For those of you who do not know - "microstock" is a offshoot of traditional stock photography, where you contribute your best images to an online agency. Prospective image buyers (web designers for example) search for images using keywords and then select from the results that are returned.
The commission for each sale is not a lot but that same image might sell many times over and that is where the appeal lies. I have been contributing to 4 (down from 8) such agencies (see my website - link at upper right of this blog page) and have over 200 images on each site. This is a vast improvement over this time last year, but just a drop in the bucket as compared to the top earners who might have thousands of images.
My goal is to earn enough to help pay for camera gear, studio rentals and travelling and with each submission, I get a little closer to that goal.
There is a photographer from Quebec city (Lise Gagne)who started contributing a few years ago to iStockphoto and now she earns a comfortable living from what started as a hobby. Check out her images if you have a moment or are considering entering the microstock world. Anyway, she is a real inspiration and her persistence and commitment are something to marvel at.
Here are some of the images that I have uploaded to be sold as microstock. They tend to be images that convey a marketable concept - such as the road construction industry or small business tools.
Cheers for now - Gordon
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