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Putting Microstock on the Back Burner


by Rasmus

I’ve been heavily involved with microstock for several years now, and before I say anything else, let me make one thing clear: It’s been an awesome, life-altering experience that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. Look at it: I’ve said goodbye to 9-5 working, I’ve met a wonderful woman and started a new life in a new country, I’ve learned more than I can put to words and met some incredible people along the way. It’s no exaggeration to say, that microstock has been at the root of my career as a photographer and an artist. That said, I’ve decided to put microstock on the back burner for a while.

By that I don’t mean to imply, that I won’t be uploading anything or not keeping up to speed. It just means that other aspects of photography will recieve first priority. More specifically, I want to focus on more artistic efforts, such as my “12 Seattleites” project. I’m already working on a few of these personal projects, but the difference is that I am now allowing myself to do so, without feeling guilty about ignoring my stock portfolio.

So I’m calling it “taking a break” mostly for the sake of my own conscience, but there is at least one good reason beyond that: I sometimes feel that working intensely with microstock for so long, has limited my artistic vision. I tend to look at all my own photos with the question: Would this work as stock? And that is not the right mentality, for someone working on an art project. I must unlearn the standards, I am so used to enforcing, that I may grow as an artist.

The coffee-sign photo used with this post, is an example of a shot that would never work for stock. I shot it while experimenting with cross processing and Holgas. I want to do more stuff like that.

Because I work best with time-frames and deadlines, I have given myself the rest of 2008 and all of 2009 to do this. It happens to fit with my Seattle project, which I’ve already budgetted a year’s time for, but I’m hoping to do a lot more than just this one project. I want to do a similar project about my first home, Copenhagen, and I have several other ideas as well.

I'm on Etsy!I have already taken a few baby steps in this new direction. First, I set up a photo blog, where I can post single pictures. This really wasn’t needed, since I also use Flickr, but I like having a more personal, limited outlet. Besides, I put all sorts of snapshots on Flickr, which I am not doing on the blog. Secondly, I have set up an Etsy-store. I’ll be experimenting with selling prints through there, and already, I’m astounded at the influence that has had on my Twitter account (about ten new fellow etsy-sellers added me in just a few hours). Let’s hope some of that spills over into sales.

Microstock has given me freedom to do these things. I am definitely not quitting microstock. It just so happens, that right now, I have a lot of other things, I want to try. Among these is also having a go at selling pictures through Getty, rather than iStock. Something I have yet to try, but my contributor account is already set up, so whatever I do shoot, I’ll probably be uploading there (though my current camera, a Canon 20D, is too crappy for Getty, but that’s a different issue). I will still be keeping up with everything microstock, still inspect thousands of photos every month on iStockphoto, offer portfolio consultations and all that good stuff.

But first and foremost, I’m going to focus on telling stories and exploring techniques in my photographic work, in the year to come. It will be an exciting journey, no matter where I end up.


Previously


Microstock Agencies: Time to Raise the Bar

I have no doubt that microstock photography will survive the current financial crisis. If for no other reason, then just because of the low price of each image. As designers and ad agencies have smaller budgets, more will turn away from traditional stock or custom work, and start using microstock instead.
At the same time, more [...]


Portraying My City

Readers of my blog over at Zoom In Online will have heard of my “12 Seattleites” project already, but the time has come for me to spread the word here as well. In short, I am putting together a book and a show, where I seek to portray Seattle through 12 of its inhabitants. I [...]


Portfolio Consultations Are Live

I am now taking bookings for microstock portfolio consultations, and as a launch celebration, you can get $50 off if you book before November 15th. All the details should be on the consultation page, but if you have any further questions, feel free to ask them. Either in the comments section of this post or [...]


Passion vs. Greed in Microstock

My three beta tests of the portfolio consultations went very well, and I’ll post more about it in the time to come. I’ll start by talking a little about a common theme, discussed during all three sessions, namely sales as a goal in itself.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting your images sold as many times as [...]


Consultation Winners are Picked

As you probably know, I’ve been running a contest, offering up 3 free portfolio consultations. I had a good mix of people apply and picking the three winners was a lot harder, than I thought it would be. In the end, I chose three photographers with varying portfolio sizes and experience.
The winners have already been [...]

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