Rasmus Rasmussen dot com

You may or may not know that I offer portfolio consultations for budding microstock photographers. I’ve been doing this for a while now, and just recently updated the consultation page. In doing so, I started thinking.

The whole idea of one-on-one coaching is to work on specific issues standing in the way of your success and happiness as a microstock contributor, but a lot of people share the same problems and worries. In response, I have put together this list of the some of the most common issues and bits of advice.

1. Don’t Fear the Model Release

Many, many new photographers are scared to ask people to sign a model release. Personally, I think this comes from using mainly friends and family as models, and failing to understand or communicate what microstock photography really is – a business. If you treat your photography as such, and your models understand that, then there is nothing to be embarrassed or shy about. It’s simply part of the process, much like copying the shots to your computer.

2. Don’t Invest Too Much Too Soon

Even if you do really well and sell a lot, each sale is still only a few cents in your pocket. That means that it does take a while to earn the big bucks, and that it’s a very bad approach is to start out with a huge investment. For starting out, you can get all the camera gear you need for less than $1000 (US), including a speedlight and a reflector. If you want to make a profit using microstock, blowing your cash on gear is one of the greatest pitfalls.

3. Pick the Niche That Fits You

Instead of worrying about what other photographers sell a lot of, take a step back and ask: What kind of photos do I enjoy shooting? What type of imagery can I create where I live? And try to find a commercially sound approach based on that. If you combine what you enjoy with what is readily available, you have a strong foundation and can focus on learning the business side of things. If you try to catch up to the industry leaders, they will have already moved on by the time you arrive – do your own thing better than anyone else instead!

4. Seek Models Outside Your Circle

This is related to point 1 above, but it goes deeper than model releases. If you find it hard to take control of photo shoots, bark out direction and so on, maybe because you don’t want to come off as bossy or mean, it’s probably because you’re working with friends and family. With a stranger (a friend of a friend will do), it’s easier to have a strictly professional relationship. Plus it puts you on your toes, because someone you don’t know suddenly has expectations of your work – otherwise they probably wouldn’t be there.

5. Research Outside the Microstock World

Yes, it’s great to know everything that’s going on in microstock, but you have go beyond it to see how stock images are actually used, and better still, if you want to predict the next big trend before thousands of other contributors figure it out. Being early with the latest themes and styles will get you more sales. Good research topics include: World politics, health, entertainment, environment and business, fashion and design trends as well as whatever magazines, tv shows etc. that relates to your particular niche.

6. Befriend a Designer

Not your aunt who does flyers for her local church, but someone who designs for print or web for a living. Here is why: Designers are who buys your photos and I bet you they will think about your shots differently. Knowing a designer will teach you more about what kind of photos work where. It’s almost like having a spy working for you, they’re great for running ideas past and they always have cool toys. And no, you don’t have to marry one or anything, an e-mail pal works too. Often, designers are curious to learn more about photography too, so it’s win-win provided you know what you’re talking aobut.

7. Work Those Concepts

From the subtle to the extravagant, plan out your photo shoots in advance. Winging it is great and fun and I do it all the time, but if you’re seriously building a portfolio to make a profit, you have to focus. Play around from time to time, but for the most part, try to come up with great looking series with a few select variations based on a predetermined theme. And please. Keep it simple. Don’t cram 10 different ideas and concepts into one series. Go with one or two at a time, make sure anyone working with you understands what you are trying to achieve and turn all those extra ideas into a separate series. Re-shoot popular series later using fresh faces and different locations, like a sequel to a movie.

8. Spend Money to Make Money

Above, I advised that you spend conservatively when buying gear. You need big volume sales to make real profits with microstock and to get that, you need to compete on quality whilst keeping your expenses down. But you will have to spend money on most photo shoots, whether it’s to hire models, make-up artist or an assistant, buy props, rent a location or specialty gear. And eventually you will need to upgrade things like hard drive storage, software and other accessories too. Make a budget for every shoot and track you sales income versus your expenses on a shoot to shoot basis.

9. Expose and Light Correctly

The biggest frustration for microstock photographers is getting their work rejected by image inspectors like me. Two of the most common reasons for image rejections are noise and lighting. If you learn to control lighting and make sure your photos are exposed properly, you will have less rejections. A common mistake is to underexpose and then compensating for it in post processing – a procedure which causes noise to appear. Plus, the better your source material, the less you have to fiddle with it later, which will save you time in the end.

10. Read the Microstock Photographer’s Guide

The 16 articles contain most of the general and microstock specific information you need, whether you’re new to photography or just the stock part. Hopefully there are a few nuggets of inspiration for old pros in it as well. And the guide is free. And if that isn’t enough, you can always book a consultation.

I hope this helps a bunch of you out there, especially those just getting started. These days the competition in microstock is getting fierce, so after you decide which kind of microstocker you want to be, you need to make a plan to get there.

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