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Author Topic: Editorial at SS  (Read 6103 times)

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« on: January 05, 2010, 12:07 »
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Earlier, I've been reluctant to upload editorial photos to micro agencies, but last autumn, I decided to give it a go to see if there was any change. There was. Particularly SS is selling editorial photos at a healthy rate now. I don't know yet if it really pays off long term, but so far, it looks promising.

The requirements, particularly at SS are rather strict, and they mostly accept photos from current events, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they won't sell in the future as well. DT is another candidate for this, but their upload volume restriction is an obstacle. They also review slower.


« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2010, 13:25 »
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Do they still got this special title requirement?

« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2010, 15:31 »
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Do they still got this special title requirement?

Yes, they do - and they are getting more and more an... - ehhh obsessive - about it. My last editorial rejections were all over the right way to type the "headline". That being said, none of the other editorial sites have problems with these titles, so I just write them the Shutterstock way and use them everywhere else. And uploading editorial to Shutterstock is definitely worth it...

« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2010, 16:57 »
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yes, be VERY careful about the dateline, and even punctuation.  i eben had one rejwction because i wrote N0v 10 rather than November 10 [that one did appear to be an overzealous reviewer as it was correct5ed]    problem is -- rejections often say "not suitable for editorial or something similar when really it's just the caption that needs re working

otoh, the editors there spend a lot of time in answering questions and helping get everything right.

ss doesnt break out ed vs rf, but for sites that do, about 30-40% of my sales are ed, while o nly 10-20% of my portfoilo is ed.  that's certainly a reflection of my subject matter, but it's been worth it thus far


steve

ap

« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2010, 17:17 »
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if you follow this caption to the T, you're golden.  it's really not that hard.  :)

CITY - MONTH, DATE: description of event with date, including year and place.

if it's news or current, the review will be that much faster. looking at my own event editorials, they're still selling well 4 months later, to my surprise.

« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2010, 17:36 »
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Although my editorial went very well at SS, and still does, I stopped uploading editorial there. The special caption line is not that difficult, but like BigStock very recently started to do, they only take Editorial in the narrow sense of "newsworthy", discarding all cultural, educational, ethnical and other "interesting" stuff. Translated: they want headshots of Obama.

My last Editorial reject on SS was this one:

Description:
Pelaez , Claveria, Mindanao, Philippines - JUNE 2: public pork meat sale in a local neighborhood of a small inaccessible community in the Bukidnon mountains during the annual fiesta on June 2, 2009.


The reviewer that rejected it said the description was unclear: what is a "fiesta" and "why do they sell meat"?
Well, an annual fiesta is an annual fiesta, and guess why they sell meat? (why does SS sell photos?).

I can't write a background novel in just 200 characters, especially since the time line takes a lot of space. So I gave up submitting editorial to SS, and if DT didn't accept most of it, I would retract it from microstock altogether and try RM.

ap

« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2010, 17:52 »
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from an editorial point of view, this is stuff the news desk might grind out on a slow (or no) news day.

in terms of  cultural/ethnic interest, i was intrigued by your 'small inaccessible community in the Bukidnon mountains'. i mean if you had a name for this subtribe that was part of a larger anthropoligical study of southeast asia, it would be a lot more significant. otherwise, it reminds me of all the backyard barbeques people have in these inaccessible neighborhoods during the summer months in the mountain behind where i live.  ;)

it's still a great photo, though!
« Last Edit: January 05, 2010, 17:55 by ap »

« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2010, 18:28 »
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in terms of  cultural/ethnic interest, i was intrigued by your 'small inaccessible community in the Bukidnon mountains'. i mean if you had a name for this subtribe that was part of a larger anthropoligical study of southeast asia, it would be a lot more significant

Well in that respect there is bad news. The days of the colorful ignorant tribes in exotic faraway countries from National Geographic is long over. In the most remote corner I've been (on a motorbike over rocks), they all wear baseball caps, T-shirts "I love NYC", playing Celine Dion and txting on their cellphone.  ;D
Most "ethnic" stuff in 2010 is fake, I suspect. There is more fauxtography around than one suspects.

But I did shoot Obama  ;)

« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2010, 20:26 »
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They are hysterical about the caption format, and very strict about the current event thing. So, I made a template for the text and ran out and shot some events. Not really that hard.

Still, even if it's editorial, one has to keep in mind that some editor somewhere is actually going to buy and publish this. I always ask myself that question before I spend time shooting an event. Alternatively, I can always upload RM at Alamy.

« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2010, 20:36 »
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EDITED FOR BREVITY..
DT is another candidate for this, but ... review slower.

no, that's not so if it' s time, epixx. i've had my editorials review almost same day when i contacted them to say it's timely.  there is a note in the editorial submit page that tells you to send a PM to editor if it's timely so they won't take the usual route.

as for my own editorials. well, i haven't done much editorials lately, but my best seller is actually an editorial image that sells two or three times each year for the same event it was shot originally.
i like editorials because it's human interest, but in my new city, there isn't much things happening here worth reporting. it's a great sleepy town, lol.. but i'm not complaining.



« Reply #10 on: January 05, 2010, 21:49 »
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SS mostly review editorials within hours, sometimes within the hour, and before DT has even replied to the email. For sports and news events, that is crucial for the sales. I also suspect that SS markets editorial photos more actively.

RacePhoto

« Reply #11 on: January 05, 2010, 22:19 »
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SS mostly review editorials within hours, sometimes within the hour, and before DT has even replied to the email. For sports and news events, that is crucial for the sales. I also suspect that SS markets editorial photos more actively.

So the question is: Say I'm at an event and I shoot like Jimmy Olson and get the scoop photo. Rush back to the Daily Planet darkroom, or my computer. Edit and upload to one of the above sites, SS most likely, as news/editorial, properly punctuated with the caps in the right places. Wow, someone buys it.

Am I supposed to be thrilled by being paid 25 cents?  ::) Editorial and news should NOT be be priced as subscription and micro prices. People who buy this would pay a reasonable price and the agencies would have more people out trying to shoot real news and current events. But not for 25 cents!

I guess I'll add that to the Crapstock family of websites. CheapNewsPhoto.com. I'd have a corner on the citizen news market paying photographers $2 and selling photos for $10. Newspaper from around the world would pay $8 for a news photo? It's like having 20,000 stringers, everywhere! (yeah I know Scoopt failed, but they didn't review photos, were slow getting them posted and basically put cell phone photos in a dark closet as a way of nurturing them. I'm saying real photos and quality, not smudged 1MP snapshots.)

ap

« Reply #12 on: January 05, 2010, 23:27 »
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So the question is: Say I'm at an event and I shoot like Jimmy Olson and get the scoop photo. Rush back to the Daily Planet darkroom, or my computer. Edit and upload to one of the above sites, SS most likely, as news/editorial, properly punctuated with the caps in the right places. Wow, someone buys it.


i'm sure if you got the scoop photo like jimmy olson, you'd have more options open to you and be smart enough to submit to getty instead of ss or dt. if you get a super scoop, pm me and i'll act as your agent.  ;)
« Last Edit: January 06, 2010, 00:41 by ap »

WarrenPrice

« Reply #13 on: January 06, 2010, 12:10 »
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My last scoop was in 1982:
http://www.warrenpricephotography.com/2008/12/18/motocross-photography-the-source/

I'm way overdue.  But, I could use an agent, just in case.   ;D

« Reply #14 on: January 06, 2010, 12:48 »
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There's editorial and there's editorial. If it's unique, I upload it elsewhere, and if I don't think it can be sold in volume, likewise. One of the differences between before and now is that, before, there was no internet. Now, there are thousands of websites using editorial photos for all kinds of things. Few of those will buy from Getty or AP.

How many golf websites do you think there are? If you get that "not so scoop" shot of Tiger Woods, the chances of getting it accepted with Getty are more than slim, but you may get a few sales with micro, and not all of them will be subs. The principle is more or less the same as for any microstock photo.


 

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