and a follow up to my original question
how long did it take you to ramp up ?
and how did you decide your niche?
thankyou for the responses all/..
(my wife claims i can't make money this way ;)
I spent about two years working at an office day job and putting in about 20+ hours a week shooting stock on evenings and weekends before I was able to quit my day job. Then I've focused on shooting stock as my full time job for the last year. The first few months were kind of rough - we lived "frugally" for a while, but it's all finally coming together. You can definitely earn money through stock - you just need to expect to still work long hours and spend lots of boring hours keywording and editing pictures... And you need to learn that it's not all about taking the kinds of pictures that might be the most fun for you, but that are highly marketable. But it beats my old job in an insurance office ANY day! :)
Places such as istock, shutterstock and the like are a great place to get started and learn what works as stock and what doesn't. That's where I started - istockphoto. They're great people and definitly have their place in the market, no doubt.
Last year I started shooting stock full time - specifically based around what would sell well as stock - and submitting to larger agencies (such as Alamy).
With around 2500 photos in my portfolio right now, I've already grossed sales of over $5000 this month and the month is only half over. Of course, there are agency commissions to take out of that and sales vary from month to month, but it's a good way to make a living. I still work hard, even harder than I ever worked before, actually - but it's fun and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Wow, that is great Jodie, I hope to follow in your foot steps someday!
I bought this book link to try to gain some perspective on how to make money doing what I love.
Most stock houses listed in this book wants a portfolio submission of at least 200 solid photos, in themed groups - many want 500 or 1000. I have found that the sites that Melking is using to be a great way to hone my skills on shooting, and what works and what doesn't. (Elk don't sell, no matter how great the shot)
But stock is just the beginning of what you can do.
Here's what's starting to work for me:
I put up a lame little portfolio site (design and HTML took about 3 hours) and put a little tag on the end of my email signatures to see my photo portfolio. People I already know have started calling me to shoot for them. Family reunions, kids portraits at the park, and architectural stuff has all come my way by simply letting people know.
The other sections of the book listed above have lots of ideas on how to make money at this.
Let's go make some money! Although, as soon as you make it your "work" I wonder if it will be as fun.
See this is the depressing part - really terrific shots you've taken, used by some fairly profitable enterprises, and you are only getting 20cents off them. I think if I were submit to a stock company like Istock I would be horrified to find some big company using my shot in an advertising campaign when they paid virtually nothing for it!
See this is the depressing part - really terrific shots you've taken, used by some fairly profitable enterprises, and you are only getting 20cents off them. I think if I were submit to a stock company like Istock I would be horrified to find some big company using my shot in an advertising campaign when they paid virtually nothing for it!
I think it is great, I get so happy when they use my photos! I love it!
I just don't know if it is really worth it. I guess I need to take a look at your site and see what is needed. I have a 3.2MP and a 4.0MP camera so I think I can meet the requirements. How long does it take to get a lot of photos? I did look at Dreamstime and that looks the most promising but if I sign up for one I think it would be best to sogn up for all to get the most bang. Can I submit the same image to all sites?
I just don't know if it is really worth it. I guess I need to take a look at your site and see what is needed. I have a 3.2MP and a 4.0MP camera so I think I can meet the requirements. How long does it take to get a lot of photos? I did look at Dreamstime and that looks the most promising but if I sign up for one I think it would be best to sogn up for all to get the most bang. Can I submit the same image to all sites?
You can Join all of these sites and submit all the same photos to each one.
So if you only have say 5 files and you put them on 5 sites you have like 25 photos...
alright - i'm finally home and i get to play with this stock stuff .... the company i work for uses istockphoto.com ...
but what i'm trying to understand is the generaly specs an image needs to be .. can anyone help me? What should the pixels and dpi be for an image?
thanks a bunch!
I think most of the sites need 1200 x 1600 but some of the sites are different
You can have a look at some of my stock to see what kinds of things you can shoot
Let me know if you need any help
Melissa
1200 x 1600 is okay for iStock and Dreamstime. Shutterstock need slightly higher - they've recently raised their minimum to 2.5 megapixels, approximately 1400 x 1800.
alright - i'm finally home and i get to play with this stock stuff .... the company i work for uses istockphoto.com ...
but what i'm trying to understand is the generaly specs an image needs to be .. can anyone help me? What should the pixels and dpi be for an image?
thanks a bunch!
I think most of the sites need 1200 x 1600 but some of the sites are different
You can have a look at some of my stock to see what kinds of things you can shoot
Let me know if you need any help
Melissa
Melissa - thank you sooo much for your help .. I'm excited! I'm starting with istockphoto ... my only downfall is that i'm on dialup right now ... so it takes forever .. LOL ... but i know in the end it will be worth it :) - you have been an inspiration :)
alright - i'm finally home and i get to play with this stock stuff .... the company i work for uses istockphoto.com ...
but what i'm trying to understand is the generaly specs an image needs to be .. can anyone help me? What should the pixels and dpi be for an image?
thanks a bunch!
I think most of the sites need 1200 x 1600 but some of the sites are different
You can have a look at some of my stock to see what kinds of things you can shoot
Let me know if you need any help
Melissa
Melissa - thank you sooo much for your help .. I'm excited! I'm starting with istockphoto ... my only downfall is that i'm on dialup right now ... so it takes forever .. LOL ... but i know in the end it will be worth it :) - you have been an inspiration :)
Well I only got High Speed two months ago, so I did most of my uploading with Dial-up....Just keep uploading and you will get there!
Also Shutterstock you will see the money come in the fastest! just in case you wanted to know
really? looks like i'll be up late tonite :) - i'm gonna take your advise and upload the same images to each site ... even if it's just a couple for now ... i'm really stoked!
