The Shutterstock royalties fallout and a better option for image buyers

 So in the summer, in the midst of Covid, Shutterstock announced a new royalties structure. The response from contributing photographers, artists and videographers was, well to put it lightly, resoundingly poor. Just when freelance creatives, struggling in the midst of the pandemic, could have used some support Shutterstock did the exact opposite, introducing a new payment structure that would in effect slash the earnings of most contributors. #boycottshutterstock started to trend!

In contrast over at Dreamstime contributors have been supported during the Covid pandemic with Dreamtime donating 10% extra royalties to contributors as a COVID-19 Relief Stimulus.

Now that is the way to do it! I know which agency I would prefer to support both as a contributor and as an image buyer.

If you're after an image subscription plan from one of the micro agencies Dreamstime still have their special anniversary plans offer running until the end of the year, definitely worth checking out!

Head over to Dreamstime and use Alexh as your promocode!

Free stock media files at depositphotos

There are now several stock photo sites offering free collections of photos and indeed some sites, like Unsplash for example, that are entirely focused on offering free stock images. However it can still sometimes be a problem to find the image or file that works for your projects, with often a more limited choice and sometimes lack of quality to choose from. Of course if you're wanting something for free it is understandable these compromises and frustrations might have to be accepted!

This is why I often gravitate towards the stock agencies that offer some free content but also have a much wider selection of media available for a small license fee. Sometimes it is worth paying for the right image and often to save time that would otherwise be wasted trawling around free sites looking for something at least useable!

So this current collection from Depositphotos is particularly welcome, as it offers a great selection of not just images, but vector files and footage too, in their free section. Much of this is really nice, quality and on trend contemporary content; check the face mask wearing medical professional!

In the free footage section I really like the clip with the two guys playing a game chess with one competitor sat on the sofa via a laptop video link; so covid19 2020! This is really an above average collection of free stock media content, thanks Depositphotos!

Check out the current free images collection at Depositphotos.com here.