Author Topic: Hot microstock concepts for 2012 (Read 17392 times)

leaf · « **on:** September 25, 2012, 07:44 »

Yuri just put out a rather informative blog post highlighting a few of his thoughts on the current microstock situation and what themes are worth shooting and which should be avoided.
http://arcurs.com/2012/09/what-sells-in-microstock-anno-2012/

I agree that the instagram styled photos are certainly a fad that will wash over in 1 or 2 years time. Real life style images however I think will last quite a while and like Yuri, think are worth pursuing if processed in a reasonable way.

Drexxle · « **Reply #1 on:** September 25, 2012, 07:50 »

I come from an IT background, let me just put this out here. Photographers have had a hard go in the last decade on all fronts. Digital cameras are in our phones, connected with GPS nowadays.

The internet has allowed sharing these photos in an instant, and social networking the spread of the sharing like a disease.

You think FAD, every man and his dog though wooo i can be a photographer, i remember when cameras hit 3.1MP and that was the bees knees of tech. Everyone who had 200 bux shot photos and put them online. Now you can pull your phone out and wap instagram.

This whole fad is going to fade, people are going to realise they arent photographers. But there are going to be billions and billions of bad photos online. We are in white noise time, wading through all the crap to get to the good, people will eventually realise its not worth holding onto the crap.

Good cameras are expensive, and instafad will fade and the market will plateau back to the pro's being distinguished from the crowd. Only issue is that even an ameteur can take one great shot, times that by a billion and thats a billion great shots to compete with.

ruxpriencdiam · « **Reply #2 on:** September 25, 2012, 08:01 »

Someone recently posted a similar thread from Yuri about the same thing.

And here was what he said:

Quote

Areas in microstock that need more great photos:

Travel photography, special places and extreme nature
Really, really old people
Contemporary fashion
Policemen, military and state officials from all over the world
Pictures of currency other than Euros and Dollars
Aerial pictures
Stylistic still-life in soft and low contrast colors
Fantastic panorama shots in high quality
Motion-blurred and lively pictures
Artistically executed lifestyle, edgy
Natural looking people that don’t look like microstock models

Areas in microstock that are saturated and really require fantastic work if you want to stand out

Businesspeople (too easy to put a group of people in suits around a table)
Isolated people on white (too easy to duplicate and too many people are shooting it)
Anything with a laptop
Nudes
Spa (requires so little set-up and every model in the world wants a spa shoot)
Medical (Too easy: a scrub and a model)
Backgrounds and “lonely tree” kind of pictures
Beach pictures (really too easy)

ShadySue · « **Reply #3 on:** September 25, 2012, 08:23 »

Oh, that's just wonderfully ironic.
When I saw the title, Hot microstock concepts for 2012, I was just going to post, "Copy Yuri".

luissantos84 · « **Reply #4 on:** September 25, 2012, 08:29 »

one day (2 days ago) a guy tells the all world about Yuri super sellers, today Yuri decides to tell the all world again, does that make any sense?

LSD72 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 25, 2012, 08:37 »

My concept involves 2 goldfish bowls and a large mouth bass. Problem is the bass wont fit in the bowl, much less jump to the other one. Tried emailing Seaworld on how best to do this but they have not replied.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #6 on:** September 25, 2012, 09:29 »

Quote from: ShadySue on September 25, 2012, 08:23

Oh, that's just wonderfully ironic.
When I saw the title, Hot microstock concepts for 2012, I was just going to post, "Copy Yuri".

Lol, yep. Complaining in one thread about people copying him, and then putting up a blog post on what to shoot to gain fans. Although he does try to shut down his competition: "I would stay away from lifestyle." because "we are definitely one of the companies considered to be a major lifestyle images provider."

The examples of new, "unconventional" images for lifestyle and business look like micro from 6 years ago. A return to the past?

dreamstock · « **Reply #7 on:** September 25, 2012, 10:12 »

if you've been selling on DT for a few years, do you remember which pic they used on their off-line page?

who is the copycat now?

tab62 · « **Reply #8 on:** September 25, 2012, 10:19 »

LOL on the Largemouth Bass one! I had a largemouth bass in a very large tank and when I put in a few gold fish all I saw in a matter of seconds was the scales of the goldfish settling to the bottom of the tank!

stockastic · « **Reply #9 on:** September 25, 2012, 10:28 »

But none of the big sites will accept motion blur. Right? Oh wait... they will, if it was faked with a $2 app on an iPhone 5. But not otherwise.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #10 on:** September 25, 2012, 10:36 »

Quote from: stockastic on September 25, 2012, 10:28

But none of the big sites will accept motion blur. Right?

there is a guy at SS with over 4k motion blur pictures done outdoor/street, same goes for other agencies (less of course)

stockastic · « **Reply #11 on:** September 25, 2012, 10:55 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on September 25, 2012, 10:36

Quote from: stockastic on September 25, 2012, 10:28
But none of the big sites will accept motion blur. Right?

there is a guy at SS with over 4k motion blur pictures done outdoor/street, same goes for other agencies (less of course)

I think I only tried once, it was a shot of a reel-to-reel tape recorder in action - and it was rejected for "focus". But, I've long since stopped expecting consistency or sense in these things. I assume SS just doesn't like me.

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #12 on:** September 25, 2012, 11:07 »

He's wrong about great panoramas, at least significantly wide ones, they don't sell because the thumbnails are almost impossible to see (and maybe because they don't fit into most designs). Given the effort they take to make I would restrict them to RM.

ShadySue · « **Reply #13 on:** September 25, 2012, 11:08 »

Quote from: stockastic on September 25, 2012, 10:28

But none of the big sites will accept motion blur. Right? Oh wait... they will, if it was faked with a $2 app on an iPhone 5. But not otherwise.

iStock absolutely does. Try a search on London, people sorted by dls.
As the search is playing up, you'll likely have to click off 'southeast England'.
(You search London, it offers southeast England and others. You click that one, but the search separates out to London and southeast England, so you lose all the files that don't have 'southeast England' as a separate keyword phrase. It would be laughable if it weren't so pathetic.)

Wim · « **Reply #14 on:** September 25, 2012, 11:13 »

If it's one thing to avoid with micro's it's being artistic.
Artistic = Macro.

lisafx · « **Reply #15 on:** September 25, 2012, 11:18 »

Interesting blog post. His observations are dead on. However, I would stay away from his suggestions of what to shoot, because everybody and their cousin will be shooting exactly what Yuri suggests and in six months they will be as oversaturated as business handshakes.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #16 on:** September 25, 2012, 11:22 »

Quote from: lisafx on September 25, 2012, 11:18

Interesting blog post. His observations are dead on. However, I would stay away from his suggestions of what to shoot, because everybody and their cousin will be shooting exactly what Yuri suggests and in six months they will be as oversaturated as business handshakes.

So, you can't shoot what he says not to shoot, and you can't shoot what he says to shoot. This is a tough business!

cthoman · « **Reply #17 on:** September 25, 2012, 11:38 »

Quote from: sjlocke on September 25, 2012, 11:22

So, you can't shoot what he says not to shoot, and you can't shoot what he says to shoot. This is a tough business!

The secret is just to not listen, then you can do whatever you want.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #18 on:** September 25, 2012, 11:49 »

Quote from: cthoman on September 25, 2012, 11:38

Quote from: sjlocke on September 25, 2012, 11:22
So, you can't shoot what he says not to shoot, and you can't shoot what he says to shoot. This is a tough business!

The secret is just to not listen, then you can do whatever you want.

JACKPOT!

leaf · « **Reply #19 on:** September 25, 2012, 12:28 »

Quote from: sjlocke on September 25, 2012, 11:22

Quote from: lisafx on September 25, 2012, 11:18
Interesting blog post. His observations are dead on. However, I would stay away from his suggestions of what to shoot, because everybody and their cousin will be shooting exactly what Yuri suggests and in six months they will be as oversaturated as business handshakes.

So, you can't shoot what he says not to shoot, and you can't shoot what he says to shoot. This is a tough business!

One might think one might just have to think for one's self. That DOES sound tough!

velocicarpo · « **Reply #20 on:** September 25, 2012, 12:39 »

Quote from: cthoman on September 25, 2012, 11:38

Quote from: sjlocke on September 25, 2012, 11:22
So, you can't shoot what he says not to shoot, and you can't shoot what he says to shoot. This is a tough business!

The secret is just to not listen, then you can do whatever you want.

+1

RT · « **Reply #21 on:** September 25, 2012, 12:43 »

The answer is obvious, surprised nobody has spotted it - If you want to shoot 'hot concept' images in 2012 take photos of Yuri himself in lifestyle situations, preferably wearing scrubs and eating organic celery whilst holding a goldfish bowl with a laptop jumping out of it.

rubyroo · « **Reply #22 on:** September 25, 2012, 12:46 »

Quote from: cthoman on September 25, 2012, 11:38

The secret is just to not listen, then you can do whatever you want.

Yep. That's my rule on government edicts also. Just be yourself, build your own world, develop your own slant, do your thing.

sc · « **Reply #23 on:** September 25, 2012, 13:02 »

So if you follow the link to the article in Luissantos84 thread (Topic: GDUSA Reader Survey Reveals Stock Imagery is a Designer’s Best Friend) and read the article the most used images are in the following categories:

Top 5 categories of images used most often

People
Business/industry
Concepts/Backgrounds
Lifestyle
Medical/Healthcare (this category is new to the Top 5)

Combined with Yuri's assessment everything is as clear as mud.

Quote from: luissantos84 on September 25, 2012, 07:56

Quote
Graphic Design USA (GDUSA) has released an annual survey (sponsored by iStockphoto) of more than 1,000 readers which indicates that use of stock imagery has grown nearly three times in just 25 years, starting at 39 percent in 1986 and reaching 98 percent in 2012.

Designers use rights managed images but predominantly use royalty free

Rights managed – 29%
Royalty free – 98%

Designers use multiple stock sites

Use only one – 14%
Use 2-3 – 49%
Use 4-5 – 31%
Use 6 or more – 6%

http://www.mystockphoto.org/gdusa-reader-survey-reveals-stock-imagery-is-a-designers-best-friend/

tab62 · « **Reply #24 on:** September 25, 2012, 13:45 »

does that mean my next photo session with fresh garden tomatoes on seamless white should be cancelled? However, they do fall under GL food items according to the food chart

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Author Topic: Hot microstock concepts for 2012 (Read 17392 times)

leaf

Drexxle

ruxpriencdiam

ShadySue

luissantos84

LSD72

Sean Locke Photography

dreamstock

tab62

stockastic

luissantos84

stockastic

BaldricksTrousers

ShadySue

Wim

lisafx

Sean Locke Photography

cthoman

luissantos84

leaf

velocicarpo

RT

rubyroo

sc

tab62

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