Author Topic: Do you actually enjoy producing Microstock style images? (Read 14017 times)

MikLav · « **Reply #25 on:** June 09, 2008, 15:10 »

I shoot what I like, and I am not photographing what I don't like.

lisafx · « **Reply #26 on:** June 09, 2008, 15:51 »

Quote from: vphoto on June 08, 2008, 17:52

Quote from: lisafx on June 07, 2008, 09:05
I love shooting stock. I enjoy it much more than anything I have ever done for a living before and more than most things I did for fun!

Even when I am exhausted and miserable doing it I still love it - if that makes sense...

I had the same feeling about shooting stock. But no more. What I know is that photography will remain my best hobby, pastime to which I can always turn to.

What changed to make you not love it as much anymore?

a.k.a.-tom · « **Reply #27 on:** June 09, 2008, 15:52 »

Quote from: nativelight on June 09, 2008, 14:25

Quote from: paulacobleigh on June 09, 2008, 14:01
Quote from: a.k.a.-tom on June 07, 2008, 08:56

The point: I shoot what I want which is primarily landscape & nature, and I get paid to do it and I am still doing what I enjoyed doing when I shot my first 35mm picture 47 years ago.

I'm a lot like you in the sense that I shoot what I like and upload it. If people buy it, great. If not, oh well. I am not really into photographing people. But I love hiking and nature.

I agree with both of you! If either of you are ever out this way, give me a shout and we'll strap on a backpack and head out on a trail.

Watch out!!! You might just hear a knock on the door!!! LOL....
BTW, Where is 'out this way', Nativelight?

=tom

madelaide · « **Reply #28 on:** June 09, 2008, 19:09 »

The thing I dislike is that sometimes I think too much on stock and less on photography.

I mean, now even when I am on vacation, taking photos the way I always did, not intending to sell them, I end up thinking about an extra shot that might be more stock-worthy (like folding chairs in front of a tent in the campground).

Regards,
Adelaide

Cooper · « **Reply #29 on:** June 09, 2008, 19:44 »

I shoot what I like and then if there's anything that's "stockworthy", I upload it. This is why I'm with a couple of different agencies that have quite different portfolios when it comes to "style".

It also might explain why my portfolios are reasonably small. I don't go out to shoot purely for stock. I've tried that a few times and it didn't really click with me. Felt like I was forcing something.

Joyce · « **Reply #30 on:** June 10, 2008, 04:43 »

Same here, Cooper. It just turned photography into a chore more than anything (editing/keywording is still a chore though). In my portfolio you will find mostly wildlife and landscape photography. It doesn't make as much as the typical business person set, but I enjoy it more. You'll still find some random kinda-boring photos that I took specifically for stock, but those I took while out and about with the aim of taking photos I did like.

PenelopeB · « **Reply #31 on:** June 10, 2008, 18:52 »

Looking through the lens and clicking is capturing a specific moment that is gone. Each one, whether it is perfect or not (or stock or not), will some day be looked upon by eyes that can never see that second again. Its a chronological history of our generation.

I wonder, at the rate we are capturing "everything"... will we ever capture it all?

Is it possible?

Yes, I love it.

Nemo1024 · « **Reply #32 on:** June 14, 2008, 12:18 »

I have just discovered this place. Great forums!

I shoot what I like, then see if it might have stock potential. I tried at one point to shoot specifically stock-oriented images, but quickly felt that it started to kill the joy of photography.

bpmcwill · « **Reply #33 on:** June 14, 2008, 14:57 »

I have to agree with AKA tom and nemo1024--I find that shooting items in a "little white box" boring. I don't think I have the patience for that type of shooting. I do like shooting for micros, however. Shoot what catches my eye. If they get accepted and sell, great. Some of my ' after thought grab shots' sell better than my studio images.

Quote from: PenelopeB on June 10, 2008, 18:52

I wonder, at the rate we are capturing "everything"... will we ever capture it all?

Every moment brings something new.

graficallyminded · « **Reply #34 on:** September 10, 2008, 11:29 »

Its always something new, and always a new creative challenge. Of course I love it, otherwise I'd be doing something else!

nativelight · « **Reply #35 on:** September 10, 2008, 11:46 »

Quote from: a.k.a.-tom on June 09, 2008, 15:52

Quote from: nativelight on June 09, 2008, 14:25
Quote from: paulacobleigh on June 09, 2008, 14:01
Quote from: a.k.a.-tom on June 07, 2008, 08:56

The point: I shoot what I want which is primarily landscape & nature, and I get paid to do it and I am still doing what I enjoyed doing when I shot my first 35mm picture 47 years ago.

I'm a lot like you in the sense that I shoot what I like and upload it. If people buy it, great. If not, oh well. I am not really into photographing people. But I love hiking and nature.

I agree with both of you! If either of you are ever out this way, give me a shout and we'll strap on a backpack and head out on a trail.

Watch out!!! You might just hear a knock on the door!!! LOL....
BTW, Where is 'out this way', Nativelight? =tom

Sorry, Tom. I didn't see your question until someone revived this thread today. "Out this way" is the Rocky Mountains of Colorado - Colorado Springs to be more specific. Pikes Peak is my "backyard."

jeffclow · « **Reply #36 on:** September 10, 2008, 12:13 »

Some great dialogue here.....and count me as part of the group that enjoys shooting stock.

Most of us started in photography because we enjoyed capturing something permanently that is so fleeting - a moose on the ridge, a butterfly on a flower, the sun on the distant lake. Then many of us found out that others enjoyed seeing our work and we got the wonderful validation that strangers might actually pay some money for a shot or two......and we were hooked.

When I travel, I do shoot for stock - but I also shoot landscapes and sunsets and macro that I know will never make it in the stock world. I think if all I did was shoot "stock" 100% of the time, I would consider photography less fun, and more of a job.

But since the only person who controls what I point the lens towards is me, I think that a combination of stock shooting and pleasure shooting is the best of both worlds - and making enough money via stock to take another trip or buy another lens is a wonderful outcome.

dnavarrojr · « **Reply #37 on:** September 10, 2008, 13:40 »

There are those who do Microstock as "work". They shoot what sells and hope to get it past the reviewers. What's important to them is the check they get each month.

Then there are those that just always have a camera with them. In this age of Digital, they can shoot as much as they want, knowing they can simply delete what they don't like. When they get home, they submit it to MS sites and if they get a check that month, it's "extra" income to be used to get new equipment or take the family out to do something special.

There is a pretty good mix of the two camps here on the forum (including some who are really in the first camp although they *believe* they are in the second camp).

Personally, I think the commercial category of MicroStock is pretty much saturated. There's not a whole lot left that is truly new or unique. Indeed, more and more, you are seeing sites reject submissions for not being unique enough if their eyes.

(One remedy is for someone to start offering commercial flights to the Moon and other planets.)

My brother decided to give up on his normal nature stuff (landscapes, animals, flora, etc..) and do some editorial stuff (following the political candidates around at the moment) and he's selling 10 times what his other stuff sells for lately.

a.k.a.-tom · « **Reply #38 on:** September 10, 2008, 15:19 »

Quote from: nativelight on September 10, 2008, 11:46

Sorry, Tom. I didn't see your question until someone revived this thread today. "Out this way" is the Rocky Mountains of Colorado - Colorado Springs to be more specific. Pikes Peak is my "backyard."

Ah... now you're talkin'!! I totally enjoyed Colorado last time I passed through in 05. On the way out we were on the California Zypher, what a ride in the Rockies (the sierra nevada was sweet as well). We passed back thru via SUV and it was just non-stop beauty!! My whole family are outdoors freaks...our vacations and any time off, we are in a state or national park, or picking our way thru the wilds.
..... of course me shooting pix all the way!!

=tom

Peter · « **Reply #39 on:** September 10, 2008, 15:42 »

No! I do it only for the money. I like to shoot industrial art, old abandoned factories, big old rusty machines, and stuff like that. That does not sell well on microstock.

MicrostockExp · « **Reply #40 on:** September 10, 2008, 15:59 »

I shot what I really like but always try to get stock pics, I like experimenting as well...

sharply_done · « **Reply #41 on:** September 10, 2008, 18:09 »

Quote from: dnavarrojr on September 10, 2008, 13:40

...
My brother decided to give up on his normal nature stuff (landscapes, animals, flora, etc..) and do some editorial stuff (following the political candidates around at the moment) and he's selling 10 times what his other stuff sells for lately.

Wow, topical images sell better than pretty pictures of nothing in particular ... who'd have thunk it? (wink)

cclapper · « **Reply #42 on:** September 10, 2008, 18:39 »

like what I do. I also like it much more than what I was doing.

@Sean...what did you do before stock?

I like shooting stock and I find it to be a great creative outlet. Sometimes my day-to-day work (graphic design) gets monotonous (more graphic production than design), and dreaming up something that somebody might buy, for me, is fun. I do think the post processing and keywording is a chore.

Overall I wish I were independently wealthy and could take stock photos, and travel and take nature shots all the time. To me that would be a dream come true.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #43 on:** September 10, 2008, 19:38 »

I was doing 3d work for a large defense contractor (think flight simulator content). Military work ain't my thing.

epantha · « **Reply #44 on:** September 10, 2008, 19:57 »

Quote

I like shooting stock and I find it to be a great creative outlet. Sometimes my day-to-day work (graphic design) gets monotonous (more graphic production than design), and dreaming up something that somebody might buy, for me, is fun. I do think the post processing and keywording is a chore.

Overall I wish I were independently wealthy and could take stock photos, and travel and take nature shots all the time. To me that would be a dream come true.

I am also a graphic/production artist and frequently find my job a bit tiresome after years of the 9-5 grind. When I started uploading to the microstock agencies, started to see the light at the tunnel and hopefully in a couple of years I can gather a variety of gigs to allow me to work from home. Wouldn't that be fun?

sharply_done · « **Reply #45 on:** September 10, 2008, 20:40 »

Quote from: epantha on September 10, 2008, 19:57

... I can gather a variety of gigs to allow me to work from home. Wouldn't that be fun?

Yep, it sure is ... this is the best and most rewarding job I've ever had!

Vonkara · « **Reply #46 on:** September 10, 2008, 20:44 »

There's nothing better than working at home. I work less hours at the job. It's like my micros incomes were giving me vacation once a time. For me photoshop is like playing a strategy game on the computer. I'm angry, I resolve problems, I'm sometime lost, but at the end there's a result and it pretty cool sometimes LOL. And that's my part time job!!

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #47 on:** September 11, 2008, 00:21 »

Y E S !

Keywording bores me.

I'm not in it for the money, just for the challenges that some shots bring. I decided to take the education is fun route.

Dreamframer · « **Reply #48 on:** September 11, 2008, 06:57 »

I sent you a personal message marcopolo

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #49 on:** September 11, 2008, 07:08 »

Yep, I enjoy all of it. I love it. Well, maybe I don't enjoy keywording but it doesn't bother me either.

I enjoy stumbling upon a good shot just as much as I do assembling one. Isolations don't bother me.

If I could live off of this it would be a whole different quality of life from my 50-70 hour per week corporate technology day job.