Hi,

I just started on microstock world couple months ago and this is my 1st post here.
I'm from asia (Singapore), would like to know if you guys had experience / knowledge about image that related to asia, e.g.; asian model, asian curency, asian places, food etc. Are they good in microstock market?

So far I only tried my son as a model, and it's very slow. Is it worthed if I hire a model? Or only western images have a good selling?

Thanks guys! 

there would be less demand but also less supply, you have the opportunity to forge a niche with ready access to alot different things.

Yeah.. I might 'use' my friend or my son, better not too involving some professional model yet at the moment. see how it goes.
I was looking for some research image downloading based on race / culture, but couldn't find any. I guess I will focus more on non-living object, more general.

 

There are good opportunities wherever you are. You just have to offer work that is either unique or as good as the best work offered by others shooting the same sort of subjects.

I have to imagine, that, like here, legitimate companies will license content.  There's just more pirates there.

The secret to success in Asia with all the pirating is going to be agencies changing the stock photo business model to one where the buyer's are not really paying for images, but services - because you can't steal that. I don't know exactly how that will take form, but clearly it would need to happen. Heck, it needs to happen in the US and Europe as well.

Quote from: cardmaverick on August 09, 2011, 10:09

The secret to success in Asia with all the pirating is going to be agencies changing the stock photo business model to one where the buyer's are not really paying for images, but services - because you can't steal that. I don't know exactly how that will take form, but clearly it would need to happen. Heck, it needs to happen in the US and Europe as well.

Interesting, do you mind elaborating on these services?

Originally agencies would have an in house team of people who knew the collection well and would work with clients to find an image they liked. Obviously today we have search engines. I've always been an advocate of a system featuring a basic "ok" free search, and then a premium pay search that boasts advanced features. Tin Eye has a similar concept, you pay for massive bulk searches, something you can't do for free, and NO, you can't do bulk searches on google either - you'll get blocked for that. So clearly there are some non intellectual property based areas where agencies and contributors can profit. I can foresee a system where any downloads used from a premium search would pay out higher to contributors. You could probably use some kind of system where the premium search fee is divided evenly between the images acquired, so a lower volume premium buyer produces a higher profit than a higher volume buyer.

I'm sure some will think I'm crazy, but I also think they are crazy for believing intellectual property can actually be reliably protected in a digital world. History shows they are wrong.

Quote from: cardmaverick on August 09, 2011, 11:53

Quote from: pseudonymous on August 09, 2011, 10:58

Quote from: cardmaverick on August 09, 2011, 10:09

The secret to success in Asia with all the pirating is going to be agencies changing the stock photo business model to one where the buyer's are not really paying for images, but services - because you can't steal that. I don't know exactly how that will take form, but clearly it would need to happen. Heck, it needs to happen in the US and Europe as well.

Interesting, do you mind elaborating on these services?

Originally agencies would have an in house team of people who knew the collection well and would work with clients to find an image they liked. Obviously today we have search engines. I've always been an advocate of a system featuring a basic "ok" free search, and then a premium pay search that boasts advanced features. Tin Eye has a similar concept, you pay for massive bulk searches, something you can't do for free, and NO, you can't do bulk searches on google either - you'll get blocked for that. So clearly there are some non intellectual property based areas where agencies and contributors can profit. I can foresee a system where any downloads used from a premium search would pay out higher to contributors. You could probably use some kind of system where the premium search fee is divided evenly between the images acquired, so a lower volume premium buyer produces a higher profit than a higher volume buyer.

I'm sure some will think I'm crazy, but I also think they are crazy for believing intellectual property can actually be reliably protected in a digital world. History shows they are wrong.

I can't see Google ever implementing a premium paid search because along would come another company and offer their previous model for free... which is what most people want.  If this is the case, then it doesn't matter what the agencies come up with because our images will still end up on websites that are visible to all.  The only way to ever protect interlectually property would be to come up with some way to protect it digitally.  For instance, some code is written in the image that makes a copyright symbol visible unless some key is entered to deactivate the code to make it invisible.  Once it's copied from the internet, the code is activated again.  But even then someone will buy the image and then sell it with the code.  I'm talking crap here, obviously lol.  There is no real way to ever stop the pirates except to punish them.  We have copyright laws but they're not enforced which makes the law pointless.

My point is that even with strict laws, enforcement is unrealistic, especially from a costs point of view. When I was talking about google search, I was talking about search volume. You can't bombard it with hundreds of searches, same with tin eye - you pay for bulk searches that happen fast. It's the "concept" I'm illustrating. People want free, but only if free is good enough. In the case of tin eye, 50 free searches ain't cutting it and google isn't allowing themselves to be bombarded. In my futuristic model you can search for free and pay to download, but if you buy a premium search, you'll save time ($) and have more control over the search. The big question is what level of search power is high enough to attract a purchase? As for being found using outside search engines, you can block them, so that's not an issue.

My basic point of view is simple. The current model encourages and enables theft and lost revenue. It's time to figure out what a stock agency can sell service wise that customers value enough to pay for, because images will continue to be stolen anyways; and "stepping up" laws won't work either.

people doing Singapore things... Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Ramadan, Malay weekend-long weddings.  On your next trip to Bali, do the same thing there.

That's what I'd do

this is a good idea... I think business people shot is already too many, not too mention those who have professional studio/lightings will have benefits.

But I can try on the culture side. worth to try! Thanks for the ideas mate! Are you from SG too? Is there any online community for image stock photographer?

I know some KL images are selling very well. I would love to explore some of the beaches in Malaysia one day.

I was thinking of Bangkok / Jakarta. The traffic jam, street hawkers, traditional markets, the mountain area with tea leaf pickers...
Those kind of shot, I can't get in SG. Maybe in my next vacation, I need to plan that..

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