Introduction to Microstock Photography – My Philosophy on Microstock
Table of contents for Microstock Photography
I hope this series has been useful for you. In the next two blogs I will go over some examples, but before then I would like to discuss my philosophy on microstock. If you’re read other series on microstock, you’re probably familiar with different methods of tracking you make per picture and how you can strive to take new pictures for stock that sell better. I have deliberately not included that information here, and the truth is I would be at a loss to tell you how much I earn per picture. The simple fact is I take the shots that I enjoy. If I’m able to make money from them, then that is a nice bonus.
I enjoy photography, and I noticed that when I started making an effort to take pictures specifically for stock, I liked it much less. Stock pictures are not very interesting nor are they very artistic. They are meant to sell and to appeal to graphic designers for general purposes. Even if I did take pictures specifically for stock, if I calculated how much time I spent taking and processing the pictures and averages out my income per hour, there are a lot of things I can do that pay better. I must admit that I laugh at people who spend hours editing a photo just so they can make a few dollars from it on the microstock sites.
Therefore, here’s my philosophy and strategy for handling microstock.
First, I would advise you to take the pictures you enjoy taking. Do not take picture explicitly for stock. Once you have a good selection of pictures, go through them and see if any might be saleable. Very often you’ll come across a shot with a tree leaning into the side or a poor exposure or something else. You think to yourself – “that’s a nice shot, but it’s a shame that blah and blah are wrong with it”. The next time you’re out shooting, I have a feeling you’ll pay better attention to those things.
Therefore, think of microstock photography as both a bonus and an impartial critique. Those pictures would have otherwise sat on your hard drive. Why not make a few dollars with them? Even if you only make a dollar, it’s a dollar more than you would have had otherwise. Secondly, treat it as a critique. Very often when I show pictures to my friends I hear – “nice shot”, “great!”, etc. When I send the same shot to the reviewers, I see a much different response. Microstock reviewers have no qualms with shooting down the amazing work of art you just send them. Treat their reviews as impartial criticism and you’ll find yourself improving quickly.
However, I must stress again that you should not make microstock photography “another job”. It is simply a way to make some money you would otherwise not have and get some good critiques on your photos in the process.
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Tags: microstock, philosophy, photography, strategy