Introduction to Microstock Photography – My Philosophy on Microstock
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.