Hey anyone who takes a read through the comments, I thought I'd highlight it as I think it warrants an update (Jan 2024). My revenue has dramatically dropped off in the past year (I haven't uploaded as much, but then I have 1000's of clips still on Pond5 with no sales). My personal opinion is that this is mainly due to teaming up with SS and trying the saturate the market, then not pushing contributors as much as they say they do. What are your thoughts on this?
Cheers thank you 😊 That chicken coop took me ages as I was using the probe lens and balanced on about 6 different bits of the garden to get such a low shot, then waiting for the chickens to casually walk in and stop pecking me out of shot took ages 😂 Really glad you like the content and thank you for the comment, you’ve made my day 👊
Very good advice, Jason. I've been uploading clips on Pond5 for about 10 years. I use Pond5 exclusively to get the higher percentage of money for each clip. I tried IStock a few years ago but never made any sales. You never know what will sell. I've sold a couple clips of a rabbit in my yard eating a piece of grass at least 10 times over the years. Some clips I thought would do well haven't. You never know what someone will want, as you said in your video. Since I started years ago most of my clips are in HD. Obviously, now I shoot everything in 4K. If it's unique and timely a person should do really well. As passive income, shooting stock footage can be a lot of work but everyone has to remember that once uploaded, you might be making money from it for years with no extra effort.
Thank you Joel, it’s really interesting to see stories from others on the stock footage journey, helps me realise it’s not just me trying to figure out how to do it 😁 I’m looking forward to doing the next years update soon to look at what has sold this year because I know there’s a bunch of shots that have sold which I can’t understand and a load I thought would be perfect but haven’t made a penny!
I didn’t think of it too much like that, but then you’re right!! Creating shots that enable others to be creative is not as easy as it would seem! Especially when the stereotype ‘stock’ (false/ cheesy) style is seen as a bad thing it’s a challenge to capture shots that are engaging yet fulfil a need. What kind of stuff to you like to shoot?
@@agreatalternative I mostly do celebrity photography. I have a nice portrait of Priscilla Presley with her dog. I also like wildlife photography but I'm not that good yet although I have a squirrel eating a nut that seems to be popular. I like your creative shot with the old camera gear.
@@agreatalternative For POND5 it's better to stick to footage -- that's what the site is known for. Most of my sales/licensing come from video/footage. The money is in video/footage. Unless you are taking still images that can be sold for $50 or more.
Thank you, it’s a tricky to try and make the thumbnail/ video interesting without being like “be a millionaire just from stock”, so I’m glad you like honesty 👍 2nd year of earnings coming soon, which will be just as humble as I’m not a millionaire yet 😁
Cheers 👍 The bolex wasn’t part of the giveaway. Stock footage of ‘vintage cameras’ was one of the sets of clips being given away and they’re still available 👍
watched from beginning till the end ;) great clips, would love to see more of creative approach to shooting stock, and ideas for stock footage, preps and setups, subscribed for more
Very interesting information. Thank you for sharing. To clarify, Pond5 pays you more for the clip if you promise to keep it exclusive to them only and not sell elsewhere?
Hi Jason, I just bumped into your channel accidentally and found it very interesting. Has your work picked up now? Like you, my video production came to a halt when the pandemic began in 2020. So, in late 2020 I joined SS and Pond 5. I have now 200+ video clips on Pond 5 and SS, though lately, I have built up a good image portfolio on SS. It's always hard to know what sells. There is never a clear pattern that indicates what genre I should concentrate on. My earnings have not been as good as yours. You have done exceptionally well. Congratulations. BTW, I don't know if you have noticed, that both Nicole and Handcroft Films have stopped contributing to SS, partly due to ever-decreasing commissions. It won't be long before Pond 5 will go subs based.
Hi LSP, thanks for the comment, I hadn’t noticed that about Nicole and Handcraft Films, I remember overall the way SS treat their creators was pretty shoddy which so far 🤞 I’ve not found with Pond5. Overall though I try to treat it as a hobby that if it makes money it’s a bonus because the reality is it doesn’t make enough for it to be a sole source of income. I’ve now got nearly 2k clips on Pond5 and my earnings are only slightly higher than they were since shooting this video, which I think will partly be due to the number of people who’s have started accounts like us in 2020, but also as you mentioned there is now so much content on there it often gets hidden and never seen. I still can’t figure out why particular clips sell and others don’t! Good luck with it all, let me know how it goes 👍
@@agreatalternative You have a good collection of clips, which is impressive. You might be aware that SS shut down the contributor's forum as they couldn't tolerate the criticism by the contributors. As you say, the commission at Pond5 is much fairer. Also, I have been very impressed by the Adobe customer service - very polite and helpful.
@@lspeventmedia7836 That’s good to know and not much of a surprise. I do potentially plan to upload to Adobe in future but I’m giving Pond5 a couple years to see if they earn me enough money being exclusive on there, plus I don’t have the time at the mo to upload everything twice!
Hi Alan, This is an example of me not being a fountain of knowledge as the short answer is I don’t know 😁 You still need to treat your earnings as you would a freelancer (self employed tax return), so I suspect this has something to do with that but I haven’t seen the document so I’m not sure. Maybe try the help function on Adobe stock’s website?
@@agreatalternative that's fine. I thought you might not know, as you are Pond5 only. It is strange that they seem to want you to declare tax with them (even though I am on the UK). Whilst Pond5 do not I would rather receive the total ampunt and sort the tax out myself. Another reason o stick to Pond5 only.
That's such a useful and honest video - thanks for making it. I guess for me, perhaps it's not worth spending too much time away from client work to specifically make stuff. Although if I'm in a place for a shoot and have extra time (rare) then I could make some time-lapse clips of a particular town. I've subscribed too - I like the idea of your off grid thingummy! :-D
Thanks Charlie! Absolutely, to really make a load of money out of it you need to spend as much time on stock as your business, which obviously would be daft! But if you can make a couple extra quid from a trip why not. Thanks for the subscription, some exciting news regarding the smallholding coming soon 😁
thanks the the info, your vids looks great. I wonder if animation (3D) is the way to go - but stock to me is more an excuse to be out and about in the real world, than to make real $.
I absolutely agree, well said! A major thing for me was getting out to see historic/ scenic sites, as it could combine two of my passions, being outdoors and videography!
No worries 👊 It’s a good idea to focus on one thing first but once you’re a bit more co fire y with video you can shoot both at the same time for stock. When shooting for the channel I try to do this so I end up with a range of material and often it just means quickly switching the camera to (for me) photo mode and snapping a few shots from the angle I just captured some video. Good luck with it and happy shooting!
I think Pond5 only likes particular frame rates for upload, so it will be converting it. Check out the ‘contributor portal’ on their website to find out more as there is a step by step how to guide there 👍
Thank you Claudine! My rule of thumb is if they could be identified then you need permission. For Pond5 I have had timelapses with fast moving people in and I haven't needed permission but other video footage, say a close up of a body part that is normal speed I have needed written permission from the model. I think it depends on clarity of the person and how long they are visible for, even if it’s just a small part of them. Hope that helps, feel free to ask more questions!
Hi. Can you help me please? I noticed you have a GoPro 8 and I just bought one. Do you use it a lot to record stock images? Do you think it's a good tool for that kind of film? Thanks in advance.
Are you thinking photography or video? I don’t sell my photography on stock but the GoPro can take a pretty decent image so I would say go for it. The main reason I would upload a video shot from a GoPro onto a stock site is because I’ve captured an angle that only a camera like a GoPro can get. For example one of the GoPro shots I have on my Pond5 is taken from when I put it on a harness on a pig 😁 Therefore go for it but try and think of something that you can capture but not many others can!
@@agreatalternative sorry, i meant video. I've got GoPro 8, and it has better video recording options then my camera, the Canon 6D mark I. And i thought about using the GP8 to start adding clips on stock footage sites and try to make some money on the side. And I am sorry if I took too long to answer, but i miss your response.
That’s a great idea Mike! Especially as for us at the mo the dribble of income coming from Pond5 just kind of gets lost in day to day spending. Certainly would make you more appreciative of the earnings!
Hi Jason, watched all of your video. Was interesting to get your perspective on this. I was with Getty Images years ago but pulled my images once their business model became give away images to free while we make money on selling adverts in the embedded frame… which worked for them but give zero funds to me… Since then been on Picfair but tbh stopped uploading years ago. Never thought about uploading video but mainly my projects are for whoever employs me at that time. Still don’t tend to make films for fun but may try some drone clips down the line? Anyway, enjoyable video, thanks for sharing.
Thanks Johnathan! I’ve been the opposite as I may start uploading some of my photos now. Generally I use pond5 because it seemed the best payout for contributors. You could definitely upload drone stuff!! Just pick a location that may be searched for a lot but not widely photographed. Or maybe you could ask your customers to put the photos online for a discount? Anyway good luck with it all and thank you again for the kind words 👍
Nice video, thanks. May I ask, how many videos did you have with Pond5 when you had your 51 sales? Also (I have just submitted my first video) how long does it take for 'Scheduled for processing' to finish and how long will I have to wait for it to come back from Pond5 as being accepted, after I submit it? thanks.
Hi Alan, To be totally honest I don’t know, my guess would be around 1200, uploaded over the space of about a year. Normally it doesn’t takes a few days to get the videos accepted, but that can vary sometimes, I guess just due to how busy they are. Hope this all helps!
@@agreatalternative 1200 is a good number if clips. When I did this 6 years ago they were back to me within 24 hours. Obviously they are getting busier.
@@agreatalternative I uploaded some photos to Wirestock during the past two days. Waiting to see what they do. I uploaded a few clips to Pond5. All my clips are in for review. Wirestock is a lot less work to submit to. I would rather be out shooting than to be figuring out some non-intuitive submission platform.
Absolutely it still is, only one has been asked for so far and it was cyberpunk! Send me an email to agreatalternative@outlook.com I’ll then send the files to you via WeTransfer (I need your email address to do this)
Cheers 👍 The competition certainly is still ones you’re the first to respond 😁 Please send me an email to our email address on the about page on the channel (so I have your email), then I will send you the files via WeTransfer 👍 Any issues let me know.
Every time-lapse or hyperlapse clip I have tried to upload to Pond5 has Processing Error message and so far, even after contacting their live chat twice now, I still have no idea why.🤔
@@agreatalternative my time-lapse from my Sony a6400 says it is an mp4 file type. I used Sony Imaging Edge Viewer to put time-lapse together from 861 images.
@@brickartphotos8686 Maybe it could be the size of the video? I know Pond5 only allows set sizes (1920x1080, 3840x2160 etc) Check out the contributor portal for more help. contributor.pond5.com/getting-started/preparing-your-files-2/footage/
Thank you for the very straightforward video. I'm hesitating since last year to go and upload some footages but I was worried I would need to spend to much time doing that. Mostly due to the multiplication of possible agencies .... I wondered about blackbox to start ... but I think I would prefer to remain in control of my files. Maybe I should start with pond5 only ... do you track what you uploaded in an Excel files ? I'm kind of lost to think of what would be the best workflow.
Thank you for bringing that up, as it’s an important decision to make before you start. Due to starting during lockdown I had plenty of time on my hands so didn’t mind uploading all the videos myself, then using numbers (excel for Apple) to keep everything up to date. I think if you were doing it full time and uploading to many sites then blackbox would be worth it as a lot of time would be saved and therefore worth the cost. However if you just want a bit of side income then Pond5 is good because uploading can be done easily and as far as I’m aware it’s the best rate for creators. Plus if you’re someone that likes to be in control (like me) and you would create the excel yourself then I’d recommend start by doing everything yourself on one platform and see how it goes. You can always join multiple sites at a later date. Good luck!
may i get the camera please i really nned it my old one broke and all the data is lost it took me hard 5 years thankfully i had some of it backed up but a lot went please a new one wold really help
I have a very similar experience in that the odd ball clips end up selling and the clips I really thought had potential have tons of views but no sales. Avg. views for a sold clip are under 10 views!
Thank you for your comment! You must be psychic 😁 I’m planning on doing a video about ways of getting more sales on Pond5, so please subscribe if you want to see that!
