Thanks to The Stock Photo Industy’s numeric calculations guru, Jeff Greenberg for bringing this to our attention. Imagine getting a whopping $150.00 for a photo that almost everyone in the country will not only see, but also use on a daily basis; an image iconic of our country, the U.S.A..
Perhaps the subtitle for this post should be:
“If Only I hadn’t decided to sell this image as RF, I could have made a lot more money!”
Jeff posted a link in one of our professional forums to a story in the Orlando Sentinel, which tells of well-known travel photographer Carl Purcell, and how an image of his has been selected for use as a stamp by the US Postal Service. You know the one – The Flag with the Statue of Liberty you use on a first class letter. That’s right – for the next few years, almost every adult in this country will actually not have to lick the back of his photo thanks to modern day self-adhesives. And he gets $150.00. That’s just too cool in a completely lame sort of way.
I remember years ago when I worked for Galen Rowell, we had submitted images for Stamp consideration. I remember the budget that was available was in the solid four-figures minimum. Well, years later, one of Galen’s photos was selected as an $0.84 2006 commorative stamp. I can’t say for sure, but I’d bet very high that Galen’s Rights Managed image made his company a heck of a heck of a lot more money than $150.00
Between “Live & Learn” is often – Regret – . Doh, well!
