MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: pixsol on June 18, 2014, 01:00
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Hi all - In the SS forum, there was a post where the contributor was urging folks to stop complaining about sales and go out and shoot. And in his/her words shoot as much as possible when the sun is up and the trees have leaves. Definitely good advice. :)
My question is as we shoot more and more, do we continue to upload or reduce the uploads or stop them totally until the slowdown stops (apparently in September) ? To me it seems that unless the images are summer themed, it perhaps is a good idea to stop the uploads until September. At a time, when new uploads seem to get hardly any sales during peak time, it seems to be a greater risk to upload new ones and hope for sales during the slowdown.
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I didn't really change a thing. I shoot and upload when I can. Some will tell you that your new images in the summer will go to the doldrums of the search if you upload in the summer, and come fall you lose momentum. Better to save them and upload later when slump is over. Well, I don't change anything. I shoot and upload as I always do regardless of time of year.
And to the guy over in the SS forums who is saying in stead of complaining go shoot when the sun is out and leaves are on the ground, I say instead of wasting your time telling everyone not to waste their time complaining and go shoot when it's sunny and the leaves are out, go shooting instead.
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And in his/her words shoot as much as possible when the sun is up and the trees have leaves. Definitely good advice. :)
Or not, as the case may be, depending where you are in the world.
IME, from the end of the first week in June, the green in deciduous trees goes 'photographically dead'. Plus for the last two days here we've had strong sunshine (the sort of weather that makes strangers, seeing me with a camera, say, "You must be really happy") meaning deep shadows and bleached out highlights, between 7 a.m. and 8p.m. This may be our Summer, as it's to break tomorrow, allegedly; but from what I read, it's like that for weeks on end elsewhere.
I know most people here shoot in studios, where the above is irrelevant, but the advice, as given, was particularly aimed at natural light photographers.
Poor advice, IMO.
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It depends on your experience.
I shoot a lot outside in the summer. In the colder months, I move into the studio. Generally, in the summer I upload editorial images to agents as soon as I can. I work on other images in my free time (which I have less of in the warmer months). It's for that reason I wait a little bit until the winter to process images I had shot before. That's not to say I don't shoot outside in the winter, but if I have a choice of sitting outside in the cold during a snow storm vs. sitting inside behind a computer screen, I'm going to sit inside and wait for a warmer day.
The other thing you have to consider is your experience. With relation to Shutterstock (I no longer contribute there), there is one particular reviewer that tends to be tougher than others. Based on my experience, this reviewer tends to show up more in the summer, during Christmas break, and during Spring Break for school here in the U.S. I suspect the reviewer is school a teacher. My experience was that images were accepted/rejected in a more consistent manner when this reviewer didn't have time to review images. Go back through the forums and do a search on 'Attila'
Your mileage/creative process may vary.
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Thanks Mantis, Sue and Ed for the varied and interesting responses :)
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The only slowdown I do is from December 24th to about January 10th than it game on for the rest of the year!
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I slow down in the summer, but that's because the weather's nice and I'm outside. In winter I'm indoors anyway, might as well draw 10 hours a day. It's more productive than watching TV.
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Dot on shadysue. Fall is here. Forest bare. Harsh mornings :) 50 degrees centigrade in my home town. Breaking the century s record.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
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I think, if I can be so bold as to extrapolate on what someone else said, that the person probably alluded to the fact that to have a shoot and upload rhythm is important to build a good portfolio of images. Your rhythm might be different from mine, but I am a commercial photographer who tend to use redundant images and quiet days to shoot. However, consistently uploading helps a hell of a lot to get your images digested into the system. Having it there is worth more than not having it there in my opinion.
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I think, if I can be so bold as to extrapolate on what someone else said, that the person probably alluded to the fact that to have a shoot and upload rhythm is important to build a good portfolio of images. Your rhythm might be different from mine, but I am a commercial photographer who tend to use redundant images and quiet days to shoot. However, consistently uploading helps a hell of a lot to get your images digested into the system. Having it there is worth more than not having it there in my opinion.
True. Consistent uploads = more consistent earnings.
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Thanks all for the helpful posts :) The better option would be to keep the shoot-upload-shoot cycle going !