Above, one of my gripping stock videos which, rejected one, is awaiting approval again.

The general flow of advice > freelancer > income > passive > stock. The idea is that one takes all of one’s scraps and puts them into the stock marketplace, sits back, and waits for the cash to start rolling in.

The stock model isn’t for photojournalists, however. The job of the photojournalist is to document the human experience. To document the human experience, one needs to have humans in the frame. In stock, in order to sell one’s images, one must have a model release. As a fashion/advertising photographer, model releases are standard, and the photographer can have the complete rights to every frame he or she has taken and can sell them to others for any purpose they desire (ie – advertising).

While the photojournalist has the rights to his images, he does not have the right to resell someone’s image for use other than journalism (editorial). Certainly one can walk around demanding that the people one photograph’s on the street sell their images and the photo has been taken, but one probably won’t get it. Even if one does, it seems manipulative.

Additional point, the material taken by staff photographers is generally owned by one’s paper. In the rights venue, if you use your boss’ camera to shoot, the images likely belong to him.

Launching in, I didn’t have material for stock photography. I did, however, have material for stock video. Nice for me, it was all HD, which fetches a higher price. I’ve heard of a number of sites to sell stock. There are tons. I have a cousin in the ad business. Somehow she is working with video mock-up’s of commercials, something like that. I don’t really know. I wrote her and asked her where she gets her stock. She said istock or Getty (they are linked. Getty is the more upscale version.) I knew Getty was more difficult to get into, so I applied to istock.

I got in. They told me quickly. After the acceptance, I uploaded videos (5 or 6 in the span of a week) and waited, perhaps two months. One was accepted, two were rejected, and two were somehow missed. I applied for exclusive status (that means the clips you submit have only been submitted to that service.) I was denied because of a vimeo account. (They don’t like that people can download videos free from there.) I deleted my vimeo account, and became exclusive.

So, now, I’m sitting back watching all that passive income roll in.

Or, not.

I kind of forgot about the account. I figured if something happened, they’d email me. Then, last week, I went to istock to look for an illustration for a website I’m working on. When I logged in, there was money in my account. It wasn’t a lot. Pretty little, in fact. I, however, was tickled to death that someone had bought my video. On three different occasions. I wouldn’t have to pay for the stock illustration I needed. Instead, I could just convert the money already on istock into credit. Peaches.

I’m guessing that is how my relationship with stock is going to continue. Little surprises when I need to buy something. It’s nice. I doubt it will ever be a significant portion of my income. I’m not investing enough time into it. The work involved is hardly passive.

That said, it is feasible to do really well in it. Istock, in particular, seems to be a good place to be. They have heaps of tutorials, and if they reject you, they tell you why. Obviously, key words are crucial (as they are in every web enterprise.) They have a post up in their community section about some Canadian Graphic Designer who started in 2004 who kept taking feedback and improving and used herself and her boyfriend frequently in her photos, and today is on her millionth download. The resources are there to be the ideal stock shooter. I’m just kind of busy with other things right now.

They are thorough in training. I will reiterate the important points here. Releases – recognizable person – always, recognizable location, probably. No logos or brand names. No bad video. They go frame by frame. Compression issues will get you. Not listed in the training – the wait for review takes a very long time. The 5d shoots beautifully. Without releases, one is limited to inanimate objects without visible brand names – there’s a lot of competition in that area.

Really, really fun example from the world of stock. One political party in Northern Ireland (DUP) used a stock image of a woman for one of their ads for MP, with the ad reading, “I want an MP who answers to us, not to the Tories.” Their opponents (UCU) found the source of stock, and used another image of the same woman in a billboard opposing the other party. The tag line is “Actually, on second thoughts, I want my MP to be at the heart of the Union.” Found that via a vised’s tweet.