MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => Newbie Discussion => Topic started by: crazychristina on February 22, 2013, 17:00
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...as distinct from no longer istock exclusive, which will take another couple of weeks. I've uploaded an initial four images to Alamy that I intend to sell RM. My main reason is that I've decided to actually make a business of this instead of just a hobby that helps to pay for itself. And that istock rejects a lot of my work. Ultimate aim is to pay my rent from my images - approx $20,000 (AUD) per year ATM. Good as owning a house, which I don't. I do have another job so it will be pretty part-time. Anyway, will I be accepted? A bit of excitement in life again...
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You'll almost certainly be accepted - iStock standards are generally higher, and Alamy has a more realistic take on natural light.
However, only a few people report great sales figures, and most of them are huge uploaders.
I believe things may be better on the RF/commercial side, but I can't speak to that.
Good luck.
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I've been very unmotivated by istock lately. I should have gone into the city a couple of weekends ago (its a half hour walk) to get lots of shots of the Chinese New Year celebrations in Melbourne's Chinatown. But it was hot, and new images are not being seen anyway. So I didn't bother. Could have been a good fit for Alamy RM.
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Best of luck Christina! It's good to be inspired again
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I find it extremely puzzling what sells at Alamy. From my lowish sales there, I can't see any sort of pattern. I don't find festivals and such get much interest. After you've been there for a while and have a good number of files and a good acceptance rate, you'll presumably get an invite to submit to the news stream. That gets your photos into the system immediately, and dedicated staff actively send them out to appropriate newspapers. However, if it's an event or somethig that's known about in advance, the media probably have their own people there.
Still, you never know. It may be you have access to things other don't which has buyer interest.
Prices are going down all the time there, but I still think it's worthwhile to give it a try. I thought it would have been a better fit for me, but there's a lot of competition.
Their forums can be helpful, but if you go there, use a different name and don't mention the dirty word 'micro' - sets some of the forum habituees 'off on one'.
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Hope the transition goes smoothly for you. I have some RM shots on Alamy (from my exclusive days at IS) but it's the RF stuff that is selling - intermittent compared to micros but the with higher priced sales, just one can be the same as one of the lower-tier's monthly total :)
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I think I'm a bit confused about licensing types. Festival shots would need to be editorial, and is there such a thing as editorial RM? The checklist for uploads said no logos for RF, but on istock editorial is RF of course and can include logos. :-\
OK, checking the license types on Alamy seems there is no such license as RF Editorial. All Editorial is RM. Hmm. Seems strange given that all editorial on lstock is RF. Guess it's just one of the many things I'll have to get used to.
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There is no problem having editorial use only with an RF license, but Alamy doesn't permit that at the moment. For them, editorial means it has to be RM; for Shutterstock, you can have editorial RF, but it needs to be "newsworthy". DT does editorial RF but I never did try that, so I can't say how their rules work in practice (I'm told they say newsworthy but it doesn't actually have to be).
If you shoot with model and property releases, you can choose either RM or RF licensing at Alamy. RM just means that you get only certain rights for use in a defined place, over a certain period of time in a certain geographic market. You can't use the image again without buying another license for the new use.
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Thanks for the info JoAnn and Sue. I'll get my head around it eventually. Perhaps I should concentrate on niche content for RM.
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I think I'm a bit confused about licensing types. Festival shots would need to be editorial, and is there such a thing as editorial RM? The checklist for uploads said no logos for RF, but on istock editorial is RF of course and can include logos. :-\
OK, checking the license types on Alamy seems there is no such license as RF Editorial. All Editorial is RM. Hmm. Seems strange given that all editorial on lstock is RF. Guess it's just one of the many things I'll have to get used to.
iS only sell RF. There is no value in selling RM at micro prices, at least the prices that iS started out with, and even the prices as they were when editorial started. Of course, iS prices are going up and Alamy RM prices are coming down and they'll soon meet.
RM and RF are two types of licence and has no inherent relationship with editorial. iS themselves don't seem to fully understand this. I got a rejection for a castellated building, which isn't a castle (historically it was built as a prison goveror's house a long time ago), telling me that European castles are "not suitable for RF", but I could submit it to the editorial collection. And if you read the replacement for the techical wiki, they seem to have three entities, RM, RF and Editorial, which is bizarre.
Anyway, you are correct, anything with bits or even fuzzy blobs of people without releases can only be RM. If you clone out the fuzzy blobs, you have to say that your image was digitally altered - I have no idea how many potential editorial buyers you would lose. Also anything that would need an MR and only be RM.
If you genuinely have a niche, it might first be worth checking if there is a relevant niche RM library you could submit to, the one that already has pre-qualified buyers with an interest in that niche.
Alamy is non-exclusive, but you have the responsibility for tracking sales elsewhere (even of sisters/similars) in case of the very unusual event someone wants to pay for some degree of exclusivity.
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And if you read the replacement for the techical wiki, they seem to have three entities, RM, RF and Editorial, which is bizarre.
The wiki is for Getty and Istock.
Indeed, but the wording is ambiguous.
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Good luck from a fellow Aussie! I'm sure you'll be accepted, though I have no advice as I've only been on Alamy a month or so myself. I do know that the upload process is a pain in the proverbial...