Bargain Travel Agency

Anyone with the ability to use a camera correctly has the potential to sell their images. Picture agencies handle images of every subject and are always looking for emerging talent.

Pictures libraries and stock agencies are in the business of selling images. The don’t give you advice on how to take better images. Their purpose is business - they sell images to magazines, book publishers, the travel industry and many other industries that use images.

Many photographers look upon agencies as a last resort to sell their work; if you have been unable to sell any of your images, the chances are that most agencies won’t accept them.

If you are interested in an agency selling your images, you must be able to produce high quality images which are suited to the agencies market. Check out their website to view samples that are currently in use.
If you feel your work meets their standards and suits their customers - then approach them by e-mail or by standard mail.

But, before placing your work at an agency make a short-list of the agencies that seem to suit your work. Contact each agency outlining your work and which magazines have already published your images. If an agency is then interested they will ask you to send them samples.

If an agency accepts your work, don’t take this as a guarantee that your images will sell.

Don’t approach an agency until you have a large collection of images. Minimum first submissions can consist of anything from 50 images to 500 and regular submissions are normally required thereafter. Most agencies work on a commission basis - 50 % being the standard rate. If an image sells for two hundred euro - the photographer receives a one hundred euro fee.

When an agency takes on a photographer’s work, they normally require a four or five year retention period. Agencies normally sell the reproduction rights of a pictures - the image being licensed to a buyer for a specified purpose.

It may take as long as six months before an agency sells a picture belonging to you. First they need to scan your images if they are submitted by film; then they need to contact their clients and let them know that there is new material available - all of this takes time, so you must look at supplying a picture agency as a long term investment. It is only when you have several hundred images placed in a library that you’ll start to see regular sales.

Remember: agencies can’t sell images if there isn’t a market for them and placing images at an agency does not guarantee you sales.

TJ Tierney is an award winning Irish Landscape photographer and a freelance writer. If you are looking for some photo tips visit the photography directory he frequently writes for: www.goldprints.com To view some of his images visit his on line gallery @ www.goldenirishlight.com

There used to be a time when you had to phone around for hours or worst still make you way down to your local shopping centre to be able to compare prices on the latest digital cameras. This method had setbacks such as the time taken to do all that leg or finger work and the fact that at best most shopping centres only have two or three electrical stores which meant that you could only find the best deal from the few camera choices available.

Now things have changed. Finding a cheap digital camera in the UK is not such a hard thing if you use the power of the Internet.

Good places to find a cheap digital camera online.

Comparison Sites
Comparison sites that specialize in digital cameras are really good places to find a cheap camera because they allow you to quickly find out the cheapest price of a camera across many websites at once. Kelkoo is a good example of a comparison website.

Manufacturers Websites
Going direct to a digital camera manufacturers website can sometimes lead to finding a great bargain the site has a great offer. It has to be remembered that sometimes the best deals are not found on these sites because they have deals with the people they supply cameras too, in which they agree not to under-cut them on price. One major advantage of buying from a manufacturer is the after sales service, which is normally very good. Panasonic has a very good website that sells the Lumix range of digital cameras.

ebay
It is worth taking a look on ebay for a cheap camera. There is always a good selection of new and used digital cameras and accessories on ebay. You can sometimes bid on a camera and get a bargain on the ebay site. One of the only downsides is that if you enter and auction early you may have to wait a week or so before you get to have the camera.

Specialist digital camera sites
Websites that specialize in digital cameras are really good resource centres for information on cameras and photography in general. These sites will tell you help you discover what cameras are best for the job you have in mind and the best place to find one.

Elisabeth Kirsch owner of Cheap Digital Camera UK A resource centre to help find cheap digital cameras online.