Microstock Photography 101

Photo by Dennis Langerak

What is microstock? Microstock photography or micropayment photography is a kind of stock photography where the stock photo agency sources their images through the internet. Microstock photo agencies target a wider range of photographers unlike the traditional stock photo agencies where they only accept professional and reputable photographers.

Semi-pro, hobbyist or amateurs are welcome to join the microstock industry and contribute photos for the agencies to sell online. Images are sold at a very low price ranging from $.20-$10 for a royalty free image.

Microstock all started when Bruce Livingstone (creator of istockphoto.com) created a free stock photo site which is now one of the biggest microstock agencies in the world---istockphoto.com. Over the years, istockphoto.com has grown bigger and this led to the rise of other microstock photo agency websites.

Microstock websites don’t charge the photographers a fee to post their work on the site but they get profit share from every photo downloaded from their website. Photos submitted by photographers do not get accepted right away. Each photo is carefully reviewed by a team of photo screeners employed by the microstock agency to ensure that all photos in their database are of high quality.

Are you passionate about photography? Why don’t you try shooting photos for microstock and earn extra money? J

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Legal Rules in Stock Photography

Shooting photos that sell does not necessarily require expensive camera equipment. Using your creativity and imagination is enough. Everyday objects at home can be used as props. Your family members can pose as models and even your friends. There are so many ideas that can simply charm image consumers. But there are also rules that you need to know before starting to shoot photos for your stock photo portfolio.

Model Releases

A model release will be required for portraits. Full contact details should be obtained from the model. There are many model release template that you can find in the internet. You will need witness signatures as well. Please note witnesses cannot be you or the model.

Child models need a parent or guardian to sign the release on the model’s behalf.

A model release legally protects you and is one of the key elements in Royalty-Free images.

Property Releases

London Eye at Night by David Hart

Many photographers don’t realize that photos of buildings, artwork, and performances may also require releases. Photos of entertainment and sporting venues and museums require releases. This is because these facilities are usually privately owned. Likewise, a photograph of any place that charges admission falls under this rule.

A property release is only required for Royalty Free not Editorial. A property release is usually needed for recognizable buildings or homes, but architectural photos of generic-looking or unidentifiable buildings are okay in most circumstances. Again this protects you from the owner of the building making any legal claims.

Public property is fine and does not need a property release, like the local park or the Statue of Liberty. But not all public buildings are free from Copyright restrictions, for instance the Eiffel Tower at night would require a release because the lights on the tower are under copyright.

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Microstock Basics

Photo by Maria Li

Microstock is an ever growing trend that is taking over the photography industry. Nowadays, even semi-pro photographers can contribute images to stock photo agencies. Gone were the days when photography is considered “not for everyone with a camera”.
Since Flickr has partnered up with Getty Images, even photos from mobile phones get accepted as stock photos. So what do you need to know before trying to shoot pictures for microstock?
There are some things that you need to be familiar with:

Image License

Each image that you contribute and get accepted in a stock photo site will fall under one of two licenses.

Royalty Free

Royalty-Free images means the user pays a one-off fee and no royalty fee for each usage of your photo. However, the user may have to buy an extended license if they plan to use the image a significant amount of times. Royalty free images have restricted content:

• No copyrighted or trademarked items are allowed, including logos and brand names. Most vehicles made after 1985 cannot be the main focus of a royalty-free photo.

• Also, no branded toys or figurines, like Barbie dolls, and no recognizable book or newspaper titles or images. Text may be only partially visible.

• Full or major sections of maps are not allowed.

• Do not photograph playing card backs and boxes, or unique cards such as the Ace of Spades and Joker.

• No photos that show logos, trademarks, company names and product names.

• Certain buildings are protected by copyright also some modern art.

Editorial 

Images for editorial use can be licensed without model or property release. An image marked for editorial use cannot be used in for commercial purposes for instance for advertising a product or service. However they can be used in publications such as newspapers or magazines to highlight an editorial article. In order for them to be useful, you will need to keep track of when and where you took the photo and what is happening to include in your description.

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