buyers.

Fortunately now there are tools to enable photographers to build a unique stock photo collection and to license it directly.

• Explore services like PhotoShelter and License Stream to ease the responsibilities of building an independent stock site.

• Expand your marketing to cover every possible user of the photos within your niche.  Agency Access slices and dices stock buyers into lists of those with every imaginable subject/business need. Join the trade associations of your major client base not just photographer industry groups.

• Some say that direct mail for photographers is dead. Not according to art buyers that I’ve heard from.  Remember you are there to provide an answer to a visual question. Those who need your specialization want to hear from you if you can help them look better in their job.  Use the most creative designer you can afford to ensure that your DM pieces stand out.

Classic OPTE Project Map of the Internet 2005/©©(some rights reserved)attribution:www.opte.org/maps/

• Connect electronically.  Make your email blasts informative…. provide data, antidotes, statistics that will help your users in their work. Don’t simply sell yourself. That’s spam.

• Accept that twitter isn’t simply silly, that Facebook doesn’t just work for grandparents and that a blog is gossip or a place to vent. All these are communication tools. You are a communicator. Use them. And if you still haven’t. START NOW. You’ll be surprised how much you’ll learn and who you will connect with…(and how much time you’ll waste unless you set limits.)

• Know your audience. Who are the people most likely to license your work? What are their job challenges? You can’t provide answers unless you know the questions. Follow the activities online of the companies that are likely to use your type of photos. Pick up on what they are using and where.

Be wary of following the urge to SHOOT only what sells.  Part of what has harmed the stock photo business over the last few years is in an overabundance of photos all of the same subjects/styles. Originality has diminished and frustration has grown.  As one photographer recently asked me, “How many pictures does the world need of happy people jumping on a trampoline?”

Most photographers began their career with a love both of photography and a certain subject. As their careers develop, many chase the market and lose sight of what gave them creative kicks in the first place. This is especially true for those that put their hat into the stock photography ring and followed the demands of stock companies requests to the exclusion of the vision that brought them to photography. Regain it.

Be a Story

Conversations with Taylor Davidson resulted in the earlier post ‘be a hub‘. I promised that the conversation would continue. Now close to the eve of Taylor’s two appearances at SXSW-Photoshelter’s Austin Photo Seminar about “Creating Context for your Content”  and the  SXSW Core Conversation “Everyone is a professional photographer”, another powerful message from Davidson about the stories we tell and the ones that we live-as writers, photographers and communicators.

How can photographers move their story-telling skills into a broader context?  And why is this important?  Taylor responds, “Telling good stories is a necessity for photographers. But creating a story creates much richer interactions.  It’s these broader interactions that are the biggest artistic and business opportunities today because the economics of creating context have changed (i.e. cheaper to connect, create communities, empower niches), making rich experiences and interactions more available, possible, and powerful than ever before.”  As Taylor’s friend, Michael Bonifer, co-Founder of GameChangers posted, “Story is more powerful as a verb than as a noun”.

Taylor uses Jeremy Cowart’s Help-Portrait project  as an example of a photographer creating and being part of a story.  Cowart’s project, altruistic in concept, has nevertheless put him in contact with many, many people. Each connection creates the possibility of a secondary story by connecting with others who want to be part of the story. This creates a shared experience that spreads organically, touching many people. Connections create interest and trust…two essentials to success.

Photo used with permission of the photographer©Gregory Holm

Here is my favorite story about a story that a photographer and an architect created. Photographer Gregory Holm and architect Mathew Radune envisioned Ice House Detroit to illustrate the frozen Detroit housing market.  After securing funding from kickstarter.com, they  encased one of the thousands of Detroit’s abandoned houses in ice. The resulting story was told in outlets as diverse as Dwell , Village Voice, BBC, NPR, New York Times, German Public Televison, Time and the Huffington Post. People all over the world connected to the story. Taylor points out that this type of collaboration not only helps solve a problem, build trust and gain name recognition, but it helps create business opportunities.

Taylor helped me sum up his overall message: Being a story is alive and three dimensional… it brings a story teller into a story rather than the common voyeuristic position of recording and seeing it, one step removed from the story by the lens of a camera. The work connects interactions between people and ideas that in turn connect the work to the story (my words).

The Ice House Detroit project was funded via Kickstarter.

David Sanger-Travel (and more) photographer

It is too limiting a characterization to call David Sanger simply a travel photographer. Yes, he travels a great deal and the majority of his photos fall into that genre. Even though travel photography can be one of the most conservative genres within stock, his work often displays unique points of view and his ideas about the future are positive and innovative. Even in a brief conversation with David, it is clear that his creativity isn’t limited to photography. He expresses wide-ranging and imaginative ideas in response to questions about the changing stock photo marketplace, copyright issues and the future of the business.

He has said, “Old markets are drying up but new opportunities are emerging, communicating with communities of consumers, photo aficionados, travel readers, citizens. The economics are completely different, but the possibilities tremendous. The key is providing something of value”.

David recognizes that stock photography ‘doesn’t say anything’ in the same way that photojournalism or editorial photos do. He speaks of disintermediation (elimination of the stock distribution company) as a road to more personal communication between photographers and the audience for the work:

“When images are distributed via middlemen, it is usually someone else’s message that is communicated. Disintermediation opens up the possibility, the responsibility, for a more personal communication. The focus then shifts to the personality, trustworthiness, authority, point of view and voice of the photographer, whether fine artist or journalist. …Those who are successful will be those who are the most compelling, engaging or insightful.”

Statue of Maitreya Buddha, Bingling si Grottoes, Gansu Province, China/©David Sanger

Surprisingly, Sanger hasn’t found that eliminating the middleman from his own licensing model to be as successful as he first expected three or four years ago. In addition to his primary outlet at Getty Images, he licenses his images direct to buyers using the PhotoShelter platform. For now, though, Sanger suggests that the major buyers of rights managed still rely mainly on account people at the large stock agencies to provide images to them. Of course, buyers come directly to David Sanger because they like to work with him … and they do … or for unique destinations and images.

He has used the experience gained from direct licensing and his past life in corporate computer systems to analyze user behavior on his personal stock site. He found over 10,000 (mainly blogger) domains linking to his photos. These users weren’t likely to pay for Sanger’s rights managed images. In light of the fact that copyright is not reasonably enforceable against a blogger, Sanger takes the high road, “It is not how to stop them but how to turn them into revenue paying customers.  There is a huge appetite for images. Providing people with what they want has to be a good thing … but we have to find how to monetize it.”

“The Internet of people, social media, is a natural outlet for images. The sheer energy of Flickr conversations, the abundance of images that decorate MySpace and Tumblr pages, reveal people’s fascination with and devotion to images. Rather than fight the people who are interested in their images, photographers would do well to embrace them, engage them and discover how to transform that interest into viable economic support.”

Tajik shepherd and sheep by lakeside in Pamirs, China/©David Sanger

While the industry attempts to solve the revenue conundrum, David, is bullish about photographers creating value by ‘saying something.’ “Stock photography itself doesn’t really say anything on its own. We provide images to serve someone else’s message. No one is interested in my message [when I’m shooting stock].” Sanger suggests that photographers enter the creative conversation on a more personal level. “Find your voice,” is his closing advice.

A secret to David Sanger's travel photography is that he watches for the unexpected like this photo of woman off stage in variety show during Octoberfest in Munich/©David Sanger

About David Sanger: Sanger has traveled to over 100 countries. In addition to the travel work he shoots for corporate, shipping and non-profit clients including Bank of America, Exxon, the National Park Service, Clorox and Interorient. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Stock Artists Alliance and a former president of the organization. “I’m fascinated by technology, web design, data, communications and social media, especially how these offer photographers’ new opportunities for expression and for business”.

More about David and some of the best advice I’ve seen for travel photographers can be found at Photomedia Online.

David’s blog and website are at www.davidsanger.com

The photo below is an almost perfect stock photo. It’s not cutting edge; it’s not trendy. It’s not hip or cool. What it IS is a photo that will license again and again for years…extending its revenue stream long after its production costs have been recouped even with today’s lower fees. This is a photo with a very long tail.

I first analyzed the image for my blog on Dreamstime when it showed up as one of the best sellers two years ago this month.  I have also discussed it in my upcoming book. Initially the image seemed a very simple and easy photo to plan and take. But once I deconstructed it, I understood the amount of thought, research, experience and planning that went into the creation of this clean and versatile photo and its variations. I’m reminded of what the IT guys always say when a seemingly trivial request is made for a programming change, “Simple doesn’t mean easy.”

A 'perfect' stock photo. ©Iofoto

The image is a subject-based winner. Among the most consistently popular stock photo subjects are family related. When photos with these themes also spell “happiness/love/caring”, the image has a lead over all others. Images of families are used for financial services, vacation and hotel packages, for religious publications and a myriad of editorial uses on websites on a zillion topics.

A beach location is a great choice. Stock photo buyers often want ‘aspirational’ images that show an idealized place or situation. The beach is such a place in all societies. It is a place we vacation; go for weekend relaxation, education and fun. The exact geographical location is not identifiable. The location is non-specific geographically and yet still shows a top vacation spot: the beach.

Seasonality.  Because of wardrobe choices and the quality of the light, the photo could have been shot in spring, summer or early fall adding to the versatility of the image.

Style. Both the photographic style and the models/wardrobe/scene are relatively timeless. There is no skyline to go out of date; the clothing is non-specific and not tied to any fashion.

Palette/Wardrobe: The model’s clothing compliments the colors in the scene. Because there are blues, pinks, tans and yellows in the palette almost any color typeface could coordinate with the image. Shirts lack logos and the fabrics are all solid colors.

Casting: The models form the perfect, idealized family and yet they aren’t so beautiful as to look unauthentic. Their pose is relaxed and happy. (Just the way we all imagine the perfect family vacation.) Even the preteen girl appears to be pleased to be with her parents. (Anyone who has attempted to take a daughter of this age on a family vacation knows that IS really an idealized image.) The image depicts the vacation every family aspires to have.

Similars of popular photos can also be top sellers. ©Iofoto

Composition: Dad is at the top of a pyramid, representing a conservative (and thus good for middle of the road adverts) family relationships and the models are posed off center to leave lots of space for type. The background is clean and simple. In both photos, the photographer for Iofoto, Ron Chapple, has left ample space for insertion of a product shot, headline or copy. He has also offered the stock photo user several formats. Here we show the vertical and the image that he has prepared as a square.

Good keywording has also contributed to the success of these two images. Look up the keywords by clicking on the photos and you’ll see what I mean.

Taylor Davidson finds himself at the intersection of photography, social media, business development and economics. His thoughts on where the stock photography business might be going and how to stay around for the ride:

Social Media Expert/Photography Geek Taylor Davidson

Taylor began our recent conversation, “All businesses have a life cycle, including creative businesses. There is the building or construction of the business, growth and what I like to call ‘creative reconstruction’ rather than deconstruction.  Companies go from  cottage businesses to being consumed by large companies (aggregators of content, in our case). The latest changes in stock photography are merely the latest cycle of industry upheaval. The technology required to create, distribute, promote and use stock images (like all creative content) changed everything”.

“The bigger question is what happens from here?”

“The economics of new technologies gave anyone the tools to create, but didn’t  guarantee that they would profit from creating. While the activity is in the long tail, profits flow to the aggregators in the tail.” (Taylor refers to the
aggregator as the ‘hub’. Getty Images is the big wheel around the stock photo hub.)

Taylor points out that the economics of the hub have been changed by many factors, one of which is social media. He explains that electronic word of mouth has given power to smaller hubs. By being a specialty destination, your website/blog can become the hub for that subject or story. You can operate in smaller niches but you MUST be the hub in the niche. You must be really good at (your niche). You must be the top choice in the subject.

He says, “Be a hub. Find a niche, and be the hub in that niche. This advice applies to broader issues: how can you expand your scope? How can you create ancillary products; do other types of photography? How can you be a different kind of hub? Be a hub for information, for knowledge. Teach other people how to be a hub for their own niches. Bring other photographers together to create a hub.

I asked Taylor if he had suggestions for how a photographer could become a sought after hub of information/activity/engagement. After humbly explaining that he was very good at asking questions but not so great at coming up with answers (I disagree), Taylor added:

“I have a strong belief that successful businesses need to be more like people. Individuals want to connect to the people behind a business.” He suggests that a photographer that only shows photos on his/her website is missing opportunities to connect with their audience.  People want to see more than a series of  images. Photographers should use all the tools available to them to tell a story. Be a hub of information about not just yourself and your work but about a story that you have created.”

Santa Cruz Fog©Taylor Davidson

I asked Taylor what I should say to the photographer that is already overwhelmed with keeping a business going, faced with the need to post to a blog, create another story, learn FinalCutPro, or build a movement. Taylor is an optimist…but even so he and I agree:

“If you are blind to change, you aren’t going to make it in today’s market [for stock or assignment photography].” The photographer has to  DO THE WORK. One task at a time, keep learning.

Davidson suggests, “One secret to continued growth in creative endeavors is to retain or recapture youthful curiosity. Young and emerging photographers are free to try all manner of things; part of the excitement is not knowing what the long-term impact of the experiment will be. Could be a career changer or a dud. The cost of failure when you are young is much less than at mid-career.”

“Even in mid-career, you must be willing to open yourself to serendipity. Don’t put yourself in a situation where the only experiments you try
are the ones that could wipe you out.” Try  little experiments. Try one a day, one a week even if the  burden of mid-career responsibilities keep you  focused on getting through the demands of running an established business. These small experiences will sometimes create opportunities. (But don’t expect them all to.)”

(In a continuation of my conversation with Taylor in a future post, I discuss how photographers can embed humanity into their businesses and to break down the barriers between the message and the person.  Taylor then discusses ‘the story’ and authentic marketing for photographers).