Microstock - some thoughts
Discussion
For those that are interested, have a read...
www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=629407
I spent nearly three hours on the phone today with the worlds most downloaded microstock photograper (mentioned in the article). Possibly because no one else likes talking microstock with him
but he's making £6k a month now 
and has been shooting for 2 years part time.
In response to the "why sell images for $0.25c, thats crazy" brigade, according to figures in the traditional stock world, trad. stock photogs earn about $4 per image, per year(!) Which pales in comparison to the $1 to $2.50 dollars per image that good folios earn per MONTH in microstock.
At the end of the year, Id rather have 10'000 images in use than 100 for the same money, wouldnt you?
The fact is though, the "professional" microstock photographers are earning more than the pro trad. stock shooters. And there is more money in microstock
www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=629407
I spent nearly three hours on the phone today with the worlds most downloaded microstock photograper (mentioned in the article). Possibly because no one else likes talking microstock with him
but he's making £6k a month now and has been shooting for 2 years part time. In response to the "why sell images for $0.25c, thats crazy" brigade, according to figures in the traditional stock world, trad. stock photogs earn about $4 per image, per year(!) Which pales in comparison to the $1 to $2.50 dollars per image that good folios earn per MONTH in microstock.
At the end of the year, Id rather have 10'000 images in use than 100 for the same money, wouldnt you?
The fact is though, the "professional" microstock photographers are earning more than the pro trad. stock shooters. And there is more money in microstock
So you've finally decided you're doing it for the money? 
For somebody who supposedly wasn't doing it for the money, you talk about money an awful lot Bob
I'm sure if you compared the earnings of the most successful stock photographer, to the most successful traditional photographer, it would be interesting reading...
For somebody who supposedly wasn't doing it for the money, you talk about money an awful lot Bob
I'm sure if you compared the earnings of the most successful stock photographer, to the most successful traditional photographer, it would be interesting reading...
Edited by Andy M on Wednesday 22 November 09:07
UKBob said:
For those that are interested, have a read...
www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=629407
I spent nearly three hours on the phone today with the worlds most downloaded microstock photograper (mentioned in the article). Possibly because no one else likes talking microstock with him but he's making £6k a month now and has been shooting for 2 years part time.
In response to the "why sell images for $0.25c, thats crazy" brigade, according to figures in the traditional stock world, trad. stock photogs earn about $4 per image, per year(!) Which pales in comparison to the $1 to $2.50 dollars per image that good folios earn per MONTH in microstock.
At the end of the year, Id rather have 10'000 images in use than 100 for the same money, wouldnt you?
The fact is though, the "professional" microstock photographers are earning more than the pro trad. stock shooters. And there is more money in microstock
www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=629407
I spent nearly three hours on the phone today with the worlds most downloaded microstock photograper (mentioned in the article). Possibly because no one else likes talking microstock with him
but he's making £6k a month now and has been shooting for 2 years part time. In response to the "why sell images for $0.25c, thats crazy" brigade, according to figures in the traditional stock world, trad. stock photogs earn about $4 per image, per year(!) Which pales in comparison to the $1 to $2.50 dollars per image that good folios earn per MONTH in microstock.
At the end of the year, Id rather have 10'000 images in use than 100 for the same money, wouldnt you?
The fact is though, the "professional" microstock photographers are earning more than the pro trad. stock shooters. And there is more money in microstock
Well you, got me. I've ordered my light tent!
bacchus180 said:
I know a photographer who made £148,000 in one year from one image through an image library. but then that was rights managed not royalty free. I guess its horses for courses.
I almost added - the top stock guys will always earn more than the top microstock shooters. As will rights managed (which is where traditional stock is heading, with the associated big/prestige buyers). But for everyone that isnt in the top 1% of best photographers, MS pays more than trad.stock. Andy M said:
So you've finally decided you're doing it for the money?
Nope. For fun. I love the money aspect, as a whole it makes my hobby twice as addictive Andy M said:
For somebody who supposedly wasn't doing it for the money, you talk about money an awful lot Bob
Just responding to the "25c, why would you do that, when you can sell images via trad stock for more" comments Andy M said:
I'm sure if you compared the earnings of the most successful stock photographer, to the most successful traditional photographer, it would be interesting reading...
It certainly would. le gravy noire said:
Well you, got me. I've ordered my light tent!
Cancel that order, you can have mine UKBob said:
At the end of the year, Id rather have 10'000 images in use than 100 for the same money, wouldnt you?
Definitely not.
I'd rather do 100 quality shots than 10,000 crap ones any day. Quality rather than quantity. Then I could go and do something enjoyable and useful with my spare time.
You do the math. How long does it take to do one of your food pics. Everything, buying the props, snapping, processing, key wording etc? Going to take a while to get to 10k.
You can crank out 10,00 shots, like matey in your link , quite quickly. I did scan through the 900 odd he has there and the shots, models, situations are basically the same. All shot at the same time. If he's making loads out of it, good luck to him, nothing wrong with that. The photography is competent, but boring
. Most people get into the photography because they like pictures and the art of talking pictures, first and foremost. Your hobby seems to be changing from talking pictures to collecting numbers and sales figures. Have you thought about taking up train spotting?
GregE240 said:
This sounds like "Make £2,000 a month" working from home type ads you find on lamp posts or at traffic lights.
Like Bacardi said, 100 good shots bring more satisfaction than 10'000 crap ones. So far, Ive taken a few of shots Im happy with, but Ive learnt loads and improved. re: The whole "earn money" thing, Im only responding to the flack Ive had from others over the months whilst enjoying my hobby. I wont ask that you cut me some slack. Just standing up for myself mate.
Ive been slated for "being silly selling images for 25 cents" countless times. Naturally its only fair that I point out that images will make more on the microstock sites than the stock sites in response. Unless you're the best of the best of course. Which Im not.
Why did you start then Poah, if it wasnt for the money, that you decided to stop uploading when you discovered you weren't going to make any money?
Course I get excited about earnings. I was more excited when I made my first 25c than I was when I made my first $1000. I'll stop when Ive had enough.
UKBob said:
Why did you start then Poah, if it wasnt for the money, that you decided to stop uploading when you discovered you weren't going to make any money?
Come on Bob, give it a break. There is no denying there is a market for readers wives glamour and massiv hatchbakz.
Perhaps stock just wasnt the right avenue. Anyways it doesnt matter to Poah as he is a phd scientologist, and I'd far rather someone cured cancer than devoted their time to fast-food-ography!
Matt
Jeez, it's getting like a TVR Speed 6 thread in here... or maybe even the Cerbera power/tuning wars... 
As a mere mortal when it comes to photography I no longer post my pictures in there forums. Why? I asked for feedback, asked the typical newbie type questions and either got ignored, laughed at, or sneers in my general direction. I have a hobby that I enjoy, and I take photos of stuff that I like, so I'm happy. If Bob likes his microstock, then good luck to him - variety is the spice of life and all that...
As a mere mortal when it comes to photography I no longer post my pictures in there forums. Why? I asked for feedback, asked the typical newbie type questions and either got ignored, laughed at, or sneers in my general direction. I have a hobby that I enjoy, and I take photos of stuff that I like, so I'm happy. If Bob likes his microstock, then good luck to him - variety is the spice of life and all that...
Dont really see the argument here someone earns a bit of cash for doing something they enjoy - thats it.
Just someone earning money from their hobby. Like a railway modeller say charging entrance to see his latest creation or someone selling their artwork (thousands of sites where artists will draw you a picture from your photos!)
Would you say to the artist i'd rather you only painted a few masterpieces worth millions rather than them earning themselves a few quid along the way doing sketches and paintings for people.
Just someone earning money from their hobby. Like a railway modeller say charging entrance to see his latest creation or someone selling their artwork (thousands of sites where artists will draw you a picture from your photos!)
Would you say to the artist i'd rather you only painted a few masterpieces worth millions rather than them earning themselves a few quid along the way doing sketches and paintings for people.
[quote=UKBob
Why did you start then Poah, if it wasnt for the money, that you decided to stop uploading when you discovered you weren't going to make any money?[/quote]
I uploaded pictures on the off chance that they would make money, I've sold a few but I could not be arsed doing it properly. It then hit me that I'm actually selling my soul with the microstock pictures. I get really pissed off when people use my images without my consent and getting 25c for the privalage is not worth it. I don't want to do stock photography, images uploaded where ones I took through normal day to day photography so was never going to make any real money from it and as Matt has said its not my full time career, doing science research is (not scientology, thats reserved for
wits like Tom Cruise). I'm bearly going to get away with doing the feature articles as it is between PhD studies and family.
Don;t get me wrong if you can make money from it and don't mind taking pics of food, or street signs etc then fair do's.
p.s bob get all your xmas stuff done the now. time is running out. also think ahead to easter and Feb 14th
Why did you start then Poah, if it wasnt for the money, that you decided to stop uploading when you discovered you weren't going to make any money?[/quote]
I uploaded pictures on the off chance that they would make money, I've sold a few but I could not be arsed doing it properly. It then hit me that I'm actually selling my soul with the microstock pictures. I get really pissed off when people use my images without my consent and getting 25c for the privalage is not worth it. I don't want to do stock photography, images uploaded where ones I took through normal day to day photography so was never going to make any real money from it and as Matt has said its not my full time career, doing science research is (not scientology, thats reserved for
wits like Tom Cruise). I'm bearly going to get away with doing the feature articles as it is between PhD studies and family. Don;t get me wrong if you can make money from it and don't mind taking pics of food, or street signs etc then fair do's.
p.s bob get all your xmas stuff done the now. time is running out. also think ahead to easter and Feb 14th
Edited by poah on Wednesday 22 November 17:13
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