Author Topic: how long you need for a stockpicture (Read 2352 times)

saschadueser · « **on:** September 26, 2014, 12:36 »

how long do you need for a single picture ?
or.. : how much time do you spend in one picture ?

just shoot and upload ?
or do you edit,retouch, etc it for longer time ?

you think its really worth to spend a day in one picture for "only" microstock ?

Difydave · « **Reply #1 on:** September 26, 2014, 14:54 »

About 1/125s if I'm using flash!

Seriously, it would depend on the subject and so on, but I can't see many shots for microstock being worth spending a day on.
Remember that unless you absolutely know there is a market for a (your) particular type of images that take a lot of setting up and post processing, then the images that you think will sell, may well be the images that don't sell well!

miketravels · « **Reply #2 on:** September 26, 2014, 15:52 »

I've spent maybe half a day on a single pic that has sold well, but it can be hit and miss. This excludes times taking the shot or revisiting locations though. Ie for travel/landscape pics

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ShadySue · « **Reply #3 on:** September 26, 2014, 18:20 »

Once I took a long, long time photoshopping a photo for iS - many hours over a period of about three weeks IIRC. The file hardly sold and has earned me $19.66 total

, but the skills I learned during the process have been invaluable.

Tror · « **Reply #4 on:** September 26, 2014, 19:12 »

Difficult to say since a single image is always part of a workflow. A typical shooting for looks like this and gets me about 200 images:

- Shooting production time (contacting Models, getting location, preparing, travel, wardrobe organization) - maybe 4 hours average (distributed over some time).
- Shoot itself - maybe 4 hours average
- Cleanup (Signing releases, scanning releases, unloading cards etc.) - 1 hr
- First Edit, quality control - 3 hours aprox.
- Retouching - 3 hours aprox. (Studio shoot, almost no TMs, quality problems etc.)
- Keywording - 2 hours
- Uploading and preparation - 6 hours aprox. (depending much on the sites selected)

Soooo, in total, from the thought in my head while chilling in the bathtub until a file is in its final incarnation and online for sale one image needs 6.9 minutes on average

dpimborough · « **Reply #5 on:** September 27, 2014, 12:07 »

Some of my better selling photos are one's I saw and shot on the fly

Some I spent hours setting up and they never sold.

It's pot luck what sells and what doesn't as a beautiful photo can be uploaded and immediately drowned by a flood of crapola

Anyhoo add about 5 mins to photoshop (curves cleaning dust and lint and minor adjustments. Keywording 5 to ten mins.

Uploading about 5 to 20 mins depending how many agencies I send it too.

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #6 on:** September 27, 2014, 12:57 »

I can't help wondering whether 200 shots of a model at a single shoot get anywhere near twice as many downloads as 100 shots of the model would. I don't do models, so I'm curious,

Tror · « **Reply #7 on:** September 28, 2014, 06:33 »

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on September 27, 2014, 12:57

I can't help wondering whether 200 shots of a model at a single shoot get anywhere near twice as many downloads as 100 shots of the model would. I don't do models, so I'm curious,

How do you work? What concept do you have? Do you think about just having a cute girl standing in front of a white wall? Or do you realize that with a nice art direction and a couple of models you can create lots of nice scenery and variation? Put, lets say, a family in a modern furnished apartment and then make a round through it: one kitchen scenery - cooking together, then move to the living and let em play video games etc. How many emotional concepts do you usually incorporate into a shoot? Context is very important. Even the position of the various models in the room...it is too a question of how much effort you put into the preproduction...

What is your workflow?