The New Age of Social Photography

Advance Notes: There is a trend toward "realness" brewing in the stock photography world. It's sometimes called "social photography." But don't pin your hopes on it. The public is finicky. The pendulum may swing back to make-believe photos.

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In 1987, I can remember talking with a California stock photo agency director who waved his hand toward his office files with the exclamation, "Editorial photos? We have plenty of those!" The pictures he referred to, of course, were clean-cut models in a simulated work situation smiling at a computer screen, or an immaculate housewife pleasantly choring away with her modern vacuum cleaner. The viewing public in those days, it was assumed, preferred fairytale "editorial" pictures.

Catalogs of historical B&W photos from the postwar era also reflect the aspirations of the public (or at least that's what the art directors figured), depicting a peaches-and-cream wonderland society, that, however, few people ever actually experienced.

Times have changed. Perhaps the shock of 9/11, or the turmoil in the Middle East, or the surge of social channels on TV, have all contributed to today's portrayal of reality as it really is. The public is growing up and getting real. Publishers are wakening up also. We are seeing a growing willingness of publishers to tackle controversial social subjects with natural lighting and hand-held camerawork. Even major Hollywood films today reflect a cultural acceptance of the "real."

Yes, the squeaky-clean advertising pictures we continue to see today have their place - in advertising. Magazine and book publishers, however, have shifted to a sense of realism in the images they choose for production. They perceive that their readership wants the "straight story."

THE OSCARS
The nominations for "The Oscars" back in 2006 also reflect this willingness to tackle gritty, topical issues head on. The top nominations ranged from race relations ("Crash") to the death penalty ("Capote"). In fact all four major nominees dealt with realism and the personal cost of making life decisions based on whether to conform to social norms or not.

Will the pendulum eventually swing back to the fairytale type of photos of the '80's and '90's? Only time will tell. One thing is certain, the focus on social photos today is creating valuable historical assets for the future.

Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and publisher of "PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter," has provided on-line targeted information for photobuyers, photo researchers and editors for two decades. No other newsletter brings photobuyers such up-to-the minute, practical information from a professional intimately familiar with both sides of the stock photo desk. For more info: http://www.photosource.com/photobuyer/.

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Pricing Website Use

Advance Notes: A client wants you to locate a photo for use on his website. What do you charge the client? Here's an easy formula to use.

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WEBSITE PRICING is easy if you use the "Hits Formula." It applies to both editorial as well as commercial markets. A client asks, "What is the charge for website use?" Return the question with your question, "How many hits does your site get each day?"

This question may stump them, and they may admit, "I don't know." But you can easily look like the expert when you return with, "Just a minute, I'll let you know."

Using the free software from www.Alexa.com (a company owned by Amazon.com) you call up Alexa.com. Type your client's website address in the search bar. Once a page comes up, at the bar at the bottom of your screen, click on, "traffic." The statistics will not only show you the owner and address of the company (you can spout that back to them also for verification) but the number of "Alexa hits" they get each day. Alexa has its own secret formula for determining the number of web traffic hits, but it's generally regarded as close to accurate.

Now that you've determined this figure, you are ready to apply the "Hits Formula." Most inquirers contacting you for a photo to use on the Web, are interested in acquiring a photo for their Home Page, and the formula applies to this usage.

THE FORMULA*
If your client currently receives 50,000 hits a day, the charge or a photo will be $25 per month. If they receive 100,000 hits per day, the charge is $50 per month. If they receive 200,000 hits a day then their monthly fee would be $100.*

A client may be just starting out and not have stats available yet at Alexa. Your response: "Who are your competitors? Can I assume you plan to keep up with them? Let's see what they are getting in the way of daily visitors."

Of course, if your client receives very few hits per day, a minimum you could establish would be $10 per month.

Some companies may plan to use a number of photos at various places on their website. In that case it's discount time. The monthly fee for the initial, primary photo will remain the same, but for the extra photos, divide the monthly fee by the number of photos they plan to use. This will give you the per photo fee to charge, for those additional photos.

You might find it necessary to make some bargaining concessions. To keep the style consistent in their website, they might want to use only one photographer's work - and plan to use many photos profusely throughout their site. It may be good politics to adjust the price for volume purchase.

For non-profit organizations that might have a high visitor count but a low budget, be prepared to make adjustments.

* Multiply the number of hits by .0005 to get the dollar amount they should pay each month for the use of a photo on their home page.

Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and best-selling author of "Sell & ReSell Your Photos" and "sellphotos.com," has helped scores of photographers launch their careers. For access to great information on making money from pictures you like to take, and learn how to sell pictures, and to receive this free report: "8 Steps to Becoming a Published Photographer," visit his website, PhotoSource International or call 800 624-0266.