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Messages - Petersnow
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1
« on: June 25, 2023, 14:12 »
What if platforms like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, etc., started valuing our human-made images more in the long run?
Thank you for my morning laugh, coffee almost came out my nose.
Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, etc. care about only one thing, their profits and keeping shareholders happy. We are only a necessary financial liability toward their profit.
Name one platform that has even increased the value of our work just to keep up with inflation.
Things will get interesting going forward, AI generated images are not eligible for copyright and rest assured this will be exploited in the long run.
I trust corporate structure as much as I trust any government.
You're spot on about the business motivations of platforms like Shutterstock and Adobe Stock. Their bottom line is, well, the bottom line. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, far from it. But I do wonder if there's a future where our skills and understanding could be seen as valuable enough that we could keep our microstock jobs in a AI-saturated market. Or if not, if there's any possibility to adapt.
2
« on: June 24, 2023, 19:42 »
...But let's think about the "premium effect". When something is priced higher, people often perceive it as higher quality, more unique or harder to make, right? So, our images could attract clients who want to pay a bit more for that authentic, human touch - something AI can't duplicate....
We've already had an opportunity to see how something similar works, and the big issue is that the premium priced things have to be discernibly different and better for it to succeed. Also, the power of "good enough" at a low price is enormous.
The similar situation is the two iStock collections: "iStock Essentials (Lowest price) and Signature (Best quality)". The problem is that there are many items in the essentials collection that are way better than the least good items in the Signature collection, so buyers can't easily see why they should pay more.
Take a look at Essentials:
https://www.istockphoto.com/search/2/image?istockcollection=main%2Cvalue&phrase=tomato%20slice
versus Signature:
https://www.istockphoto.com/search/2/image?phrase=tomato%20slice&istockcollection=signature%2Csignatureplus
While I personally dislike the esthetic of lots of the AI work (too plastic-fantastic for my taste), the fantasy stuff is visually stunning and AI does much better at creating things you'd have a devil of a time staging in the real world. Plus, there's a ton of really boring and not terribly useful stuff in the human-created collections.
Dreamstime tried a pricing scheme where things cost more the more they sold, and they've all but abandoned it at this point. It was too complicated and put buyers off
I think if you wanted to create a premium collection that really meant something, it would have to be tightly curated and would not distinguish between creators (Offset, Adobe's 123rf, etc. premium collections are all just higher priced because of where they come from, not because the images are any better).
In the current cutthroat marketplace where Shutterstock and Adobe want to beat Canva and expand their "total addressable market" by appealing to non-traditional buyers, I don't see more than a small window for the high end curated content and I think Stocksy and Getty (and some local market specialists) have that taken care of.
In a word, "no" 
I've seen alot of your posts through the years and I always appreciate reading your insights Jo Ann What do we reckon the future holds for us photographers, illustrators, and designers in the non-AI world? Is this still gonna be a profitable gig? Any kind of new opportunity for us in the microstock world? And if the AI train is not stopping, do you guys see a way to incorporate it into our workflow and still make a living in the microstock business, or are we facing even harder times given how easy it's become to generate decent images with AI?
3
« on: June 24, 2023, 19:09 »
Hey folks.
Looking at all the buzz about AI-generated images, it's got me wondering. What if platforms like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, etc., started valuing our human-made images more in the long run? Sure, the AI stuff is easy to pump out, but it can't match the heart and soul we put into our work....
buyers don't need no stinkin' 'heart & soul' - they want images they can use and could care less about the effort to create images created by the click of a camera or mobile button, or a great prompt. and what makes a mobile image 'unique'? esp'ly when it's a variation of hamburgers or tomato slices.
stock photography & fine art have little overlap.
You're right, buyers want images that they can use effectively, and the source might not be their primary concern. However, when I mentioned "heart and soul", I wasn't implying that every stock photo needs to be a piece of fine art. What I meant was that human-created images, even those intended for commercial use, carry the "Made by Humans" trademark (which will probably be perceived as more valuable in the future) . Images created by us have the human authenticy that AI can't have . And there are people who appreciate and value that difference, and probably even more in the future when everyone can just create good quality AI images. This whole idea of pricing human-made images higher is just a thought, though. Maybe there's another way we can emphasize the human touch in our images. I'm all ears for more thoughts and suggestions!
4
« on: June 24, 2023, 18:14 »
Hey folks.
Looking at all the buzz about AI-generated images, it's got me wondering. What if platforms like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, etc., started valuing our human-made images more in the long run? Sure, the AI stuff is easy to pump out, but it can't match the heart and soul we put into our work.
What if these sites put a higher price tag on our creations? Could this actually underline their unique value and make them more attractive to clients? Stick with me here...
I know it sounds counter-intuitive upping the price might scare away some buyers. But let's think about the "premium effect". When something is priced higher, people often perceive it as higher quality, more unique or harder to make, right? So, our images could attract clients who want to pay a bit more for that authentic, human touch - something AI can't duplicate.
On the other hand, this could also make some clients lean towards cheaper AI images. It's a bit of a gamble, isn't it?
Now, for this to happen, sites would probably need to be stricter during the review process. Not all human-made images make the cut, right? What if they started having two categories - one for the usual price and another for a premium price? If they consider our image worthy during the review, they'd give us the option to only sell it for the premium price.
But here's the big question are we fighting a losing battle against the ease of creating images with AI, or could this actually be an opportunity for us to be seen as more authentic and earn more? This could either revolutionize our field or push us to the sidelines.
What are your thoughts? I'm genuinely curious to hear your views on this.
5
« on: June 23, 2018, 13:03 »
you can see in the attachment what im talking about. And im not even working that hard. What im mainly doing that is increasing the sales (i think) is analysing the market, seeing what sells, whats popular, trends, etc and boy oh boy let me tell you. That has a much bigger impact then just uploading random stuff that looks cool. I cant predict the future but if i keep uploading more and more, learning the markets, the crafts, and improving my work process i cna only see my income keep going up for the foreseeable future.
Far more important, how are your profits?
Income hardly matters if it isn't far more than your expenses making the popular images.
I see people saying they're having great sales, but that they haven't made back the costs of shoots made two years ago.
my profits are 100% of my earnings since im a vector artist. But vector or photos i think we all should ask ourselves what can we do to increase our incomes..what kind of images are we uploading, at what rate, are there other subjects who can bring more money, what are the trends etc. For example now a big trend is the world cup and you will certainly get good sales if you offer images that can be used by alot of people. Other thing..instead of only focusing on seasonal images like christmas or american holidays like 4th of july, why not think about other country holidays? In my personal experience ive had great success with holidays from lesser talked about countries. Since theres alot less offer, you wont have as much competition. Theres all kinds of small details that ive been trimming in my approach that have resulted in a more satisfying sales-to-time-spent ratio.
6
« on: June 23, 2018, 12:42 »
you can see in the attachment what im talking about. And im not even working that hard. What im mainly doing that is increasing the sales (i think) is analysing the market, seeing what sells, whats popular, trends, etc and boy oh boy let me tell you. That has a much bigger impact then just uploading random stuff that looks cool. I cant predict the future but if i keep uploading more and more, learning the markets, the crafts, and improving my work process i cna only see my income keep going up for the foreseeable future.
7
« on: June 23, 2018, 12:35 »
i would realy like to see what kind of images have you been uploading, and if you have been uploading consistently. I was wrongly decieved by negative people like many in this forum about istock and didnt upload there for awhile. When i started uploading there, sales started comming realy fast and in 6 months im earning more in istock/getty then all other sites together. I guess its about the images you are uploading. Why dont you be a bit more constructive and present us your approach to the market instead of just whining?
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