Microstock sites

[ryme-intrinseca]

This may be a controversial topic!

Does anyone here sell images through Microstock sites? I know that many professional photographers dislike the Microstock model, as they feel it takes away business for them, and I understand that point of view - Microstock has definitely had a big impact on the photography business, and people may feel that it devalues the profession. On the other hand, some people choose to concentrate on it fully and make a decent living from shooting for such agencies.

From my point of view, I started submitting to Shutterstock in November, and have made enough money to buy a new lens. It's nice to know that my photos are being used (I've found a few on websites and in newspapers), and I think it's helped me to improve my skills.

[Ian]

Re: Microstock sites

This may be a controversial topic!

Does anyone here sell images through Microstock sites? I know that many professional photographers dislike the Microstock model, as they feel it takes away business for them, and I understand that point of view - Microstock has definitely had a big impact on the photography business, and people may feel that it devalues the profession. However, other people actually make a decent living from shooting for such agencies.

From my point of view, I started submitting to Shutterstock in November, and have made enough money to buy a new lens. It's nice to know that my photos are being used (I've found a few on websites and in newspapers), and I think it's helped me to improve my skills.

I'd also be interested to hear more about what people think of the stock photo agencies - Alamy comes to mind.

I've not studied them in any great depth, so I'm all ears

Why is Microstock controversial?

Ian

[ryme-intrinseca]

Re: Microstock sites

Why is Microstock controversial?

Ian

Stories of microstockers having encountered disdain from professional photographers are quite frequent on the microstock forums! There was also an article about the issue in one of the professional photography magazines a while back. I think that some professionals feel that amateurs are muscling in on their territory, by selling images for 'micro' prices, to designers, magazines, etc.

I can see both sides of the argument. The payment I receive from Shutterstock per image is low, but it adds up to a decent sum over a month. However, a lot of people believe their images are worth much more, and would not wish to sell them for such a low price. I completely understand this viewpoint, and the Internet in general must certainly have had an impact upon traditional photography.

Submitting to Shutterstock is something I really enjoy doing, and I feel proud when I see my images in use. Better than them sitting unseen on my hard drive!


I am also an Alamy contributor too, but my portfolio there is tiny at the moment. I've been lucky enough to have all of the images I've submitted there accepted, but there's no doubt that Alamy's standards are significantly higher than agencies such as ShutterStock, Fotolia, etc., so I save only my very, very best images for them. As they're a 'midstock' agency (I think that's the term?), the payment submitters receive for each download is significantly higher, but downloads are much less frequent.

[Ian]

Re: Microstock sites

Stories of microstockers having encountered disdain from professional photographers are quite frequent on the microstock forums! There was also an article about the issue in one of the professional photography magazines a while back. I think that some professionals feel that amateurs are muscling in on their territory, by selling images for 'micro' prices, to designers, magazines, etc.

I can see both sides of the argument. The payment I receive from Shutterstock per image is low, but it adds up to a decent sum over a month. However, a lot of people believe their images are worth much more, and would not wish to sell them for such a low price. I completely understand this viewpoint, and the Internet in general must certainly have had an impact upon traditional photography.

Submitting to Shutterstock is something I really enjoy doing, and I feel proud when I see my images in use. Better than them sitting unseen on my hard drive!


I am also an Alamy contributor too, but my portfolio there is tiny at the moment. I've been lucky enough to have all of the images I've submitted there accepted, but there's no doubt that Alamy's standards are significantly higher than agencies such as ShutterStock, Fotolia, etc., so I save only my very, very best images for them. As they're a 'midstock' agency (I think that's the term?), the payment submitters receive for each download is significantly higher, but downloads are much less frequent.

Interesting - have you sold anything in Alamy yet?

Ian

[ryme-intrinseca]

Re: Microstock sites

Interesting - have you sold anything in Alamy yet?

Ian

Not yet, but then I only have six images there (as opposed to 300 at ShutterStock), so I'm not surprised. Some people have thousands of images on there.

[Pops]

Re: Microstock sites

I have sold a few via FDP.net. (Free Digital Photos)
Never really investigated anywhere else. Looked at a couple of others but that's about as far as I got.