I don't know about the rest of you, but the latest round of drama has me completely dispirited and unmotivated to shoot, upload, or repeat.  I have only done ONE photo shoot this year, and can't muster even the tiniest drop of enthusiasm to do any others. 

I've been forcing myself to edit and upload some of my backlog of images, but it feels like drudgery. 

I remember when this used to be FUN!  Wonder if it will be again, and if so, when? 

Lets see, I finally got my brackets filled out and I'll deliver them to the bartender tomorrow. 

Made out my schedule for the Summer on a calendar that I picked up at a drug store. Yes I still carry and "analog calendar" that uses no batteries and I can read anywhere.

Applied for credentials for the first race I'm trying to shoot, in April. Scheduled race photo weekends and worker weekdays/weekends.

Then things get wild for six months, drop in to the office to do laundry and get clean clothes. Big excitement as I have a van and hope to sleep off the ground (and dry!) this year, instead of camping in the wet and cold. Maybe take it for a ride in the Fall to "Photograph America" major sites heading West for a month.

What that means is End of October and Begining of November, I'll have thousands of photos to edit and upload.

Looks like I'm still Having Fun! When it stops being enjoyable, entertaining and a challenge, it's time to quit and do something else.

You guys are getting me down  , I feel your pain and I continue to see lower income despite working even harder. I have started to be hyper critical and selective of my recent work to the point where Its not a lot of fun anymore.

This used to be fun and still can be but with a recession that won't budge on our backs along with tighter squeezes makes for a recipe of simple but direct melodrama.

I will have to go on a full time job again and I know it wont be ideal but what else can you do. It seems the house of cards got too high and even the higher ups cant keep up with the relentless pace of uploads and finite clients.

I was thinking about this thread and you know what?   I realized if it wasn't for microstock I never would have learned to take a good picture.  I used to noodle around with snapshots here and there--always thought I could take a good picture but didn't have any other aspirations.  Looking back I shudder to remember what I used to think was a good picture.  

I was given my first digital camera as a gift.  One day, being bored, I uploaded a few snaps to a site  a friend mentioned to me.  Sometime later, someone bought one.  Maybe you know how great that can feel.  That $0.21 meant a lot to me then.

So I kept trying to get that feeling over and over again.  It kept getting harder all the time.  Microstock kept pushing me.  I kept improving, buying better equipment, learning more about tools, taking classes.

Now I think much of what I shoot is as good as anyone's.  I've done pro work outside of stock and have numerous publishing credits.  More importantly I have people who love photos I've made for them.  Someone told me recently that portraits I took for them are "treasures".  Maybe you know how satisfying that is.

So even though I no longer think I'll ever make my living from microstock I believe I could make a living with my camera some other way if I wished.  More importantly, I've a creative outlet that brings me great joy and satisfaction.  I've learned so much.  I see the world in ways I never imagined before.  None of this ever would have happened without the micros.  I'll always be thankful for that, at least.

Motivated enough, the only photo you don't sell for sure is the one you don't shot.

Also the images that are rejected for some stupid reason doesn't sell.

Quote from: ComfortEagle2095 on March 16, 2011, 00:53

I realized if it wasn't for microstock I never would have learned to take a good picture.  I used to noodle around with snapshots here and there--always thought I could take a good picture but didn't have any other aspirations.  Looking back I shudder to remember what I used to think was a good picture.  

I was given my first digital camera as a gift.  One day, being bored, I uploaded a few snaps to a site  a friend mentioned to me.  Sometime later, someone bought one.  Maybe you know how great that can feel.  That $0.21 meant a lot to me then.

So I kept trying to get that feeling over and over again.  It kept getting harder all the time.  Microstock kept pushing me.  I kept improving, buying better equipment, learning more about tools, taking classes.

Now I think much of what I shoot is as good as anyone's.  I've done pro work outside of stock and have numerous publishing credits.  More importantly I have people who love photos I've made for them.  Someone told me recently that portraits I took for them are "treasures".  Maybe you know how satisfying that is.

So even though I no longer think I'll ever make my living from microstock I believe I could make a living with my camera some other way if I wished.  More importantly, I've a creative outlet that brings me great joy and satisfaction.  I've learned so much.  I see the world in ways I never imagined before.  None of this ever would have happened without the micros.  I'll always be thankful for that, at least.

Agree. I realised how bad my early photos were thanks to microstock.

Then, I realised how bad the microstock style is. Nevertheless, what I learned - regarding technical issues - is unvaluable, beyond microstock.

yes, I am a better photographer for doing stock. But I did a weekend with Bobby Deal (photoshow, which I'd recommend if anyone is in Vegas) and looked at his pics and realised that for the past few years all I'd looked at was good selling stock and remember how good some different styles are - like stuff with lots of shadows

I also did the school formal a couple of weeks ago. I walked in knowing that I was giving the images away so no worries about needing perfection or stunning photos or the cost of the shoot, and having done a few shoots with this year group was pretty comfortable with them and they with me. I did formal shots when wanted but mostly the kids stuffing around with their mates (I'd also taken in a few sets of angel wings and other props), I tried to shoot while doing the nutbush and the timewarp, twice was literally on the floor laughing so hard etc etc. Anyway we 'decorated' the gym partly with A0 prints of each of the kids (waist up so larger than life size), I took the shots a few weeks before, ran portraiture over them, processed 30 pics in under 2 hours, less than half would technically be good enough for stock, a number were soft, most were between 10-15mp crops (one was 6mp), another dad printed them on photo paper (his expertise is click b&w and then print). They were absolutely stunning, yes get 6 inches away and you could see the softness but really who cares? everyone (including another photographer was amazed) so I am looking at the technicalities of stock, tiny amounts of noise or artifacts that I struggle to find at 100% on a 24mp image and asking is it really an issue on an image that sells for a few dollars? throw that in with istock and fotolia and it is hard to be motivated (I'm sure in a month or two I'll feel better about it again

I continue to see lower income despite working even harder.

For me it's the opposite. Every time I start working harder my income starts growing and that keeps me motivated.

I have no motivation to continue with istock.  Fotolia is almost as bad but I wont stop uploading there until their next commission cut.  It isn't all bad news though.  I have really enjoyed getting in to video, especially doing timelapse.  My earnings with Pond5 aren't bad, especially as most of my clips are just landscapes.  They pay 50% commission and will be accepting images soon.  I am also still motivated to use alamy, they pay 60%.  There's a few other sites, like Graphic Leftovers and Stockfresh that still seem to want to give their contributors a reasonable deal.

It's been a horrible winter in the UK and I have lost motivation to do the isolated objects and concept photos that I used to produce but I'm going to work harder during the summer.  If I can compensate for my losses with istock and the sites that have cut commissions, I can continue with stock.  If my earnings are down a lot by the end of this year, I will be looking at other ways to make money.

I wonder how much istock have lost by demotivating a lot of us?  They had 80% of all my future microstock earnings, now I don't upload there.  I'm sure there are lots of us in a similar position and it has also made some exclusives leave and go to their rivals.  Buyers are also leaving istock, I think their commission cuts will lose them money.

I wonder how much istock have lost by demotivating a lot of us?  They had 80% of all my future microstock earnings, now I don't upload there.  I'm sure there are lots of us in a similar position and it has also made some exclusives leave and go to their rivals.  Buyers are also leaving istock, I think their commission cuts will lose them money.

That's a good point. It was definitely demotivating and probably damaging. It's funny because it seems like they could have easily gone the other way and increased things for contributors and put the dagger in their competition. Whoops. Hopefully, they and the other micros are learning from this. I still think there is a ton of untapped potential in micro.

I feel the same.  I have hardly contributed anything since the infamous September 2010 announcement, and we have had additional anvils dropped on our heads since then.  I'm still with Fotolia but I am going to have a tough decision to make with my next payout.  Honestly the only thing which has me interested is building our own site and taking matters into our own hands.

I'm starting to get the feeling that microstock agencies will be dropping their image quality requirements back a few years.  I don't hear of a lot of people pulling portfolios yet, but it clearly looks from this thread like many significant contributors have ceased uploading and are on the brink of pulling out with the next disappointment.  So the agencies might be looking at a lot of inexperienced contributors carrying a larger load than normal if they want fresh material in the future.

I got de-motivated back in mid-November.  I just got burnt down and out and had to take a break.  I'm finally back to making vectors but want to expand my photography skills soon.  I get tired and bored really easy but I have to keep going as this is the only income I have right now.  I wish I could make better images to make better money but I need some things before that will eventually happen.

I try my best not to work on micro Friday - Sunday.  Saturday is my drinking and listen to hard rock/metal night.  Seems to have helped me out a bit concerning my creativity and my motivation.  I've been blasting through all of my unfinished illustrator files in the last few days and got that folder down to around 15 left to either trash or finish.

I can agree that it's extremely hard to find motivation when companies are cutting commissions and rejecting a ton of stuff lately and I'm sure it's not all our fault that this crap has been happening in the last 6-9 months.  Take a bit of a break and do something else that you like to do.  I knit and crochet on the weekends as well and I always come out of it refreshed and ready to take on the next week.

I think sometimes we need to just take a step back and figure out really who we are and what we want to get out of this game.  I've had my fair share of rejections and frustrations and ups and downs.  Just gotta pick yourself up and say "You will not beat me".

Take some time for yourselves.  Go and shoot stuff that isn't for stock just for you.  Go draw that graphic for yourself and do with it what you wish no one's gonna reject it if you love it.

That's all I gotta say (eventhough I think I was just rambling on for the most part

Im not letting any of this have an effect on my better business judgement! I mean GM and SAAB,  didnt stop to produce cars when all hell broke loose. Its at times like these when you really have to start to dig in.
The old Ad-agency adage: In bad times you need to spend even more on advertising. We need to upload and concentrate even more when the going gets rough. Its called survival.

Anita - couldn't you knit or crochet a hard-drinking heavy metal band, put them in various poses and photograph them?