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There were some delays in creating the mass of images for the later months of 2009 and beginning of 2010 that i wanted. Partly that was due to the divergence into 3D experimentation which involved a steep learning curve and ended with nothing concrete. At least nothing that would survive the review process on any site out there. I was working with another open source program called Blender (Blender.org).
Tough to master but i made some progress although for now it's on the back burner. If you want to try it out i suggest these tutorials by David Allen Ward who really is a great teacher and i found his videos on YouTube so informative and helpful: http://www.davidallenward.com
While on the subject of 3D work another site i have recently registered with is:
They also accept 2D illustrations and the upload was quick and easy.
Back to Inkscape though and as of a week away from the end of Jan 2010 i have about 35 images for sale across several sites. Woke up this morning to find $2.60 in the Graphicleftovers account from a single sale and i have only been there 2 weeks. A good start even if that does equate to just £1.61 at the current exchange rate it's not bad with only 29 files in that portfolio.
February was a better month again and the earnings total beat January with a total of £7.45 ($11.29).
At long last a sale on Canstock. (Actually 4 sales). That's been a long time coming. A.R there is 80%.
A little slow on Dreamstime during Feb. AR now 71.4%
Another sale on GraphicLeftovers and one for Istock (which i tend to get every once and while. Not bad when you consider only 4 images online with Istock.)
I can't, currently, add Vectors (EPS) files to sites like Fotolia and Istock etc due to the fact that Inkscape can't retain blurs and transparencies when saving as EPS. Hopefully that will be resolved in a later release.
First sale on BigStock netted me approx £0.32p. AR still 100%.
Shutterstock downloads a little less than hoped but still an increase at 12D for the month.
Still no sales yet on, Yaymicro, 3DStudio, Picturenation, Alamy, FeaturePics (although plenty of views there) or any of the others.
So, Feb was certainly a best month ever (BME) and i am really hopeful that with some quality submissions and some creative thinking i will push into double figure earnings for March... watch this space.
By the way. I tidied up the chart. Hope it looks more intersting and visually clearer.
A little posting on my experiences with other stock sites i haven't mentioned very much, if at all, to date.
Yaymicro:
A nice clean looking site. Haven't had any problems with them and their upload process is smooth and easy. No sales but after getting over 50 images approved i am starting to get more views. AR 100% so far.
3DStudio:
Sells 3D images as well as 2D, textures, stock illustrations and photos. Uploading has been fine and their method is for your image to become 'live' and viewable as soon as it's uploaded where it has the status of 'editorial only' until it is reviewed and, if good enough, will then go into the 'RF - can be used commercially' category.
No sales there yet but a massive amount of views (over 4000) so there is certainly a lot of activity there. AR 100% to date.
Featurepics:
A nice site. Friendly communications and a healthy number of views per image. No sales to date but 100% AR.
ScandinavianStockPhoto:
I haven't had any problems here but i think their site needs a little fine tuning. It looks a bit simple and lacks character. Their FAQ only contains 5 questions/answers and views per image are few and far between. I will continue to upload images though as it's an easy process. AR currently 100%.
StockphotoPro:
All i can say about SPP is that i submitted my initial 10 images (to be accepted as a contributor) upon registering on the 27th Jan this year and its now 14th March and they are still pending review. Doesn't inspire confidence.
The site looks and feels ok although there are pages such as 'my images' in the 'quick links' menu that are extremely slow to load for some reason. We are talking minutes. (In fact i timed it at 3mins 31secs for the page to load.) Perhaps it doesn't like Firefox but as other pages are generally ok i am assuming for now it's down to the site and not my imac or browser choice.
I'll post an update if/when my images are ever approved/rejected.
ShutterFarm:
I have views on SF although no sales to date but my main problem with them is that their system doesn't automatically read meta data therefore i have to manually type in title, description and keywords (up to 20 max). This is very annoying and time consuming as well as leaving open the possibility of making a typing mistake. This happened recently and for the life of me i couldn't figure out how to edit the title (where the error was) so emailed SF via their online form to find out how to do so. I also asked when they would support automated EXIF/IPTC data retrieval. That was a good week ago and no reply from them as yet.
I'll continue to upload for now but they are currently way down the list of priority sites to add to.
ImageStoreUK:
Having problems with this site. Getting logged out every time i try to edit an image (after submitting and getting an initial four sample illustrations approved.) I think their site is a bit 'wonky' but i have emailed them for advice/suggestions. Could be a firefox and/or camino problem. I'll update when i know more.
WorkingTitleImages:
Got approved as a contributor after submitting initial 3 sample images and although i have tried to upload the bulk of my portfolio i am unable to do so due to an error page popping up. The site is still in BETA stage and obviously has some teething problems and i know from an email received at the end of Jan that their official site launch could be delayed.
I have tried to contact them using their 'contact us' link but that too gives an error message of 'email not sent' so it seems their site has a way to go before it's up and running properly. I'll up date if the situation changes.
MostPhotos:
I nicely laid out site. No problems uploading but i feel more of a photo community rather than a site that's going to bring in a great deal of sales. It's good to see comments on your images and fun to leave feedback or click 'like' on other peoples images you admire and enjoy viewing. Having said all that there are sales to be had and as it's an easy site to use and navigate i suspect i will continue to add my illustrations there. I'll let you know if i ever get sale.
That's it for now... there are a few others i am registered with but I'll save those for another post. :-)
I thought i would write a little about the books i have read to expand my understanding of the microstock business. It's not a massive list of reading so don't worry.
Actually my book shelf currently contains 2 books on microstock specifically, a few on photography in general and one on the 3D software 'Blender' Program.
As i do hope to get back into 3D at some point in the future i thought i would add my thoughts on "The Essential Blender" publication also. But first:
Microstock Photography - By Douglas Freer
The title captures your attention in the first instance: "How to make money from your digital images". It starts off by giving a little background on how the microstock industry got started, how it has grown and progressed into what it is today after which you start to get an idea of what it takes, or rather, what mental attitude to take, to be successful at microstock.
There is background info on the top microstock sites out there and how they function (subscriptions/credits etc) and although that part is slightly out of date due to changes in pricing and the like its still helpful to read through especially if you are completely new to microstocking.
Chapter 3 "what sells and what does not" is very useful in that it reminds us that even the greatest landscape photo in the world probably wouldn't sell very well for stock if there wasn't any 'copyspace' to one side of the image for the potential buyer to stick their company logo or text on! There are plenty of full colour images as examples downloaded from, yes you guessed it, istock/shutterstock etc to show what sells and more importantly WHY it sells.
There is a chapter on the technical side of submitting photos to sites: The noise reduction, white balance, checking histograms etc as well as further advice for the home photographer on setting up a modest home lighting studio.
I particularly like chapter 10: Case Studies. In which a number of microstockers give their experiences and their earnings details from 2006 across all the sites they had a portfolio. Certainly that was 2006.. and it's now 2010 but all the same.. interesting reading.
The last chapter is all about copyright, trademarks, model releases etc.
These are by no means all the chapters or a complete list of everything in the book. It's just the parts i recall and remember stuck in my mind when i read it. Of course, i still read it and go back for inspiration when i feel the wheels are turning a little slower than i would like them to.
All in all i found it a good book. Interesting and useful but not patronising or overly detailed with a 'light' writing style that didn't make unrealistic and grandiose promises of massive amounts of money 5 minutes after putting it's principles into practice . I would recommend it to anyone already starting out in microstock. And if you haven't even started uploading your images to DT or SS yet then i would seriously consider reading this book more than once before you even attempt at submitting your images to stock sites. It will save you a lot of rejections!
Well it took 8 weeks for them to review my initial 10 submissions but i am now approved at Stock Photo Pro with a 100 % AR to date.
In fact, i emailed them yesterday to ask when my submissions would be looked at so maybe that did the trick.
Their site still seems rather slow (with Firefox) and i am uploading the rest of my portfolio one image at a time as using the multiple uploader (which they state is configured for Internet Explorer) doesn't work well and the description is replaced by the title. Don't have that problem with single image uploads although haven't tried out a different browser to see if it works better yet.
Anyway, another site to add to the list and i will post again if i get any sales there.
By the way, this months earnings are better than Febs and a surprise sale on Scandinavian Stock Photo as well as a large sale on Canstock. All will be revealed in my earnings report due out beginning of April so watch this space.
I also haven't forgotten about the second book review which i will post up this week.
bye for now, D
Well, March was pretty good and better than Feb.
I had slightly less downloads on Shutterstock than i would have hoped for considering the larger portfolio size in comparison to the previous month but still had the most ever downloads of 13.
I was very surprised to get a large sale on Canstock via fotosearch which netted me $19.80 (aprox £13.25) as well as my first sale at Scandinavian Stock Photo which sold for 3 Euros (my commission being 1 Euro/90p/$1.37).
Sadly no sales at Graphic Leftovers this month or any other site not shown below but i am currently uploading (finally) jpeg illustrations to Fotolia and Istock and getting views there as well as working on more images to get my portfolio to that all important 100 file milestone as quickly as possible.
This second book i would like to bring to your attention is "Digital Stock Photography - How to sell and shoot" - by Michal Heron.
Within the 270+ pages of this book is packed a massive amount of useful information to get the beginner started as well as making for a good read for the established professional alike.
It delves into more detail than the previous title (above) but i feel it is well worth adding both to your book shelf as they compliment each other in a balanced way.
Not many photos fill the pages and what ones are present are not very awe inspiring for the only reason that they are black and white versions.... but that's OK. I didn't get this to just stare at pretty photos but for the wealth of practical information that would improve my understanding of the stock photo business and market place.
The first chapter explains how stock started and gives a realistic non-sugar coated view of a very competitive market. This leaves you with the impression that it's going to be 'tough out there' and to succeed in this business you have to produce work that is a cut above the rest, or at the very least, of such high quality that it stands a chance of making a long term and consistent profit.
This view did not discourage me though but helped in my understanding of what it takes to be successful and galvanised me to improve, look at stock in a less 'dreamy' way and in a more professional and realistic manner.
This book really is based more on the likelihood that you will attempt at selling your work yourself and doesn't look at the microstock sites such as Shutterstock etc in detail as the previous book. That doesn't mean it's not of use if you are not going to be your own agent though which is why i suggest getting both books. On the other hand, you'll never know where your chosen career path will lead and learning about copyrights, dealing with clients and negotiating prices isn't going to be time wasted if it helps your understanding of how the stock business (as a whole) operates.
Chapter 5 is entitled: "25 stock assignments you can shoot."
This useful tool gets you thinking like a pro and building a stock portfolio. The practical applications and learning process involved in following the assignments is extremely helpful in appreciating what forward planning is required to create photos that would make saleable images and the practice of trying your best to match the assignment categories and fulfil that assignment can surely only make for a better and more accomplished photographer.
Further areas of the book delve into such varied subjects as organising your work flow, editing and backing up images, keywording and metadata as well as researching locations.
I would certainly add this title to your wish list and take the time to read (and re-read) all it has to offer.
Had the first sales in the last couple of days at Fotolia and 123RF. Been a long time coming at 123RF.
I do dislike Fotolia's credit system though. It's overly confusing. Why they just can't use pounds or dollars is anyones guess.
Apparently a credit is equal to 75p ($1.15) and now my balance after one sales states 0.216. ugh how unhelpful.
If i am correct then, if that means cents and you round it down, i am about 13.5 pence better off today?! OR is that 0.216 of a CREDIT? Which would mean 21% of 75p = 15.5p? hmmmm either way... what should i buy first though? A motorboat or go straight for the villa in Spain. Decisions, decisions!
The one sale at 123RF gave me 0.36 (a sub sale) so i am 23 pence better off. That clinches it.. looks like I will go for the motorboat after all! ;-)
Not much has happened lately. I have come to a crawl as far as uploads and haven't added anything new to the sites during April as yet.
I think 3D is going to take me longer to master than i had thought and 2D via inkscape is slow and also never really gives me the images that are in my head as i would expect. Lack of experience there i suspect in graphic design perhaps.
More approvals on StockphotoPro although there site is down for maintenance for a few hours at the moment (21st April - 13.20pm GMT). No views last time i looked there tho.
More rejections at iStock but can't complain as the look and feel of their approved images are way off the simple designs i put together. I feel i am going to have to up my game and create nothing less than 'stunning' to get my approval rating looking more healthy there.
This month so far a little slow on sales and i don't see myself beating last months total if things continue at this rate. I am certainly re-thinking my approach and dusting off the Canan camera with a view to getting out there in this lovely sunshine. I just have to motivate myself to get up at 4am to get that perfect shot! ;-)
