Author Topic: Your plans, for 2012 ? (Read 22699 times)

Elenathewise · « **Reply #25 on:** December 20, 2011, 21:21 »

I am seriously thinking of moving away from microstock. For some reason I expected micro agencies to become more professional and respectable as they grow, but now I realize that this business model just doesn't allow for that. You can't provide the same level of service to customers spending 10 dollars that you provide to someone spending 500; when your business is volume sales, you can't possibly pay reviewers enough to have consistent reviews; your strength in microstock business is in the size of your library, not in it's quality. I spoke to a friend who works on producing a daily tv show and they always buy images from macros since it's more clear and defined licensing terms and they can be sure of quality. I suspect it is like that with many other organizations. Microstock has its competitive strength in cheap pricing but it also brings limitations.
Not that I would pull completely my port or anything like that; I'd probably be still submitting to micros but my focus is going to be with the macro agencies.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #26 on:** December 20, 2011, 21:31 »

Quote from: Elenathewise on December 20, 2011, 21:21

I spoke to a friend who works on producing a daily tv show and they always buy images from macros since it's more clear and defined licensing terms and they can be sure of quality.

That's odd. The license is just as "defined", and I think we've all seen there's some pretty bad quality on macro out there.

MatHayward · « **Reply #27 on:** December 20, 2011, 21:36 »

I'm going to keep saving, buy the 1DX. Continue to shoot, edit, upload and keyword for Fotolia, Shutterstock, Dreamstime and at times 123rf.

Hopefully I will continue to get credentials for big concerts in the Seattle area. I've got a plan for some magazines that will hopefully bring some $$. I'd like to see my editorial work pick up volume with cash flow.

In addition, I've got pages and pages of ideas for shoots I want to do. I hope to actually dive into the list and create most of the images.

Should be a great year!

Mat

contrastaddict · « **Reply #28 on:** December 20, 2011, 22:38 »

hopefully lots of shoot, upload, repeat.

aeonf · « **Reply #29 on:** December 21, 2011, 00:52 »

Quote from: ProArtwork on December 20, 2011, 19:52

I'm switching from Stolichnaya to Jameson.

A big step forward!

nicku · « **Reply #30 on:** December 21, 2011, 01:20 »

For 2012 i plan to change my DSLR (3 years is enough ) and open my personal studio.

jm · « **Reply #31 on:** December 21, 2011, 01:40 »

I plan to become father in June. It will probably change the rest of my plans.

lagereek · « **Reply #32 on:** December 21, 2011, 02:22 »

Quote from: Elenathewise on December 20, 2011, 21:21

I am seriously thinking of moving away from microstock. For some reason I expected micro agencies to become more professional and respectable as they grow, but now I realize that this business model just doesn't allow for that. You can't provide the same level of service to customers spending 10 dollars that you provide to someone spending 500; when your business is volume sales, you can't possibly pay reviewers enough to have consistent reviews; your strength in microstock business is in the size of your library, not in it's quality. I spoke to a friend who works on producing a daily tv show and they always buy images from macros since it's more clear and defined licensing terms and they can be sure of quality. I suspect it is like that with many other organizations. Microstock has its competitive strength in cheap pricing but it also brings limitations.
Not that I would pull completely my port or anything like that; I'd probably be still submitting to micros but my focus is going to be with the macro agencies.

Know what you mean, unfortunately, the quality isnt much better within the macros. They have had no choice but like the micros, accepting quite mediocre stuff, just as "fill-ups", etc. Few years back, if you sent in 50 files to the Getty-RM, you would be lucky to get an acceptance of 5 or six, today, they are far more liberal in accepting.

See, the IS, rule of accepting files as long as they are technically sound, is so detremental its unbelievable and just creates tons of totally irrelevant material in every corner of the search.
Right now, Getty is promoting images from their Flickr-collection? thats how basic its become.

RacePhoto · « **Reply #33 on:** December 21, 2011, 02:32 »

Quote from: aeonf on December 21, 2011, 00:52

Quote from: ProArtwork on December 20, 2011, 19:52
I'm switching from Stolichnaya to Jameson.

A big step forward!

Already went from Highland Park to Ardbeg, (still both are perfection) and then later in the evening, Black Grouse.

In the photo world, just put the S90 up for sale and ordered a G12. Gave the S a year and it's very nice, convenient size and all, but options and features and the lens on the G series makes it I had a G6 and it was a little on the large side, and silver. Now the G12, black, is smaller and has what I wanted, remote trigger for time lapse, no mirror, and added benefit, 720p, can I make stock video now? Did you know B&H has them for $379, free overnight shipping? Until Dec. 31st.

qwerty · « **Reply #34 on:** December 21, 2011, 03:15 »

1) go surfing
2)travel
3) convince myself that I'd be better shooting specifically for microstock instead of uploading travel photos
4) upload travel photos.
5) work to fund 1 & 2

lagereek · « **Reply #35 on:** December 21, 2011, 03:33 »

Quote from: RacePhoto on December 21, 2011, 02:32

Quote from: aeonf on December 21, 2011, 00:52
Quote from: ProArtwork on December 20, 2011, 19:52
I'm switching from Stolichnaya to Jameson.

A big step forward!

Already went from Highland Park to Ardbeg, (still both are perfection) and then later in the evening, Black Grouse.

In the photo world, just put the S90 up for sale and ordered a G12. Gave the S a year and it's very nice, convenient size and all, but options and features and the lens on the G series makes it I had a G6 and it was a little on the large side, and silver. Now the G12, black, is smaller and has what I wanted, remote trigger for time lapse, no mirror, and added benefit, 720p, can I make stock video now? Did you know B&H has them for $379, free overnight shipping? Until Dec. 31st.

Come on fellas! lets show a bit of balls, hey, have a bite of Lagavulin! that will put hairs on your chests.

aeonf · « **Reply #36 on:** December 21, 2011, 04:19 »

I never did aquire a taste for Islay wiskeys...
I like the simple ones.

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #37 on:** December 21, 2011, 05:49 »

- Switch from scotch to moonshine
- Cut back on submitting to micro so I can...
-- Spend more time on macro RM/RF and test smaller agencies
-- Diversify and start selling images outside of stock
-- Start doing video and illustration
-- Finish my home studio

sodafish · « **Reply #38 on:** December 21, 2011, 06:59 »

I gonna try work harder in 2012

Blufish · « **Reply #39 on:** December 21, 2011, 09:56 »

I love reading these! So many different walks of life.

In case anyone cares what I'll be doing: I had planned on really concentrating on building my portfolio. Well, it will be slow going as we decided to buy a house with a barn so we can have our horse baby(18 yr old spoiled brat) at home for his retirement. And of course said house needs a complete remodel before we move in. So, maybe I'll be shooting a lot of construction shots this spring...

microstockphoto.co.uk · « **Reply #40 on:** December 21, 2011, 11:38 »

Quote from: qwerty on December 21, 2011, 03:15

3) convince myself that I'd be better shooting specifically for microstock instead of uploading travel photos

This is the most difficult part. I was once convinced that I had to travel for stock, and it didn't actually work from a purely financial point of view (staying at home scanning cardboard backgrounds is much more profitable, albeit less fun). Now I'm convinced that I must do stock as an excuse for travelling and it's working much better. Sometimes a simple change of perspective can solve a lot of problems.

benchart · « **Reply #41 on:** December 21, 2011, 12:52 »

1) Keep on trying to create illustrations without ever losing fun in doing it,
2) Trying to reach a volume of around 1000 files (twice my actual portfolio)
3) Always keep an eye on your microstockgroup forums because they are really very useful

It is sure i'm not the same illustrator i was in 2011 beginning. After one year of microstock work (vector & graphics), I've learned a lot from other artists, lots of new technical tricks, learned to create my images faster with more precision and efficiency, and especially worked all summer long to enter IPTC data on every of my files (goddamn work) but so happy now that it's done. The non-exclusive trip seems definitely the best way to me, with the focus to not be enslaved by any microstock group and able to move my files onto another. This way you can reach more users, and also buyers in a bank will love your files while others won't in another. Each micro has its own surprises (good or bad)

Best wishes to all (and sorry for my bad english)

luissantos84 · « **Reply #42 on:** December 21, 2011, 13:15 »

get more serious about microstock, don´t have any dream plans of creating RM collection or other, I just want to be more focused and taking it seriously, shooting more travel than studio (but so far studio looks a lot more relevant in terms of revenue)

I need to step up and work (hard) something like 5 to 8h a day instead of 8 or less per week

hiddenstock · « **Reply #43 on:** December 21, 2011, 13:50 »

Quote from: tab62 on December 20, 2011, 10:31

Finding a camera that will do the following for me:

1. 50mp or higher
2. Provide its own lighting
3. Key word all my photos automatically
4. Know exactly which markets to submit my photos
5. Able to tell me my RPI on each shot
6. Never out of focus
7. Never any aberration no matter how extreme the conditions
8. Light weight see less that a pound with large lens included
9. Develop photos directly without using Photoshop
10. Upload files via WiFi as soon as you finish shooting- the camera knows exactly what each photo senior editor will accept
11. Never needs batteries for at least five years
12. Memory card can hold at least 10,000 RAW images and cleans the card each time you shoot
13. Displays which markets are hot thus telling me which photos to take each day

Now that is what I want for 2012 a camera that can do this for me...

T

I am going to work on stealing this camera

cascoly · « **Reply #44 on:** December 21, 2011, 15:31 »

Quote from: microstockphoto.co.uk on December 21, 2011, 11:38

Quote from: qwerty on December 21, 2011, 03:15
3) convince myself that I'd be better shooting specifically for microstock instead of uploading travel photos

This is the most difficult part. I was once convinced that I had to travel for stock, and it didn't actually work from a purely financial point of view (staying at home scanning cardboard backgrounds is much more profitable, albeit less fun). Now I'm convinced that I must do stock as an excuse for travelling and it's working much better. Sometimes a simple change of perspective can solve a lot of problems.

if i had a goal it would be more travel - and photography helps pay some of the costs for that; it also earns money when i'm traveling, so it's always been a longterm project. i've done this for over 35 years now, and experimented with each new opportunity. for most of the 90s i used scanned slides as the basis for computer gamesand puzzles, as RM sales started to decline.

for travel photos, I've found the key to be large volume, and shooting with both traditional travel and MS in mind. profit is less important than liveability and lifestyle, but still allows for Lagavulin over ripple

RacePhoto · « **Reply #45 on:** December 21, 2011, 15:51 »

Quote from: lagereek on December 21, 2011, 03:33

Quote from: RacePhoto on December 21, 2011, 02:32
Quote from: aeonf on December 21, 2011, 00:52
Quote from: ProArtwork on December 20, 2011, 19:52
I'm switching from Stolichnaya to Jameson.

A big step forward!

Already went from Highland Park to Ardbeg, (still both are perfection) and then later in the evening, Black Grouse.

In the photo world, just put the S90 up for sale and ordered a G12. Gave the S a year and it's very nice, convenient size and all, but options and features and the lens on the G series makes it I had a G6 and it was a little on the large side, and silver. Now the G12, black, is smaller and has what I wanted, remote trigger for time lapse, no mirror, and added benefit, 720p, can I make stock video now? Did you know B&H has them for $379, free overnight shipping? Until Dec. 31st.

Come on fellas! lets show a bit of balls, hey, have a bite of Lagavulin! that will put hairs on your chests.

I think you are missing it. I have had that and Talisker, love them both. Alligator from Ardbeg? Find some and see. (sold out in the UK from what I've seen?) Ardbeg Alligator, cask strength, 70cl / 51.2% Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky. If your local store has it, try some of the special release Ardbeg. Supernova is very nice too.

All of the Islay and Northern Highland scotches make that lowland stuff taste like waste water.

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #46 on:** December 21, 2011, 16:00 »

Quote from: RacePhoto on December 21, 2011, 15:51

Quote from: lagereek on December 21, 2011, 03:33
Quote from: RacePhoto on December 21, 2011, 02:32
Quote from: aeonf on December 21, 2011, 00:52
Quote from: ProArtwork on December 20, 2011, 19:52
I'm switching from Stolichnaya to Jameson.

A big step forward!

Already went from Highland Park to Ardbeg, (still both are perfection) and then later in the evening, Black Grouse.

In the photo world, just put the S90 up for sale and ordered a G12. Gave the S a year and it's very nice, convenient size and all, but options and features and the lens on the G series makes it I had a G6 and it was a little on the large side, and silver. Now the G12, black, is smaller and has what I wanted, remote trigger for time lapse, no mirror, and added benefit, 720p, can I make stock video now? Did you know B&H has them for $379, free overnight shipping? Until Dec. 31st.

Come on fellas! lets show a bit of balls, hey, have a bite of Lagavulin! that will put hairs on your chests.

I think you are missing it. I have had that and Talisker, love them both. Alligator from Ardbeg? Find some and see. (sold out in the UK from what I've seen?) Ardbeg Alligator, cask strength, 70cl / 51.2% Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky. If your local store has it, try some of the special release Ardbeg. Supernova is very nice too.

All of the Islay and Northern Highland scotches make that lowland stuff taste like waste water.

Can't remember trying any waste water; what's that like?

Elenathewise · « **Reply #47 on:** December 21, 2011, 17:39 »

Quote from: lagereek on December 21, 2011, 02:22

Know what you mean, unfortunately, the quality isnt much better within the macros. They have had no choice but like the micros, accepting quite mediocre stuff, just as "fill-ups", etc. Few years back, if you sent in 50 files to the Getty-RM, you would be lucky to get an acceptance of 5 or six, today, they are far more liberal in accepting.

See, the IS, rule of accepting files as long as they are technically sound, is so detremental its unbelievable and just creates tons of totally irrelevant material in every corner of the search.
Right now, Getty is promoting images from their Flickr-collection? thats how basic its become.

I guess they did become more liberal, I haven't had a single rejection from Getty (yet), RM or RF, doesn't matter. I do try to provide only high quality images (at least from technical point of view, the rest can be subjective). I haven't had a single rejection from Alamy, and I have close to 10,000 images with them. Subject matter, composition, light, etc can be hard to judge sometimes, but technical quality is pretty straightforward. When I get rejections from micros for technical reasons it drives me nuts since reviewers have no clue what they are talking about. One of the big reasons to focus on macros more - the money may not be that instant, but really, I think I've had enough frustration for the rest of my life.

jbarber873 · « **Reply #48 on:** December 21, 2011, 17:44 »

Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on December 21, 2011, 05:49

- Switch from scotch to moonshine
- Cut back on submitting to micro so I can...
-- Spend more time on macro RM/RF and test smaller agencies
-- Diversify and start selling images outside of stock
-- Start doing video and illustration
-- Finish my home studio

As a wise person once said somewhere on these boards, always listen to PaulieWalnuts!

Ed · « **Reply #49 on:** December 21, 2011, 20:09 »

Quote from: Elenathewise on December 20, 2011, 21:21

I am seriously thinking of moving away from microstock. For some reason I expected micro agencies to become more professional and respectable as they grow, but now I realize that this business model just doesn't allow for that. You can't provide the same level of service to customers spending 10 dollars that you provide to someone spending 500; when your business is volume sales, you can't possibly pay reviewers enough to have consistent reviews; your strength in microstock business is in the size of your library, not in it's quality. I spoke to a friend who works on producing a daily tv show and they always buy images from macros since it's more clear and defined licensing terms and they can be sure of quality. I suspect it is like that with many other organizations. Microstock has its competitive strength in cheap pricing but it also brings limitations.
Not that I would pull completely my port or anything like that; I'd probably be still submitting to micros but my focus is going to be with the macro agencies.

This...and more commissioned work.

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Author Topic: Your plans, for 2012 ? (Read 22699 times)

Elenathewise

Sean Locke Photography

MatHayward

contrastaddict

aeonf

nicku

jm

lagereek

RacePhoto

qwerty

lagereek

aeonf

PaulieWalnuts

sodafish

Blufish

microstockphoto.co.uk

benchart

luissantos84

hiddenstock

cascoly

RacePhoto

WarrenPrice

Elenathewise

jbarber873

Ed

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