Alamy: ‘Your Photos Could Be Earning You Money’
Hobby and professional photographers alike are making a good living through stock photo site contributions
The majority of us like taking photographs, whether it’s holiday snaps or pictures of everyday life, and many of us have turned this passion into a hobby or career.
Amateur and professional photographers sit side by side on Alamy, which is the world’s largest online photography site and marketplace, connecting picture buyers with imagery from thousands of suppliers. Alamy contributors take the majority share of the revenue from the sale of their images, and some of them are making a good living from it.
Jeff Greenberg’s entire career has revolved around photography – something he clearly has a passion for. His first submission to Alamy was in April 2004, and since then he has uploaded almost 79,000 photos to the site. He commented:
“I discovered stock photography many years ago, and when I realised I could make a living from this, I opted to become a full-time, self-employed photographer.
“My passion is getting candid shots of people doing real things. My subjects aren’t models, but I may influence a photo to make my images more striking or saleable. My overall stock shooting net income has risen steadily over the years, and starting in 1998 it surpassed six figures annually, even during the recession in 2009, and I continue to receive a healthy income from it. The daily summary of sales that Alamy provides only spur me on to take more photos and upload them to Alamy. The ‘name of the game’ is to supply quality images in quantity, and to ensure there is a real variety of shots.”
Other photographers see Alamy as a route to a secondary source of income, with some making steady streams of revenue and others benefiting from one-off large sales.
Russell Blake – now a semi-professional photographer – took a relatively ordinary image that he uploaded to Alamy. At the time of posting the photo, he was working as a carpenter and enjoyed photography – but simply as a hobby. He said: “I was uploading images to the site, and took a photo of my friend sitting down with some graffiti on the wall behind him.”
The photo sold for $7700 (£4780 approx). Russell was delighted when someone from Alamy rang to advise him about the potential sale to a pharmaceutical company who wanted to buy exclusive rights.
Russell commented: “I was surprised to sell an image for that price. And when the money came through, we bought a solar electricity system for the house, something we had wanted to do for a long time, but had never prioritised financially. I also made sure that my friend (the model in the photograph) received some of the proceeds for his help in the whole process.
“I initially read about Alamy in a photography magazine, and liked the fact that contributors get the lion’s share of the sale. It’s a great business model, and I am going to continue uploading photos to the site, and see what it may lead to.”
Alan Capel, head of content at Alamy, added: “The price a photo sells for depends on many factors, but mainly boils down to end-use and visibility. Sales such as Russell Blake’s are the exception, rather than the rule.
“However, we pride ourselves on looking after our photographers and providing them with the best deal regardless of the value of the sale. It’s fantastic to see people who are so proud of their work making good money from it.”
