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Stock: Stylistic Conformity


Part I
By Dale O’Dell

As a matter of necessity, photographers must be able to describe their imagery in as few words as possible; this aids the potential client in associating the artist with their works. When someone says, “Product photography,” or, “wedding photographer,” or, “photojournalist,” or even uses fine-art terms like “surrealist,” or “postmodernist,” it gives an editor an expectation of what the imagery looks like. But if you describe yourself as a “stock photographer” you’d better be careful because Stock is no longer merely a marketing technique, it’s an aesthetic. Not a good one either.

Very early on, stock photos were unpublished outtakes from assignments. Not long after that, someone* thought that it would be profitable to generate original photography specifically for stock. Conceptually, it wasn’t a bad idea except for one thing; there’s nothing ‘specific’ about stock. A stock image supplier (that’s a ‘content provider’ in 21st century corporate-speak) doesn’t know who their client is, what kind of image they’re looking for, or how that image will be used. In order to satisfy this unknown and nonspecific image-user, imagery created for their potential use is markedly generic. After twenty years of production of this generic imagery for potential clients with unknown uses, we now have a market glutted with the most boring, generic, banal, derivative and unimaginative imagery possible. Sadly, this sort of imagery has become the benchmark for editors’ assessment of all new imagery.

A photographer calling him or herself a “stock photographer” is like a musician saying he specializes in Muzak!

In this space five years ago, I wrote that the prosaic, generic picture would become very inexpensive as a royalty-free image, whereas really interesting, thoughtful and artistic imagery would increase in price under the rights-managed model. Was I ever wrong about that! What I couldn’t predict was the corporate compulsion of risk-avoidance that has led to the commodification of all stock imagery. In fact, the market is so glutted with generic imagery that we’re now seeing stock clichés touted as cutting-edge. Here’s a short list of stock photo clichés to avoid if you’re an artist, and embrace if you’re a hack:

-The Handshake
-Businesspeople on the phone or at the computer
-Men & women in business suits running or breaking the tape at a track meet
-Big glasses used to make models look intelligent
-Close up of fingers on a keyboard
-The longing, look of love for one's PDA or laptop computer
-Happy business travelers with suitcases getting in and out of cars
-Businesspeople doing the high-five, thumbs up, OK sign, etc.
-And the one I really hate--- the stupid ‘look down’ portrait angle, a person with tiny feet and a giant head

I found over 2400 pages of this “bleeding edge” junk on the Getty site alone! How much more of this stuff do we need? Is there not one spare megabyte of disk space available for something different?

Dale O'Dell is a regular contributor to PhotoStockNotes. He produces cyber-generated stock photography from his studio in Prescott, Arizona. Email: dale@cybertrails.com;Web: http://www.dalephoto.com
 






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Should you…

Let Your Customers Pay By Credit Card?



Advance Notes: Have you come to the point in your career that you are exploring whether to allow your customers to pay by credit card? The decision to go the credit card route can mean an increase in business revenue. It can also mean headaches, customer confusion, and unwanted bookwork. But if you do your homework you can smooth the bumps, and benefit.

To accept credit card payments you need to set up a "Merchant Account." This is a credit card processing account that you establish, that makes it possible for you (your business) to accept all major credit cards for payment. This account is not the same as your checking account or savings account, but it allows you to accept credit card payments from your customers, and for the money to get deposited into your existing bank account.

TWO TYPES
There are two types of accounts a merchant can use. Unless you have a brick-and-mortar studio or place of business, you probably won't be interested in the first type, which is the over-the-counter type of account, where the credit card is physically swiped through a machine at the time of purchase.

The account that likely would fit you best is the Mail-Order/Telephone Order merchant account. Your client or customer enters their credit card information onto a form on a website, or by email, or by phone. You then process the merchant account transaction, which goes to a verification provider. Once the card is verified and approved (done electronically), your client's payment is deposited into your bank account.

Can you afford to accept credit card payments? Some banks may charge you an annual fee in addition to a 'per transaction fee' -- but there are many other providers that charge only a small percentage of the sale amount at each transaction, when you process a credit card (you pay an average of 2-3% per transaction to such a merchant account provider). These merchant account providers are ideal for small business owners and online businesses that may need to process only a handful of sales each week.

There are several credit card processing providers to choose from, each offering different features and fees. Figuring which one of these would work best for you, to process your customer's credit card payments, can be a daunting task.

A local bank, if they are not familiar with your photo researching business, may deny your business application for a merchant account because they don't want to take the risk. Most small businesses end up going through third party providers who are willing to take the risk, and actually get the merchant account on your behalf; then apply their own rate structure to your transactions.

To move ahead with your merchant account, you'll need a shopping cart program of some kind, which must work with the system you use to process credit cards online. Unfortunately, if you go with a third party shopping cart rather than a custom written one, it may not work with all credit card processing gateways. Be sure that whatever shopping cart program you use on your website, works with the merchant account you ultimately end up using to process customer payments.

What's the charge to get involved? You pay fees to the third party merchant account provider (or the bank if you are able to secure your own account directly with a bank that provides it) in exchange for the ability to accept credit card payments. The fees and rates you pay will vary depending on many factors, including how long you've been in business, the type of business you operate, your credit score, how much of your sales are processed by phone versus online, and the amount of credit card sales you process each month.

As mentioned, some providers charge an annual fee in addition to a fee per transaction, while other providers charge only a percentage of each transaction processed. Typical rates for small businesses accepting phone and mail order payments are $0.10 to $0.30 per transaction, plus 2 to 3% of the transaction amount. If the merchant account provider you are considering wants to charge more than this percentage, be sure to check out a few others to see if you can get a lower rate. Sometimes, your credit rating will result in your having to pay higher fees -- but it's worth shopping around a little to see if you can get a lower percentage rate per transaction.

When you're shopping companies, looking for the best merchant account provider, make sure to compare all of the fees to see how much you're going to end up spending per each sale. You should also take into consideration what the application fee is (if any), how much you pay annually, how much you must spend on equipment needed to set up your account (in case you need a swiping machine), and whether or not you must maintain a monthly minimum of sales volume.

YOUR LOCAL BANK
If you sign up for a merchant account with your local bank, you'll be able to make direct deposits into your business account at the bank. If you outsource, study the terms for cancellation and under what conditions the provider can cancel your account, as well. Compare how each merchant account provider allows you to withdraw your money -- can you do it whenever you want or do you have to do it at specific times of the month or year? How long will it take to receive your funds once you've requested a withdrawal or transfer of the money? How does the provider handle charge-backs? Read all of the forms and contracts associated with the merchant account before you sign anything.

The process for applying for a merchant account varies depending on the company. For example, some providers ask you to provide a photo of your driver's license, and even of your home office or studio to verify you are in the location you say that you are. Some companies will want to send a representative to photograph your place of business. Occasionally, you'll be asked to provide a DBA ("Doing Business As") or business license, your tax returns, and profit and loss statements.

In our own case, here at PhotoSource International, about five years ago we did our homework and contacted a half a dozen providers. We determined that Total Merchant Services would be best for us. They have been consistent and quick, and I can highly recommend them. If you're interested in checking them out: http://www.photosourceprocessing.com/

Rohn Engh veteran stock photographer and publisher of "PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter" has provided on-line information to photobuyers, photo researchers and photo editors for two dedades. Fior info: http://www.photosource.com/photobuyer/.