DIFFICULTY OF PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS

Thursday, June 01, 2006

To sum it up - Royalty Free images are eating into the share of professional photographers.

Naturally so, when you can source a photograph for less than a tenth of the price that a professional photographer would charge. Wired.com has a long, interesting and insightful story on this - they call it crowdsourcing! The story gives an account of how someone found cheaper an alternative at istockpho instead of having to hire a pro.

There was a time I was hoping to become a professional photographer and spend most of my time taking pictures. I gave up the idea a year or two ago when I realized that the competition is too much and I need to work real hard to make the cut. I have not yet made an attempt at selling photos Royalty Free, but I don't see why not.

May be, the cream of the professional photographers will continue to thrive, as royalty free photos may never manage to live up to the quality that the best photographers can offer. May be, assignments will still fetch money for the pros, but still pros will surely have to face tougher times ahead.