think. stock. economics.

Everyone is going to get worked up over the new Thinkstock offering Getty has announced. This is nothing new, just a continuation of the Jupiter subscription model. Shutterstock, with 10 million pictures already offers an almost identical product. The problem here is one of supply and demand. There are millions of photos for sale. Millions. And we all know what’s happening to all the traditional media outlets. New outlets are coming in to play, but the dust hasn’t settled enough for us to see clearly where the money is and where it’s going to come from.

I don’t want to get lost in the numbers game. I think what we are seeing here is an end to a lovely game that was happily printing money for the players. No longer is a Getty contract a gateway to riches. Now we are going to have to work for our money. Yes, you worked hard before to get where you were, but that’s not good enough anymore. Now you are going to have to work harder.  The changes in technology both for image production and distribution have resulted in diluting the waters.

But, it’s not all doom and gloom out there. Now’s the time to capitalize on your skills. Carve out niches in the online world. These cheap publication and distribution tools are available to you too. Also, Getty is not the only game in town. If you don’t want to go the direct marketing route look in to specialty agencies that have tight focuses and are interested in maintaining a high quality brand image.

Are you a flower photographer? Do you take the extra step to differentiate your flower pictures from the masses? There are millions of flower pictures online, but are you taking measures to make sure every flower is accurately named and labeled? Do you include scientific names? Any extra information? Yes, it’s a pretty dahlia but there seems to be room for so much more information.

Do you shoot travel? Are you going that extra mile to ensure you have images no one else can duplicate? It’s no longer sufficient to get on an airplane, wander a city for a week, capture the monuments nicely and expect to make any money. The next time you go to a tourist attraction take a moment to count the number of dslrs around you. Are you getting up earlier to ensure you have that sunrise shot from an angle no one else has? Are you working with local groups to get access to places others can’t? A picture of the Golden Gate Bridge is a dime a dozen, but a picture from the top of the towers is a rarity. Are you working hard to get those shots?

Do you shoot lifestyle? Are you getting access to great locations? Are you showing extremely high levels of production value? A simple image of a happy woman in front of white seamless isn’t going to cut it. Great places, great models and stellar concepts are the only things you can work on. Making 200 decent images from a shoot isn’t going to cut it either. You need to focus on making 10 great  images.

Somewhere I read that Ansel Adams was happy if he took a good picture once a month and ecstatic if he got a great picture once a year. I think that plan worked out pretty well for him. We need to strive for excellence.