Thank you Mat, an informative video and a production explaining a solid workflow.

I like it, so I will give some feedback about it, on how I could have liked it more.

I understand that shooting a video about a stock photography production can be quite a distraction from the actual stock shooting itself. In that sense, you did a very good job of maintaining balance and delivering a majority of good shots. However, looking at the gallery I spotted a few images that are not as strong as the rest ones in terms of communicating their meaning. Sorry to say, but these are mostly yours.

Looking at the gallery I could tell which images are yours and which are Andy's. Andy, not being the main narrator, was more relaxed to search for angles and also your final edits differ. Your images tend to a more neutral / colder white balance. Andy is probably more appealing to the detail that the several feelings portrayed, like 'freedom', 'friendship', 'camping', 'nature' 'love' etc could all be communicated better in warmer tones. The flares added by him are also a nice touch.

My important concern is that some of your images have background distractions. When this is not happening, your images are from ok up to excellent. In the images I am attaching, you can see how you and Andy handled a similar subject as different photographers. Andy included the tent inside his composition, just enough to place us in a camping environment. The tent (which is also open) inside your composition is causing a distraction from what your photo could be about. More specifically, a man is coming from the background bringing more wood. For it's human capital involved (& the models you paid for), the main meaning of this image is about collaboration during camping. But it's not as balanced as it could have been, making it too much about camping and too little about collaboration. In another wood cutting shot, where the maximum dynamic was intented, you chose a photo of the axe, too much inside the wood. It ended up looking like a hammer, taking away almost all of it's dynamic.

I sincerely wish that you keep returning with productions and posts like this. Contributors are eager to learn how to organise their productions better and all these insights are valuable. My overall rating for this effort is 8/10. For your photography, two tips. Maybe a little bit of practice in handling backgrounds and when handling wide angles, try to get more 'inside' and create as much depth as possible.

Kind Regards,
Thomas

Video was well done one of the best I have seen for how to produce stock!

Excellent photographers, models and tips! Thanks Mat, it was funny to watch

That's really interesting Matt, thanks!
Video is really nice and give many tips about how to plan a shooting.
Did you do also stock footage during the shooting? I mean commercial stock clips, not informative?
I ask because one of the most difficult things I find during my shootings is to mix photo and video, changing is not easy even when you like to capture the same subject/mood in both media.

Practical questions to better understand results: how many hours of work it takes? And, if you can tell, how much it costs (models+props), a total approx amount? How many images finally was produced from shooting? How long do you plan to reach break even and start to earn from this shooting?

Thank you very much! Sorry if some or all questions are answered during the video, I'm not english native speaking so I could miss something of your speech.

Thank you very much for the feedback. Like you, I struggle with the balance of video and photo on a shoot. This is something I am actively working on as video is out of my comfort zone. It is most definitely in your best interest to add video to your portfolio every opportunity you can. It's top of mind for me, I just need to work on my technique more to become a successful video contributor. There is a learning curve but I'm working on it.

For your other questions...I believe the shoot lasted around 6 or 7 hours all said and done with a break in the middle. I usually find models via Model Mayhem and sometimes Instagram (search for #seattlemodel for example). The rates vary, when it's a shoot like this for an Adobe video the rate is usually higher than what I normally pay because of the added element of the video production. As a result, 5 models at a higher rate for a full day, exclusive only to Adobe Stock it will likely take a year or more to break even. I didn't have to pay for the location which certainly helps. There was some cost for food and props but not much. 

When I am shooting on my own budget I usually offer $200 for a 2-3 hour shoot per model. In most cases I break even within a few months assuming there are no other expenses involved. Sometimes less time...sometimes...well, I'm still waiting to break even. It depends on a number of factors  at the top of the list being the quality of the content I capture. I am definitely of the mindset that microstock is a marathon and not a race. I don't expect to break even immediately but over the course of time most, if not all shoots I've paid for have earned far more than my initial costs and continue to earn for me year after year.

As far as usable images, I'm pretty heavy handed with the shutter and pulled around 400 stock worthy files. A lot of those were similars however so I think it was reduced to around 250 or so that I submitted for review.

Thanks again,

Mat

Quote from: derby on December 13, 2018, 05:06

That's really interesting Matt, thanks!
Video is really nice and give many tips about how to plan a shooting.
Did you do also stock footage during the shooting? I mean commercial stock clips, not informative?
I ask because one of the most difficult things I find during my shootings is to mix photo and video, changing is not easy even when you like to capture the same subject/mood in both media.

Practical questions to better understand results: how many hours of work it takes? And, if you can tell, how much it costs (models+props), a total approx amount? How many images finally was produced from shooting? How long do you plan to reach break even and start to earn from this shooting?

Thank you very much! Sorry if some or all questions are answered during the video, I'm not english native speaking so I could miss something of your speech.

Thank you very much for . Like you, I struggle with the balance of video and photo on a shoot. This is something I am actively working on as video is out of my comfort zone. It is most definitely in your best interest to add video to your portfolio every opportunity you can. It's top of mind for me, I just need to work on my technique more to become a successful video contributor. There is a learning curve but I'm working on it.

For your other questions...I believe the shoot lasted around 6 or 7 hours all said and done with a break in the middle. I usually find models via Model Mayhem and sometimes Instagram (search for #seattlemodel for example). The rates vary, when it's a shoot like this for an Adobe video the rate is usually higher than what I normally pay because of the added element of the video production. As a result, 5 models at a higher rate for a full day, exclusive only to Adobe Stock it will likely take a year or more to break even. I didn't have to pay for the location which certainly helps. There was some cost for food and props but not much. 

When I am shooting on my own budget I usually offer $200 for a 2-3 hour shoot per model. In most cases I break even within a few months assuming there are no other expenses involved. Sometimes less time...sometimes...well, I'm still waiting to break even. It depends on a number of factors  at the top of the list being the quality of the content I capture. I am definitely of the mindset that microstock is a marathon and not a race. I don't expect to break even immediately but over the course of time most, if not all shoots I've paid for have earned far more than my initial costs and continue to earn for me year after year.

As far as usable images, I'm pretty heavy handed with the shutter and pulled around 400 stock worthy files. A lot of those were similars however so I think it was reduced to around 250 or so that I submitted for review.

Thanks again,

Mat

It's great to have Mat, much more than a direct interface with one agency, also a person who share experience on producing contents with other contributors, thanks a lot

Yes, mixing photo and video in the same shooting is really hard: different lights, needs of camera movement, and also... changing your own mind for a completely different media. Let's try, but I honestly think that really good results can be obtained only in team work, one doing photo and one doing video. It's not only technical issue, it's brain issue

i ha a sale for 0,25 cent..never had it ...can you explain what kind of royalty is this?

It's difficult to say since you are anonymous here I cannot check. My best guess is if you are a silver ranked contributor, your commission rate is 25% for Fotolia based credits sales. If someone bought an XS file for the price of 1 credit, your commission would be .25. Additional details can be read here about Fotolia commission rates: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/vector-requirements.html

If you have additional questions, please start a new thread as this is not relevant to the original post.

-Mat