imo anything that you think will get less 1 sale a month on the micros

Generally things that rank "Not Suitable For Stock" usually do okay with some time. Just sold a crappy shot of small California town for $50, kid wearing 3d glasses (shot at iso 3200) $75, front of Spy Museum $80, unreleased skier shot $65, automatic door button $100, panda $75. All L license.

Thank you for the replies.

But, what I actually meant to ask was- what sort of license gets you more money? Is it worth going Rights Protected? My work is mostly editorial.

No it's not. Even an L can be licensed as RM, they just need to ask you first. So I wouldn't do this.

You never know with RM,  four months back ( not Alamy)  I sold an erie, scary  graveyard shot for 9K  and that was for an anti-smoking campaign or something like that.

Quote from: lagereek on May 04, 2010, 01:21

You never know with RM,  four months back ( not Alamy)  I sold an erie, scary  graveyard shot for 9K  and that was for an anti-smoking campaign or something like that.

i've always wanted to do a graveyard shot. so, it's erie and scary, eh? can't you name the agency?

do you think it did better as rm than rf?

Hard to say really.  Sales like this dont happen very often, most RM sales are somewhere around 200 bucks. RM buyers however will shop around, when they gonna spend large amounts for images they will visit most RM agencies, not just to find the most suitable shot but also for prices and most of them will probably end up buying from Getty, Corbis or Alamy.

Today the RM side is somewhat weak but in their glory days, the 80s and 90s,  many photographers made fortune and fame especially with Image-Bank and Tony-Stone, both bought up by Getty in 93  but Im afraid the last say 10 years the RM side have slowly decreased.
Micro and RF,  they will get their 10-15 years of high-life and then it will gradually come to an end, replaced by better technology or just gone.

that's interesting. was your graveyard shot something you made back in the glory days or from a more recent shoot? does it have people? i presume it's a great seller for halloween and for any other ghoulish themes.

Shot it about six year ago. Originally I shot it using fog-machines and a whole battery of portable flashes for special effects. It was a commisioned shoot for an AD-agency and book-publisher but I took some private shots for myself, all differant though and then put it out for RM stock.
Highgate cementary in London actually,  famous for large scary mausoleums and weather-bitten crosses and all that.  Back in 1975, Hammer-films made one of their Dracula movies in the same cementary.