Okay, so maybe I am not Tyra, but I sure can smile with my eyes. (If you don’t know what that is all about, I suggest you watch any season of Americas Next Top Model). While I am not a supermodel, I am looking for folks to model for me. I am not looking for the most amazing and stunning person in the world, I am looking for the average Joe and Jane. I shoot photos for iStock, which is a stock photo agency and am always looking for regular people to photograph to add to my portfolio.
If you would like to be a model for me, please shoot me an email at simon (at) valophotography.com and I will put you into my model database. I always give photos retouched photos to the people who model for me in exchange for their time. I am also always looking for great locations to use: Office Buildings, Spa’s, Gyms, Coffee Shops, etc. so if you know of any of those, please let me know as well. So until then, keep smiling with your eyes.
I got a chance to speak at COPA last night about my experience with micro stock. I have been selling stock exclusively with istock for a little over two years and shooting just a bit more than that. istock has helped me refine my processing and understanding image quality. There is a whole lot more to it than that, but shooting stock has helped me move in the right direction.
A few of the things that I spoke on was how I got started shooting stock, the benefits of micro-stock, and the drawbacks to micro-stock.
I am by no means an expert in micro-stock by any stretch of the imagination. There are plenty of people more qualified to speak on this topic, but here are a few of my observations and thoughts.
Benefits:
Getting Paid: You shoot a lot and have tons of photos sitting around… might as well see if they can make you some money?
Learning to Produce Quality Digital Images: Specifically focused on quality and how to obtain the best quality and present the best image possible. Not so much about framing or the artistic merits of a photo, but more so about the actual tangible quality of the photographic file itself.
Keeps you Shooting: You have a reason to bring your camera to work now. You can shoot any and everything and the more you shoot, the better you become. (Check out Nick Onken’s post on 10,000 hours)
Community and Forums: To create, critique, and be encouraged in whatever you do, you need community and others. I believe that we are all interconnected and that a good community can provide the basis for tools and encouragement that are important in facilitating the development of your skills. I have been a part of a forum/community at istock for a few years and they encourage me and prod me when necessary.
Events & Meeting People: Through istock I have met amazing photographers, great models, and many business owners/operators. Due to me shooting a lot and shooting many different people my business has reached many different places and people that I would normally not meet if I was only shooting Weddings or Seniors.
Drawbacks:
Stifles Creativity: Scott, Chase Jarvis’ post production lead put it very straight forward in his blog post here. If you don’t want to read that large post, it boils down to this: Images for stock are selected based on physical/digital quality and not on impact. An image may make you feel something, but because it has noise or harsh/direct light, it can not be used for stock and would not be accepted by many stock houses.
Getting Paid: I know I listed this in the benefits, but it also applies here. It took me about 5-6 months or more to get my first check from istock. That was how long it took me to make $100 so that I could request money. If you are selling a fine art print, you might get upwards of $500-1000 per sale, but for micro-stock you would get $0.20 for one sale. (Granted if you sell it 4000 times, that adds up quick)
Rejection: If you are scared of being rejected for anything, do not go into micro-stock. Every photo is inspected, accepted, or rejected. If you are new to working with digital images you will probably face lots of rejection on stock sites. Something that people would love on flickr.com would never be accepted on istock because of problems when you zoom in to 100%.
i.e.
Love this image, but it would get smacked down if I uploaded it to istock.
Good Images Do Not = Sales: A good photo, a great photo, doesn’t mean that it will sell. When you submit an image it is like you are pouring a glass of water into the ocean. There are millions of images at sock houses, thousands with the same topic/theme as you, and hundreds of good images, but a handful that sell very well. Just because you are in love with an image, doesn’t mean it will sell much, if at all, as seen with this photo.
Huge Competition: I kinda touched on this in my last point, but it is true. Depending on if you are a person who thrives off of competing or gets defeated when you have to compete, that will show how long you will last in stock and shooting stock… heck, shooting photos in general. There is always someone better than you. They are more talented, have better models, have better equipment. Always. The challenge is to figure out what you are going to do with that competition. Let it fuel you or put you out.
Now that I have rambled about micro-stock for a few hundred words, here is a small clip that my friend Bob Israel took of me speaking last night:
And the embarrasing photo he took:
No, that is not nail polish, it is where the lid of my washing machnie met with my finger nail. Yes, the finger is up the nose.
This past week Fuzz Martin and I hosted the Brewlypse, an istockphoto event. We had shooters from all over the Midwest and even one from Canada. It was kinda funny seeing one of the shooters from Tennessee get use to the cold weather in Wisconsin.
We were shooting different venues and models from Wednesday night till Sunday morning. I will be posting photos as I get them edited.Here are a few for you to check out.
There will be a behind the scenes video of one of the days soon! Stay tuned!
