Great idea!!!
Great idea about the stock photos - that would be a real boost, especially to those of us who shoot a lot of stock images. Although I already shoot stock for a couple other companies, this will enable me to sell images from my web galleries, too.
Thanks and the folks at DigitalGrin are the best!!
Great idea about the stock photos - that would be a real boost, especially to those of us who shoot a lot of stock images. Although I already shoot stock for a couple other companies, this will enable me to sell images from my web galleries, too.
Thanks and the folks at DigitalGrin are the best!!
Aloha from Maui and let's go STOCK PHOTOS!!
Aloha, My first time here so I hope I don't make a fool of myself. It's been six months since I first read about SmugMug going into the Stock Photo business for "Pros". I am currently selling my tropical photos in shops and created my own tropical greeting card line "Kihei Kards" here on Maui. This has been fun and creative but very time consuming. Sales are good but give me some company that will do the work for me and pay me a decent price and I'm ready to go. Sign me up SmugMug. If there are certain pictures that a photographer feels could sell for $beaucoup bucks$ then hold off on them and don't put them up for sale on SmugMug. Sell them on a different basis to who would love them.
I know that I am speaking to the most talented photographers out there in SmugMug Land but given the opportunity of making money off your creative image or just keeping it on a CD for years, (with a million other photographers selling their images as I write this), I say present you images. If you do not like the price then just say "NO THANK-YOU" to SmugMug for the offer.
Well, this is my first 'thread' or whatever and I hope I didn't make a fool of myself or point fingers at anyone.
opps, too large a font
I just reviewed the size of the font used in the past several hundred messages. I am sorry that my message had TOO LARGE of a text font. But I hope you read my message, anyway. I'm just the kind of guy that loves difference.
0
Matthew SavilleRegistered Users, Retired ModPosts: 3,352Major grins
edited September 23, 2007
$0.26 per image? OUCH... Will SM do better?
Hi All, and I guess mostly Andy who seems to be taking care of this topic while SM still irons out the wrinkles in this massive endeavor...
I'm VERY VERY interested in selling stock imagery! Iroinically though since I'm SOOO busy right now with weddings and other photography, I haven't had time to set up any "digital download" prices, let alone structure my (nature) photo galleries towards an actual stock image hunter...
However I'm REALLY hoping I can get my small but good nature collection in on the whole "debut" that SM has described, with some sort of seamless transition and having a bunch of "estabilished pros" with popularity "pioneer the way" in the very beginning. But again like I said, I haven't had the time yet to properly keyword or organize my collection, let alone network and promote...
ALSO, and far be it from me to say this, (meaning, please be honest and cut me down if i'm wrong) ...but I think my images are worth more than the $0.26 or so that "microstock" agencies pay...
My questions are, IF these are questions that can be answered, should I make this an urgent priority to complete in the next couple weeks? How important or beneficial would it be to be a PART of the "launch"?
Also, can I expect ANY sort of average price estimate, or can I expect to be able to get a minimum amount (certainly MUCH more than $0.26 per sale) for my work? I hear glory stories on DPR etc. of images licensing for $150-$300 a pop. That's the kind of money I'd like to see, if I'm going to put a lot of hard work into setting everything up and monitoring my image quality, not to mention pursue the capture of more images...
Because to be honest, while my wedding photography and children's theater have skyrocketed, I have to admit that I haven't sold a nature print in ages, and my galleries are just sitting there, cast aside without my attention for quite a while...
I'm not going to bother, if every other Smugmug user is going to price their images at $5- a pop, making it impossible for me to charge $50+ and that's the bottom line.
I wonder how quality in the portfolio will be managed.
I currently sell photos to national horse magazines on a regular basis. A stock photography section on Smugmug would be wonderful! Most magazines who have a specific "niche" i.e. horse magazines, know what type of photo they are looking for. A generic $3.00 photo from a stock photo gallery usually won't do the trick. Therefore, I'm all for setting our own pricing and having our own stock galleries available. I would want to refer my clients to my gallery exclusively, instead of having them search ad nauseum through thousands of "horse" pictures to find what they are looking for. Here also is where your captions will come in handy. If I'm looking for a shot of a foal, I won't caption my photo "baby horse". Most photo editors will know the proper terminology and are TIRED of searching through stock agencies.
I see what you can pick in the checkout on licensing/copies as well, and noticed the unsharp options, plus the fact that you have watermarks on larger images and not the thumbs.
So, when is the lightbox/cost calculator for managed rights coming?
I have not read the entire thread so if this is repetative than I appologize.
My main concern would be that my files available for download are not automatically added to a stock pile many of my downloadable images contain recognizeable faces without releases theese are not suitable for stock.
There needs to be a quality control process or the idea will not fly
Prices should be across the board and comparable to others. Individual pricing would be more for the for hire market.
I would be interested if it's up and running before I am eligible for exclusive at istock
Go to the "Start Here" sticky in the customizing forum, there in that thread shows how to move the flyout.
hey Andy, I notice you've really beefed up your copyright - is this because you know when the release is coming out of the stock thingy and are making sure you're up and running ( i..e making sure no one is going to nick your 'stock' pics??
I don't buy it...
No pun intended, but as much as I love SmugMug, I have had ONE sale on my site - with plenty of traffic - over the last year. And that one buyer bought a small print for $30, mainly because she saw my work in person at a local establishment. I talked to a gallery owner recently who told me some hard truths - which I have figured out in the last year: "People don't buy art online". Fact is, I, personally, don't buy art online unless I am very familiar with the piece - typically having held it in my hands and/or seen it up close with my own eyes. The other thing he told me: "Everyone's a photographer. At a street fair of some sort, the photographer booths typically are the most popular. Lotos of attention. But they have the worst sales. People just don't want to spend $1,000 on a photograph, as they see it. It'[s the hardest of all the arts to sell.". And that, my friends, is the honest truth.
So... I'm not interested in selling my stuff for $1.00. Most stock photos are "graphic art", really. True, you can make money at it if you have a zillion different things out there, but...
Personally, I was accepted into a local gallery, in a high tourist area. And given possibly the second-best location in the gallery. We'll see how that pans out - and, FYI, the gallery owner wants HALF my sales from my SmugMug site!! Because he says no one buys online without seeing it forst. And I have a hard time arguing against that. Of course, I'll need to be absokutely sure that the buyer DID come from the gallery first, but...
Anyway, I guess I'm a bit jaded at the prospect of making money selling photo's online. I truly wonder if ANYONE here on SmugMug actually sells ANYTHING here. I highly doubt it, unless they have a gallery prescence somewhere. Prove me wrong.
I truly wonder if ANYONE here on SmugMug actually sells ANYTHING here. I highly doubt it, unless they have a gallery prescence somewhere. Prove me wrong.
I truly wonder if ANYONE here on SmugMug actually sells ANYTHING here. I highly doubt it, unless they have a gallery presence somewhere. Prove me wrong.
I did, even though I don't shoot sports. So did many others.
But in my wildest dreams I never thought of SM as of a place where I would simply upload a picture and the whole world would beg me to enable the print ordering by next morning.
Take it as it is: unlimited storage, great up-time, order fulfillment, awesome customer service and a very friendly community of fellow photogs around it (I mean dgrin:-).
But it's up to you to make sure that customers would come to your site and stay there.
HTH
I truly wonder if ANYONE here on SmugMug actually sells ANYTHING here. I highly doubt it, unless they have a gallery prescence somewhere. Prove me wrong.
Well, we're a private company, and thus we don't share our financials. But I can tell you, we just finished our 5th fiscal year a couple weeks ago. And we had our 5th profitable year in a row. And we paid out enormous sums of money to our SmugMug pros in the form of collected profits (their profits).
Comments
itsme :-)
Great idea about the stock photos - that would be a real boost, especially to those of us who shoot a lot of stock images. Although I already shoot stock for a couple other companies, this will enable me to sell images from my web galleries, too.
Thanks and the folks at DigitalGrin are the best!!
Marcy
Location: Oregon
Website: www.highcascadesphotography.com
Website: www.HighCascadesPhotography.ifp3.com
gear: NIkon D200, Nikon F100, Nikon 35-70 f2.8, Nikon 70-300 f4-5.6; Sigma 15-30D f3.5-4.5; Micro-Nikkor 105mm f.2.8; 50mm macro f2.8
Any info on the Stock Photo section???
We would like anything you can offer, ???
Thanks,
We're working on it - we've taken all this incredibly valuable feedback and we're still in development.
Thanks!
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Hi,
I was just wondering if the stock photo site is up and running yet, and how do I participate.
Thanks
George
http://georgeman.smugmug.com
Aloha, My first time here so I hope I don't make a fool of myself. It's been six months since I first read about SmugMug going into the Stock Photo business for "Pros". I am currently selling my tropical photos in shops and created my own tropical greeting card line "Kihei Kards" here on Maui. This has been fun and creative but very time consuming. Sales are good but give me some company that will do the work for me and pay me a decent price and I'm ready to go. Sign me up SmugMug. If there are certain pictures that a photographer feels could sell for $beaucoup bucks$ then hold off on them and don't put them up for sale on SmugMug. Sell them on a different basis to who would love them.
I know that I am speaking to the most talented photographers out there in SmugMug Land but given the opportunity of making money off your creative image or just keeping it on a CD for years, (with a million other photographers selling their images as I write this), I say present you images. If you do not like the price then just say "NO THANK-YOU" to SmugMug for the offer.
Well, this is my first 'thread' or whatever and I hope I didn't make a fool of myself or point fingers at anyone.
Mahalo,
Daniel of Mauiphotographs.com
I just reviewed the size of the font used in the past several hundred messages. I am sorry that my message had TOO LARGE of a text font. But I hope you read my message, anyway. I'm just the kind of guy that loves difference.
Hi All, and I guess mostly Andy who seems to be taking care of this topic while SM still irons out the wrinkles in this massive endeavor...
I'm VERY VERY interested in selling stock imagery! Iroinically though since I'm SOOO busy right now with weddings and other photography, I haven't had time to set up any "digital download" prices, let alone structure my (nature) photo galleries towards an actual stock image hunter...
However I'm REALLY hoping I can get my small but good nature collection in on the whole "debut" that SM has described, with some sort of seamless transition and having a bunch of "estabilished pros" with popularity "pioneer the way" in the very beginning. But again like I said, I haven't had the time yet to properly keyword or organize my collection, let alone network and promote...
ALSO, and far be it from me to say this, (meaning, please be honest and cut me down if i'm wrong) ...but I think my images are worth more than the $0.26 or so that "microstock" agencies pay...
http://matthewsaville.smugmug.com/Nature%20Photography
My questions are, IF these are questions that can be answered, should I make this an urgent priority to complete in the next couple weeks? How important or beneficial would it be to be a PART of the "launch"?
Also, can I expect ANY sort of average price estimate, or can I expect to be able to get a minimum amount (certainly MUCH more than $0.26 per sale) for my work? I hear glory stories on DPR etc. of images licensing for $150-$300 a pop. That's the kind of money I'd like to see, if I'm going to put a lot of hard work into setting everything up and monitoring my image quality, not to mention pursue the capture of more images...
Because to be honest, while my wedding photography and children's theater have skyrocketed, I have to admit that I haven't sold a nature print in ages, and my galleries are just sitting there, cast aside without my attention for quite a while...
I'm not going to bother, if every other Smugmug user is going to price their images at $5- a pop, making it impossible for me to charge $50+ and that's the bottom line.
Take care,
=Matt=
My SmugMug Portfolio • My Astro-Landscape Photo Blog • Dgrin Weddings Forum
http://midnightblue.smugmug.com
Canon
people don't buy dreadful pics ( oh hang on a minute - they do!)
...pics..
http://midnightblue.smugmug.com
Canon
I currently sell photos to national horse magazines on a regular basis. A stock photography section on Smugmug would be wonderful! Most magazines who have a specific "niche" i.e. horse magazines, know what type of photo they are looking for. A generic $3.00 photo from a stock photo gallery usually won't do the trick.
Justus Photography
www.lindasherrill.com
Announcing TIF support soon?
Lightbox/log-in?
http://midnightblue.smugmug.com
Canon
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
Outstanding Andy!! Is moving the 'fly out' box to the bottom of the screen a new item as well? I want that too!
ok [shhh] btw you and me.....when is this shipping?
<br>
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
Sweet thanks Andy!
(link for those still looking: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=52107 )
So, when is the lightbox/cost calculator for managed rights coming?
http://midnightblue.smugmug.com
Canon
My main concern would be that my files available for download are not automatically added to a stock pile many of my downloadable images contain recognizeable faces without releases theese are not suitable for stock.
There needs to be a quality control process or the idea will not fly
Prices should be across the board and comparable to others. Individual pricing would be more for the for hire market.
I would be interested if it's up and running before I am eligible for exclusive at istock
Keith Tharp.com - Champion Photo
It can be done. SM's good, they'll pull it together.
(I'll bet I could find a few SM people, somewhere, who are coding right now to do it)
BTW, one 'good' sale, we make four thousand times more than a microstock deal pays.
http://midnightblue.smugmug.com
Canon
But what encourages an experienced stock purchaser to pay 4000 times more?
Keith Tharp.com - Champion Photo
Don't get me wrong, microstock isn't going anywhere, just a thought.
http://midnightblue.smugmug.com
Canon
hey Andy, I notice you've really beefed up your copyright - is this because you know when the release is coming out of the stock thingy and are making sure you're up and running ( i..e making sure no one is going to nick your 'stock' pics??
...pics..
No pun intended, but as much as I love SmugMug, I have had ONE sale on my site - with plenty of traffic - over the last year. And that one buyer bought a small print for $30, mainly because she saw my work in person at a local establishment. I talked to a gallery owner recently who told me some hard truths - which I have figured out in the last year: "People don't buy art online". Fact is, I, personally, don't buy art online unless I am very familiar with the piece - typically having held it in my hands and/or seen it up close with my own eyes. The other thing he told me: "Everyone's a photographer. At a street fair of some sort, the photographer booths typically are the most popular. Lotos of attention. But they have the worst sales. People just don't want to spend $1,000 on a photograph, as they see it. It'[s the hardest of all the arts to sell.". And that, my friends, is the honest truth.
So... I'm not interested in selling my stuff for $1.00. Most stock photos are "graphic art", really. True, you can make money at it if you have a zillion different things out there, but...
Personally, I was accepted into a local gallery, in a high tourist area. And given possibly the second-best location in the gallery. We'll see how that pans out - and, FYI, the gallery owner wants HALF my sales from my SmugMug site!! Because he says no one buys online without seeing it forst. And I have a hard time arguing against that. Of course, I'll need to be absokutely sure that the buyer DID come from the gallery first, but...
Anyway, I guess I'm a bit jaded at the prospect of making money selling photo's online. I truly wonder if ANYONE here on SmugMug actually sells ANYTHING here. I highly doubt it, unless they have a gallery prescence somewhere. Prove me wrong.
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=74534
But in my wildest dreams I never thought of SM as of a place where I would simply upload a picture and the whole world would beg me to enable the print ordering by next morning.
Take it as it is: unlimited storage, great up-time, order fulfillment, awesome customer service and a very friendly community of fellow photogs around it (I mean dgrin:-).
But it's up to you to make sure that customers would come to your site and stay there.
HTH
Enormous. C'mon in, the water's fine
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[/URL]
...pics..