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Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: dreamstock on February 29, 2012, 10:27

Title: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: dreamstock on February 29, 2012, 10:27
hi Guys

in a few days, i will be spending $1100 on a single shoot, for model fees, wardrobe, props, locations and transport. this will be the most expensive microstock shoot for me ever. i'm curious what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot?

wish me luck  ;D

cheers.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: wut on February 29, 2012, 10:44
A few hundred EUR if it was a 2 day shoot, with amazing models, locations, props, organisation etc. I really can't afford more and I usually try to make it as cheap as possible, since in most cases you don't know how much you're going to get out of the shoot. I'm sure top togs that have been in the game since the start have a much better feel for it and also don't care if they loose a grand or two sometimes - they'll also make tens of thousands of dollars of some shoots (in the long run of course)
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: sharpshot on February 29, 2012, 10:44
I don't spend much at all.  The biggest expense would be fuel and I don't think that's ever be more than about $40.  Most of my objects that I've photographed have been from the boot sale.  I sometimes splash out £1 but it's usually 50 pence :)  Occasionally I've gone crazy and spent £5.  Never paid model fees because I don't use them for microstock.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: wut on February 29, 2012, 10:48
I don't spend much at all.  The biggest expense would be fuel and I don't think that's ever be more than about $40.  Most of my objects that I've photographed have been from the boot sale.  I sometimes splash out £1 but it's usually 50 pence :)  Occasionally I've gone crazy and spent £5.  Never paid model fees because I don't use them for microstock.

I really admire such stockers, making it without models and even expenses. For having so much imagination, making bestsellers from more or less everyday subjects (sure you could have access to restricted areas, stuff etc that other don't and it costs you nothing)
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: ShadySue on February 29, 2012, 11:01
c£5, which might not count as I ate the prop afterwards.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: microstockphoto.co.uk on February 29, 2012, 11:07
I do mainly Architectural / Travel photography.

I spend less than 100 Euro/Day on average including everything (train tickets or low cost flights, accommodation, beer...) when I travel alone in Europe, or even less when I travel with a girlfriend which pays for half the room price :) (in b&b and cheap hotels, single rooms are almost as expensive as double rooms). I rarely use car.

But I don't even consider travel cost or time spent as a real cost, since I like travelling and would do anyway.

So, basically I spend nothing. The only expense is my time for the boring part (postprocessing, keywording, uploading).

If I had to spend thousands of dollars for a single shot, it wouldn't be sustainable for me.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: grp_photo on February 29, 2012, 11:09
Certainly not more than 100,- .If I spend more I don't put it on microstock but even for macro I would be very cautious to spend a 4-digit-sum. I hope and I'm pretty sure it doesn't work out for you some people need to learn it the hard way! ;D
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: Anyka on February 29, 2012, 11:31
My record is 600 euros, and that was spent on clothing and props.  After the shoot, I sold the most expensive costume on Ebay and got 150 euros back. 
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: Elenathewise on February 29, 2012, 12:01
500 hundred bucks is the biggest amount I ever spent on a shoot with models... In my case, I recover that within 3-4 months, depending on how well the series sell. But the funny thing is most my bestsellers costed me nothing, just my time:)
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: lagereek on February 29, 2012, 12:04
Oh!  1100  bucks, peanuts!  I dont even want to tell you what I paid Cindy Crawford, to stand model inside an oil-refinery. Big bucks my friednd, big bucks.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: WarrenPrice on February 29, 2012, 12:08
c£5, which might not count as I ate the prop afterwards.

LOL... same here.  And annual vacation pictures are charged to entertainment.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: Ed on February 29, 2012, 12:09
Between $400-$500 is the most.

Just out of curiosity...how long do you expect before you think you'll be able to recover the costs from that shoot and turn a profit?
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: wut on February 29, 2012, 12:39
A group of 5 microstockers spent 700 EUR each for a 2 day shoot last year. The top dog of the group that I talked to approximately half a year later, told me he got that back with 3 images. He's a 100k+ exclusive at IS
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: dreamstock on February 29, 2012, 12:58
Between $400-$500 is the most.

Just out of curiosity...how long do you expect before you think you'll be able to recover the costs from that shoot and turn a profit?

about 3 or 4 months i estimate.

actually, you remind me that i must come back to this topic after i made the money back to see how long it really takes.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: dreamstock on February 29, 2012, 13:01
Oh!  1100  bucks, peanuts!  I dont even want to tell you what I paid Cindy Crawford, to stand model inside an oil-refinery. Big bucks my friednd, big bucks.

cindy crawford for microstock?  :D
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: stockastic on February 29, 2012, 13:13
About 10 bucks.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: SNP on February 29, 2012, 14:26
this is an interesting topic. I've wondered this myself at times. if you count travel, I spent close to 3,500 CAD  to go to London. but I've almost made it back in sales on the shots, not to mention the education I received while there. I guess that would be my single most expensive shoot. however I have spent close to $500 on a shoot for authentic costumes, paying models and peripherals. i don't do that frequently of course.

I believe that authenticity pays off. I know it does pay off sometimes for colleagues who also invest in their shoots to make them extraordinary. And then sometimes it doesn't and you're left with expensive props laying around. I keep a table of expenses for each shoot and I tally sales against the expenditures.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: lisafx on February 29, 2012, 16:40
I keep a table of expenses for each shoot and I tally sales against the expenditures.

That's a really smart idea.  Ashamed to say I don't do that.  I know for a fact that some of my more successful series are paying the bills for the less successful ones, regardless of cost. 
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: bad to the bone on February 29, 2012, 16:59
sometimes something had to be done. Even and also at microstockbusiness.
Some Illustrations of me will never pay out, not in hundred years....
But they have to be done.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: Suljo on February 29, 2012, 17:00
First time small beer, and second time coffee.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: MikLav on February 29, 2012, 17:03
My best sellers only costed me my time (a few landscape and industrial pictures).

Doing model shoots I didn't spend more than 200 Eur so far per one single photo shoot (the session cost did go above a few times, but in these cases it was split with the other photographer(s)).

I certainly would have spent more if I was doing it as a real part-time or full-time job, but not while it remains a hobby.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: SNP on February 29, 2012, 17:16
I keep a table of expenses for each shoot and I tally sales against the expenditures.

I know for a fact that some of my more successful series are paying the bills for the less successful ones, regardless of cost. 

that is an important point. I keep the table just to be conscious of overspending on shoots. but at the same time, I have a number of successful files that weren't expensive to create.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: Sean Locke Photography on February 29, 2012, 18:12
I keep a table of expenses for each shoot and I tally sales against the expenditures.

That's a really smart idea.  Ashamed to say I don't do that.  I know for a fact that some of my more successful series are paying the bills for the less successful ones, regardless of cost. 

Yep.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: dreamstock on February 29, 2012, 21:40
I keep a table of expenses for each shoot and I tally sales against the expenditures.

as an independent contributor, i found it really hard and time consuming to keep sales of each files. so my lazy way is to use SS catalog manager to put each shoot as a set to track performance. i have done just over 85 shoots (proper shoots with models not just snap here and there), on average cost $300 each, the catalog manager tells me that i have made profit from each every shoot from SS alone, and SS is only about 38% of my total microstock income.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: SNP on February 29, 2012, 22:12
I keep a table of expenses for each shoot and I tally sales against the expenditures.

as an independent contributor, i found it really hard and time consuming to keep sales of each files. so my lazy way is to use SS catalog manager to put each shoot as a set to track performance. i have done just over 85 shoots (proper shoots with models not just snap here and there), on average cost $300 each, the catalog manager tells me that i have made profit from each every shoot from SS alone, and SS is only about 38% of my total microstock income.

I think it would be much tougher as an independent. as an exclusive, I use DeepMeta. I have my own keywords for my series. I search on the keywords for a set of images, and DM tallies totals for the selected images automatically. so it isn't much work. again, it's mostly out of curiosity. like I said, I have bestsellers that cost almost nothing to produce, so it's not always relevant
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: cardmaverick on February 29, 2012, 22:53
The most I ever put into a shoot was $2,000 (USD), fairly elaborate location shoot with two models, MUA, etc... ROI in about 12 months. That was years ago however. I'd never do that today. About half the cost was keywording services I decided to try since the shoot produced such a large number of images (over 300). Looking back on it, I'm still undecided on the keyword service choice. It did expose me to a whole different methodology that I value and did save me a good month or more of work. I suppose if you're dedicated to doing that level of production every month, it's worth the investment since you'll have economy of scale working for you.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: Graffoto on February 29, 2012, 23:52
The most I ever put out was just under $900 US in 2008.
The model and MUA were reasonable, but the hairstylist was over the top expensive.
Needless to say, I have not used her since.

I can't remember exactly, but I think it took a year to recoup.
Luckily, these are still selling and have done fairly well.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: dreamstock on June 27, 2012, 13:47
Certainly not more than 100,- .If I spend more I don't put it on microstock but even for macro I would be very cautious to spend a 4-digit-sum. I hope and I'm pretty sure it doesn't work out for you some people need to learn it the hard way! ;D

i hate to disappoint you, but as of today i have fully recovered my expenses of $1085 for that shoot, after 4 months. yet i still cannot believe that you hoped that this doesn't work out for me, how dark is your heart?
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: grp_photo on June 27, 2012, 13:52
Certainly not more than 100,- .If I spend more I don't put it on microstock but even for macro I would be very cautious to spend a 4-digit-sum. I hope and I'm pretty sure it doesn't work out for you some people need to learn it the hard way! ;D

i hate to disappoint you, but as of today i have fully recovered my expenses of $1085 for that shoot, after 4 months. yet i still cannot believe that you hoped that this doesn't work out for me, how dark is your heart?
lol  ;D darker as darth vader  ;)
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: leaf on June 27, 2012, 14:04
With model fees and props my shoots usually cost around $400-$600, most of that from model fees.  I've had a few shoots going over $1000, the last one being last weekend.  I ALWAYS pay my models and I've never had to pay for a location.  Business are generally more than happy to get photos they can use in exchange for their location.  If they aren't happy with that you can find someone else who is.

I would be willing to spend as much as I think I could recover in 6-12 months time... the less time the better obviously.  

Two things I've learned is it's worth investing some money to make the shot look great and a shoot doesn't have to be a big investment to make a lot of money.

A great shoot will earn it's cost back every month.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: ruxpriencdiam on June 27, 2012, 15:33
For microstock it should be fairly low.

Mine is just the cost of gas to drive to the shoot.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: Poncke on June 27, 2012, 15:50
I havent spent a single dime since I am an amateur, and no chance in hell I would spent 1100 dollars for a shoot for micro stock with the risk of never getting it back. But I wish I was in a position to be able to spent 1100 dollars and knowing I would make a profit.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: Sean Locke Photography on June 27, 2012, 16:16
You never know if you'll make it back.

I spent around two grand on a shoot last year.
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: lisafx on June 27, 2012, 16:36
I finally had a shoot that cost well over $1,000.  It was the first one that went over that mark.  I have no idea if it will make the money back, but a lot of that was props and costumes, most of which can be reused. 

Keeping my fingers crossed there's a market for them. 
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: ShadySue on June 27, 2012, 18:16
There's a nice opportunity to throw a lot of money at a few possible sales here:
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=344985&page=1 (http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=344985&page=1)
and more here:
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=345015&page=1 (http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=345015&page=1)
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: Ed on June 27, 2012, 18:51
There's a nice opportunity to throw a lot of money at a few possible sales here:
[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=344985&page=1[/url] ([url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=344985&page=1[/url])
and more here:
[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=345015&page=1[/url] ([url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=345015&page=1[/url])


Hate to say this...and I know I'm a minority in this group...but I'll be very clear - THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I WOULD DO EITHER ONE OF THESE SHOOTS AND MARKET THEM AS MICROSTOCK.  This is RM material and I know a local photographer (who is also with Getty) that specializes in this sort of thing.  The oil and gas industry has money to spend these days folks...take advantage of it.  Take a look at David Tejada's portfolio on Getty - he specializes in this for a reason.

Why would anyone do that for pennies?  More importantly, why would anyone be willing to undercut someone else for pennies on the dollar when they could make the same amount of money as David by submitting the same topic to Getty or any other photo library?
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: ShadySue on June 27, 2012, 18:56
There's a nice opportunity to throw a lot of money at a few possible sales here:
[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=344985&page=1[/url] ([url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=344985&page=1[/url])
and more here:
[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=345015&page=1[/url] ([url]http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=345015&page=1[/url])


Hate to say this...and I know I'm a minority in this group...but I'll be very clear - THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I WOULD DO EITHER ONE OF THESE SHOOTS AND MARKET THEM AS MICROSTOCK.  This is RM material and I know a local photographer (who is also with Getty) that specializes in this sort of thing.  The oil and gas industry has money to spend these days folks...take advantage of it.  Take a look at David Tejada's portfolio on Getty - he specializes in this for a reason.

Why . would anyone do that for pennies?  More importantly, why . would anyone be willing to undercut someone else for pennies on the dollar when they could make the same amount of money as David by submitting the same topic to Getty or any other photo library?


Are you sure you're in the minority?
I posted these links sarcastically. I couldn't believe the OP's barefaced impertenence.
Remember, I'm the one who paid a whopping £5 for props, then ate them. I'm pleased to announce a 500% return on that investment, not to mention the calories.  ;)
Also see this Alamy forum thread:
http://www.alamy.com/forums/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=13130 (http://www.alamy.com/forums/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=13130)
Title: Re: what's the most amount of money you would spend on a single shoot for microstock
Post by: Reef on June 27, 2012, 19:47
Worked in offshore seismic oil and gas exploration for 10+ years. I wish I had been into photography then!