Hello microstock community,

I'm new in the microstock business and I'm visitor in this forum since i began march this year. I really like the hard but honest feedback, the members give in this forum.

I just love photography and the creativity you need, if you want to sell stockphotos.
That's why started in the beginning of march, to upload my photos to 12 different stock-websites with the program �StockSubmitter�.

From 08.03.2017 till today, 16.04.2017, i sold 52 pictures and earned about 18 Dollars. I sold the most pictures on shutterstock, 34 of the 52 pictures. So far i am quite happy about the results.
Because of the fact, that i really like the idea behind stockphotography and it's very funny, i would be pleased if you can give me some advice, how i can improve my work / portfolio.

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Likee68

In addition i have some questions:

1.   In the beginning i started to upload o lot isolated pictures and pictures with low commercial value. Would you delete them now, because they make my portfolio worse or should i keep them to have a larger portfolio?

2.   Also i tried different things, isolated pictures, textures, postcards with text or composing work. Is it good to have a variety of pictures or should i stay with one topic?

3.   On Fotolia or Dreamstime i can see, that a lot pictures have 0 views.
Is it normal for a beginner, that his pictures are not very high in the searchlists and his pictures can be found difficult?
Can my pictures be found easier, if i sell more pictures?

As you can see in my portfolio, i think i improved my work since a began. I started to integrate copyspace, if its possible and oriented on trends and goodselling topics. So please focus more on my latest work  .

Thank you in advance for your feedback!
Eike

Yes, you're right.
In this picture i had the idea, to show just the silhouette of the women for freedom concepts.
The problem is, that the girl is my girlfriend and don't want to show her face on microstock-photos 
I think the image would sell better with a recognizable person ...

1.   In the beginning i started to upload o lot isolated pictures and pictures with low commercial value. Would you delete them now, because they make my portfolio worse or should i keep them to have a larger portfolio?

2.   Also i tried different things, isolated pictures, textures, postcards with text or composing work. Is it good to have a variety of pictures or should i stay with one topic?

3.   On Fotolia or Dreamstime i can see, that a lot pictures have 0 views.
Is it normal for a beginner, that his pictures are not very high in the searchlists and his pictures can be found difficult?
Can my pictures be found easier, if i sell more pictures?

As you can see in my portfolio, i think i improved my work since a began. I started to integrate copyspace, if its possible and oriented on trends and goodselling topics. So please focus more on my latest work  .

Thank you in advance for your feedback!
Eike

1. No, there is no point in deleting images.
2. No point working with just one subject unless it sells really well (for now).
3. It is normal for a beginner and for a seasoned contributor. Some work just misses the target.

You're doing graphs, handshakes, coffee, trees.  It's stuff done a million times already, and done better.  It's unlikely to garner much interest.

You're doing graphs, handshakes, coffee, trees.  It's stuff done a million times already, and done better.  It's unlikely to garner much interest.

Yeah, I'm just beginning ... but this topics you named are always in the bestsellers, so why shouldn't I upload some of this pictures too?

In the future i want to take more modelshots, maybe the sales will rise ...

Work on improving your lighting skills. Lighting is everything in photography.
Don't bother taking a photo unless you can imagine how a buyer would want to use it - why would a buyer want a snapshot of a puppy, for example? A very carefully composed dog shot might (rarely) get a sale - my spaniel made the front page of the Cocker Spaniel Breeders' Gazette, but that was very carefully posed over a white background.
Look at the pictures in the world all around you, in supermarket fliers, magazines, on the internet.
Remember that there are literally tens of thousands of pictures of best-selling subjects to compete with - so maybe it is better to go for something less popular where you are only competing with a handful of other photos, even if the competition isn't great, your pics still have to be among the best available (which goes back to lighting and composition).
Have fun - because you're not going to get rich out of this.
... oh, yeah. A lot of stuff never does get looked at these days. The collections are growing so fast that it gets buried before it's even seen. It used not to be that way but now excellent photos can sink without trace. Again, having an unusual subject will help to avoid premature burial.

Thanks for your advices!
In the future i just upload well exposed pictures.
In the image above i had the idea, to show just the silhouette's of the woman and the temple, but this doesn't work for microstock ...

Okey, I will make a better one and post it here

I can certainly see that there's thinking behind your concepts, although as others have mentioned, some of these concepts have been repeated over and over again times a million. It's so difficult to stand out these days.

Everything I've researched in regards to future trends and what buyers are looking for indicate that the "young businessman" classical stock-images your portfolio possesses are on their way out and what buyers are looking for is authenticity. Perhaps go into a real office and "real looking models" and more natural light may help. Also multiple models, both men and women, ages and ethnicity would make your images more valuable.

Also your execution could be better but I don't shoot with artificial light (99% of the time) so I'm not the one to give advice on this. I have noticed that many of your images lack enough copy space.

Good luck!

I'm not so sure about this "authenticity" thing they've been saying this for years sounds cool but not sure the buyers want it. Less obviously cheesy but not really authentic possibly

"Authenticity" is just a pretentious word for "the indie look" or, as you say, "less cheesy than what stock has been known for". It has less to do with being truly authentic...

What I think they really have in mind is probably more in the old National Geographic style (which should be authentic) and less smiling bad actors.

Said it before but I think its funny..."If you can fake authenticity you have it made"

Quote

Said it before but I think its funny..."If you can fake authenticity you have it made"

Going to use that quote on my book and give you credit

Its actually from quite an old quote about sincerity attributed to various people ;-)

Totally gotta diffuse your lighting a bit too. I bought quite fruit and veggie files a while back and though I love avocados, this would not be the image that I'd be putting in any publication or ... really anything that I wanted mine or a client's name on.

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/five-avocados-isolated-on-white-background-604563089?src=hTW49e1SaFFeuWkWnrxcfQ-1-65

And that's not to say that it's a poor photo but, the harsh shadows are ... sinister ... Like, the avocado has a plot and bodies in it's basement ... :/