Stock Photography With Yuri Arcurs - On the Photo Shoot!

Join the world's best selling stock photographer, Yuri Arcurs, on a photo shoot - learn about work flow, preparations, styling and much more!

http://www.crestock.com/blog/photography/stock-photography-with-yuri-arcurs--on-the-photo-shoot-136.aspx

Cool, the video quality on the first 2 episodes is not top-notch, but we're paying to have all future episodes shot in HD with a lot of regular, tutorial-style episodes coming out over the next few weeks. Keep watching!

well a 6 hour photoshoot is quite a while so it is not SO surprising with 3000 shots, especially with 2 cameras

yeah, i was surprised with the low quality on some of the filming ... and bad lighting  
looking forward to more though.

I am so fascinated with the difference in Yuri's business model to most of the rest of us (hehe, other than the small fact that I am no more than a serious hobbyist at this and he is a dedicated pro .)

3000 raw files = 50-100 shots.
1 day prep
8 hours shooting, styling, travel
4 models
Yuri plus 2+ crew, stylist
purchased wardrobe and props

Add the hours (days) in post production and, wow, that's an expensive shoot to most of us.  Even though his work is exceptional, his break even point must be way down the line, especially if he only averages 10 shots per hour.  I'm not downplaying Yuri's success in any way, but everyone thinks Yuri had another 100,000 downloads today... , salaries and expenses must chew quite a bit of that away.  If he is not working in a profit pool arrangement , his most successful years are ahead once his most recent shoots are 100% profit. 

Lessons learned: 
Takes money to make money? 
Takes careful planning and long days.
If everyone in Denmark is this beautiful, location is definitely an advantage.

3000 raw files = 50-100 shots.

I understand Yuri has a conversion rate of around 10%, so 3000 RAW files should give about 300 select images ready for distribution. For shooting stock on this scale, it is paramount to eliminate limiting factors that cause you to lose files, for instance, focus or exposure issues. To compete, even as a hobbyist or part-time stock photographer, its so important to streamline both what you're producing and how long it is taking you to produce it. If there was one thing that anybody could take away from this brief intro to Yuri's shoot, perhaps it could be the attention to focus required and the impact it can have on your overall production levels. Its not difficult and takes only a certain amount of dedication to learn, and before long could triple the amount of images you're putting out (or at least having approved).

Quote from: Pixart on October 01, 2008, 12:13

Even though his work is exceptional, his break even point must be way down the line, especially if he only averages 10 shots per hour.  I'm not downplaying Yuri's success in any way, but everyone thinks Yuri had another 100,000 downloads today... , salaries and expenses must chew quite a bit of that away.  If he is not working in a profit pool arrangement , his most successful years are ahead once his most recent shoots are 100% profit. 

Except that by the time they pay off, hairstyles and clothing are out of style.  I don't think it's a very smart methodology, but maybe I weigh profits over downloads too much.

You two must be close friends since you worry about him so much. But I suppose you are right, we should all worry about him cos when I read your words I'm starting to think he isn't making any money. He'll probably have to get some loans to keep him shooting

On topic: Great to see how he works. If he doesn't need those 90% of the shots, could I get them? Would probably get rich with only those

  And you are right, the "streamlining" of stock, but mainly my regular job is something that I struggle with on a daily basis.  Things today change so frequently, it seems as soon as I've mastered some learning curve there will be something new to learn, or some sript that needs to be written before I can take the next step...

How true!!  I watched the video for CS4 and it just depressed me.  It was so over my head.  I feel like I'm falling further and further behind in both my photography and my real job (computer programming).

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Shooting in the shade or overcast conditions - who needs lights and fill? Perfect for people shots.

I guess you don't necessarily need either.  I think you probably need one or the other (at least a reflector) to get nice catchlights in the eyes.  I went back to the video to see if I could detect any catchlights and I could not.  So maybe he didn't use any artificial lighting or even reflectors after all.

Well, I can't say that I liked the video much. I learned more about what he does and how he does it by reading interviews with him and by looking around on his homepage. Much more informative, I must say. But I'm still looking forward to the next episodes.

Hope yuri don't show his workflow very detail, I don't know what happen if many people copying yury workflow, difference style of editing and shoting make stockphoto industry more interesting.

My money is on him not showing it in too much detail....but he does have to address all the questions about how he brings about the end result in his coming videos.