Stock Photo Expert? Or Not?

One of my pet peeves is people who write about stuff they know little or nothing about.  If you proclaim your self as “expert” you should at least know a little about the subject.

Back last year, I was doing some research on a certain art technigue and ran across one of these “ask an expert” sites where they post videos and actually show how things are done. It was pretty darned good. It gave me almost exactly the info I was looking for.

Well was cruising the web just a little while ago on a research project and ran across this at eHow.com

http://www.ehow.com/how_2041729_buy-stock-photography.html

How To Buy Stock Photography

By eHow Hobbies, Games & Toys Editor

Stock photos are unlicensed photographs available for general use. This means that if you are looking for a professional photo for an art project, for wall decor or for any other purpose, you can find it in stock photo archives. These archives can be accessed online and photos can be easily purchased.

Yes I went through the pain in the butt signup and posted the following reply:

on 5/19/2008 Your opening statement of “Stock photos are unlicensed photographs available for general use” is not correct. All images marketed and vended by a stock agency, even a free agency, have licensing language regarding terms of use. You are misleading people with this incorrect statement. Althogh Royalty Free stock is very different from Rights managed stock with regards to terms of use, there are yes, still indeed terms of use in a royalty free licensing agreement.

Sorry, but with so much abuse today in the photo industry, licensing is a sticky issue with me. and if you want to write about it, please get it right.

The eHow ratings system ranged from 0 to 5. They did not offer me any negative numbers that could be checked.

OK, all done venting now.

 

Photography Community Blogging

Well as my sales have been good at Stockxpert, decided I needed to explore the site a little further and take advantage of features it has to offer. I hade never really gone to the Browse Page, but when I did. I discovered there was a nice little internal blogging feature. You are limited to one post every seven days, but it’s a nice way to promote a new hot stock photo. Unlike the nonsense stock blogging at the Dreamy site, this one is quick and to the point. And even though you are limited in posts,  it’s a nice way to give your portfoilo a little added visibility.

I am really going to have to do some more exploration there. Perhaps there are other site features that I have missed.

And since this site offers royalty free video as well, going to have to rehone my animation skills and get going. Haven’t even had time to look at the stock footage area of the site yet.

Creative Inspiration

Around the various microstock forums, there are many posts for “images finds” and “tear sheets”. Although the posts are nice and it’s great to see your images in use, I really don’t have time to surf and look for my own. But I do look for inspiring sites that will help me see more clearly a designer or ad agency vision, which in turn helps me create better illustrations and photos.

One such site I have found is Ads of the World, a creative advertising archive and community. Most of the stills are shot specifically for the ads by top notch pros. But it gives me a better view of what kinds pf images may be suited to advertising. And there are some great video commercials here too. STopping by here just helps me get out of the microstock box a little.

Can This New Stock Agency Make the Cut?

Trolling around the web earlier today, I came across another fairly new microstock. It’s called Cutcaster. Cutcaster offers royalty free images, stock photos, stock footage and stock photography for advertising, publishing or web design.

It’s nice to see diversity of the stock footage offering right off the bat. The new microstock bills itself as the first dynamic photo and video marketplace. Anyone can buy, sell or request digital images, vectors, stock footage and stock photos from the Cutcaster community.

A Search for Free Stock Photos

Wanting to get my little Stock Photo Watch blog rolling, I wanted to add a little graphic touch to at least the top banner. I wanted to generate something a little different from my own work, and I needed a photo of some eyes. But where to find a reliable source? One of my first search hits was Stock.xchng.com. Billing itself as a stock photography community, the come on was to browse a huge gallery for high quality stock photos. So gave it a click, and lo and behold, it is related to one of my favorite stock sites, Stockxpert.com, a reliable supplier of high quality stock. And Stockxpert is a trusted site of mine.

So why the free photos? And are they any good? The Stock.xchng free stock photo site ties to the regular Stockxpert site, so if you’re not finding what you need in the free group, you can “go premium” and buy from Stockxpert. With regards to quality, well the pickings were a little slim as far as content range, but I was able to select 4 images that I liked, and all the downloads were at generous sizes.

In addition to the blog banner, I also played around for about 5 minutes and generated the nice modern butterfly graphic below.

I haven’t investigated the Stock.xchg site thoroughly, but on brief glance it does indeed look community driven. There is some blogging going on there, and also a Tutorials section. So even f you don’t need any free stock photos, give the free site a try for the valuable info there alone. And maybe you’ll wind up tossing in an image or three. If you’re a contibutor on the regular Stockxpert site, it only helps ensure your own success.  

I don’t know how long contributors there keep the free images posted, but I’ll give you the source links for the images I used anyway: 

 

The Dots http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1003459

The Butterfly http://www.sxc.hu/photo/484657

The Ripple http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1003221

Man’s Eyes http://www.sxc.hu/photo/855818  

 

 

Stock Photos Surprise of the Month

The stock surprise for me me this month so far has been Stockxpert.com. I started there just a little while back, and while the small portfolio did lay there limp for awhile, now images are being found and sales are picking up. With a portfolio of about 60, I now see sales almost daily, and even more surprising, even see some nice sales on weekends.

Application process is not too bad, Upload is fairly intuitive. My acceptance rate there is good for both photos and illustrations. The Stockxpert.com site has some community networking things going on, but overall is pretty businesslike and doesn’t have the childlike fan club games going on. The focus is on users – clean, quick, and simple.

I still haven’t applied for their referral program yet. It is a bit more complex than the other micros, but eventually, I guess I’ll get around to it.

Stock Photo Evolution

Over the past 3 years or so, I’ve had an eye on the stock photo industry.  Lots of changes have taken place, and there has been an evolution of sorts in the stock photo game. In this blog, I’ll be keeping an eye on stuff, and will comment on current trends, various stock services, technology, learning tools and more. I’ll even feature some favorite photographers and some new and emerging talent.

I learn a lot by just watching. Hopefully you will too.