PhotoShelter’s Most Popular Photos August 2011

It’s that time again where we use our Google Analytics account to determine the most “popular” photos. As I mentioned in last month’s post, some photos are topical, while others just catch the public’s fancy, and this month is no different in that regards.

1. Carli Davidson continues to dominate the Internet with “Shake,” a gallery of pets shaking their heads. We’ll have more information about the virality of Carli’s gallery on our blog in the near future.

In truth, Carli dominated all five spots this month, which isn’t surprising consider the amount of press coverage she received from “Shake.” It’s a good reminder how potent good marketing and press exposure can be to your entire body of work.

2. Trent Bona comes in 2nd with his coverage of the 2011 Alpine Odyssey featuring some bicyclist named Lance Armstrong.

3. Gabriel Pecot captured images in Spain of a protest against Pope Benedict XVI’s visit. This particular image of a mother and her baby being approached by police seemed to touch a nerve.

4. Brazil Photos image of a silver painted woman descending a ladder from Carnival in Rio de Janeiro comes in at number four.

5. Soccer isn’t so popular in the US, but Willie Vass’s audience is in the UK, and they provide plenty of eyeballs to push this image of Ranger’s owner Craig Whyte into the top five.

Two out of the five images this month are from photographers who appeared last month. Suffice it to say that they have strong audiences for their work, which is crucial if you’re trying to grow your business.

The lack of diversity in the list might be frustrating to some photographers, but I think it reinforces the importance of identifying and reaching a large audience. The next key question would be if these photographers are able to monetize this traffic in the form of licensing or assignment work. But we’ll save that for another day…