Snapvillage -- New Place to Sell Your Pics

[Trius]

Unfortunately, there will always be market distortions, whether it be by supply or demand. I don't have an answer. All I can do is figure out how to do my own thing.

 

[kbg32]

Unfortunately, a lot of the penny stock imagery looks like stock 20 years ago.

 

[colinh]

Why can't we outsource the management of companies? Surely one can find an Indian or Chinese guy to say "We need to cut costs. Sack 30% of the employees, concentrate on core activities, outsource ummm, everything." at, oh I don't know, 1/100 of what corporate managers are getting.

Another point, who will constitute the market when ALL of us are paid what some Indian kid or Philippino woman get?

colin

 

[Dektol Dan]

I know I'm making the same mistake

I know I'm making the same mistake

I knew better than to join this thread.

An image that has value is________.

You fill in the blank.

I am a classically trained painter, as was my father. I can kick out illustrations that would pass for Norman Rockwell. Imagery is a fad and can be an anachronism overnight. Today, images aren't consumed at the rate of each issue of the Satruday Evening Post, but by every image needed for any application at every second. Sadly, there is no market for my skills where I could even get close to union wages for my time.

Even the best song writers only get 1 penny an air play or 5 cents a song as a hard copy.

In this situation one has to have a 'hit' in order to make real money.

In our era of photography this can only be accomplished by making a name for one's self or by creating a memorable image (Like John Jr. at his dad's funeral).

Everyone is a photographer today, very few are trained and imagery is expected to be free to the common citizen. 99% of those with an experience paying for a photgrapher is for services like graduation pictures and weddings.

Photography is too easy, too cheap and the bar for what passes for professional has been lowered so low that its value as a commodity has become next to worthless.

I love to see those new to the craft buy into darkrooms (and all the smelly adventures that go on there) get inspired by an image emerging in a tray, but even that won't make an image more legitmate or have more artistic value.

Selling reproduction rights is where the money is, and if one is heady enough to think he is an artist, it's all in the fist (a.k.a. signature).

 

[Welsh_Italian]

Very good points. It's too easy with digital to knock off hundreds of pictures because the law of numbers will say that some of them will turn out okay. Of course, there is no craft in this or search for excellence which, to me, is a major appeal of any pursuit worth doing.

I did a bit of art at school and enjoy viewing it myself, but I'm not trained like yourself. I have, however, been teaching myself more about artistic composition to improve my pictures. I am not a bad photographer IMveryHO, but I'm not that good and certainly will never be great enough to carve out a career. It is purely for my own pleasure, otherwise I'd starve!

Talking of which, I was approached by schmap and asked if I would give them permission to use one of my photographs. Thanks to this thread, I turned them down. I business terms, they're being clever by harnessing "people power", but I don't agree with it. A commercial company should be paying for this but most on flickr are thrilled to be included. Will this kind of strategy undermine not just the traditional stock companies but the microstock companies too? Who can compete against zero-cost?

I wasn't impressed because they also chose one of the crappiest pictures I've done and there are many better pictures by other people around (even others of my own).

An image that has value is________.

You fill in the blank.

I am a classically trained painter, as was my father. I can kick out illustrations that would pass for Norman Rockwell. Imagery is a fad and can be an anachronism overnight. Today, images aren't consumed at the rate of each issue of the Satruday Evening Post, but by every image needed for any application at every second. Sadly, there is no market for my skills where I could even get close to union wages for my time.

Even the best song writers only get 1 penny an air play or 5 cents a song as a hard copy.

In this situation one has to have a 'hit' in order to make real money.

In our era of photography this can only be accomplished by making a name for one's self or by creating a memorable image (Like John Jr. at his dad's funeral).

Everyone is a photographer today, very few are trained and imagery is expected to be free to the common citizen. 99% of those with an experience paying for a photgrapher is for services like graduation pictures and weddings.

Photography is too easy, too cheap and the bar for what passes for professional has been lowered so low that its value as a commodity has become next to worthless.

I love to see those new to the craft buy into darkrooms (and all the smelly adventures that go on there) get inspired by an image emerging in a tray, but even that won't make an image more legitmate or have more artistic value.

Selling reproduction rights is where the money is, and if one is heady enough to think he is an artist, it's all in the fist (a.k.a. signature).