Rights Managed (RM) vs. Royalty Free (RF) sales:

Rights Managed: Some (brief) details:

Rights Managed (RM) is an older model of how industry sales have worked up until about 2003 or so, when RF first started to really take off. Many photographers predicted it'd cause the end of their profession; though it was a kind of experiment that was imposed upon photographers, but it seems to have sorted out the good professionals from the weak ones, and has provided entry points for good amateurs (including yours truly). Getty Images is an industry leader, supplying images to all the major publishing houses, and news outlets. Getty Images has even bought iStock, an RF market leader and others. Though, to get into Getty Images, one needs to supply a very large initial sample of your very best material, in the hope of getting approved by their tough image inspectors.

Royalty Free: Some details:

With iStock, you initially submit three of your finest for inspection, if they pass muster, then you're in, and then you start to upload pictures for sale. Also note, when you eventually get to 250 downloads (the number of sales you make), and you have a better than 60% approval rate (expect rejections as you learn your craft), then you can apply for exclusivity. Exclusivity means that you cannot sell RF anywhere else but with iStock. You also earn 40% on each sale, and you can have some iStock images added to the Getty Images library, which means higher earnings from the RM system. Then, the worlds your oyster.

Who to go with?

Alright, I have been promoting iStock, but they are the industry leader for RF. There are others including Crestock, which if you have a read of their forums, you may not be so satisfied with. I'm still with them, as it can't hurt to earn an extra dollar or two each year. You could also look into Photos.com, Fotolia (pretty good, and they also have an exclusivity programme), Stockxpert.com, ShutterStock, Art Life Images, Foto Search and others you can find on Google.

Rejections:

All companies that survive have a business plan. If they have a good plan, and stick to it, they'll be successful. This plan could include people like you, or may not. It could include your genre, style, or level of ability, or it may not. If you're rejected, keep trying to improve your work, and keep practicing and learning.

If you're in with an agency like iStock or Crestock, all images you upload to make available for sale are inspected for technical, artistic and even salability qualities. iStock will reject 99% of flower pictures, as they already have enough of them. Crestock will reject anything that probably will sell just once; they want a stellar library top selling library, perhaps the high rejection rate they have is to save server space (therefore money). Anyway, these agencies are good in that they'll tell you exactly why an image was rejected. Read the reason, and look it up here, or in a book. Never ignore it, as it may be a problem that is persistent in your photography. Later, I'll do an article here about the most common mistakes photographers make, look out for it. It's now done, looka' here: 'Rejections & Technical Problems'.

Private Sales

These are quite rare, but do happen. Essentially, read up on Rights Managed licences before you begin, design your licence, and be aware of copyright. The other thing is, work out the value of your time, wear and tear on equipment, and expenses (cost of props, travel to the site, and other things), and add all these on. I know of some amateurs who've sold some brilliant landscape pictures, that could easily earn $500, for just £10 or £20. ARR! It's a crime to undervalue our work, and it makes it harder for the rest of us to make sales at reasonable prices to support our starving children! Worst still, GIVING them AWAY for FREE! Yes, it's nice to see your picture in print, it is a form of validation of your ability, but it's not a good form of validation to give away your valuable work, and without a licence. If you get the opportunity to sell this same picture by RM... you can't, as that picture had already been used by someone else! For nothing! "For the love of Ilford!" Ask for at least $100 / £50 per photo and attach an RM licence! Refer to some good photography books or the Getty Images website for information on the possible contents of RM licences.

Model Releases:

These are a legal prophylactic for the photographic industry. It essentially prevents a model you used from suing and seeking damages, (more) money, or anything else for their own advantage. All good Royalty Free (RF) agencies will reject any image that doesn't have a Model Release attached. Some RF agencies will expect you to use their own Model Release, which makes it easier for you (you don't need to hire a lawyer to make one for you). With Rights Managed (RM), an RM image with a Model Release will fetch a higher price.

What does a Model Release include? Here's one example: (Note that there are better ones out there.)

Please don't use the same wording above, modify it for your use and have a lawyer check it and modify it, too. Get some books and read up on this, and also have a look at the information that iStock has on this topic. Also, "benefits" means the way you rewarded (or paid) your model, be it money, food, a beer, a kiss, whatever. Furthermore, more and more micro-stock agencies are providing their own Model Release forms for you to use, so you may not need to worry about writing your own.

Tutorials:

Some useful tutorials that relate to commercial photography