Getty - Coming to Fruition

The last time I blogged, it was regarding the developments with the possible sale of my “Bounce” image through Getty Images. That was two and a half months ago, and for that whole period I had not received any correspondence from them. As you can imagine, I thought the deal was dead and gone and that I had gotten excited over a sale that was not going to happen.

But as it turns out, I’m very pleased to say that I was very wrong. Today I received an email from PayPal saying that I had received a payment from Getty Images and to say the least, I was very shocked and excited. In my first post about it, I predicted that I would only be paid a small sum for the use of the photo. However, as it turns out I’ve been very fortunate, and the image has been purchased by a large advertising firm for use in print advertisements in newspapers and magazines as well as in freestanding inserts through to October this year. I don’t want to say the exact amount paid, and I don’t know if I am at liberty to, but the amount was a four-figure number.

At first I was skeptical, since everyone knows about those emails from Nigerian businessmen about large sums being bequeathed to you in some prince’s will. So I checked my PayPal and logged in to my Getty account to make sure and it was all there. So it was then that it kind of hit me, and I spent the next twenty minutes pacing around my bedroom in excitement, not really knowing what to do or think.

So right now I’m basically just in shock about the whole thing and excited that I’ve been rewarded for my work. It all just feels really surreal. I’ve never really been in a position like this before, but it feels great to be recognised for my photography, especially since it’s something I love doing and an art that I’m very passionate about.

But yeah, I guess there’s not much else to say except that I’m super stoked and really thankful to Getty for making it happen!

Getty Update

This Getty stuff is all happening so quickly! After submitting my photo on the night of the previous post, the next day I received a message from one of the Getty photo inspectors. They wanted me to remove the Wilson logo and the number then resubmit it (so I guess that debunks the chances that it’s Wilson who wants to use it). I managed to edit out the logo and soon after my photo was accepted into the Getty stock photo collection. My photo is now available for sale here. I received another email from Getty today asking about another tennis ball image that the customer wanted to use and were wondering if it was also taken by me (unfortunately it was not). So it looks as though the client must be some tennis-related business. Fingers-crossed that it’s a magazine or something, haha.

Getty Contributor

I know I haven’t posted here in a while, and that’s because I haven’t been doing much photography lately. But, I’ve got some exciting photography-related news to share! Today I received an email from Flickr saying that a client of Getty Images is interested in licensing my photo, “Bounce” (a few posts down), and for this reason I’ve been invited to enroll in the Flickr collection on Getty Images. I’ve enrolled and submitted the image for review and, if successful, this means that the image will be licensed and I will be paid royalties for its use. Even if it’s going to be a small amount, I’m still very excited to be earning anything at all from my photography and to see the publication of my photograph.