Selling work in the UK?

[Matt Green]

I read in an article that some folks manage to make a few quid by selling some of their work to online agencies, I just googled a few but most seem to be based in the states!!

Is it really possible to generate a worthwhile (well any is worthwhile isn't it!!) income from well judged and taken (though not necessarily pro standard) images by uploading work to such agencies?

Look forward to hearing about any of your experiances.

Matt

[Lee]

hiya Matt, if you are looking at stock agencies (belong to 2 myself) then you will tend to find that you will need to shift a fair few shots to make it worthwhile. Also read the terms and conditions as they tend to only pay monthly or quaterly,but only if you have reached the minimum level of sales (from memory £250.00 i think) less any commission.Lastly the vetting procedure is quite ( sorry i mean very) strict, and any imperfection that falls outside their specification is rejected.I know i just said lastly ,but one more, they tend to require minimum file sizes,that dependent upon the kit you are using can at times be a struggle...

I expect there are people that do make money from stock sites,but as with all things , time,patience and perservence are a must....

But have a go,its an interesting process,especially the vetting procedure,and you will learn something new

Lee

[watts]

Alamy looks as though it's based in the USA, but is in fact UK-based. That's not a recommendation just an observation.

Bill

[tebbuch]

Many years ago when I was freelancing, whilst studying for my photographic qualifications, I had a reasonable income from agency stock work both in the U.S. and the U.K.. One of the U.K. agencies turned out to be a bit crooked in the end, selling work for major use i.e. advertising, major international exhibition, but not paying. So you have to beware. Most photographers go wrong in thinking that agencies want photos of pretty views or dramatic landscape but, they are overstocked with these. Much of my income came from simple things, a postman emptying the post box, piles of litter in the streets or floating in the river, fishing boats landing their catch. The greatest demand is not for a stand alone picture but one that will illustrate an article. In the end editors were actually asking for my work. SO, think outside the box and keep at it, but avoid the chocolate box type image if you want to see your work in print. See, www.axisweb.org/artist/6196 for sometimes it is the caption that makes the work.