Happy New Year! It’s the New Year and a perfect time to take care of a couple of lingering issues. As OnRequest Images has moved to a custom photography model, a few of our old business concepts are no longer supported. An important change and a source of ongoing inquiry is in regards to stock imagery. “Is OnRequest still taking submissions and distributing stock photography?” “Can you recommend a good distribution channel?” I’ll tackle the questions one by one.

Is OnRequest still accepting stock image submissions?

We are very happy to be doing custom photography for our Global 1000 clients, shooting and licensing imagery to them exclusively. When the initial term of use expires, we either retire the license or relicense to the same client. There are several reasons for the change. Most notably, our clients’ needs were shifting from stock to more custom work. They recognize, as do we, that custom photography yielded a more powerful message and stronger, more fruitful business results.

Imagery previously submitted to our distribution partners is being returned per their policies, and in turn, is being returned to our photographers. If you have questions regarding how to see which images have been returned, send me an email, I’ll be happy to help you.

Are you still distributing stock imagery?

We no longer distribute images not licensed by our clients, or expired usage images to stock. Although stock has its place, the brands we shoot with are looking for custom, imagery typically not licensed to others even after a license expires.

Can you recommend a distribution partner?

I’ve had this conversation a couple of times and there really isn’t an ideal solution. I’ve noticed that many photographers have added a stock section to their websites and I would venture to guess that this is a pretty good solution. Due diligence is important to ensure that you be compensated appropriately for usage; direct to a single source keeps the paperwork simple.

Those of you who have long standing relationships with established distributors are probably faring pretty well, I’d like to hear how your stock sales are being effected by the changes in the industry and the economy.

The only thing I can suggest to those of you looking for a distribution partner is “do your homework carefully”. Who are the third party partners? Are they Royalty Free or Rights Managed? What about exclusivity? They’re your images; make sure they aren’t misrepresented.