Ever considered submitting your underwater images to a inventory agent? Colin Marshall shares suggestions gleaned over 30 years within the inventory enterprise, together with a few of his favorite photographs
Phrases and footage by Colin Marshall
For so long as I’ve been doing underwater images, I’ve been submitting underwater pictures to inventory brokers.
5 brokers have 30,000 of my footage on their web sites, taken over the course of the previous 30 years in nearly all the world’s oceans and seas (notably excluding the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean round my New Zealand residence).
From turtles to triggerfish, coral to crabs, my images have appeared in journal articles, adverts, brochures, species identification guides, scientific papers and on numerous net pages.
Together with my land-based pictures, they’ve earned me round US $60,000 (£45,000) over time, a welcome top-up on my wage from my day job within the oil trade.
However, with AI biting on the heels of images, this looks like a second of reckoning. Was all of it value it? And what does the long run maintain for these hoping to promote their footage through inventory brokers?
Underwater images, which I took up a few years after turning into fairly competent as a land-based snapper, was an actual problem at first. Simply getting the lighting proper was (and nonetheless is, if I’m trustworthy) troublesome: coping with unwieldy strobes and the seemingly unavoidable backscatter, or ‘snow’.
There was no autofocus choice on the cameras I used to be utilizing within the Nineties and, earlier than the arrival of digital images, you may solely take 36 pictures earlier than needing to rewind and change every roll of movie. There was additionally no Photoshop to the touch up your errors.
I persevered – excited by the concept of taking never-before seen pictures of the underwater world – and shortly began submitting footage to inventory brokers.
CHOOSING A STOCK PHOTO AGENT
I’ve 5 inventory brokers that I at present submit pictures to, although I’ve usually submitted to 9 over time.
Why so many? The principle purpose is that no single company can attain all potential shoppers – so having extra brokers provides you entry to extra web sites for potential consumers to see and buy your pictures.
Moreover, most companies have submarketing agreements with many different brokers that allow them to widen their internet to seek out consumers.
Ardea, for instance, has a robust community of native brokers in varied nations, as many consumers favor coping with native corporations to allow them to work in their very own language.
As well as, there’s a sure kudos with having a well known specialist company market your pictures. Commercially, specialist companies may additionally be capable to entry higher-paying consumers who worth their scientific rigour and reliability.
The French company Biosphoto, for instance, has a specialist staff who evaluate submitted pictures for accuracy, enriching the outline and key phrases in order to have the ability to reply to bespoke requests from consumers.
I favor brokers who’re communicative, have a user-friendly system for submitting pictures, a fairly simple format for keywording and writing descriptions, and clear reporting of gross sales. Different photographers could also be extra centered on earnings.
It additionally is determined by the kind of images you’re taking; my curiosity skews extra in direction of ‘scientific’ than ‘inventive’ photographs and that’s guided by my alternative of brokers.
You’ll want to work out what’s vital for you, and select accordingly
SUBMITTING PHOTOGRAPHS TO STOCK AGENCIES
My early years (1995-2006) of inventory have been within the period of bodily slide transparencies: submissions required posting in bodily packs of slides, with the brokers then returning the rejects.
I began submitting digital pictures in 2006, which made the method significantly much less time-consuming.
When submitting, it pays to get organised. Write a normal checklist of key phrases to attract on, somewhat than reinventing the wheel each time you make a submission.
Have a look at different folks’s comparable pictures on inventory web sites and steal concepts for key phrases. However don’t obsess over keywording, particularly in case you can amend key phrases after submitting.
Don’t submit too many variations of the identical topic or occasion, anticipating the agent to filter; solely ship your
greatest pictures. However bear in mind that it’s value dropping your requirements a bit for extra uncommon topics, as demand is
more likely to be increased for rarer pictures.
Both manner, spend slightly time on pre-submission processing: correcting for brightness or lack of color results, cropping and eradicating backscatter, for instance.
That mentioned, don’t over-process and over-crop; consumers usually need loads of unfavorable (clean) house for inserting wording, and might crop pictures as they want.
If you wish to check out inventory for your self and are brief on time, or have a restricted portfolio, experiment with Alamy, one of many best-known basic companies. Their submission system could be very easy and polished and lets you amend key phrases later.
Relating to specialist pure historical past companies, brace your self for rejection. Royalties per picture are excessive on this part of the market and demand is due to this fact fierce. It’s nonetheless value making use of, however be ready to be disenchanted.
WHEN IT’S NOT WORKING
It hasn’t all the time been straightforward. The rise of digital images resulted in falling revenues for inventory companies because the market
was flooded with content material, and expectations modified across the worth of pictures.
In 2007, microstock companies began popping up and disrupting the market, benefiting from this courageous new world of digital with a high-volume, low-price mannequin that undercut conventional companies.
This monetary stress resulted in cuts to workers numbers, and communication with photographers suffered.
The primary agent I dropped, Journey Ink, was the primary that I signed up with, again in 1995. I had all the time discovered them glorious to take care of however, by 2008, many of the unique staff was gone.
That they had stopped sending statements of pictures offered and my emails have been going unanswered. After almost 25 years, it
was time to name it a day.
You really want a few years with an agent to see what they will ship. If the outcomes are poor, you may have two choices: both cancel the contract, or simply cease submitting pictures.
For example, I used to be within the potential of microstock companies, so signed as much as Bigstock in 2012. My pictures offered continuously, however for tiny royalties (usually solely 25 US cents every). It was not definitely worth the effort to get pictures into the
required format, so I cancelled that contract after three years.
Some companies seem very skilled. However be warned, a slick web site, submission system and common gross sales statements can create a false sense of safety.
I had one company like this, AGE Fotostock, which seemed sensible, however failed to really pay royalties. There have been all the time excuses, however I used to be by no means paid.
BEST SELLERS
Attempt, attempt to strive once more: in case you stand nonetheless and don’t enhance, your previous pictures is not going to promote, as web sites relentlessly refill with extra enticing pictures from different photographers. You’ll want to constantly replenish your portfolio with higher pictures. These two pictures of education jacks are a working example.
Taken on the similar web site, in 2004 (prime) and 2013 (above), they’re each in my prime 5 best-selling underwater pictures ever, incomes over $1,000 between them. The newer is clearly a a lot better image, a results of my method having improved plus, in all probability, a little bit of luck.
Persistence is essential: it might probably take a while for a picture to promote, particularly of a really particular topic. Two of my highest current gross sales have been this orange clownfish (Amphiprion percula) – it’s the black variant present in Papua New Guinea – and this Honshu pipefish (Doryrhampus japonicus) with eggs. Although each have been taken round 20 years in the past, they’ve solely offered since 2020.
A number of gross sales add up: this picture of nudibranchs mating, shot in 2007, is my highest incomes picture over time. It’s offered seven occasions, incomes $660 in complete.
Finest sellers are typically stunning: this picture of stony coral earned the best worth for a single picture within the final 5 years: $130. Clearly somebody needed a picture of that particular coral (Hydnophora sp). It was a straightforward picture to take – it took for much longer to establish the coral.
Behaviour photographs usually promote properly: this picture of a squid inking has offered 19 occasions over 10 years for a complete of $420. Irritatingly, my spouse is satisfied she took this shot. (I believe she is appropriate, however please don’t inform her that.)
I wasted eight years submitting round 10,000 pictures and by no means receiving any of the $2,000 of royalties as a result of me, earlier than cancelling the contract in 2021. AGE Fotostock ceased operations in 2024.
For those who begin to really feel just like the company shouldn’t be performing, particularly by way of making funds, give them an opportunity to appropriate the scenario. Then, if nothing modifications, cancel the settlement.
It’s vital to do it rapidly, particularly as the method for cancelling contracts and eradicating pictures from web sites (and their associates) is commonly contractually stipulated to take greater than a yr.
It hasn’t all the time been me that’s drawn issues to a detailed. Some companies have a restricted capability to deal with submissions, in order that they grade their photographers and cease accepting pictures from the much less gifted or productive.
I joined my first specialist wildlife and nature company, FLPA, in 1999. They closed their web site in 2021 and their pictures at the moment are marketed by their worldwide accomplice Minden Photos.
Minden determined to not take any extra of my pictures (past what they inherited from FLPA) as they didn’t assume they
would promote sufficient of them to make it a worthwhile train.
SALES – A DOWNWARD TREND?
I’ve made internet revenues of between $1,000-$4,000 a yr, averaging at round $2,500 a yr (adjusted for inflation). However as time went on, I realised that I used to be incomes much less per picture.
This development wasn’t instantly apparent as a result of I used to be advertising and marketing, and therefore promoting, extra pictures yearly. My elevated income masked the truth that I used to be really receiving much less per photograph.
It’s straightforward responsible the rise of digital and the microstock companies that took place consequently, however the market was really in critical decline properly earlier than this.
Income per picture offered has been falling because the mid-Nineties, as the availability of images grew quicker than market demand. There was then a comparatively dramatic drop after 2007, the purpose when the digital glut started to affect the market and microstock companies made their entrance.
The excellent news is that costs appear to have bottomed out: my lowest common worth was $7.90 per picture in 2022 and my common income per picture offered has elevated barely in 2023 and once more in 2024. It will not be time to have fun although – we’ve got but to see the complete affect of AI on inventory images (see ‘A pressure for good or evil?’ from the Spring 2025 concern of DIVE).
Proper now it’s a matter of ready and seeing.
LESSONS LEARNED
For those who love taking pictures, then inventory is value it, because it encourages you to delve deeper into the small print of the topics you’re photographing.
For me, the method of figuring out a topic is commonly extra fascinating than the second of observing it within the first place.
Saying that, the times of creating an honest earnings from inventory alone are over. Assuming I spent round 5 minutes deciding on every of the 30,000 pictures at present held by inventory companies, figuring out species, keywording, processing and submitting – possible a major underestimate – I earned round $24 an hour for my hassle.
This doesn’t embrace any compensation for getting tools or journey prices, and even the time spent diving. It’s a must to assume you’re travelling, diving and taking footage since you take pleasure in it – any inventory earnings is only a bonus.
Was the two,500 hours I spent making ready my pictures a waste of my time? Some would discover the work required to submit pictures tedious, others take pleasure in it – like a standard job, it is determined by your private preferences.
I discover it enjoyable and pleasant, particularly as making correct descriptions for inventory pictures encourages you to analysis the animals in your pictures.
There isn’t any doubt that the inventory trade has handed its peak. However, I might nonetheless suggest placing at the very least your greatest pictures into one inventory agent.
If nothing else, it forces you to be disciplined at deleting and organising your pictures. And also you by no means know what superb belongings you’ll uncover alongside the way in which.
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