Question for starting out....

xena0966

Hello....I've been doing some research here on micro stock and stock photos because originally I thought as a newbie, that may be a good way for me upload some photos, learn about what sells, and experiment with turning my hobby into a little money.

But after reading about stock and micro stock (which I'm not sure I still understand the difference), I now wonder if there is another avenue I should approach.

I've been taking equestrian sports photos, sales photos for people selling their horses and various other types of photos as well....I could try to start finding some horse shows to photograph, but am not quite ready yet with the lenses it would require...

I had also thought of opening up a smugmug account and starting a gallery with what I have, but I'm not sure if I will get the critiques I am looking for or the exposure to even attempt selling...

I am a realtor by trade and many realtors seem to love flickr...havent' figured out why though, but they do....haven't heard very favorable things about them here either though...

So...all that being said, is there a direction I should go? I thought about loading my personal photos on flickr just for storage and then trying to do something with the better photos somewhere else...

Also, if I sell to stock photos, am I limited on selling them elsewhere then? And can I have the same photo at different stock sites to sell?

If you have any direction or suggestions for me, I'd appreciate it...total newbie here that is wanting some ground floor help...

Thanks!

Angelo

Xena:

I find that Flicker is full of lots of very amateurish photographers. Not great images and even worse feedback - lots of "great shot" comments. Earlier today I came across... "nice shot, how did you wash away the color?" (this directed at a b/w image)

So I wouldn't look to Flicker as a place for great critiques.

I also wouldn't look to SmugMug as a place to garner critiques. I would never want anyone leaving comments on my images there. Leave that as your storefront where you sell your images.

I rely on this forum, dGrin, for feedback and critique.

As for stock work: please poke about the forums or use our search feature. Much has been posted about that topic here.

Angelo

bump


anymore advice for Xena?

mercphoto

xena0966 wrote:

But after reading about stock and micro stock (which I'm not sure I still understand the difference), I now wonder if there is another avenue I should approach.

I believe the biggest difference is in terms of how much the images are. Microstock means micropayments to your wallet. I looked into iStockPhoto last year and gave up pretty quick. They want high-quality images from me and then want to sell them to others for really small amounts of money. I decided quickly that wasn't worth my time. I did not attempt any of the real stock agencies however. I do not have the time to devote to that level of photography on a speculative basis.

I had also thought of opening up a smugmug account and starting a gallery with what I have, but I'm not sure if I will get the critiques I am looking for or the exposure to even attempt selling...

Don't use Smugmug to gather critiques, use photo forums for that.

I am a realtor by trade and many realtors seem to love flickr...havent' figured out why though, but they do....haven't heard very favorable things about them here either though...

Probably because on Flickr you'll always be told your photos are good no matter how crappy they are.

Also, if I sell to stock photos, am I limited on selling them elsewhere then? And can I have the same photo at different stock sites to sell?

That depends entirely on the agreement each agency has. Some will demand exclusivity.

If I had any advice it would be to shoot and shoot, ask for feedback, find a photo site that will truly critique your photos and tell you the good and the bad (like this one). And then work on a direction and a business plan. Right now you seem to have no idea what you want your business to be. I started off shooting karts and motocross, and in all honesty I jumped in before I was good enough, and most importantly before I had a real good idea on how to run the business.

xena0966

I think you nailed it on the head...I'm an uber newbie looking long term when in fact I have a lot in the short term to learn...reality is that it probably doesn't matter at this point where I put my photos...I just need to post them somewhere, get them off my hard drive or at least back them up on my storage drive and get organized while shooting more photos and learning.

I just hate the thought of starting something and then having to transfer things around so thought if I had a place to put the better quality photos that would be good...

As for direction, because of the economy, I am not sure equestrian photos will do well for now, but that is my focus. I'd like to provide sales pictures or website photos for farms. Its a small niche, but I enjoy it....real estate photos would be good for my business so that is another area where I need to improve my photos....

A part of me knows what I don't want...I don't think I want to do wedding photography - lol....much prefer nature but the market may be flooded with too much of that...

thanks for your comment...