Graduation time is fast approaching for high school and college students. Many of them are thinking how they will even afford college. Will they be able to get help from their parents? Or, maybe some help from the government through financial aid? Will they need to take out loans that will come back to haunt them once they are done with school? Be smart when choosing your educational path. Debt can stab you over with many pains, so be very careful when planning out your education. I can’t stress enough how thankful I am for paying my way though a state university with a part time job working nights and weekends. If you are a high school senior, be sure to apply for all the scholarships or grants that you can. An extra $500 -1000 from smaller or local scholarships might not seem like much, but they will add up over 4 years.
Timing is everything… I think I might be a little late in the year for this image, but nevertheless it was a subject I wanted to cover.
This is the perfect example of why you should never sell a stock image where you’re doing anything embarrassing. Here I am, digging for gold (picking my nose), featured at a busy international tradeshow blown up at poster size. Yeah, my mother would be proud.
Gigabyte, a Taiwan based computer company, used myself as well as a few others in an ad campaign geared towards their dockable notebooks. The point was supposed to be that it gets better once you “stick it in” to its dock. I can’t say that I think it’s the best marketing concept, but I definitely got a huge laugh out of it
When you post an image up for sale that you don’t think will be used, chances are… someone just might find a way!
I still think I had the best technique in the series
I later found out from another person that the same ad of me picking my nose was plastered on a huge billboard, on the side of a building in Taipei. Wow, my shining 15 minutes of fame, glory and honor! My parents always knew I’d grow up to amount to something special hahahahahaha!
Over 150,000 images licensed in a little over 4 years in microstock. Holy crap…
I was definitely taken by surprise with this statistic. I only wish each one of those images sold for $30 each instead of 30 cents – Haha! I don’t even know what the total size of my portfolio is right now, so that’s the next thing I’ll have to figure out.
Want to know how many images I’ve found in use? Ha, probably only around 100.
Alright; you got me. Let me be totally honest with you. As of today, I’ve only sold 149,110 images. But close enough… I know I must have missed a bunch somewhere, on some random site I’m forgetting to record. In another week or so it should be there It’s fun running business related stats once in a while, and you’re going to be surprised with the results, almost always. Give it a shot with your own accounts, if you sell stock. I think you just might be pleasantly surprised!
I just found this portrait I had laying in my “to do” folder. This is an example of what you can do when you go wide, and get close up. The face gets distorted near the edges, creating a funky effect. This shot was 18mm and I had my wife crouch down so I could get this higher angle. The DOF was a tad bit on the shallow side, and the window lighting wasn’t perfect, but you get the idea. Give it a try, next time you’re shooting people.
There was recently a discussion regarding different pricing of the same images on through different websites at Microstock Diaries.
Many of the industry’s best have posted their viewpoints. Here is how I personally feel…
It’s a proven fact that when products or services are priced higher, some buyers think they are getting something “better” or of “higher quality”. Many times this isn’t even the case. A generic product could even be identical, only in different packaging. Is Tylenol going out of business, just because CVS sells the same thing in a generic form? It doesn’t seem like they are. The product could probably even be manufactured in the same plant. Many times, manufacturers only want you to think you’re getting less when you purchase the same product for a lesser price. In actuality, many are identical – even if the product is packaged or marketed in a different way. Paul Mitchell hair care products come to mind. The CEO gets on TV and in commercials he testifies that it isn’t genuine Paul Mitchell, if you find the product being sold in a grocery store. In fact, it is – and I know many professional hairdressers that will attest to that. Want to know the difference? About $10-20 per bottle, depending on what salon is selling it.
If a buyer wants to be choosy and shop around, they will. If they are willing to spend extra money on photos from agencies that offer better guarantees, or a different user experience, then let them. I don’t see anything unethical about that. Product pricing is the same in all markets, it’s just all about the brand label many times that determines the pricing. Even if it’s the same exact product. Designer clothes are sold at outrageous prices, and sometimes the quality is even lower than that of the cheaper department stores’ clothing lines.
