It’s my favorite day of the week already! And I don’t mean to brag on you guys, but wowzers… you guys are getting seriously good. The quality of images over the course of the last 21 weeks has gotten better. Have you all been paying attention to composition, lighting and focus?
This week I have two features for you.
Want to make money selling your photos or want to find photos for your blog without worrying about what’s going to appear on your screen?
After years of frustration over inappropriate image hosts, stock sites, and search engines; bloggers created a family friendly approach to photo hosting, sharing, and selling to help connect bloggers and photographers in a network of support. Pix-O-Sphere is easy to use, saves time, and basic membership is free.
Savvy bloggers know that photos play a large role in their success, but the frustration over surfing for photos in the presence of their children made it increasingly difficult. Pix-O-Sphere is the Family Friendly Photo Community where bloggers and photographers can connect and support one another through photo sharing. Bloggers use the shared photos on their blogs, where their readers can click and be directed back to see the photographer’s information and get connected.
Pix-O-Sphere knows the heart of the families that want a safer way to surf the net. They take their family friendly policy into their advertising by only partnering with companies that offer products and services that are relevant to their members.
Remember my friend Kent Weakley? I’m so excited to announce that Kent is offering a new class!
From Kent’s blog: This eClass will cover all the details from the basics like equipment and camera settings to the advanced concepts of pre-visualizing a scene…
- Fireworks
- Moon and Stars
- Blue Hour ( <----I'd love to hear this. Kent makes magical blue hour images! )
- Motion Night Photography/ Abstract Fun
- Light Painting
Sign up and more details on Kent’s blog.
Okay, boys and girls! Cannot wait to see what you’ve been shooting this week.
I have checked out pix-o-sphere; very cool. More than once my jaw has dropped while searching google images! And thanks for the heads up on the eClass.
this is such fun each week, thankyou
Very cool concept, can’t wait to check it out!
Hi, Thanks so much for the information about these two options. I’ll be checking both out later today, after I come home from a day of fun adventures and activities for this grandma of grand-twins and grand-big-bro
I had so much fun with the blowing bubbles activities we enjoyed – even turned it into a “science experiment.” I also discovered it’s HARD to capture the fun – you have to be so quick and watch the lighting. So this is my first try, and I plan to keep working on it 
Have a lovely day and thanks again for all your encouragement and hard work on this fun Sweet Shot Tuesday!
Grandtwins and big bro sounds like a FUN day! Enjoy your family.
Do you are anybody you know use the selling option on Pix-O-Sphere? I’m just looking to see if it’s a good idea to get past the basic membership and start using it as a networking tool for my photography.
Thanks.
Hi Amie,
Not yet. Pixe-O-Sphere is brand new. What will become of it is in the hands of the photographers who embrace it.
Yay! thanks for sharing about Pix-O-Sphere! Can’t wait to check it out. I always hate searching for pictures or even just looking through them on flickr while the girls are nearby.
Thanks for sharing about Pix-O-Sphere. It looks like a great site!
thanks for all the info! I enjoy seeing the images every week too!
This is my first visit, and I’m loving all the amazing images. Thanks for another great party! PS, I liked back to you, but no matter what I tried, I could not get your button to load. I’ll try again next week. Thanks, gnee
Thanks, Gnee. Welcome!
Some tips about the button. Highlight it, ctrl-c to copy the code.
Go into your blog post – make sure you paste it in html mode, not “visual mode”.
ctrl-v is paste.
Hope that helps!
The more we contribute, the more we all benefit.
Darcy, the photography class sounds fascinating. Thank you for sharing his website with us.
This is my first time participating in your blog hop… looking foward to more sweet shots!
You are so right! The images I see as I browse the thumbnails are awesome. So many talented people! Thanks, as always, for hosting such a fun, interesting event.
I love Tuesdays.
I wish I had time to visit everyone’s posts. I usually visit 10 blogs sometime during the week more if I can squeeze them in.. It is so much fun getting inspired to try new perspectives and seeing the talent that is out there. Pix-O-Sphere looks awesome! Thanks for sharing some really great resources with us on Tuesdays. Have a great week.
cant’ wait to check out kent’s blog… thanks for hosting!
First time I’ve ever submitted anything for your Sweet Shot Tuesday!! I was so proud of this shot – as this poor animal was trying to find food from our van – and I just wanted a picture!! Hahaha!!
Welcome to the party, Sharlene. It’s fun to see you posting here.
I think this is the first time I have left a comment and have been submitting photos for the last few weeks. This is so much fun! Thanks for hosting!
Darcy, do you sell your photos as stock photos somewhere else? Where can I get a little more info. about that? What sells and what doesn’t sell?
Hi Krystal!
I don’t contract with a stock site. All sales of my work – either digital or print – have been from direct contact. I have sold several licenses of my work for blog use because people have emailed me privately after seeing my blog or Flickr stream.
If you’re interested in stock photography, be prepared to help market it yourself. Often the photographs sell for very little, and it’s only profitable if it sells en masse. Some sites to look into are:
Veer.com
istockphoto.com
gettyimages.com
And of course – the brand new pix-o-sphere, that I mentioned above. I don’t know the payment policy there, but if you spend some time browsing istockphoto, there are red flames above what selling a lot.
Hope that helps!
Thanks! It does help.
Krystal,
Every stock site is different. They each have their own percentage and marketing strategy. Most sites offer 20-30% if you sell on multiple sites. 40% if you are exclusive with them.(pixosphere.com offers 40% no matter what) The issue with many of these sites is that they are so full of photos that they are no longer accepting certain photos. I’ve been a buyer for a few years and I am personally finding the same ol’ photos on all their sites. By that I mean that with all the family type blogs I frequent I’m seeing the same stock photos on everyone’s blogs. A seriously blogger doesn’t want to use the same photo that blogger A B C D etc have all used. (that’s like wearing the same dress to prom as 10 other people)But these stock sites think they ‘have enough’ and halt new photos from being uploaded for sale. Most stock sites are limiting what gets uploaded for sale. They are looking for vintage items and business type (people in suits). At pixosphere.com the opportunity is higher and it’s specifically designed for online use. Although you can print what you buy. We’re working on adding the ability to order prints in the future. For the many bloggers who also are photographers, they can sell on pixosphere to the market they are already a part of, blogging. And Blogging is always growing. 133 million blogs in the world and 80,000 built daily. (sources Technorati and Mashable) We wanted to give photo bloggers the opportunity to enter the digital sales realm by opening a new venue.
I know many photographers, like Darcy, who only sell prints. Those who want to sell digital stock are in a different category of photos sales than print.
Lisa, I have a few questions for you but I don’t want to take over Darcy’s comments asking them. Can You contact me over e-mail and I will reply you with my questions?
bandkgriff @ Yahoo . com
PS I did go to the Pix-O-Sphere site to try to find answers before I added this comment.
I welcome any discussions here – but if you feel your questions have surpassed conversational – I’ve asked Lisa to contact you via email.
Thanks, Darcy.