Author: Amos Struck

With the internet, not only microstock came up using the new technologies to easier distribute digital files – we also saw a vibrant and energetic community of stock contributors coming up. The exchange of information always helps us to learn from each other and get better. Also, some agencies have learned that sharing is vital in contributor communications, so they write articles and blogs, publish studies and let us know about demands. But one important market player can rarely be found in all this – and not an unimportant one: The photo buyer. So we thought it is time to get…

Steve Cole has been one of the poster child for stock imagery, for iStock & Getty Images in particular. His images made it everywhere in the world, from bill boards to books to websites. Some of them were selected for Getty’s Prestige collection, one of the most prestigious image collection in the stock market these days. Besides all that, Steve is a great human being with a wicked sense of humor. We are delighted he agreed to answer some questions for us. Amos @ MyStockPhoto.org: Steve, you are an exclusive photographer and videographer with iStock and the Getty Images family. Why did you…

Mobile Photography Webinar A successful live webinar was held last February 8 featuring Morgan David de Lossy, the Head of Mobile at Fotolia and hosted by microstock expert, Amos Struck. The webinar focused on “Making Money from Smartphone Photos” and more than a hundred online guests tuned in to listen about the trends and progress that mobile photography has been making for the past 18 months. Morgan explained which images sell the most and which ones are not worth uploading.  In this webinar, you will learn how to make a strategy in order to maximize your sales on mobile images.…

Last Sunday we had a successful live Webinar featuring Morgan David de Lossy, the Head of Mobile at Fotolia. More than a hundred online guests tuned in to hear about the progress we have seen in mobile photography and its reception in the markets in the past 18 months. The webinar was titled “Making MONEY from Smartphone Photos” and the replay is available here. In the webinar, Morgan also explained which images the buyers are looking for and which ones you don’t need to bother uploading. You will learn how to market your images to optimize your sales. Fotolia’s Instant Collection…

I’m proud to present our second Webinar, this time with Morgan David de Lossy, Head of Mobile at Fotolia. This Sunday, you can learn how to make money with your smartphone photos. Space is limited to 100 attendants (80 seats left), register now!  “Making Money with Smartphone Photos” This Sunday 8th of February (1:00pm EST, 10:00am PST, 7:00pm MET (Europe) with Morgan David de Lossy, Head of Mobile at Fotolia With over 60,000 smartphone images sold last year, Fotolia’s Head of Mobile knows a thing or two about mobile photography. In our webinar he will share data and knowledge acquired through 2014 as well as his industry expertise. Morgan David de…

Microstock agency Fotolia has just announced the winners for their Instant Contest in 2014: The image “Melbourne Coloration” was the most downloaded image from the Instant collection which features photos shot and/or processed with mobile devices only. The image was uploaded by French contributor Robin Michel who will receive 5000 cashable credits for having scored the best selling image in the Instant collection in 2014. His winning image was shot with an iPhone 5 while he was living in Australia. Click to reserve your Seat for the next Webinar about Mobile Photography Get inspired by checking the best 1000 mobile stock images…

As Dreamstime announced through their forums to contributors, Google will use images offered by Dreamstime to their Google Display Ads clients. In an initial beta phase, contributors will receive a base royalty for all images included in the project with the potential to upgrade to an Extended License sale at a later stage. According to the original statement by Dreamstime founder and CEO Serban Enache (nick named “Achilles” in the forum), the deal starts with a beta phase, during which Google will license a large number of images for a test program. Those licenses will be paying $2 (or $2.25…

Fotolia HD Videos Worth 5 Times More To Your Rank Videos are becoming a trend in stock industry nowadays. Video files are among the microstock niches that have increased in popularity over the course of the year. With the increase in client demands, Fotolia is planning to extend their portfolio even more. Therefore, as an incentive to the contributors, HD videos are now worth 5 times more toward contributor ranking making it easier for you to go through the ranks to get a higher commission. To know more about this great news and what might be its effects to other stock…

Microstock agency Fotolia seems to be dedicated to expand their offer in the video section. As they just announced, they will reward video downloads with a faster rise in the ranking system, allowing contributors to earn more money quicker. Video downloads worth five downloads As was announced in Fotolia’s blog, from now on video downloads will count as five downloads towards their ranking system which defines the percentage a single contributors earns from their licensed content. So far each credit based image download counts towards a raise in the system while a subscription download only counts 1/4 of a regular download.…

Adobe Acquires Fotolia Adobe announced last week, as part of their quarterly earnings announcement, their agreement to acquire Fotolia for $800M in cash. Adobe is the global leading software company for creative solutions including Lightroom, Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere. Fotolia is one of the leading microstock agencies offering more than 34 million files created and submitted by thousands of creative from around the globe. According to the agreement, Adobe is said to pay $800 million in cash for the stock agency, about one third of the market capitalization of Shutterstock which is listed at the New York Stock Exchange. Adobe…