This has come up before, I wanted to start a thread so I don't have to hijack everyone else's discussions of small market subjects and things that aren't the most popular, but could fill in for something that's under supplied.

Enough of sliced vegetables and tomatoes (which are a fruit) I've found something new and what will probably set a trend for new artistic images. Not really, but I still can find some joy and humor in this whole Micropayment Stock game? Everything sliced, and isolated, all the time! 



AS 6,969 results for sliced kumquat I'll need to up my game now and make better images.

SS 8,376 sliced kumquat stock photos. I can see an agency war building now.

Actually there are amazing holes in most collections because uploaders just keep copying what is most popular.

In addition to looking for missing content, how about looking into missing formats?

How many square images are there of popular subjects?

Or in my case i am trying to remember to record more vertical video alongside horizontal.

Or perspectives - how many subjects have been photographed from below? Or seen through a circle of fire, flowers,out of focus objects.

etc�

There is so much you can do to reinvent an oversupplied niche.

But the best is of course to be the first who supplies a badly needed subject.

Good points all. I'm just making fun of myself when I do some of these "No Commercial Potential" uploads of mine, but you're right. Not just missing content or subjects but missing formats. I still make square cops when I think the subjects is appropriate. I don't think that buyers are always viewing the potential uses. Sure some are, but the ones that buy ready to use images, won't see square. Also sometimes a square image can be either wide or tall and then someone might download, so they can make it what they want.

There's always the contradiction from agencies. Buyers can make B&W, buyers can crop, buyers can use filters. At the same time, they ask for ready to use images, because some people don't know how to edit?

I think some variations are legitimate and a good reason for making those examples. A good black and white images, isn't just a color image with the color removed. A good square image isn't just something cropped square, the composition and subject need to fit that. I'm not big on filters. Some people just take a good image and throw some filter on it and Oh Wow, look at that. Same as the other two, a good choice of a filer that is appropriate for the subject, is a good idea.

Mostly though I still look for subjects that need more or better coverage. Just because there are 1,000 images of something, that doesn't mean there's not room for one that's potentially better than all of those. If there are 10,000 of something, the challenge is more difficult, finding, as you suggest, new angles or ways to visualize the same.

No I have no interest in best selling and most popular, they are over produced and it's even harder to make any sales against the large collection of competition. At that point, the ideas and subjects fall into what not to shoot. Not that I'll never shoot a flower or a bird or a simple something, but the chances are much less of those making a sale than something that's different our that stands out against the competition.

I uploaded an isolated on white Pazcki for Mardi Gras, someone else might be making King Cakes, or should have a couple weeks ago. Probably too late the subjects are done until next year.

Quote from: Uncle Pete on March 01, 2022, 10:42

I'm not big on filters. Some people just take a good image and throw some filter on it and Oh Wow, look at that. Same as the other two, a good choice of a filer that is appropriate for the subject, is a good idea.

My personal approach on this: I do creative editing (yes, filters) on many of my images in highly saturated and competitive area's. I want it to stand out and be ready-to-go for those who prefer having a custom edited image. I keep most of my images neat and clean on less saturated and competitive topics. Or editorial, of course.

Does it work? Well, they do sell despite fierce competition. Admittedly, some more than others. One of those images, classic orange/blue split-toned, vignetted (Yes, I know!) dodge-burn landscape image in a highly competitive area is selling on daily basis on Shutterstock, found with very generic keywords, and does relatively well on other agencies too.

Is it the right strategy? I don't know for sure, but I'm willing to believe that submitting those images neat and clean would not result in the same amount of sales I'm getting now.

Anything anyone does that creates an image that gets sales is the right strategy. 

This has come up before, I wanted to start a thread so I don't have to hijack everyone else's discussions of small market subjects and things that aren't the most popular, but could fill in for something that's under supplied.

Enough of sliced vegetables and tomatoes (which are a fruit) I've found something new and what will probably set a trend for new artistic images. Not really, but I still can find some joy and humor in this whole Micropayment Stock game? Everything sliced, and isolated, all the time! 



AS 6,969 results for sliced kumquat I'll need to up my game now and make better images.

SS 8,376 sliced kumquat stock photos. I can see an agency war building now.

sliced kumquat copy space

SS: 782 sliced kumquat copy space stock photos, vectors, and illustrations.

 

Yeah, I should have that on the wall, in the corner, where I shoot sometimes. ALWAYS MAKE A VERSION WITH COPY SPACE  There is something good about cutout on White, anyone can make anything they want, but still I don't always see buyers as seeing the potential for making their own alterations, and we have to lay it out in a finished format.

Used to be I'd make one landscape and one square, if the subject was appropriate, but there's always room for a version with copy space. This ruins my limited "less is more" approach of making only one version of a shot or subject or setup, most of the time. Then there are the recent crack downs from agencies on "similar".

There's always something complicating a simple straight forward plan, that fits all agencies. DT doesn't want banner and social media crops now? I was surprised to find this...

NASHVILLE, TN � (via Marketwire � May 31, 2012) � Today Dreamstime, the leading stock photography community, launched Timeline Images, an online image database for businesses and consumers interested in updating their social media profiles with high-quality, fresh content for an extremely low price of one dollar.


There goes version 4? But not Copy Space composition which I'll say is version 2 on the useful variation list?

I was just teasing when I wrote that above, Pete, because it's our own little on-going private 'joke'.  But all jokes aside, if you have only one version to upload , then this would be my recommendation (below).

In this day and age, you really have to niche down even more to be ahead of all the competition, and this has the flexibility to suit a wider range of buyers, can easily be adjusted/cropped by non-designer buyers, has less competition in that ratio size, stands out on crowded search pages, etc. Fits website, social media and online marketplace headers/banners, especially if you leave enough space around it.

Designers are always crying out for more negative space. Trust me - that's the REAL niche in microstock databases - COPY SPACE itself!  And don't forget the keywords (copy space, negative space, copyspace).

And yes, DT has already identified a strong niche for that site of theirs, and selling them off cheaply, but AS is still paying good money for them, and as I told you recently, I received a nice EL for a new banner upload on SS the other day. I've even sold them for large SODs commissions.

Your next question is probably, why would anyone buy a kumquat banner? Websites, facebook headers, food bloggers, 'fruits in season', recipes. It also looks clean and 'healthy' for health bloggers.   

And also don't forget the alternative spelling: CUMQUATS. Not sure if that's another English vs American thing, but I always spell it with a C.