Dear microstock agencies that I love working for,

I need microstock t shirts. Please send me some? I make you guys a decent amount of money. Pretty please? It’s not easy being naked.  I’ve been selling stock photography for 5 years now, and never got a free t-shirt. I get a lot of mosquito bites and sunburn when I go outside.  Sometimes random people pinch my hairy nipples.  Purple nurples hurt. My dog also jumps on me and scratches me.  I promise to wear it a lot and tell people about what the company is all about.  I promise not to resell it on ebay or craigslist. Think of it as free advertising!

Love,
Todd

Shutterstock now guarantees its entire library of more than 8.5 million images and 140,000 footage clips.

New York, NY (PRWEB) October 20, 2009 — Shutterstock, the world’s largest subscription-based stock photoagency, announced today that it will legally guarantee every file inits vast library by providing up to $10,000 to cover legal costs and direct damages for claims arising from the use of an image or footage clip licensed through Shutterstock.

Thanks to Shutterstock’s thorough and selective review process, the agency has become a global leader in providing affordable, high quality images that comply with the highest legal and ethical standards in the industry.

Shutterstock has now gone a step further by covering key areas of liability, including copyrights, trademarks and rights of privacy and publicity. Under the new plan, which begins today, every file in Shutterstock’s expansive library – which consists of more than 8.5million images and 140,000 footage clips – will be guaranteed.

“We’ve become an industry leader by earning the trust of stock imageand footage buyers worldwide,” said Jon Oringer, CEO and founder of Shutterstock. “Although claims involving our content are extremely rare, we wanted to give our customers an even higher level of comfort by providing up to $10,000 in indemnification.”

Shutterstock’s protection plan, along with its uncompromising commitment to the integrity and quality of its images, solidifies the company’s reputation as a trusted resource for image and footage buyers worldwide.  Please see Shutterstock’s Terms of Service for complete details.

About Shutterstock®

Founded in 2003, Shutterstock is the largest subscription-based stockphoto agency in the world. Its outstanding collection of premium photos, illustrations, and vectors combined with a selection of innovative, user-friendly subscription plans has made Shutterstock a trusted resource for an expanding global customer base. An industrypioneer in selling royalty-free stock by subscription, Shutterstock was also the first online photo agency to offer editorial photos and launch a video library. Shutterstock Footage offers a comprehensive library ofroyalty-free video clips available on a per-clip basis or by subscription. For more information, visit Shutterstock.com.

Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/image/indemnification/prweb3071764.htm

I find this very interesting.  Which agency will do this next?  Recently istock made a similar claim, just after Vivo zoom tried to claim the legal aspect their main difference from the rest of the micros.  Will this mean tighter standards on grey area photos for photographers?  It’s definitely a great idea, as long as it doesn’t push the limits so far that we need to submit releases for things shot in a generic manner.  Is it worth even trying to shoot architecture or automobiles for stock anymore?  I’ve given up in those departments.  The way things are moving, contributors are probably all better off keeping stock as generic as can be, unless you can cover yourself with enough signed releases to choke a cow.

So, you wonder if you can make any money selling your images online.  I wondered the same thing, back when I was a full time graphic designer.  I was purchasing hundreds of stock photos for use in my designs. Then I thought, “Hey – why can’t I sell my own photos?”. Professional stock photo collections can cost anywhere from $200-$500 per disc, with single shots costing anywhere from $80-$200 themselves. It’s thrilling to find places online where you can purchase high-res, professional quality images at a fraction of that price. In the past 5 or 6 years there has been a boom in the microstock photography and royalty free stock footage business.

Which stock photo agencies are worthwhile?
Trying to see which site sells more images than the next is tricky.  There are a lot of elements involved, and it seems like sales figures fluctuate from month to month amongst the micro sites.  Factors like portfolio size, photo types, site search engines, and even categorization all play a part.  All I can do is give you my best sites – the ones that I personally think are worth my time to upload to. Below are the links to my top-selling sites – sign up, and try them out. Then you can make your own conclusions.

Shutterstock

iStockPhoto

BigStockPhoto

Dreamstime

StockXpert

Fotolia

123 Royalty Free

CanStockPhoto

Featurepics

Crestock

PantherMedia

MostPhotos

Veer Marketplace

Alamy

YAYmicro

ScanStockPhoto

Cutcaster

GraphicLeftovers.com

Everyone creates different types of art, and some of it is very marketable.  Some has high commercial value, while a lot does not.  It might look great, and you might want to make a print of it for your grandmother, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to make enough money to make a living.  How do you know how well you’ll do?  You have to try it for yourself.  Then make your own conclusions. This is definitely not a get rich quick scheme.  You will “get back” out of stock photography, what you “put into it”.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog at the upper right of this page. If you are interested in one-on-one consulting regarding your microstock efforts, contact me for further info. 

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/04/01/8403372/index.htm?postversion=2007040409

Meet some of the CEOs of the micro industry, and see how much money us photographers are making these guys! This is a really cool article.