Author Topic: How old are you? A poll on the ages of microstockers (Read 38301 times)

rubyroo · « **Reply #75 on:** August 17, 2010, 11:46 »

@ Pheby:

I dunno though... it might explain why the universe is so full of heat and big dark holes... could be stub out points...

Pheby · « **Reply #76 on:** August 17, 2010, 11:47 »

Oh yeah - didn't think of that

Dreamframer · « **Reply #77 on:** August 17, 2010, 12:10 »

Quote from: Pheby on August 17, 2010, 11:33

Dreamframer, the language would be Serbian? Didn't that used to be "Serbo-Croatian" or "Croatio-Serbian", depending on who was speaking i?. Would you say that Serbian and Croatian are two languages or more like dialects of one language?

It's basically the same language, just two dialects.

Pheby · « **Reply #78 on:** August 17, 2010, 13:12 »

Ah, Thanks.

cmcderm1 · « **Reply #79 on:** August 18, 2010, 15:44 »

I was 40 when I started 4 years ago, now I'm 58 (in microstock years)!!!

rubyroo · « **Reply #80 on:** August 18, 2010, 16:44 »

I know the feeling!

ethacke · « **Reply #81 on:** August 18, 2010, 20:10 »

I'm 25 and amateur but want to be pro eventually.

contrastaddict · « **Reply #82 on:** December 31, 2011, 13:24 »

I'm 24, I consider going full time with microstock quite a bit. Trying to make it my actual career, however since it can be quite a rollercoaster I am a bit hesitant. I worry how many years will this last, and if my income will continue to grow. But for now it is a big part of my income and I plan to stick with it as long as possible.

Microstock Posts · « **Reply #83 on:** December 31, 2011, 21:42 »

Quote from: FD on August 14, 2010, 09:04

@Pheby: "Whatever a spare fag is..." - I suggest you never ask this on an American street.

Smiling Jack · « **Reply #84 on:** January 01, 2012, 00:13 »

You don,t have a spot for me,since you don,t have a 80+ group. While i don,t make all my income from microstock-I do make most of my income from aerial photo+ S.S.

Smiling Jack

Karimala · « **Reply #85 on:** January 01, 2012, 01:04 »

Quote from: Smiling Jack on January 01, 2012, 00:13

You don,t have a spot for me,since you don,t have a 80+ group. While i don,t make all my income from microstock-I do make most of my income from aerial photo+ S.S.

Smiling Jack

<-----Huge admirer of yours (and a former Bitterrooter

)

lagereek · « **Reply #86 on:** January 01, 2012, 01:59 »

Ah, most of you were just itching in your daddys pants when I held my first Hasselblad. Those were the days. Im 61, btw, fulltime, 30% of my income comes from all sorts of stock, rest from commisioned work.
Born in Stockholm, lived in London for 30 years and now Im back in Sweden, since 93, got myself a farm in the country, horses, dogs, etc. Wife and I also run a Kennel with Borzoi, russian-sighthounds and miniture-pinschers.

Wim · « **Reply #87 on:** January 01, 2012, 05:27 »

wut · « **Reply #88 on:** January 01, 2012, 06:02 »

While I was looking at the shots from London iStockalypse I was shocked how old these ppl mostly are. I was expecting most of them to be in their 30s, some in their 40s and a handful in their 20s (due to high costs) and 50s. The reason why I expected ppl to be younger is not only there are virtually no photographers older than 50, since the boom of digital photography (the number of 50+ togs is probably the same, it just that so many younger ppl started doing it in the last 5-7 years) and also because you need more than just basic computer skills, which this group age usually lacks. The other reason was also that all the stars of MS were in their 30s (Yuri, Lise, not sure about Sean, but he can't be much over 40)

rubyroo · « **Reply #89 on:** January 01, 2012, 06:16 »

You have to remember that the big pioneers in computing have been the hippy generation (Bill Gates; Steve Jobs etc). One of my siblings is pushing 60 and did his Masters in Computer Science (having been in Fine Arts most of his life) in his 30s, and has been teaching younger generations ever since.

Personally I would say it's more the 70+ age group that has been slower to access technology, and I spent a considerable time, ten years ago, teaching people in that age group computing skills for free. Sometimes having to provide special devices for people with badly arthritic hands etc.

My own findings were that, ultimately, people of any age are driven to learn by what they want to do. If they want it enough and have a good reason to learn, they will pursue it. If the enthusiasm/need/desire isn't there, there's only so much a teacher can do. Of course, most of the pioneering generation in computing had no-one to teach them very much, they just jumped in and figured things out/invented by themselves. Amazing really.

ETA: The other thing, about older photographers, is that these are people who really learned their stuff to the nth degree with film cameras. I think that the advent of digital has made it a 'given' that many older photographers will have already (or will in the future) switch to or include digital in their work, unless they have a strong personal bias against it. Having said that, I have another sibling who is only just in his 50's - a Fine Arts photographer with a photography degree. In every sense, he seems more like a person in his 30's or early 40's but he is dead-set against digital photography. Just won't venture into it, and is glued to his film-based Rolleiflex. For him it's a question of the beauty of the device and the process, and he finds digital lacking and ugly and less creative. So I don't think age is always a useful measurement of what a person will or can do.

Just my several tuppences

ShadySue · « **Reply #90 on:** January 01, 2012, 09:06 »

Quote from: wut on January 01, 2012, 06:02

y there are virtually no photographers older than 50, since the boom of digital photography

You've never been to a UK camera club, then.
My perception is that there are very few younger togs, since all 'kids' want to do is take pics with their phone cams.
Just as bad a generalisaton.

rubyroo · « **Reply #91 on:** January 01, 2012, 09:12 »

Quote from: ShadySue on January 01, 2012, 09:06

You've never been to a UK camera club, then.

That's an excellent point. I just read that out to my partner, as he is a member of a camera club. He's in his early 40's and says he's very much in the younger group there, with the vast majority being late 50's and over-60's. Out of 150 or so members, only two or three still use film cameras.

ShadySue · « **Reply #92 on:** January 01, 2012, 09:26 »

Quote from: wut on January 01, 2012, 06:02

While I was looking at the shots from London iStockalypse I was shocked how old these ppl mostly are.

Yeah, we should all have been shot years ago. Imagine them letting us go on living, far less allowing us to use cameras.

wut · « **Reply #93 on:** January 01, 2012, 09:44 »

Quote from: ShadySue on January 01, 2012, 09:26

Quote from: wut on January 01, 2012, 06:02
While I was looking at the shots from London iStockalypse I was shocked how old these ppl mostly are.
Yeah, we should all have been shot years ago. Imagine them letting us go on living, far less allowing us to use cameras.

Lol Liz, chill

. I wasn't making fun of your generation, neither saying there's anything wrong with it. Just really, really surprising and I also explained why. Sure, there are cultural differences (obviously!), but looking at all the web galleries, fb pages and photo sites, even the biggest one such as photo.net, most togs, well at least those that I follow, because they amaze me with the quality and originality of their photos are below 50. And it's really the same thing, area, it's comparable to MS. The oldest microstocker I know personally is also around 50 and I know dozens. It's the same thing when I attend Nikon/Canon etc days of photography (lectures, seminars, model shoots), out of over 500 ppl that usually attend these events, there's a handful of ppl over 50, usually just as guests of honor or CEOs.

ShadySue · « **Reply #94 on:** January 01, 2012, 09:52 »

Quote from: wut on January 01, 2012, 09:44

Quote from: ShadySue on January 01, 2012, 09:26
Quote from: wut on January 01, 2012, 06:02
While I was looking at the shots from London iStockalypse I was shocked how old these ppl mostly are.
Yeah, we should all have been shot years ago. Imagine them letting us go on living, far less allowing us to use cameras.

Lol Liz, chill . I wasn't making fun of your generation, neither saying there's anything wrong with it. Just really, really surprising and I also explained why. Sure, there are cultural differences (obviously!), but looking at all the web galleries, fb pages and photo sites, even the biggest one such as photo.net, most togs, well at least those that I follow, because they amaze me with the quality and originality of their photos are below 50. And it's really the same thing, area, it's comparable to MS. The oldest microstocker I know personally is also around 50 and I know dozens. It's the same thing when I attend Nikon/Canon etc days of photography (lectures, seminars, model shoots), out of over 500 ppl that usually attend these events, there's a handful of ppl over 50, usually just as guests of honor or CEOs.

Oh well, this 56 year old has never been at a Nikon/Canon day. Mostly because they're too far away. Anything photographic hereabouts the age is skewed to well over 50, I'm the second youngest member of my camera club at 56. The ages were more mixed on my photojournalism course, but most of the younger people dropped out around weeks 3/4. My perception of young people shooting on phonecams or tablet computers is because that's what I see all the time. However, in Florence, I saw quite a few mid - older people shooting dSLRs. I suspect most of them were iStockers, as there have been 600 pics with Florence as a keyword accepted on iStock since 1st November!

ShadySue · « **Reply #95 on:** January 01, 2012, 10:44 »

Quote from: ShadySue on January 01, 2012, 09:52

looking at all the web galleries, fb pages and photo sites, even the biggest one such as photo.net, most togs, well at least those that I follow, because they amaze me with the quality and originality of their photos are below 50. And it's really the same thing, area, it's comparable to MS.

Ah, two more thoughts:
"At least those I follow because they amaze me ..." is like saying "Most older people don't like xyz music and most younger people don't like abc music", which may be true, but it wouldn't follow that 'most old/young people don't like music'.
Also, 'amazing originality' of photos doesn't generally equate with what sells well on microstock.
Like when some of my camera club colleagues observed that most of the high sellers on micros wouldn't do well in club competitions, and I had to point out that the vice is versa, i.e. even international salon prize winners may get next to no sales from micro.
Different strokes.

cathyslife · « **Reply #96 on:** January 01, 2012, 11:20 »

I am 58 (funny, I don't feel like I'm a day over 45. where has the time gone

). I attended a camera club for a short time and there was only one younger person there, and she was there because her parents were there. The ages seemed to range from 40 to 70 (quite a few retired pro photographers).

wut · « **Reply #97 on:** January 01, 2012, 12:24 »

Quote from: ShadySue on January 01, 2012, 10:44

Quote from: ShadySue on January 01, 2012, 09:52
looking at all the web galleries, fb pages and photo sites, even the biggest one such as photo.net, most togs, well at least those that I follow, because they amaze me with the quality and originality of their photos are below 50. And it's really the same thing, area, it's comparable to MS.
Ah, two more thoughts:
"At least those I follow because they amaze me ..." is like saying "Most older people don't like xyz music and most younger people don't like abc music", which may be true, but it wouldn't follow that 'most old/young people don't like music'.
Also, 'amazing originality' of photos doesn't generally equate with what sells well on microstock.
Like when some of my camera club colleagues observed that most of the high sellers on micros wouldn't do well in club competitions, and I had to point out that the vice is versa, i.e. even international salon prize winners may get next to no sales from micro.
Different strokes.

I simply wanted to say, while the average age of MS contributors and togs that UL to web galleries should be about the same, there might be some bias from my perspective, because I just might be following more of the younger ppl, because I like their style, or come to think about it, I'd say subjects more, because I'm only interested in ppl shots. The logic behind that is simple, a younger person will get a model (posing for free) a lot easier, because he/she knows a lot of ppl of his/her age or ppl that are just 5-10 years younger or so. It's also a lot easier for someone who's 25-35 to approach a beautiful girl (usually aged 18-25) and ask her if she's interested in a photoshoot. I never had a problem with that, every single one except one was interested, I really doubt someone who's my father's age would have nearly as much success, if any at all. Most girls would get scared off, thinking he's just an old perv or something (and I know you might not agree, but that's the way young women usually think). I'm mean unless he's a well known tog or he has a really finely tuned, sophisticated approach, can explain to her in a relaxed manner what he wants from her, gives her a card shows his all around professionalism etc etc. But yeah, that applies to me as well, but it wouldn't lower my success rate by as much as for someone who's 50, 60 or even older. It's so much harder to make them comfortable, relaxed. It's also a lot harder for then to connect with younger ppl, to keep conversation interesting for her, relaxed, make jokes. It's just so easy for me, it's the same generation, we have the same kind of jokes (sarcasm, dark humour, I can even get away with some profanity lol, imagine a 50 year old pulling stunts like that, she'd leave in a heart beat), the same interests etc. I mean older ppl, in some cases can't even have a complete conversation with younger folks, they don't know the slang, don't share the same interests (they don't party, are not into modern music etc). OTOH it's harder for me to work with older ppl, unless I know that very well, I have to really watch out what and when I say, easy on the sarcasm, dark humour etc (so I have to forget about 75% of my humorous remarks). It's so easy to misunderstand each other, it's usually that huge a gap between generations. It's just been proven in this thread. I'm sure some were offended by what I wrote, even though I wasn't offensive. I just spoke my mind and wrote the opinion on how young women think and react in some cases. Since I've shot way over 50 women (in the last 7 years or so), I think I know a thing or two

Karimala · « **Reply #98 on:** January 01, 2012, 13:39 »

I've met at least 20 microstockers over the years. Typically I'm one of the youngest at the gatherings and I'm 47. LOL

It's not difficult at all to find younger people to model. Older photogs can find plenty of models at places like Model Mayhem (young models contact me all the time, because they like my style) and within their own families, who come equipped with a circle of friends. Many of my young models have become wonderful friends, despite the age gap, and have sought me out for more shoots over younger photogs, because we have so much fun and they trust me.

I remember one model whose father passed away a couple nights before, and he told me he wouldn't want to be shooting with anyone else on that day, because his father's all-time favorite portrait of his son was one I shot with him. That day, my maturity meant everything (did I just use that word? Maturity?

), because there were times when he simply needed a break to cry. Are young photogs able to deal with a situation like that? He needed his photog to be more like a mom than a buddy that day, and I was there for him. He ended up asking if I could shoot his father's funeral, which I wasn't able to do, so he then asked a mutual friend, who is a 65-year-old photog well-known at Shutterstock.

And just where is that Katrina Brown photo of Laurin Rinder, Dave Smith and Bobby Deal playing bongos in the buff? All of whom are microstock photogs over 50?

madelaide · « **Reply #99 on:** January 01, 2012, 13:55 »

Given that this thread started on August 2010, some numbers may have shifted a bit.

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This is a poll to find out what ages our different groups fall into. Just curious

Author Topic: How old are you? A poll on the ages of microstockers (Read 38301 times)

rubyroo

Pheby

Dreamframer

Pheby

cmcderm1

rubyroo

ethacke

contrastaddict

Microstock Posts

Smiling Jack

Karimala

lagereek

Wim

wut

rubyroo

ShadySue

rubyroo

ShadySue

wut

ShadySue

ShadySue

cathyslife

wut

Karimala

madelaide

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