this sounds like a great weekend.  If i wasn't already booked I would seriously consider flying from Norway to make it.  If you have another one of these 'stock oriented' weekends I would be happy to hear about it.

Do you have any already planned?  you can send a PM if you want so I am sure to see it.

We have another 2 day stock event coming up on Oct 3-4 in Pheonix AZ.
We are partnered with Photography Schoolhouse for that one. I will probably arrange another one with my full format at VVS in the spring

Quote from: photoshow on August 25, 2009, 23:57

Find niche market subjects and long-tail themes that they can shoot to fill holes in the collections.

The thing with micro is that the images still shouldn't be "too niche". A photo with an unique concept or object is a failure if it's downloaded only once or twice (In a macro agency that might be a good image)

I agree if the niche is to unique or narrow then it would maybe not make sense to pursue it. Yet if that unique object has little of no cost associated with the production of the image and it is downloaded once or twice a year from a dozen different locations and you have a multitude of these nominal earners working for you are boosting your bottom line. Regardless there are still a ton of holes in strong niche categories that can be filled and that will offer successful performance. Typically they are small holes in larger categories. It takes time searching and sorting through the massive pile of imagery that is the current collection of the agencies but the holes are there. Just because something is a specialized niche does not mean that it might not have a significant demand attached to it. Many of the holes today have to do with ethnicity, age and or cultural diversity. Even in the classic business themes that are isolated over white there are still cultural and age related niches that are poorly represented but have significant demand. This is a global marketplace, The US and Europe may be the strongest markets but there are still many markets around the world that are undeserved or that are just beginning to come on line.

Sounds like a great deal...but I'm on the wrong coast, Bobby

What's a little travel time for an opportunity to spend time doing some creative studio shooting with good people of a like mind in a commercial studio in one of the countries top vacation destinations? We have had people travel from as far away as Denmark, Holland, Australia, Russia, Germany and Canada to attend our workshops and shootouts :-)

This event will be preceded by an open house networking party at Vegas Vision Studios the night before the shootout and we will also be following this event up with a full day of fashion, glamour and stock shooting in the historic 1840's gold mining ghost town of Nelson Nevada which is just an hour east of Las Vegas. Then on Wednesday September 23 we will be offering a lighting workshop in studio for Classic 1950's pinup. So you see you actually could make a great working vacation out of a trip here, create a ton of marketable content for RF and RM Stock as well as Fine art and publication, spend a couple days relaxing on the strip and write it all off as a business trip.

I tend to be honest with them and tell them that there is in fact still the potential to earn a reasonable supplemental income from Microstock but that they are not likely to do it shooting the same things I shot or the things they see in the top 50 or 100 lists of the various sites. If they want to build portfolios today that will stand a chance at earning today they need to search the collections of the various agencies for holes. Find niche market subjects and long-tail themes that they can shoot to fill holes in the collections. It is a slow and tedious process but for those with the skill sets to produce quality imagery and willing to do the work there is still money to be made at this.

Thanks Johnathan, yes we are all bushed. The house was 4 stories and I can not even begin to guess how many times I went up and down the stairs in the three days but I know I did not feel like I missed my gym workouts

I am doing research for the Ranch now and even though I know the world is tired of my promotional machine you can be sure I will post about it once I have the details nailed down.

I don't typically include male models in the Glamour / Nude workshops because of the obvious tension that it creates when you commingle models in that situation and I find that typically the attendees seem to prefer to just have females to work with.

For other styles of workshops we do use male models. We have our Muscle Monday's here in the studio once every 6 weeks or so which feature all male models as well as having couples for some of our Wednesday Night workshops. The stock shootout and the day at the Nelson Ghost town next month will both include male models in order to allow the attendees to focus more on lifestyle and editorial stock then on fashion and glamour.

wow, sounds like a truck load

and a half

Once a model sees my fat butt trying to demonstrate a pose the tension is broken

Seriously can anyone quote directly from the IStock TOS what rule Laurin actually violated other then potentially embarrassing a personality in power at IStock?
The exclusive uploaded the images not Laurin. When Laurin uploaded them they did indeed belong to him, taken by him. When he transfers the copyright to the exclusive they then belong to the exclusive as if he had indeed taken them himself. Istock is splitting hairs here. How many Wizdata type contributors do you think there are on IStock , does not ISotck actually represent some older vintage collections that are repped by another agency that simply holds the copyright to them. How about NASA Images, they are public domain and yet they get uploaded everyday.

How about this Exclusive portfolio with tons of Vintage Photos dating back as far as 1916 were these all uploaded by the person who shot them or by the person who controls the copyright? How about model releases on them, there are multiple people in them many of whom are presumably still living?

The response of Istock to Laurin is not about breaking some upload rule it is about Chest Thumping, it is Alpha Dog behavior. The only thing Laurin appears to be guilty of here is bad judgment and poking the bear.

^^^^^ That sums it up, the reality of all types of business, but many photographers do not have a business head and just upload everything everywhere, building up lots of smaller stocksites that are looking to make a buck with a buyout, further diluting the customers revenue, weakening the contributors position in the business, adding pressure to the main stocksites revenue share and margins and causing reductions in commission percentages, next time a company cuts the contributors share we need to look closer to home for the reasons.

David  

It is true, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Because of the global nature of this collective as individuals known as the contributor base we lack the fundamental ability to rise cohesively as a single unit. If we could we could force changes. Sadly the contributor base comes from to many widely varying socio-economic environments for us to be able to rally a significant majority to support anything.  A great many of us live in Countries where  even in times of economic downturn our economy is very strong in comparison to many smaller, weaker less financially wealthy countries. So while we feel the sting of the loss of sales or cut royalty rates, those living in economies where the dollar is significantly stronger then their own currency don't care. By earning US Dollars they are still earning more at pennies a license then they do working a regular job 40 hours a week. In fact for those that are even marginally successful they are living at a very high standard for their homelands all because of Microstock. Getting those people to stand up against the machine simply is not going to happen yet for us to band together we need those people.

Quote from: photoshow on August 18, 2009, 23:50

I feel for ya Laurin, I stood up against the BS treatment we were all getting and everyone else is still getting at Fotolia and they deleted me. Was booted from Istock once too a long time ago though I went back later. In truth though I am not sure they have legitimate grounds to dump you here. If you truly transferred the � to the exclusive who then uploaded them then he owns them and can distribute them as he sees fit. I think you are simply being punished in a banging on the shield sort of way as IStock wants you to know they are bigger and badder then you are. But come on every agency out there has forgotten their place in this industry. They seem to think that we work for them but lets face it, they are the agent and as such they work for us. We own the content and united we have the power. The problem lies in the fact that microstock contributors have never had the balls to band together and demand to be treated like clients rather then employees.

Well that's the bottom line issue is it not? at the end of the day they don't need the photographers as much as the photographers need them ... it's like crossing a picket line ... in this business there are 5 people who will not cross the line and thousands who not only cross the picket line, but see doing so as a wonderful chance to make more money for themselves cause their competition is holding up the signs on the line ... it might be sad but it is what it is ... the contributor pool is infinite ... the number of sites that make people decent money is very very small ...

It is without doubt the fly in the ointment in this industry and is a big part of why I have moved so much of my effort away from microstock and stated focusing on my commercial and glamour work as well as my workshops and building the reputation of my studio as the place to rent when you need a studio space in Las Vegas. I do believe stock still offers a lot of opportunity for the professional and enthusiastic amateur I just think that most of those opportunities now lie in the niche mid stock priced markets and in new markets which microstock has yet to find an avenue to exploit. Commercial client shooting is changing it is becoming more royalty free focused with the client looking to be able to maximize the utility of the images they pay the commercial photographer to create. More often then not today my commercial shoots include licensing  rights for internal royalty free stock use in the contract. Three years ago this was rare, today it is common place for the client to ask for it.

Hi Everyone, we have a really exciting lineup of workshops and shootouts coming up over the next 6 weeks. I hope you are all as excited about the opportunities as I am.

Our most exciting event to date

Weekend With The Masters II[/size]

is coming up next weekend and we still have 2 spots left for this workshop and I have frozen the price at the early bird registration special price of $450 for the weekend.  

This is your opportunity to work one on one with 6 gorgeous models (a 2:1 or better model ratio is guaranteed at this event) as well as myself and Billy Pegram, Billy has written 5 best selling books on photography and modeling for Amherst Media and is a dynamic teacher. You won't regret the opportunity to work with him.

The super low 2:1 model to photographer ratio assures you the opportunity to create your own unique content at this workshop. In fact we are so committed to ensuring that everyone gets unique content at this event that we are going to insist that every one shoot their own stuff and not just follow around and shoot the same stuff the person in front of you did.

We understand that as photographers you are making a real investment here and we know how frustrating it is at typical workshops to go to the trouble to concept a shoot and then do all the little things it takes to bring that vision to reality only to have 10 more people shoot it behind you. Vegas Vision Studios is committed to ending this practice and bringing some professional set etiquette back to the workshop shooting set. At WWTM2 we will work in groups of no more then 2 and when a group is done shooting a set with a model that set will be closed and the model will move to a new group and a new set will be lit elsewhere on the property. From this workshop forward this will be the VVS shooting policy for all full day or longer workshops.
 
If you plan to attend and have not already done so I recommend that you take a look at the models booked for this shoot and look over the Comprehensive Location Tour and start putting some ideas together for what you would like to try to accomplish. While I can not assure you will have the chance to shoot every concept with your 1st choice model we will do all we can to accommodate as many options as possible and ensure that you go home with content that is unique to you.

At VVS we believe that if you are paying for a multi day event then you deserve a VIP Treatment and to help provide that VIP Treatment the cost of your registration includes an open bar cocktail Party and orientation at the house on Friday from 7:00 - 9:00 PM, as well as soft drinks, water, breakfast and lunch on Sat and Sun as well as a BBQ dinner on Sat after we conclude shooting for the day.
 
Don't forget to check out the Calendar for upcoming events including 3 exciting Stock Photography Focused events in Las Vegas and Phoenix AZ.

All the best to all of you and I thank you all for the opportunity to work with you.

Bobby Deal

Vegas Vision Studios

I had a meeting with the President of Sinar Bron Imaging today and they have offered to provide us with a variety of Broncolor strobes, modifiers and ring light and some of the new California Sunbounce Reflecotr kits for use at several upcoming VVS workshop events.

We will have the equipment available for the Microstock Shootout 9/19 at VVS as well as the Nelson Ghost town Shootout  on 9/20 and the 2 day Microstock Workshop In Phoenix on Oct 4-5

If you have not had the opportunity to work with Broncolor before these are amazing LITTLE light units with a lot of history. They are definitely top shelf kits and I know I for one am excited to be able to make them available for these and our Wednesday Night Workshops.

Congratulations to Johnathan for winning the VIP Spot at Weekend With The Masters II