Author Topic: Which agency for photos of Nordic imagery (Greenland/Iceland/Scandinavia) (Read 4968 times)

Jan_W · « **on:** July 20, 2016, 09:29 »

Hello,

I'm a freelance web designer and photographer with a clear focus on Nordic landscapes - mostly Greenland and Iceland. I travel a lot and currently living in a caravan/mobile office in Iceland. I started selling some stock photos on Fotolia and CreativeMarket a couple of years ago, but mostly only my 2nd choice photos. This is doing okay (since I'm not a full time photographer) but I was wondering if there is a good place for my "portfolio shots" which focus a little more on quality over quantity? Could be exclusive, too - this is not a K.O. criteria for me.

I stumbled upon www.nordicphotos.com [nofollow] but I was wondering if you know of any other agency maybe a little focused on nordic imagery? I'm not talking about uploading the 1.242 view of the same waterfall in Iceland - I try to capture the beauty/mood of the places only few people go, since I do have a lot of time on my hands.

Here is my portfolio to get an idea: https://www.behance.net/northlandscapes [nofollow] (www.northlandscapes.com [nofollow])

Thanks in advance
-Jan

LDV81 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 20, 2016, 19:18 »

Great images and lifestyle, Jan. Unfortunately, it is much easier to come up with names of agencies where you should NOT upload...

jjneff · « **Reply #2 on:** July 20, 2016, 19:28 »

Amazing work, I would suggest "Stocksy" You need to either do that or advertise and sell on your own. Don't
take just dimes!!

Jan_W · « **Reply #3 on:** July 20, 2016, 20:20 »

Thanks a lot! Yes, I don't want to upload those on Shutterstock, Fotolia etc. -- Since I don't *have* to sell them - I'm just curious and looking around. If my research comes up with no good option -- then it's a result, too. Stocks -sadly- is still not accepting new photographers.

I got a couple of really interesting image license deals directly via Behance - this still works, but it's not really something you can plan.

LDV81 · « **Reply #4 on:** July 20, 2016, 20:40 »

Since you are a specialist, it might be interesting to focus on SEO instead (possibly also in some Scandinavian languages) and try to sell as much as possible directly.
I think from this forum PaulieWalnuts is taking this approach in his area.

thepokergod · « **Reply #5 on:** July 21, 2016, 01:29 »

An outfit called Nordic Photos Iceland just licensed a couple of my videos (for a decent price) so they might be worth checking out.

Yay Images Billionaire · « **Reply #6 on:** July 21, 2016, 01:57 »

Great photos but probably won't be high demand on micro sites, so I'd suggest a boutique RM agency like http://www.4cornersimages.com/

Lana · « **Reply #7 on:** July 21, 2016, 04:18 »

Wow!

ShadySue · « **Reply #8 on:** July 21, 2016, 04:39 »

Agree with the others. Don't sell these on micros.
Also wonder if you should have them unprotected on Behance, where they can easily be lifted via right-clicking.

Luuk · « **Reply #9 on:** July 21, 2016, 05:48 »

Beautiful work Jan!

I was recently looking into scandinavian agencies, because I am often in Sweden, maybe this list can help you too/are they interested in your work:

http://imagebank.sweden.se/more-swedish-image-sources

Jan_W · « **Reply #10 on:** July 21, 2016, 17:30 »

Thanks a lot for all your nice input and feedback!!

I already set up my own website for selling photos via PhotoDeck.com (http://archive.northlandscapes.com [nofollow]) - but there is almost no traffic on the site and I'm not so sure how to present the images. I'm a fan of browsing through photos rather than using the search - that's why I grouped the photos into collections with similar moods/looks/topics. But this might not be the way my potential clients like to look for a photo ... But the technology behind PhotoDeck is awesome - a really powerful tool for selling photos. Maybe I should take a couple of days to set the website up properly... But have to have a solid concept first.

Thanks aswell for the links to Scandinavia agencies - will look into those later today.

I also checked www.4cornersimages.com [nofollow] - but don't really like the contract details. At least 3 yrs and not even sharing the photos on social media sites (which propably also includes portfolio sites like Behance). And since Behance has generated some nice deals so far - I won't give that up easily.

The longer I think about it, the better the own website distribution idea sounds - I do mostly webdesign and interface design as a freelance desinger https://dribbble.com/JanWaider [nofollow] - and I also do know how to do the basic SEO. And I do have time on my hands

Did not push my website archive.northlandscapes.com yet, since I wasn't really feeling fine with the way it is right now. Still needs some improvent/concept. Also not so sure about putting the whole catalogue vs. only the best 200-300 photos on there.

Jan_W · « **Reply #11 on:** July 25, 2016, 08:38 »

... I'm not really getting anywhere with my thoughts on selling my photos by myself. I just know from experience - a website is a lot of work, especially the marketing part. I was wondering: Can anyone recommend me some professional consultant who might be able to work with me on a concept for something like that? I better invest some money in a solid concept instead of "wasting" weeks on something that won't work.

Thanks in advance!