MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: leaf on July 02, 2007, 16:04
-
me - i am self employed and work as a photographer with things like weddings and portraits and such, as well as doing the micros. Microstock is about 30% of my total income.
i enjoy variety which has encouraged me to do not only stock - and perhaps it is smart to diversify as well. Perhaps I learn more by doing different types of photography as well.... i like to think so anyhow. I like shooting for stock the best however, and i might even argue that it pays the best.
-
not sure I had an option that fit me -- I'm self-employed but not as a photographer. Micro is a lot less than 50% of my income
-
ok, i edited the options.
if you are self employed but not as a photographer, you are still self employed (according to the poll :))
hope i didn't confuse anyone with adding options... you may have to change your answer now. :-\
and no too surprisingly - there seems to be a lot of self employed people here.
-
Just a hobby for me. I make more in a day than I do in two months on micro.
When I go back to NZ (land of the low wage - compared to london anyway) that should change a bit.
-
It was just a hobby for me, but now at the end of the month I collect a few payouts I am thinking about doing more micro, less other. I'm going into my 3rd year in biz and now the referrals are rolling in.
I'm trying to work part-time while raising kids. I do mostly team sports photography, small schools and the like, but it is becoming much more than a part-time job (more than full time even) and I'm sick of editing photos after the kids have gone to bed until 4 in the morning.
I am also a licensed reseller of photobooks and dvds on my website which requires a bit of work, but makes a little extra $. My husband has suggested that I'd perhaps be happier just shooting stock and promoting the photobooks a little more aggressively. I do lack a certain amount of disipline though, and am afraid I would get too lazy if I only shot stock and had no deadlines.
-
My income fluctuates quite a bit over the year.
Not only the microstock part. So I was trying to estimate an average. But since this is my first year in microstock, it is hard to estimate it well.
I am self employed, but not in photography.
-
Always been my hobby. A year ago, I started uploading to the micros for fun. That opened a door for me into doing assignment work for magazines/book publishing. I still don't feel like that is work, to me it's having fun and getting handed a lot of money for enjoying myself. My wife, also a hobby shooter, has a modest business selling cards, prints, mugs, etc, using her and my photos online. Microstock itself is less than 40% of money earned in our photography 'hobby'. The majority of the photography money comes from the assignment work.
I am still in my day job of 34 years, my wife works in real estate. The money from photography is our 'pin money'. 8)-tom
-
Maybe I'm being too well paid in my job (don't let the HR guys read this! :D), so although the extra income of stock photography (micro and macro) is welcomed, I should say it's more a hobby.
Regards,
Adelaide
PS: Leaf: the hobby option appears twice!
-
wow, i'm sprised that 1/4 of the people here have micros as over 50% of their income. nice to see :)
-
Just a hobby for me. I make more in a day than I do in two months on micro.
When I go back to NZ (land of the low wage - compared to london anyway) that should change a bit.
it's only land of the low wage if you have a crappy job, I earn several times minimum wage and didn't have to work that hard to get it. I earn about 1-2% of my salary through MS, it's a hobby which is almost pays for my gear.
-
Micro keeps me in photo equipment only, its not really any part of my income since I have had only two payouts. This is strickly fun.
-
I'm definitely the odd-ball. I think I've posted a total of 5 pictures across a few sites, and have about $9 in sales total. For me it's not even a hobby. It's a cool facet of photography. It's an industry that's continuing to emerge, grow, evolve, and I just find it absolutely fascinating. I love reading the forums here, and on the microstock sites. It's such a neat thing to see people grow from, "my husband says I take nice pictures of the family at Christmas time and of our family cat, so I thought I'd give this a try" to a year later talking about payouts and downloads and new equipment and how to expand sales, and which sites to post to next, etc. I just wanted to stick my toe into the water. I wanted to get a small taste of what it's like to have uploads accepted, and rejected; what it's like to have your first download, 2nd, etc. I just find it so interesting I can't look away :) Also, I find the community (microstock in general, this site in particular) just amazing. The interactions, the learning that takes place, the back-patting, the hand holding, the comraderie, the earnestness to teach and share the photography and business experience just blows me away. I've learned a ton about photography, business, this industry, and just plain people, from browsing here and other microstock sites. Someday I might decide to put some effort into it, but for now I'm having fun just watching.
-
Just a hobby for me. I make more in a day than I do in two months on micro.
When I go back to NZ (land of the low wage - compared to london anyway) that should change a bit.
it's only land of the low wage if you have a crappy job, I earn several times minimum wage and didn't have to work that hard to get it. I earn about 1-2% of my salary through MS, it's a hobby which is almost pays for my gear.
I too will be earning several times average wage (not just minimum) and still wont be able to afford the house that I want in Auckland.
Where are you based.
For me Microstock earns enough money so my GF cant complain that I just bought a new paperweight (aka dustpump, aka 100-400L) - bring on Africa on my way home to NZ>