We had the pleasure of chatting with Serban Enache, the owner of Dreamstime to catch up on the lastest Dreamstime news and find out how this CEO and President from Romania ticks. Serban is the mastermind behind this digital community that specializes in stock photography and building an online community for designers, photographers and stock photo users. See what Serban has to say about developments in the stock photography world, how it is changing and what the future looks like.
Interview with Serban Enache on stock photo agency highlights
Tell me a little bit about Dreamstime?
Dreamstime is one of the top stock agencies and remains the only independent agency to date. Having a very close relationship with its users(designers and contributors alike), it is perceived as the friendliest community in stock photography.
Give me a quick synopsis of Dreamstime's history. How did the company get to where it is today?
Dreamstime started as an in-house database of our web design company. Years ago, when digital cameras were poor and expensive, we invested in onesimply because many of our clients lacked the required budgets for purchasing from traditional stock agencies such as Getty Images or Corbis. With many efforts, tutorials, self-taught techniques and a lot of post processing, we succeeded in building a stock collection of a few thousands images. Later on, hosting fees decreased and we decided to sell them. A couple of years after that, Dreamstime got reinvented as a community-based agency, involving all the technological assets that our background included. It was a dream at that time that you could sell your photos and earn money. Now there are so many contributors living the dream, either by having their hobby as a full time job or by travelling the world and getting paid. Here is an example from one of our dear contributors, Angela Ostafichuk
If you could sum it up in one sentence, what would Dreamstime's mission statement be? What would be the site's motto?
A great product always sells. Our recipe for success was to create a good product and a great user experience. Nothing sells better than happy customers.
What makes Dreamstime different from other stock sites, and why is it a good choice for stock buyers?
Lower cost, better-edited database and search engine, prompt customer support. Our pricing system is unique and involves the buyer in how images are priced. This not only makes the system more objective, but allows new customers to purchase new images for $1, even if they might cost $15 after one year.
Is Dreamstime currently doing anything fun/cool in the stock space?
It always does! 😉 Timelineimages.com is our most recent project. It provides access to a new set of Facebook customers. These are mostly people who have never heard of stock photography.
What should stock buyers look for in a site?
Ease of use, quality for content and good price/service.
In your opinion, what's the coolest thing about the stock photography industry right now? What potential does it have for the future?
There is a shift that is about to happen or is happening right now. Stock photography was a closed market 10 years ago. As a buyer it was difficult to enter it – you had to pay the price. As a contributor it was almost impossible. This market is now open – anyone can join. A similar change will happen to users who download images. So far it's a market for professionals, but things are about to change, more people will require visual content fortheir varying personal needs.
Are you working on any personal projects right now? What do you enjoy taking pictures of?
Unfortunately, there is so little time! My ongoing batch of submissions is almost 12 months old. But looking at the bright side, it's summer, we have more hours of beautiful light and more opportunities.
Serban Enache - CEO of Dreamstime
Serban Enache is a photographer, CEO, web developer and father who has been instrumental in the development of stock photography. He continues to be hands on in the stock photography world which keeps him on top of what stock photography users need, the benefits of a community, and how photographers can excel in the world of stock photography. Sign up for your free Dreamstime membership today so you can see all the benefits that Dreamstime offers stock photo buyers and contributing photographers.
