Microstock Experiences

Reading Material for Beginner to Intermediate Photographer

2009-10-15T07:25:00.000-07:00

I have recently purchased a few books on photography in order to help me learn techniques and skills.

My main recommendation is The Digital Photography Book: The Step-by-step Secrets for How to Make Your Photos Look Like the Pros. by Scott Kelby.

I found this book very easy to follow and to be honest is very cheap in comparison to a lot of the books on the market! I would recommend it to anyone that is looking to start photography and to advance their understanding and ability.

The book is superb not just microstock photography but will enchance your overall ability. Brilliant for perfecting those holiday snaps.

Another book i would recommend investing in, is: Microstock Photography: How to Make Money from Your Digital Images by Freer.

This is more specific to the microstock market. It provides great background information as well as how to make your photos sell!

For more information or to purchase the books click on the links in the text or below:

The Digital Photography Book: The Step-by-step Secrets for How to Make Your Photos Look Like the Pros. by Scott Kelby.

Microstock Photography: How to Make Money from Your Digital Images by Freer.

First Image Sold!

2009-10-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

I have sold my first image on Fotolia!

The photograph was purchased in medium for 4 credits. My commission on this purchase is 1.2 credits.

The image was a shot titled 'Royal Flush - Spades' It is a simple image of a royal flush in poker (10, J, Q, K, A) spread out and isolated on black.

I have taken a few of these images just to test my ability and also just to get me off the mark.

Fotolia so far is my favourite microstock site. Due to me being a very inexperience and a definate beginner photographer and i am struggling to get excepted by some of the other companies. Mainly iStockPhoto and Shutterstock.

Isyndica - Overview Continued...

2009-09-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

After my last post reviewing Isyndica i was contacted my a member of their staff who made highlight a few points i should clarify. They made the following points (direct quote from the email):

* "A free account does not expire: Images uploaded are deleted after 30 days. However, you can continuously upload to distribute."
* "Shutterstock is not officially supported for reasons that are out of our control. You can however add them using the "Generic FTP connector". - This is a feature that is unfortunately not available for Free accounts.
*IStockphoto is not compatible - "However you can use the generic FTP for stock footage if you do stock footage."

I thought it best to add quotes from the email.

It brings me to one more point i did not mention. The ISyndica support is second to none. I have emailed them a couple of times with a few queries and the reply has always been swift, easy to follow and courteous.

To be redirect to the ISyndica site please Click Here.

ISyndica - An Overview of an Emerging Microstock Tool

2009-09-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

I am still in the process of learning as much as i can about composition and general ways to make my photography more sellable to microstock agencies. I will be posting my findings shortly.

During research into how to make the uploading process easier and quicker, a friend who is already in the microstock business recommended me to check out; ISyndica (Click to be redirected to their site!).

The point of this site is to upload all your items simultaneously to a number of different Microstock sites. At a quick glance it is compatible with 2 out of the 'Big Four'. These being Fotolia and Dreamstime. It is also compatible with about another 25.

The way it works is you create a 'Catalogue' with them, including the images, titles, keywords and descriptions. You then 'Syndicate' them to the channels of your choice. You can get statistics from the site in the 'Analytics' tab, which gives you detailed information on your sales. this can be broken down to how each image performs or how each microstock site is performing - e.g. Sales, Revenue etc.

Price:

You can get a free trial account which last for 30 days and gives you 100 credits free (it costs one credit per image per microstock site per upload)

The actual subscriptions are as follows:

Basic $4.99 per month 5GB Storage 200 Monthly Credits
Plus $9.99 per month 20GB Storage 400 Monthly Credits
Premium $19.99 per month 50GB Storage 800 Monthy Credits
Max $39.99 per month 120GB Storage 1200 Monthly Credits

Further monthly credits are available at a price of $0.01 per credit.

Purchased extra credits don't run out and run over to the next month if unused. The monthly credits in yuor subscription do not carry over if not fully utilised.

For More information on subscriptions please Click Here.

The site is also compatible with video and illustrations.

For More info visit www.isyndica.com

Please feel free to comment on anything i have missed or anything you believe to be incorrect.

Microstock - 'Big Four' Breakdown

2009-08-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

I am just starting out in the microstock industry. I have only very recently took up photography and discovered microstock when looking for a way to fund my new found hobby.

I have identified the 'Big Four' to be - iStockphoto, Shutterstock, Dreamstime and Fotolia. (Click to be redirected to their page in order to sign up!)

The microstock industry is split into two main types. 'Pay as you Go' and Subscription based.

'Big Four' Info:

Shutterstock

A purely subscription based site.

Packages for buying photos range from; 1 month (25 downloads a day max) $159.00 to 1 year (25 downloads a day max) $1,599.00.

Shutterstock only offer one resolution of the image for sale, unlike most other microstock sites, see below.

After reviewing a number of other peoples blogs on microstock, Shutterstock seems to situated in the first or second in retrospect to their earnings.

Photographers can expect to make $0.25 per download as a "Beginner" and $0.30 per download as a more experienced photographer, they define this benchmark as $500 in commission.

Shutterstock's commission ranges between 30% - 50% depending on previous downloads, exclusivity etc.

Dreamstime

A hybrid of both single sale "Pay as You Go" and subscription based.

Packages for dreamstime range from $19.99 for a 20 credit package to $99.99 for 130 credits - custom packages are available but must be arranged independently with Dreamstime. Subscription packages range from 750 to 9,125 images over varying time periods.

Dreamstime per-image pricing depends on the resolution ordered (the higher-resolution versions more expensive than the lower.)

The amount of money you make per image/ per download varies due to whether it was purchsed using a subscription or credit based package. It also depends on the resolution ordered.

Commission is at 50% non-exclusive and 60% for exclusive images.

Fotolia

Fotolia is a single sale "Pay as you Go" Site.

Credit packages range from $10 - $2000.

The amount each image costs (in credits) is dependent on the resolution of the images. The higher the resolution the higher the costs.

Fotolia's commission is at a minimum 33% for a non-exclusive image and 50% for an exclusive image. Commission rates do increase based on the ranking system, according to Fotolia you gain an extra 2% in commission per level. The levels range from White to Diamond.

iStockPhoto

A credit based microstock site. (Pay as you Go).

Credit packages online range between 12 to 2000, costing £12.10 and £1,308.25 respectively.

Image costs vary depending on the resolution of the image.

iStock has a fixed commission rate at 20% and if you become an exclusive photographer, iStock do not have exclusive images just exclusive photographer meaning you cannot list ANY other photography elsewhere beside iStockPhoto, you can earn up to40% at the top level.

Some may argue this is too low however during my research i have found the majority of Microstock photographers rank iStockPhoto as one of their top, if not the top, earners.

I hope you have found my research useful, if you want to know more about any of the sites, just click on the names or logos and it will take you straight to the website in a new window.

This is the first post in what I hope to many as I learn more about the microstock structures.

I am currently in the process of applying to the four listed and a few others (i will post information on a few others soon!)

I will keep you updated on my progress.

Please do comment on and/or subscribe to my Blog!