One of the possible way to enter now in the microstock photo market is to find a niche,  with a specialized category of photos or with a geographical oriented site. This second case is perfectly represented by Arctic Stock Images, specialized in images from the Arctic circle and Antarctica.

iSyndica has published an interesting blog post about “The Story Behind Arctic Stock Images” written by the Arctic Stock’s founder Anders Peters Amsnæs, that I’m glad to re-blog here. You can find the original iSyndica’s article here:

The Story Behind Arctic Stock Images

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The Story Behind Arctic Stock Images

Anders Peters Amsnæs is the founder of Arctic Stock Images, a stock photography agency specialized in photos from the arctic region and Antarctica. Arctic Stock Images became the latest site to be added to our ever growing list of supported sites on iSyndica. Read below for Anders’ journey on how Arctic Stock Images was born.

How I started my own microstock site

I started out in microstock about a year ago. I had been aware of sites like iStockphoto for a long time and even bought some images there a few times, but it was only then that I realized I could become a contributor and maybe even make some money from my own photography. I am by no means a pro photographer, but taking pictures is a big passion for me. I also have a good sense for aesthetics and composition. I quickly made my first microstock sales. In fact I became kind of addicted to submitting my shots and following their views and sales (although mostly views in the beginning). I started to submit to more and more sites and quickly learned my way around the business. At some point the idea of doing my own microstock site popped up. I am a self employed web designer and programmer and could basically do most of the work on a basic new site by myself. I knew that I had to find a niche in order to compete effectively. I would by no means be able to attract neither photographers nor customers if I tried to do another iStockphoto all by myself.

In the spring of 2009 an opportunity arose to go to Greenland for three months. My girlfriend got a summer holiday job there and I could basically just come along. Greenland being a photographers dream – breathtaking landscapes in every direction – I pitched the idea of using my pictures more actively and started work on my first niche microstock site ʻArctic Stock Imagesʼ.

In the beginning developing the site was more of a hobby – using my footage actively was my primary objective – and maybe making a sale once in a while. Basically it was just a great way of spending my time in Greenland and an excuse for taking lots of pictures. Around the same time I discovered a new business called iSyndica. There is no ʻflatrateʼ in Greenland and using as little bandwidth as possible was essential. This was simply perfect timing for me and I signed up with iSyndica just before leaving for Greenland. After only a few weeks of work on the site the potential began to dawn on me. Business was looking good and I got plenty of positive remarks about the set-up. At one point a photographer asked me if he could join in and submit some of his photos to my site – sure! I then decided to ask a few more photographers if they would be interested and almost everyone just said yes! From there on the site grew and quickly became attractive to customers as well. Itʼs a small community up here and itʼs easy to go around the block and pitch your new idea or service to someone. The reception has always been very positive. Itʼs incredible to me how fast the site has become a success.

Recently I decided to expand the coverage from Greenland to all of the arctic region and Antarctica. I continually improve on ʻArctic Stock Imagesʼ along with a new developer and an ever increasing number of photographers.

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Thanks to authors and publishers for the permission: