Author Topic: Let's share our story. Why are you doing stock photo? (Read 8648 times)

Epsilonth · « **on:** July 01, 2014, 11:35 »

As OP, I'll go first. Here's my background. I recently graduated with bachelor's degree in nano engineering. It may sounds great but in reality, I found out I didn't really like engineering in my 2nd year. I dealt with a lot of chemicals especially during my last years in senior project. Also, I finished all the studies just to find out that bachelor's degree can do basically nothing and that I need master's or above.

I started stock photography around 4-5 years ago since my high school years from knowing nothing to knowing a lot of technical stuffs. I can claim this because I do occasionally hold small seminars for juniors at my university's photo club. Stock photography is a really great platform, a playground to learn photography. At least on technical side. I have to admit I lack a lot of artistic skills.

What amazed me was I had only around 350 images online and did not submit much images at all for the last 2 years. (last years of engineering was really hard. I barely had any time). Cumulative earning from that was a lot. A lot more than all wedding gigs I did when I was free. I should have tried harder. I wish I had few thousand images. This is the main reason I'm trying hard at this now.

Now, my goal is to use stock photography to fund my photography school as I lack proper photography education. Books just don't cut it when it comes to artistic view. This is because I don't want to sell images for pennies for the rest of my life. My life goal is to be really great at something. I think it's photography I really like so why not try hard at it? Also, Stock photo is a really good passive income. To work 9 to 5 is like wasting your life away in my opinion.

I don't know if I can achieve that or not. Schools in Japan are crazy expensive. Not to mention the the transportation cost and rent. Kanji is also really troublesome.

So, why are you doing stock photo?

grsphoto · « **Reply #1 on:** July 01, 2014, 12:09 »

OK I'll go next.

As a 56 year old who has had many up and downs...mostly downs.... the one constant in my life has been a camera.

I am a good photographer, but not a good stock photographer. I have been doing stock for about 1 1/2 year, and still am trying to find my vision.... find the ability to produce more "killer" saleable image

Why do I still work at it, even with the little returns ( I have a very underperforming portfolio of +700 images)?

I am not sure.... I guess my thought is, if I get a few more high performing images it will help me through my next "down" which is looming very large on the horizon ( Moving back to my home country and dealing with the health issue of a close family member)

wordplanet · « **Reply #2 on:** July 01, 2014, 12:23 »

I've loved photography my entire life and took some classes at ICP when I was practicing law in Manhattan. After more than 15 years practicing law and having no time to enjoy life, I decided to stay home with my daughter who was in grammar school at the time and worked part time as a freelance writer. I wrote some articles for local magazines and newspapers and they asked me to take photos, originally just to go along with my articles but soon I was hired to shoot other photos too. Shot some covers and started getting other commercial assignments.

Loved all this but there was still the element of time. My husband asked me if there was a way for me to syndicate my work and as I looked into it I discovered stock photography. I started out with Alamy but really learned so much more when I tried shutterstock as the daily sales gave me a much better sense of what sold. I was hesitant about micro and have kept my micro port small but I found it was a really great way for me to learn stock photography.

I still do assignment, fine art and stock photography part time along with my writing, and I have been licensing a lot more stock on my own. I do a lot of travel photography and like keeping my hand in selling stock since I see this as both a good supplemental income now and as something I can keep doing even in retirement (My daughter just graduated from college so while I've probably been in stock about as long as the OP, I'm at a very different stage of my career).

I don't have much formal photography training, but I've taken classes at ICP, Maine Media, and various other courses, and also worked part time as a photo assistant for three years. I think classes are important and I try to take at least one class a year as a way to push myself and grow, as well as learning online. There's a lot of great stuff online - You should check out creativelive.com which I'm listening to now.

JPSDK · « **Reply #3 on:** July 01, 2014, 12:25 »

Interesting debate you have just started.
Why are we here? and what is important? and why is the artistic challenge so important to us?
It sounds like you are a little bewildered, and also that you have an urge to do something splendid.
It also sounds like you are asking for advice.
The last i can understand, it is called ambition and thats a good thing. ( in relevant doses).
Now adressing some of the questions you are raising: How to find art? and what do you have to learn to become an artist that has an impact.
You are talking about going to a photography school. So you can learn what? Photography? You can learn that on youtube.
Art? Im not sure you can learn art in a photography school.
It is characteristic that all great artists learned by themselves, because they couldnt help it, they were engaged and took great pain and effort to produce things they had to produce, so they need to learn from all kinds of sources to get knowledge so they could produce what they wanted.
I bet you, that da Vinci had both studied carpentery, so he could propose a framework for his amoured tank, and also masonery and mineralogy, so he could make a statue. not to mention pigments and varnishes.

Same with stock photography, you need to learn to cook to make food images, and you need to have studied biology to make butterfly metamorphosis pictures.
Plus more.
You need to know about the basics of art, and that is colours and media, in the meaning pigment, blending and prints.
I think you may benifit a lot from your ambition, since that can be the motivation to go and learn all kinds of different things that you need in your photography.
So Id say... forget schools, instead study things by yourself, and best by working with them. Get a job in the printing industry, or as a school photographer, learn about colours by working in the cobalt mines or as an auto varnisher. Or just paint you motorbike yourself.
Then there are two other aspect of art, that you dont come by so easily.
One is having something to say, or show, or display. A message so to speak. If you want to be recognized as an artist, the message should be relevant in time and culture. That is why a graphic photo of dandelion seeds does not have the same impact as the greeneyed Kurdish girl from National Geographic.
There are actually rules that can raise the impact of visionary art. Those are good to learn, start with Goethe and Newton, then proceed to game theory.
You as a person is also important, remember yoko ono, a famous artist, but what was she famous for?

And my story? Not interesting, Im not an artist, but I am a good mechanic and a polyhistor. I use microstock as a playground and learning place.

Epsilonth · « **Reply #4 on:** July 01, 2014, 12:51 »

Quote from: JPSDK on July 01, 2014, 12:25

Interesting debate you have just started.
Why are we here? and what is important? and why is the artistic challenge so important to us?
It sounds like you are a little bewildered, and also that you have an urge to do something splendid.
It also sounds like you are asking for advice.
The last i can understand, it is called ambition and thats a good thing. ( in relevant doses).
Now adressing some of the questions you are raising: How to find art? and what do you have to learn to become an artist that has an impact.
You are talking about going to a photography school. So you can learn what? Photography? You can learn that on youtube.
Art? Im not sure you can learn art in a photography school.
It is characteristic that all great artists learned by themselves, because they couldnt help it, they were engaged and took great pain and effort to produce things they had to produce, so they need to learn from all kinds of sources to get knowledge so they could produce what they wanted.
I bet you, that da Vinci had both studied carpentery, so he could propose a framework for his amoured tank, and also masonery and mineralogy, so he could make a statue. not to mention pigments and varnishes.

Same with stock photography, you need to learn to cook to make food images, and you need to have studied biology to make butterfly metamorphosis pictures.
Plus more.
You need to know about the basics of art, and that is colours and media, in the meaning pigment, blending and prints.
I think you may benifit a lot from your ambition, since that can be the motivation to go and learn all kinds of different things that you need in your photography.
So Id say... forget schools, instead study things by yourself, and best by working with them. Get a job in the printing industry, or as a school photographer, learn about colours by working in the cobalt mines or as an auto varnisher. Or just paint you motorbike yourself.
Then there are two other aspect of art, that you dont come by so easily.
One is having something to say, or show, or display. A message so to speak. If you want to be recognized as an artist, the message should be relevant in time and culture. That is why a graphic photo of dandelion seeds does not have the same impact as the greeneyed Kurdish girl from National Geographic.
There are actually rules that can raise the impact of visionary art. Those are good to learn, start with Goethe and Newton, then proceed to game theory.
You as a person is also important, remember yoko ono, a famous artist, but what was she famous for?

And my story? Not interesting, Im not an artist, but I am a good mechanic and a polyhistor. I use microstock as a playground and learning place.

Yes! It's really important to have motivation. And you're right! But life is short. One can learn by himself like I have been but there's a limit to it. By going to schools you'll be learning faster. You'll have mentors readily for questions and critics. Schooling does in fact help with the progress. At least where I'm from, dept. of architecture produced a lot of well known photogs.

BH and Adorama youtube seminars are nice but I feel that they don't benefit me much anymore.

And you're right, I feel as if I'm approaching a next milestone but there's an obstacle in the way.

JPSDK · « **Reply #5 on:** July 01, 2014, 13:03 »

The obsticle would be pain.
Life is full of pain and artists are full of pain. And have to talk about it. Remember "skriget" by Edvard Munch.

So get some pain on your shoulders. And since you are in Japan, you can go to Fukushima or you can photograph some ships far inland.

( I have gone to all kinds of fancy schools, art included, but I have learnt most out in nature, by looking and observing or out in the workshop by turning the lathe)

PixelBytes · « **Reply #6 on:** July 01, 2014, 13:09 »

I started in micro stock because I was an optimist. I stay because I am a masochist!

At least that's how it feels.

EmberMike · « **Reply #7 on:** July 01, 2014, 14:33 »

In 2007 I was running a small local magazine publishing business out of my apartment. The business was awful, I was hemorrhaging money and opted to shut it down after trying unsuccessfully for about 18 months to make it work. But while I was running the magazine, I bought stock images to fill out the gaps in artwork. Where we didn't have something editorial I'd put a stock photo in. Or use stock graphics to design ads.

A few months before i stopped publishing, I thought, "I can make these graphics, maybe I should try to do my own stuff and sell it." I started selling microstock in May 2007, and quit the publishing business that summer. I wasn't making much in stock so I went back to work as a graphic designer at a nearby studio but kept doing stock on the side.

Three years later I got fired from that studio job. The guy I worked for didn't like me doing freelance work on the side (my own clients, it never interfered with my day job, I never crossed any lines there). He said I was trying to create a competitive business. At that point my stock income was getting respectable, so I figured I'd just try to live off of stock and freelance work. I guess I like pressure, because at the time my wife was off from work and 7 months pregnant as well.

After a couple of years of bouncing between freelance design work and stock production, I was able to push more towards stock production and drop most of my design clients.

I do this because for a while it fit in really well with my personal life. I've been able to work from home on my own schedule, spending as much time with my son as I like.

Financially this year has been rough so far, and I'm not in a position to be able to keep riding out the dip in income. So I'm giving serious thought to going back to an office/studio job later this year if I can't get some things happening with stock. But I don't mind so much. I've had a good run, and I got some years of time spent with my son and memories made that I can't put a price tag on. My daughter will be here in September, and I'd still like to spend time at home with her, too. I just may need to go back to a regular job for a while to get the finances back in order first.

cthoman · « **Reply #8 on:** July 01, 2014, 14:46 »

Quote from: EmberMike on July 01, 2014, 14:33

Financially this year has been rough so far, and I'm not in a position to be able to keep riding out the dip in income. So I'm giving serious thought to going back to an office/studio job later this year if I can't get some things happening with stock. But I don't mind so much. I've had a good run, and I got some years of time spent with my son and memories made that I can't put a price tag on. My daughter will be here in September, and I'd still like to spend time at home with her, too. I just may need to go back to a regular job for a while to get the finances back in order first.

I hear you. I'm kind of getting sick of the ups and downs in income. I was doing design temp work with Aquent and iCreatives before I started in stock. It can have dead periods too, but it seemed to work pretty well. You might give that a try.

jjneff · « **Reply #9 on:** July 01, 2014, 14:52 »

It all started in 2004 one day while at work I noticed I could submit images and sell them online. I was working in Radiation Therapy at the time doing Cat Scan/PET and Therapy. Well in 2006 video opened up and I started shooting everything I could. I ran to BestBuy and bought a Canon HV10 for $1,000.00. I learned a lot and lots of people gave me great advice and help. Now lets jump forward to 2010, by now I had around 3500 clips online and was doing well. I had a two year old and another boy on the way. It was Good Friday and in walks my boss, my job was cut and I was walking out the door. Driving home I decided I wanted to give this a go full-time! Having worked in Radiation Therapy patients always gave me advice and it seemed to have a theme. Do what you want to NOW as life is short and spend time with the ones you love. Well I wanted to be with my boys as they grow-up so I decided to jump in with both feet. My wife was supportive but the rest of the family thought I had lost my mind leaving the medical field! I got many lectures but I just kept on shooting and learning. Now 4.5 years later I am still going strong. I make more then working in healthcare, I spend time with my boys and I love life! This did not happen on my own as I had many people help me and guide me along the way! I can truly say thanks to the community and people who have made my dreams possible! THANK-YOU. I just turned Diamond Footage Artist at iStock so only one level left to go

I say ignore all the negative talk and find your groove! If I can do it so can you!

StanRohrer · « **Reply #10 on:** July 01, 2014, 14:53 »

I was on a photo sharing and critique sight in about 2002. Someone in the forums mentioned the votes were not all that significant nor relative on the site and that real votes would equate to income money. In other words, selling photo uses were a better gauge of photo value than mere photo gang points on some web site. As such, the upstart iStockphoto was paying with nickels and then dimes as votes/sales. I gave it a try and realized a bit later that this could be more than just a hobby. Having 2 kids approaching the college age and having not saved enough college money, I ended up with stock photo income to significantly help with private college costs as well as cover my photography expenses. I'm still on the well paying day job but the side income was quite useful. Unfortunately just as the kids left college the iStock income began to fall rapidly. However, between iStock and Alamy I can still cover my photography expenses and still have a little spending money for more photography exploration. I really should buckle down and get back to putting more effort into stock but the down trends are a bit disheartening. However, retirement is not to far around the corner. Photography will then be at least a hobby if not still a supplementing side income.

Goofy · « **Reply #11 on:** July 01, 2014, 15:22 »

First, I give a heart for an interesting topic. Why I am in stock photography? I got tired of doing people shots - low pay and lot's of complaining plus I have a very bad lower back thus shooting mostly objects while inside my house and being able to sell them sounded like a good plan to me. So far my expectations have been reached and I am happy to have gone into this business. Plus no more people complaining except for on this site lol!

Shelma1 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 01, 2014, 16:16 »

I was an art major in college, specializing in illustration, and started taking communications classes as well because I thought I'd like to go into advertising. Wound up with a double major, and when I graduated got a job -- to everyone's surprise, especially mine -- as a writer, not an art director, in an ad agency. Rose up through the ranks to become one of the few female Creative Directors in the field (only 3% of CD's are female in the U.S.) Always drew things on the side, from copywriter's roughs to little comic strips for friends and relatives. Got plenty of rejections from greeting card companies and The New Yorker.

I don't remember how I discovered iStock, but thought I'd try and see if I could sell illustrations online. Was about to give up because the time invested wasn't worth the money I earned...I am no great illustrator...then I stumbled on Shutterstock and realized I could actually make a return for time invested doing stock illustrations.

At this point in my career I'm tired of the rampant misogyny in my industry and the hellish commute and long hours, and would love to transition to illustration full time. Am a bit worried about that with the big drop in my earnings over the past couple of months, though. But I'm trying to always improve my skills and may even pick up a paint brush one of these days.

EmberMike · « **Reply #13 on:** July 01, 2014, 16:41 »

Quote from: cthoman on July 01, 2014, 14:46

I hear you. I'm kind of getting sick of the ups and downs in income. I was doing design temp work with Aquent and iCreatives before I started in stock. It can have dead periods too, but it seemed to work pretty well. You might give that a try.

I did that as well, with The Creative Group. Actually I got an email a few weeks back from an old contact at TCG asking if I was looking for work. I passed on it, but might need to reconsider.

Shelma1 · « **Reply #14 on:** July 01, 2014, 16:45 »

Quote from: EmberMike on July 01, 2014, 16:41

Quote from: cthoman on July 01, 2014, 14:46
I hear you. I'm kind of getting sick of the ups and downs in income. I was doing design temp work with Aquent and iCreatives before I started in stock. It can have dead periods too, but it seemed to work pretty well. You might give that a try.

I did that as well, with The Creative Group. Actually I got an email a few weeks back from an old contact at TCG asking if I was looking for work. I passed on it, but might need to reconsider.

Oh no! Not The Creative Group. They're the worst. Take a huge commission, 50% or more. I refuse to work with them. If you're interested, I can give you a couple of headhunter's contact info. PM me if so. You'll get a much better day rate.

Epsilonth · « **Reply #15 on:** July 01, 2014, 17:05 »

We all are tired of something huh? Glad I'm not alone. I usually come here when I'm stuck. Out of ideas. Also when insomnia strikes

Stock photography is by no mean an easy job.(I thought it was!) I have many friends who tried. Some never pass. Some give up real early. Let's try real hard because you're not alone!

You guys really have inspirational stories. Thank you for sharing!

sframe · « **Reply #16 on:** July 01, 2014, 17:23 »

In November of 2008, I read an article describing how to make extra income online in microstock photography. The idea intrigued me since I was already making a living at photography shooting weddings, beach portraits and other various types of commercial work. I thought that this could possibly be another source of income.

After checking out some of the photographs on different microstock agency sites, I picked out ten photographs which I thought might sell. Some of the images had been taken a year or two earlier and were just sitting on one of my hard drives. I joined several agencies, uploaded the ten images and waited to see what would happen. Two weeks later, I had accumulated a sum of $2.58 spread across three different microstock agencies. And ...I was hooked.

But it started me thinking; if I could make that much in two weeks with just ten images that were just languishing on my computer hard drive anyway, how much could I make on a yearly basis if I had one hundred images online. What if I had one thousand images online, or two thousand or possibly ten thousand. Visions of vast sums of money visualized before my eyes. And that is how my journey into microstock photography began.

EmberMike · « **Reply #17 on:** July 01, 2014, 20:26 »

Quote from: Shelma1 on July 01, 2014, 16:45

Oh no! Not The Creative Group. They're the worst. Take a huge commission, 50% or more. I refuse to work with them. If you're interested, I can give you a couple of headhunter's contact info. PM me if so. You'll get a much better day rate.

I did ok with them. You just need to push on the hourly rate. They want to pay no more than $20 but everything is negotiable.

What I did have an issue with when I worked for TCG was the jobs themselves. Pretty dull stuff most of the time. But there were a few gems in there. I worked for Samsung for a while, which was fun.

fmarsicano · « **Reply #18 on:** July 02, 2014, 02:45 »

Since I was a kid I wanted to become a film director, I studied cinema and art at the university of Rome and had the luck to start to work in movies and learn everything from a famous first assistant director, I became a first assistant director really young at the age of 26 and became a Casting director at the age of 30, now that I am 43 years old after 17 years of working as a first assistant director and never been able to become a film director I found something that changed my life: Microstock photography and footage.
It was 2 years that I suffered a lot traveling all the time shooting movies being far away from my wife and children that I was looking for something on the internet that could make me work from home and I found Shutterstock, everything changed now me and my wife we both work together, we have a photography studio next to our house and we are trying to make this work, we are really still at the beginning: I have 1000 clips and 1000 photos my wife the half and for now we cover the expenses of the studio and make little more money but I can really tell you something: we do love what we do, we feel we are always able to do something artistic in every shoot, we mostly work with models and we have the energy and will to do always better, WE ARE TRULY OPTIMISTIC. I do hear a lot of complaining about how things are going and how the sales are down for a lot of people who are working in this business for a long time and I am truly sorry but I don't want to be worried and see the things in a negative way, I jumped in this business and I want to be optimistic and think that things are going to be great and I will have a fantastic future able to be with the people I love when I want. I wish to you all the same. By the way I read this forum since only a couple month and you are truly helpful thanks

leaf · « **Reply #19 on:** July 03, 2014, 01:06 »

Quote from: fmarsicano on July 02, 2014, 02:45

Since I was a kid I wanted to become a film director, I studied cinema and art at the university of Rome and had the luck to start to work in movies and learn everything from a famous first assistant director, I became a first assistant director really young at the age of 26 and became a Casting director at the age of 30, now that I am 43 years old after 17 years of working as a first assistant director and never been able to become a film director I found something that changed my life: Microstock photography and footage.
It was 2 years that I suffered a lot traveling all the time shooting movies being far away from my wife and children that I was looking for something on the internet that could make me work from home and I found Shutterstock, everything changed now me and my wife we both work together, we have a photography studio next to our house and we are trying to make this work, we are really still at the beginning: I have 1000 clips and 1000 photos my wife the half and for now we cover the expenses of the studio and make little more money but I can really tell you something: we do love what we do, we feel we are always able to do something artistic in every shoot, we mostly work with models and we have the energy and will to do always better, WE ARE TRULY OPTIMISTIC. I do hear a lot of complaining about how things are going and how the sales are down for a lot of people who are working in this business for a long time and I am truly sorry but I don't want to be worried and see the things in a negative way, I jumped in this business and I want to be optimistic and think that things are going to be great and I will have a fantastic future able to be with the people I love when I want. I wish to you all the same. By the way I read this forum since only a couple month and you are truly helpful thanks

great story

I'm also positive about the industry and although it may not appear so, 49% of other contributors also feel positive about microstock.
http://blog.microstockgroup.com/2013-microstock-industry-survey-first-look/

roede-orm · « **Reply #20 on:** July 03, 2014, 07:31 »

As a child I had three dreams: I wanted to be an archaeologist, photographer and locomotive engineer on a steam locomotive. After I had learned in crafts, I studied and am now an archaeologist, work in a small company, which specializes in archaeological investigations in construction projects. I have photographed since my childhood, began with an East German EXA 1A. I'm doing stock now, it's fun for me and give a little money. But train driver on a steam locomotive I never became. There are no more steam engines but in the museums

Pixart · « **Reply #21 on:** July 03, 2014, 12:58 »

Quote from: roede-orm on July 03, 2014, 07:31

As a child I had three dreams: I wanted to be an archaeologist, photographer and locomotive engineer on a steam locomotive. After I had learned in crafts, I studied and am now an archaeologist work in a small company, which specializes in archaeological investigations in construction projects. I have photographed since my childhood, began with an East German EXA 1A. I'm doing stock now, it's fun for me and give a little money. But train driver on a steam locomotive I never became. There are no more steam engines but in the museums

You will have to come to Winnipeg one summer and ask if you can join the conductor on the Prairie Dog Express. At least one of the engines is a steam engine.

http://www.pdcrailway.com/History/equipment.htm

Added: You can "be an engineer for a day" for around $CDN450 (includes 2 passenger tickets) - but it may only be on the diesel engine. If it's on the steam engine you really need to come to Central Canada.

ShadySue · « **Reply #22 on:** July 03, 2014, 13:24 »

We have steam trains in Scotland too: http://www.welcometoscotland.com/articles/steam-railways-of-scotland

jefftakespics2 · « **Reply #23 on:** July 03, 2014, 14:47 »

It reminds me of a guy I know who is a world class flutist and a music professor at a major US university. He was the youngest lead flutist in the Santiago Symphony. He fought in the Pinochet resistance as a teenager in Chile barely making it out alive. He's an avid motorcyclist and has ridden as far north and south as you can go in the Americas. Last year he became a pilot. And of course, he's a qualified train engineer just for the fun of it. Hell of a nice guy as well. I call him the most interesting man in the world. Wisely, he does not shoot stock photography!

roede-orm · « **Reply #24 on:** July 03, 2014, 17:00 »

@Pixart & ShadySue: sounds good, and Central Canada would be a dream destination for me (and Scotland too). Are there still any native Blackfoot people around there? (in Canada of course!)
@jrwassermann: Cool guy, this Chilean! It 's great if you have your dreams dreams preserved and eventually gets the opportunity to do what you have dreamed of. Usually it's the lack of time and money, which make it impossible.

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Author Topic: Let's share our story. Why are you doing stock photo? (Read 8648 times)

Epsilonth

grsphoto

wordplanet

JPSDK

Epsilonth

JPSDK

PixelBytes

EmberMike

cthoman

jjneff

StanRohrer

Goofy

Shelma1

EmberMike

Shelma1

Epsilonth

sframe

EmberMike

fmarsicano

leaf

roede-orm

Pixart

ShadySue

jefftakespics2

roede-orm

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