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Today editorial photography is less profitable than commercial photography, also because of its reduced shelf life.This trend will be reversed.Training AI takes a lot of time and is very expensive. That puts it many months (maybe half a year or more) behind the present.So even when AI imagery will become dominant, there will always be a need for news photographers.
Just got the email so I tried AI. Seems I could do endless requests, until I get something I wanted?Here's what the output is:Large·1024 × 1024 pixels3 × 3 in·300 DPI·JPG$2.90 10 pack, discounts for bigger packs, same as downloads.They are selling 1024 square images for $2.90? And that's the watermark? Right click and save, it's a 1024 JPG, I just added websize for this post.Select, content aware fill, brush the edges with the healing tool = free image.
Doesn't worry me anymore. I retired from stock photography at the beginning of this year. The props room has been cleared out and I have a bit of gear to sell - thats if its worth anything anymore???
Quote from: cascoly on March 24, 2023, 13:33Quote from: Her Ugliness on March 24, 2023, 13:22Quote from: Zero Talent on March 24, 2023, 09:06Today editorial photography is less profitable than commercial photography, also because of its reduced shelf life.True, but my editorial photos only made like 5% of my income and my commercial ones 95%, so I don't really see how that's going to bring in enough income to live from, at least for me.but that's been the trend for years as MS agencies reduced royalties. anyone who expected to make a living just from ms should have been aware of this for many years.funny how those decrying AI say AI generated art (no quotes!) is poor quality are saying they can't compete with it!Very few are saying it is poor quality. Anyone who thinks that needs to go on the Midjourney Community Showcase. The quality of the AI generated work is mind blowing. Way beyond anything posted here.What some people are saying 1. that people generating the AI with prompts thinking they are brilliant “artists” is very silly (again go look at the Community Showcase on Midjouney and the prompts used to create the work before any further editing) ...
Quote from: Her Ugliness on March 24, 2023, 13:22Quote from: Zero Talent on March 24, 2023, 09:06Today editorial photography is less profitable than commercial photography, also because of its reduced shelf life.True, but my editorial photos only made like 5% of my income and my commercial ones 95%, so I don't really see how that's going to bring in enough income to live from, at least for me.but that's been the trend for years as MS agencies reduced royalties. anyone who expected to make a living just from ms should have been aware of this for many years.funny how those decrying AI say AI generated art (no quotes!) is poor quality are saying they can't compete with it!
Quote from: Zero Talent on March 24, 2023, 09:06Today editorial photography is less profitable than commercial photography, also because of its reduced shelf life.True, but my editorial photos only made like 5% of my income and my commercial ones 95%, so I don't really see how that's going to bring in enough income to live from, at least for me.
Today editorial photography is less profitable than commercial photography, also because of its reduced shelf life.
I also think 1. artists need to be compensated and compensated well for providing the inputs that actually made the AI possible. ... The only solution is legislation (after all our industry doesn’t exist at all without IP laws). I am not in the EU but would encourage those that are to contact their representatives. I believe AI is being debated by them at the moment.
again, i'm waiting to hear what anyone claiming compensation expects to receive for their tiny contributions?
Now that I see yours, nope no where close. And just for fun, I created a stats page for SS for all the AI images I have uploaded. Ready?AI Images•$0.00•0Now I can watch and look forward to the first dime? Some of those are my images, uploaded and then I edited what came out of Dall-E2, they aren't AI generated but more of AI enhanced or alterations. Seemed like a good idea at the time? Too much time and effort for no return. They are all vectors as the AI illustrations are unacceptable.
Quote from: Annie on March 26, 2023, 05:11Doesn't worry me anymore. I retired from stock photography at the beginning of this year. The props room has been cleared out and I have a bit of gear to sell - thats if its worth anything anymore??? I am honestly jelous of you, I wish I could just do the same. Be done with all of this mess. Unfortunately I have no plan B. My only job other than microstock has been doing art. I am so screwed.
Quote from: Firn on March 26, 2023, 12:30Quote from: Annie on March 26, 2023, 05:11Doesn't worry me anymore. I retired from stock photography at the beginning of this year. The props room has been cleared out and I have a bit of gear to sell - thats if its worth anything anymore??? I am honestly jelous of you, I wish I could just do the same. Be done with all of this mess. Unfortunately I have no plan B. My only job other than microstock has been doing art. I am so screwed.There are other Plan Bs depending on your skills and whether you want to start again with other types of imagery.There was a thread here a while ago where we talked about other opportunities such as:- designer resources agencies- printed merchandise - direct sellingThere are pitfalls and learning curves in some of them, and nowadays a lot of competition in most. But, for example, I was able to make an additional $1,000/month after about a year of focusing on those three things.Your puppies would look cute on greeting cards and printed merchandise, if you haven't already tried that. In fact, remember last Christmas I saw one of your photos sold on greeting cards here in our Australian supermarket?There is a big demand for product mockups. But that requires further investment of props and learning new skills. But its definitely a growing market. I need to expand my skills in PS to produce quality smart objects like this quick example I just found, where it perfectly wraps around the product:https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/1395344090/boho-candle-mockup-candle-label-mockupHere's an interesting story that happened to me just the other day: I was trying to sell one of my graphic designs and placed it on one of my own photography backgrounds for the cover photo. The product never sold but the background did! Someone went and bought it from Adobe Stock and I received $20 for the background photo. lolSo there is still a need for good background shots, I guess.So, yeah, there are other Plan Bs.(But just to add: I am not shooting any more photography though. I have enough files. I was planning to do some more product mockups this year - I kept those props but I got rid of all the rest. But I just cannot get motivated. Maybe because the whole industry is so depressing. Just for fun and relaxation, I have been enjoying doing graphic design projects as my creative outlet.)Oh, and one more thing (apologies - this is becoming a very long answer). At the end of last year I decided to set up a new website from scratch. I had closed my Etsy shop so I didn't have a website through them anymore. I have always wanted a quality site which was kind of like a one stop place to showcase my work - and to my surprise I sold some work (some videos mainly) and maybe more that I havent known about. It's not a direct selling site - I didn't want all the hassle of that anymore. I just link my products to a couple of specific agencies where they can be purchased. My sales on those sites have gone up this year, so who knows??? I do a lot of marketing on social media sites and started up some new social media accounts for a fresh start. I believe everything helps. I have purchased things that I see promoted on social media - so I figure others may as well. https://milleflore.com/
Product photography. For new products. AI can't replace it.
but I've already seen sites where you can send in a couple of cell phone selfies and it will create 100 of professional looking portrait photographes with your face.
Quote from: Zero Talent on March 27, 2023, 09:31Product photography. For new products. AI can't replace it.You are more optimistic than I am. You can upload a snapshot cell phone photo to midjourney, give it instructions and it will create something for you. No product photographer needed.I don't think it would work for product photography yet, because MJ doesn't do texts and writes in its own alien language, so every product packing with text on it would not work and I don't think it can really completely reproducing an object yet, just another version of it, but it's absolutely something I can imagine for the future: Just take a snapshot of your product, upload it to MJ and tell MJ "make me a beautiful advertisement shot" and voilá! But besides this, I did actually start looking for other jobs, but it's not like someone is searching for a product photographer anywhere in my area. As said, I am not considered as "trained" with my university degree since I did not work in that field for 15+ years and the only very few job offers where being trained wasn't a requirement were not an option for me for various other reasons, like not having a driver's license.I though portrait photography might be one that would always be in demand, but I've already seen sites where you can send in a couple of cell phone selfies and it will create 100 of professional looking portrait photographes with your face.
Firn, are you noticing a decline in sales already now, or is your concern more about the near future?
Quote from: RalfLiebhold on March 27, 2023, 11:46Firn, are you noticing a decline in sales already now, or is your concern more about the near future?It's more about the future. My sales are as usual so far, both in terms of downloads and revenue. But I don't expect a decline so fast. The latest version of midjourney that lets you basically create photorealistic images is maybe 2 weeks old? Up till that point AI photos were rather poor in my opinion. It's really the latest MJ version that is giving me nightmares.It will take a while till everyone catches on to what AI can do now, most of all customers. But eventually there won't be any money to be made with microstock photography and I am afraid it will be rather sooner than later.
Quote from: cascoly on March 26, 2023, 12:47again, i'm waiting to hear what anyone claiming compensation expects to receive for their tiny contributions?Tiny contribution? TINY CONTRIBUTION? Are you kidding me? Our unvoluntary contribution is EVERYTHING this AI is built on. This is not tiny, this is my freakin' lifework. And if you want to know how much I want? I want what my microstock portfolio would have earned me for the rest of my life, had it not be stolen and used to train an AI to replace me, which will result in my portfolio being worthless and me being without any income and this would be something close to a 7-figure amount going by what I used to earn per month and how many years I can still expect to live. THAT'S how much my portfolio has been worth before AI image companies stole it.
Quote from: Zero Talent on March 27, 2023, 09:31Product photography. For new products. AI can't replace it.You are more optimistic than I am. You can upload a snapshot cell phone photo to midjourney, give it instructions and it will create something for you. No product photographer needed.I don't think it would work for product photography yet, because MJ doesn't do texts and writes in its own alien language, so every product packing with text on it would not work ...
Quote from: Her Ugliness on March 26, 2023, 13:10Quote from: cascoly on March 26, 2023, 12:47again, i'm waiting to hear what anyone claiming compensation expects to receive for their tiny contributions?Tiny contribution? TINY CONTRIBUTION? Are you kidding me? Our unvoluntary contribution is EVERYTHING this AI is built on. This is not tiny, this is my freakin' lifework. And if you want to know how much I want? I want what my microstock portfolio would have earned me for the rest of my life, had it not be stolen and used to train an AI to replace me, which will result in my portfolio being worthless and me being without any income and this would be something close to a 7-figure amount going by what I used to earn per month and how many years I can still expect to live. THAT'S how much my portfolio has been worth before AI image companies stole it.you're going to be a bit disappointed if you expect even THREE figure compensation -
- Oversupply of AI generated images/video, the market will become saturated if it hasn't already.
Quote from: Zero Talent on March 27, 2023, 09:31Product photography. For new products. AI can't replace it.You are more optimistic than I am. You can upload a snapshot cell phone photo to midjourney, give it instructions and it will create something for you. No product photographer needed.I don't think it would work for product photography yet, because MJ doesn't do texts and writes in its own alien language, so every product packing with text on it would not work and I don't think it can really completely reproducing an object yet, just another version of it, but it's absolutely something I can imagine for the future: Just take a snapshot of your product, upload it to MJ and tell MJ "make me a beautiful advertisement shot" and voilá!
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Topic: Shutterstock - Open AI deal : tool rollout (Read 25620 times)
