Hi Everybody,

I have been reading these forums (and other mircostock resources) with much interest for a while now and I am planning to start a microstock business in January as a sole proprietor.  I live in Minnesota, USA.   I am planning to buy a Nikon D90 and a Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 D lens to start off; eventually I may buy an 18-200mm VR DX lens (I have read this a very good lens).  In the mean time I can use by daughter�s Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DX and 55mm - 200mm f/4-5.6 DX VR lens that she has for her D40.   As far as software goes I am leaning towards Capture NX 2.

I have number of questions that I will start new threads for; any comments on the camera, lens, and software choices would be appreciated.  Also, what internet speed would you recommend?

Thanks,

Mark

I don't think camera equipment is an issue or should be the focal point anyway.

You certainly need a full set of decent lenses to cover all possible shooting conditions, from close-up, to landscape, from portraits to sport. Then you need lights and reflectors, especially if you do close-up and portraits.

But most important is to learn what might sell and how to process your photos.

Also, if you are a travel/nature photographer, you might want to sell RM and avoid microstock; making 10 dollars on a photo which costed you 1'000 to take, does not exactly sound as a good business decision to me. 

What do you envision as a "microstock business"?  What is your experience with photography, existing equipment, etc?

If you were on dpreview, this question would probably get an "I'd like to be a surgeon, what scalpel should I buy?" answer.

I have number of questions that I will start new threads for;

You'd probably be better off keeping them all in one thread, instead of spreading them all about.

I don't think he's starting a "site".  He's using "business" as "I'm a guy with a camera who's going to submit content", I think.

To give you some additional background, I have been interested in photography for a couple of decades, mostly scenic landscape type photos.  I understand these types of photos generally are not what stock photography is all about.  I have done a lot of research on microstock photography and I think I have a good idea on the types of images that make good stock photos.  That being said, I am sure I will make mistakes and learn a lot along the way.

I do not currently have a DSLR or other equipment.  I thought a Nikon D90 would be a good intermediate camera that I would not out grow too quickly.  My last SLR was a Pentax ME Super.  Kids came along and I did very little photography other than family snapshot type photos when they were growing up.  I believe I have a good understanding of the principles of photography (composition, exposure, etc.), but of course there is always a ton to learn.

As far as the business side of things goes, I want to start as a sole proprietor of a business that submits images to the top microstock sites (IS, SS, DT, etc.).  I plan follow the IRS rules, but still get the tax benefits that any small business is entitled to.  I strongly suspect that I will have a loss the first couple of years.

I started microstock business like this. some 11 months ago I decided that I need more money and I typed "make money online" in google
I had samsund digimax 430, 3,9 Mpix camera, and my first images are taken with this camera. I had to increase the size of my images to reach 4 Mpix . It's forbidden on most sites, but some of my images are accepted on some agencies. I still don't have professional lighting equipment and I have only one lens Nikkor 18-135mm and I have Nikon D80.
And I had 5 payments since now from different microstock agencies. So, I don't think you need more answers in this thread Start taking photos. Believe me, you will enjoy so much when you start selling your artwork, when you see that people like what you make

Good luck.  I don't want to be a wet blanket, but you better be pretty darn good if you want to make meaningful money.  Microstock gets harder every month.  Reviewers keep raising their criteria for image selection, and there are more and more of us competing for attention.  Image libraries are significantly larger than at this time last year.

That said, there were a lot of people who told me at my outset 18 months ago that they didn't envy someone new joining microstock at that time. 

Your images will need to be technically perfect.  No noise, no artifacts, nothing soft.  So concentrate on a good set of lenses and work with quality lighting.  That should get your images accepted at a high rate.  Next step is to actually make sales.  For that, you are on your own.  But I suggest you take paths less traveled and try to find niches to exploit.

Nothing is unreachable if you really want it
I don't have professional lighting equipment. Actually, I bought my first light two weeks ago. SInce then I made all those isolation shots with my built-in flash. I made a lightbox of TV box. I wrapped it with white paper inside, and I used only my built in flash to make my isolation shots. When light from flash bounce inside the box, there is almost no shadow.

whitechild, you are one smart dude ! i am going to try that !

Personally, with your history, I think you're jumping the gun with this whole "business" thing.  Just shoot, submit, and see what happens.

Good advice. Borrow the D40, and start submitting before jumping into gear. It's going to be your content that sells, no matter what DSLR you use. All of them will pass technical muster if used correctly. And don't think that new gear will be an automatic tax writeoff. It's not.

You should really get past agency acceptance before plunking down any serious money. In some cases, acceptance at Shutterstock can take months. Refer to the forums there. I mention Shutterstock because that's where some of the serious money comes from, for some contributors to multiple agencies, it's more than 50% of their royalty income. For Dreamstime, acceptance is more or less automatic, but I find they are more picky about subject matter, "we have too many of these" being a very popular rejection reason. For iStock, you are limited in your uploads, only 15 I think within a certain timeframe after acceptance, and their application process can be brutal for some. I can't recall exactly, but I remember Stockxpert having an application process as well, and I think 123RF does as well, although 123 is pretty lenient. But on 123 it shows in sales. They do not do nearly as well as SS, IS, and DT as far as return. Do not be swayed by off the wall agencies not in the Big 6 - giant waste of time when starting out.

Start shooting with the D40, and start submitting. See what they like and what they don't. Flip your daughter 5 or 10 bucks out of your pocket money for each modeling session to start. Then if you feel you can make a go of it, go whole hog. Because unless your talent is exceptional and you submit good volume, it will take you about 6 months to start seeing any significant return. If things don't work out as projected, you can treat earnings as "hobby" income.

As far as Capture, well it's nice for Nikons, but you really need a copy of Photoshop as well in my opinion. Some people get by with Elements, but I could not live without the Pen Tool in Photoshop.

Internet connection - you will need a broadband connection. Cable company service works fine.

And note what DanP68 said too. It's getting harder to make numbers with average images, and the competition is much tougher than it was even just 2 years ago.

In other words, don't quit your day job just yet.

Mark, I think there is nothing wrong with your approach but it is very uncommon in microstock. There are 2 most typical scenarios:
* amateurs starting earning with microstock little by little without having any registered business; and getting one later when (if) their sales grow enough;
* long time photography professionals already having registered business.

I don't know how much effort and expense is to register business in your country, but with my experience I would give it a try first, i.e. without registering a business and get it registered later if you succeed to grow your sales enough.

Like everything in life, the Pareto Principle seems to fit. That is, the top 20% of contributors make 80% of the income.

The stock business is still evolving, and for anyone to base their whole income on it is a gamble. I would suggest if you want to be a professional photographer, do weddings, portraits and such, and use your spare hours to shoot stock.

Do it in that order and you'll be happy.  Don't worry about all this "business" stuff until you are running a little.

Do it in that order and you'll be happy.  Don't worry about all this "business" stuff until you are running a little.

That's the best advice you can take, Packerguy.  If you find that you don't enjoy the microstock process (and clearly not everyone does), then you won't be successful in it.  There are constant hurdles and set backs, so you better have a thick skin and an ability to laugh off the ridiculousness. 

Well, that's not exactly true.  I don't know what country he is in, but he likely has at least 3 years to turn a profit and why not start it right?

If you register a "photography" business it can have many benefits.  For example, in my first year I spent more than I earned due to my start-up costs but I was registered to collect PST and GST.  That means, I got most of my GST back on gear, computer, software, gasoline, trade publications etc.

You can declare your office and any working space, electricity, cable, trade publications, gas, mileage and write the appropriate % off against your taxes.  Is this possible in your country without a registered business? 

On the other hand, I've met a lot of newbies on this board who start off full of fire and give up after a month or two.  Your business license may cost more than you ultimately earn.

Note to Pixart - in the US, you don't have to register anything, except fill out the right form on your taxes, and if you're below $600, you don't even have to do that.  You don't actually register as a "sole proprietor" except to say you are one on your taxes.  You can then deduct all your expenses against your profits.  So, it's very easy to just dive right in.

As sjlocke stated, since I am in the US, all I will need to do is fill out Schedule C come tax time, no special registering as a business when you are a sole proprietor and you are using your name as part of the business name (for example, Joe Smith Photography).

Again I would like to thank everyone for their comments.