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[Now that my iMac is down, I’m taking the opportunity to catch up on some of my writing.]
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Back in April, I mentioned that Getty Images, the well-known distributor of image content, was interested in about 40 of my images.
At the time, I was wondering whether I should go ahead and license my images to them. Since most of them involve people, the paperwork involved for submission was going to be a bit of a hassle.
After pondering it, and also taking into consideration some of your comments, I decided to submit just three.
After that, I kind of forgot about the whole thing.
Well, while I was away in August, I received an e-mail from Getty informing me that the rights to one of those images, Christmas at the Toronto Beach (the image above) had been purchased, and that I would be receiving a royalty payment for it some time in October.
Sure enough, the payment arrived a couple of days ago.
The amount: US$154.50.
After accessing the Getty Contributor website yesterday, I learned that this amount represents 30% of the total Getty was paid, and that my image was licensed for world-wide usage, for a duration of two years.
The intended use? Greeting cards (my guess is that you’ll see it on a Christmas card near you).
This was a bit of a learning experience for me, so I’m glad I did it. Having said that, I don’t know if I’ll be submitting any more images to Getty.
I hope that this post was of interest to those of you considering licensing your own images.
—Peter.
Prosophos 
Morning Peter and glad to hear of your success with Getty Images. Your experience reminded me of a conversation, one of many, during this trip my family and I are on. (We’re 9 weeks into a 12 week road trip with our Airstream). But we ran into a couple that told us about a friend that earns around $1,500 a month selling greeting cards with his photography.
They’re mostly sold through small shops not the commercialized Hallmark type stores. Maybe something to look in to.
Hello sir: this is a great shot! As for your paltry commission, I can tell you that a former, dominant film producer in the USA did use my brother-in-law’s absolutely fantastic shot of a volcano in Italy taken from his jet fighter–all back in the early 70s. They never contacted him and his shot appeared as a promo for them. So, lesson learned. Caveat emptor. Just market yourself—-your photographic eye and productions are simply awe inspiring.
Sometimes stepping away from behind the lens gives us time for a quiet peace that allows us perspective and reframing.
Thank you for posting.
beautiful image. outstanding!
Dear Peter,
Congrats! That is one image that I’d be happy to buy if gracing a greeting card and I am generally allergic to greetings cards… 🙂
Well deserved recognition – that image (and many other you’ve made) is/are superb.
Cheers!
-raaj
Thank you Duane, Jeff, Michael, and Raaj.
Duane and Jeff, marketing is something I definitely need to work on….
And dear Raaj, it’s nice to see you posting here again. Thanks for the continual encouragement.
Hi Peter, definitely a beautiful (christmas) image (and interesting post to learn about this process)! I hope I am one of the lucky ones who will receive this card from a friend;-). If so, will let you know!
Thank you Jeroen.
Beautiful shot, Peter.
I think like many things recently, we will see this ridiculous imbalance change over the next decade. It is you who should be getting 70% and Getty’s cut should be 30%.
A 2-year license to use a stunning image for $150 is just crazy. Yes, Getty have spent many years building up the network and brand name but the internet allows that process to cut out the middle-man. With a bit of effort you could definitely do this on your own.
Thank you for posting the information – it is very interesting to see how this works.
Thank you zonjineko,
I appreciate you taking the time to articulate your thoughts with such eloquence. I concur with all you write.
The trouble is, I have never had a clever business mind, so without outfits like Getty, this image would have likely languished in relative obscurity.
—Peter.
I have always thought it a fine line between doing something for money as opposed to love, passion or just to feel good. Personally I have never had any desires to sell an image nor to make money from photography. I get so much happiness giving someone an image or showing them how to use their camera or do some post-processing, that I could never charge for it.
I can add that I also have spent many hours building websites for people, digging their car out of the snow, lending a helping hand, whatever I am able to do to help.
I do not come from any history of money, I have a job (or rather, had a job). I just found it made it easier to not want money for anything outside of my work life. Perhaps I am unusual, but I do not care for money. I don’t save receipts, I don’t check the price I am being charged, and I don’t think about it after the money has gone. I tell all the people I hire to think about what will make them happy, and then I pay them a bit more “as I want them to be really happy”. My only use for money is to spend it.
So what’s the point of me writing this? Well I guess, I’d be just as happy if someone wanted to use an image I created if they paid me or not. I’d be flattered. If they wanted to give me $150 I’d take it and go out to dinner and celebrate. The only way I could really let myself down is if I started thinking about the fairness of it all, and how much my image was worth, and whether I should be insulted by only receiving a small percentage of the money it was generating … UNLESS of course I wanted to get out of what I did as a day job and wanted to make photography my living.
Excuse the waffle (…and don’t come to me for financial advice) 🙂
A passionate response Guy — no need to excuse yourself.
My best images have always come from the heart, so I know what you mean. When I posted my favourite images from this year (https://prosophos.com/2012/10/24/my-21-favourites-from-12/), only one of them was from my paid work.
And if someone allows me to create a spontaneous portrait of him/her and I like the result, he/she can have the image for free. If somebody approaches me for paid work, however, I am careful not to undercut the market, because I know for many people photography represents their livelihood.
As for my image being selected, I was indeed flattered. And I’ll be looking for that card with my image on it like a schoolboy waiting to see his Christmas present. But I don’t believe I want to engage in the process again, and I especially do not want to secure model or property releases every time I take a photo. In many ways, like you, I want to be happy photographing – free of such encumbrances.
—Peter.