Introduction to Microstock Photography Part I
Table of contents for Microstock Photography
This is the first part of a multipart series on microstock photography. For a bit over two years, I have slowly become more involved in this strategy for selling pictures. There are quite a few guides out there on the Internet about this subject, but I suspect that my philosophy on it will be a bit different from the others.
Before I get started, I want to let you know whom this series is intended for. People that meet the following criteria are most likely to benefit from this series.
1) You are already familiar with the basics of photography. You are very familiar with terms such as shutterspeed, aperture, depth of field, noise, etc. You know about the rule of thirds and what makes a good picture vs a poor one.
2) You have a stable job that is paying you enough that you are not worried about paying the bills every month. You certainly wouldn’t mind earning some extra money, but you are not dependent on it. The money you make from selling photographs is intended to pay for more photo equipment, not change your standard of living.
3) You already take pictures often and have a good idea what types of pictures you enjoy taking and what types of pictures you don’t.
4) You are not a photographer by profession. During the day you do something else.
If you meet these criteria and are not already participating in microstock photography (or are just beginning) then I hope the info in this post and the ones that follow will be of use.
What is microstock photography?
The procedure is quite simple.
a) You take a photo of something you think someone wants a picture of.
b) You submit the picture to a web site.
c) If the site accepts your picture, they add it to their collection.
d) Someone finds your picture and buys the right to use it.
e) You receive a cut of the money.
That’s the basic model for stock photography. Both microstock and traditional stock follow this model. Where they differ is the economic model.
| Traditional Stock | Microstock | |
| Royalty per image download | $50 – several thousand dollars | 25 cents – $30 |
| Frequency of downloads | Very few | Potentially thousands |
| Model | One person pays $1000 | 1000 people pay $1 |
| Controversy | No controversy | Some pro photographers ridicule it |
The basic idea is that many people purchase a given photograph and pay less for it, compared to one person paying a large sum for your picture in traditional stock. There are other advantages for microstock for most of us as well.
1) Many traditional stock agencies are difficult to gain entry to. Even if you have the skills it can be difficult to get in the door in the first place.
2) Microstock agencies have a lower standard for photographs. Many photographs that would be rejected by traditional stock agencies will be accepted by microstock agencies. This means you can make money on pictures you wouldn’t make anything on for traditional stock.
I am not trying to say that microstock is better than traditional stock. Certainly if you have the talents and get in the right doors you can make far more in traditional stock than microstock. Also, if you tend to specialize in a very narrow area, you’ll often have better luck selling your pictures with an agency that shares your specialty. However, for those of us who are not full time photographers microstock and take photographs of a wide range of subjects, microstock photography is generally the best bet.
What can I make in microstock photography
There are sites out there that advertise that you can make a living in microstock photography. There are people who do this, but they are a very rare breed. The vast majority of people who do make good money in microstock are photographers by trade and do not focus entirely on microstock – they sell traditional stock and do photography jobs as well. For the vast majority of us, the goals and reality are much more modest.
It certainly is possible though to make several hundred dollars a month. For many of us, this is the difference between an L lens and no lens. However, even this goal will require a good deal of effort and some time. You will need to be patient and get used to some rejection. However, if you persevere a bit the rewards aren’t that bad.
In the next post, I will start to cover the submission process and go through my opinions of the major microstock sites.
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Tags: introduction, microstock, photography, sales, series