Most, not all people on the old SS forum as well as here are just habitual cry babies and bitchers with nothing to offer.
I'm not on forums much anymore because they are for the most part useless.
You don't learn anything from people who cry their heart out.
I'm not very sociable, I'm not good at small talk so I'm not on forums much anymore.
Yeah, that's me in the long gray beard. Yes, I take selfies. Yes, they sell. All the time.
I've not done any for several months because after I hit 10,000 uploads in one year I decided to take a break.
I've had conversations with some really big sellers and learned quite a bit. I'm now back to uploading, uploading, uploading.
Not as hard and furious as I did in that first year but I'm working at it.
I now look really hard at what sells and what does not sell. Not surprisingly, I don't do the stuff that does not sell.
Knowledge was the main advantage I gained with that magic 10,000 port. It's not bragging, I did it!
I know what does not sell. I don't know what and how the big sellers are made of. I'm working on that.
I've had some really high paying editorial sellers that left me shaking my head. I'm not after those. What I'm after
is subjects and images that sell really well regularly.
I uploaded about 2100 selfies to see if they made money. They do. I'm not happy about how much they bring in but they sell.
I took the off time to look at what sells and what does not. From my images.
I still try new stuff, new subjects and so on. I'm in a race. A race against myself making money. Not in the number of uploads.
So starting this month I'm back to uploading. A LOT!
With a difference. I understand the argument against images that look alike. I try to avoid them because they are
a waste of my time and a waste of the agencies time.
I also stopped hating the evaluators and just embrace what I learn from the rejects.
A couple of months ago I tossed, sold actually all of my DLSR, crop sensor stuff. The cameras and the lenses.
I'm all in with the new Nikon Z cameras. They work great! I get a lot fewer rejects for focus and hardly ever any for
too much like other photos I have submitted.
I'm doing quite a few videos. That was the reason I got rid of my DSLRs. I wanted to do videos.
It's late in the game for videos because everybody with a smart phone submits them.
But they do bring in money and with the new software they are easy to do.
If you do videos use a tripod. Even with the new magical, superb, much hyped Z9 you need to shoot with a tripod.
I keep 3 or 5 of them in my car at all times. I'm getting ready to toss the monopods and other gimmicks that don't work.
It's impossible to beat a tripod.
So that's it. Now you know all about me and are up to date.
I do stock for money. I try to make as much money as possible from each submission.
I wish I had the magic formula for the big bucks but I don't I'm still struggling with that.
Good luck and keep uploading, uploading, uploading.
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Grossinger