Author Topic: Just another SS Portfolio Critique Wanted :) (Read 7992 times)

Yato · « **on:** July 28, 2017, 05:26 »

Hey,
I started in November 2016 and uploaded about 100 pictures a month.
I focus on landscape and nature photography, I know it's one of the worst selling areas.

So far I have about 30 downloads a month, making 10$.
Is this normal and can you give me feedback for my portfolio?

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Yato [nofollow]

Every critique is appreciated no matter how cruel it is

Thanks, Yato

Pauws99 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 28, 2017, 05:47 »

Quote from: Yato on July 28, 2017, 05:26

Hey,
I started in November 2016 and uploaded about 100 pictures a month.
I focus on landscape and nature photography, I know it's one of the worst selling areas.

So far I have about 30 downloads a month, making 10$.
Is this normal and can you give me feedback for my portfolio?

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

Every critique is appreciated no matter how cruel it is

Thanks, Yato

There OK but I think you know yourself in the current market they're not going to big sellers...either carry on with what you do as its what you enjoy or try and work on stuff thats more marketable/individual.

Brasilnut · « **Reply #2 on:** July 28, 2017, 06:09 »

Quote

So far I have about 30 downloads a month, making 10$.
Is this normal and can you give me feedback for my portfolio?

I'm also a travel photographer so I hope I can help.

Good news:
Your images are bright and vibrant which is good...they show up nicely on thumbnails. You have some nice tilt shift aerial stuff. keep shooting more of those and try to find new angles on already popular places - not easy to do but if done well you should be able to rank highly for some important keywords. I see you have a drone and it's still a new market so exploit as much as you can (and legally) these types of images.

Bad news:
Flowers, your dog (it's beautiful by the way), snapshots of beach...pretty ordinary stuff and difficult to make money with those as there's just too many of these - except for the beautiful waves at Algarve. You were also shooting some of the beach at harsh midnight sunlight thus diminishing its value.

I like your style, keep going! Hopefully you will get a $50+ license soon, probably on your aerial stuff. This should help you stay motivated to keep submitting 100 images a month for the next 2 years or so. By then you should be making $200-400 a month, but who knows how profitable micros is going to be in a few years...

Yato · « **Reply #3 on:** July 28, 2017, 07:31 »

Quote from: Pauws99 on July 28, 2017, 05:47

Quote from: Yato on July 28, 2017, 05:26
Hey,
I started in November 2016 and uploaded about 100 pictures a month.
I focus on landscape and nature photography, I know it's one of the worst selling areas.

So far I have about 30 downloads a month, making 10$.
Is this normal and can you give me feedback for my portfolio?

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Yato [nofollow]

Every critique is appreciated no matter how cruel it is

Thanks, Yato
There OK but I think you know yourself in the current market they're not going to big sellers...either carry on with what you do as its what you enjoy or try and work on stuff thats more marketable/individual.

Thank you. Do you think, uploading more shots with people (mostly editorial), for instance in cities would make a difference?

Yato · « **Reply #4 on:** July 28, 2017, 07:33 »

Quote from: Brasilnut on July 28, 2017, 06:09

Quote
So far I have about 30 downloads a month, making 10$.
Is this normal and can you give me feedback for my portfolio?

I'm also a travel photographer so I hope I can help.

Good news:
Your images are bright and vibrant which is good...they show up nicely on thumbnails. You have some nice tilt shift aerial stuff. keep shooting more of those and try to find new angles on already popular places - not easy to do but if done well you should be able to rank highly for some important keywords. I see you have a drone and it's still a new market so exploit as much as you can (and legally) these types of images.

Bad news:
Flowers, your dog (it's beautiful by the way), snapshots of beach...pretty ordinary stuff and difficult to make money with those as there's just too many of these - except for the beautiful waves at Algarve. You were also shooting some of the beach at harsh midnight sunlight thus diminishing its value.

I like your style, keep going! Hopefully you will get a $50+ license soon, probably on your aerial stuff. This should help you stay motivated to keep submitting 100 images a month for the next 2 years or so. By then you should be making $200-400 a month, but who knows how profitable micros is going to be in a few years...

Thanks a lot, I will try harder, finding new angles! Unfortunately that was not my drone. Those aerial shots were made from plane.

Brasilnut · « **Reply #5 on:** July 28, 2017, 07:40 »

Quote

Thank you. Do you think, uploading more shots with people (mostly editorial), for instance in cities would make a difference?

It depends on the shots. I find that illustrative editorials can be highly profitable for years to come, but you must research ahead of time what stands out in a certain city then work around that. For example, I was in Cannes last summer and took some shots of the neighborhood around where the film festivals takes place, including the marine. Does do OK.

I saw you have some editorials of lisbon with the typical trams, probably too many of those around and better quality.

The best editorials are news, so try to find an angle when u do travel. I was in Israel in feb and shot tons of pics of security forces around holy places and now that things are kicking off in that crazy part of the world, these images are selling regularly.

Good luck

Alex

Pauws99 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 28, 2017, 17:32 »

Quote from: Yato on July 28, 2017, 07:31

Quote from: Pauws99 on July 28, 2017, 05:47
Quote from: Yato on July 28, 2017, 05:26
Hey,
I started in November 2016 and uploaded about 100 pictures a month.
I focus on landscape and nature photography, I know it's one of the worst selling areas.

So far I have about 30 downloads a month, making 10$.
Is this normal and can you give me feedback for my portfolio?

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

Every critique is appreciated no matter how cruel it is

Thanks, Yato
There OK but I think you know yourself in the current market they're not going to big sellers...either carry on with what you do as its what you enjoy or try and work on stuff thats more marketable/individual.

Thank you. Do you think, uploading more shots with people (mostly editorial), for instance in cities would make a difference?

They can if they have more of a theme than just people in a city...i.e is there some specific angle on what they are doing or something related to current events. I'm no expert at predicting what sells but I do know if you don't put it out there it wont sell. You will probably learn more from your experience of your portfolio than anything else.

rinderart · « **Reply #7 on:** September 12, 2017, 00:11 »

To much dog. to many duplicates. to much saturation thinking thats what sells...[It doesn't]. Travel is about One thing ...telling Visual stories about a Place. Travel Photography is One of the first subjects used in stock going Back many Decades. 1915 or so. Travel, landscapes and flowers were the top 3 for Many Years. You never saw people. That was done By AD agencies.