Photographers Please READ:
If you have an attractive girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, brother, friend - ask them if they'd mind posing for you (be sure to have them sign a model release, it's required).

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[edited by: limbo at 9:29 am (utc) on Nov. 10, 2006]

For me, this is a key element. I wouldn't want to put my pics up for sale anywhere where I didn't control the pricing.

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[edited by: limbo at 9:29 am (utc) on Nov. 10, 2006]

There are numerous sites like that, the one rocketvox mentioned is just one of a giant pool.

I have finally started to get this whole Stock Malarkey and to be honest I think I may well keep it up.

I have found that one or two images are doing well - I will never make a fortune, that is already evident but it is paying for my stock - so if nothing else I have rather a decent return that fufills my needs.

Henry0 - your tip about colour was A good one I optimised all 135 images I uploaded with colour comments and by the looks of things it has been a factor in the successful download of a few.

I have very few images with people in them, but I have recently forked out for a D70 so will no doubt be taking more images of people as the telephoto gives me more range.

You MUST have your model sign a release

This is often counterintuitive, meaning, that beautiful travel photo you took wont sell a thing. Think about it from an advertisers position - they want images with room to breath around them, space for their pitch etc.If you have a whitebox at home (ie. an enclosure to control light and provide a static colour background) then you can produce images that have a lot of the qualities advertisers most often look for.

Fiver - this indeed is true - luckily I often use a tight depth of field - offering designers area of out of focus mid contrast to add text. Although I don't have a white box, I often shoot food (I love food photography) against neutrals or whites - these have been downloaded (a whacking 4 times :o)

Clean, crisp images tend to do a lot better.

Isolated background (most of my searches are refined my "isolated")

I suspect that having several clearly defined niches (Elbonia or plumbers or car manufacturing) is the best way to compete with all the other photo sources out there.

Yep - again I feel I am lucky as my business niche means I am constantly taking photos of a very banal subject - forcing me to look for new angles.

The challenge from the buyer's standpoint is going to be how to sort through all the dreck. It's not uncommon to run a search and get thousands of hits - that's a LOT of thumbails to look through, and the perfect photo for your use could well be #2,798. The site operators are going to have to get increasingly creative with their search algorithms and tagging/rating systems from users.

If I were a photographer, I'd practice some SPO (Stock Photo Optimization):
- for all photos, choose many relevant keywords and variations
- if the software allows it, group similar photos so that if a buyer likes one, she can see all of your similar/related shots
- if you are being selective with your uploads or you are creating images specifically for stock photo sale, think about how people will use the photo (ads, websites, magazines, etc.). That may mean empty space around the image (for headlines or text). Think, too, about what kind of images businesses use - people helping people, new ideas, people having difficulties, meetings, medical environments, etc. (Photographers are catching on - search for "idea" and you'll no doubt find a zillion images of light bulbs and other abstract representations.)

Great Points Roger - worth considering as a recent search for Christmas made clear the sheer enormity of their catalogue

It's annoying to be honest, and I hope the trend ends soon. Why can't we see the whole image in focus? OK, blur the background if you like, but let's see the object in full focus.

I love that style - dropping the aperture and opening up the shutter in restrained light situations can make food shots look wonderful.

Is it to do with the amount of choice or am I missing something?

Not so much the range (this is advantageous), but the ability to hone your searches to get a really nice selection of images that fit the brief - I would never be able to find the images I needed using clipart CD's - we have plenty and they are pretty bad for the most part.

I can also see "boutique" sites emerging that specialize in specific types of shots and that do some screening of content; the per image cost might be higher, but still far below traditional prices from outfits like Getty.

As a result of this statement I completed a couple of test runs. Search results were sketchy but there are some good ones in wider fields like sports. When we raised the idea with a couple of customers they were very happy to hear that we might plan to make our photos available online...

You post what image you are looking for, then set a price you are willing to pay for someone to find it. Seems like a pretty novel idea.

This struck me as a great idea - almost like a reverse auction - choose a number of briefs from the site - supply the images you have or take new shots and see if the buyer like them enough to buy.

Something else I am also looking at is the vector market - but I think that is a different thread.