Microstock photography - hobby that pays the bills

Posted on July 2, 2007
Filed Under Making a living online |

Interview with Lee Torrens, microstock photographer

microstock_photo.jpg

Lee runs website Microstockdiaries.com where he meticulously posts his earnings from selling photos at several microstock photography sites. Actually, it’s not about money, it’s more about your hobby that pays for itself. Lee says: “Yes, this is more a hobby than a business, so I think it’s more appropriate to address your questions from the point of view of microstock as a way for anyone to make money, rather than as my specific business. That’s certainly the aim of my blog - to show people that as a hobbyist photographer I can make this much, so anyone can do it”. So, here’s Lee’s answers:

Why should anyone start selling photos in the microstock market?
Microstock is a low-risk method of making money online. If you have some good photos or can create good photos, they can each become a asset earning you an ongoing passive income. All you have to do is upload and describe them, then sit back and bank the cheques.

Where did the microstock idea come from?
The Internet has changed the Stock Photography industry forever. Previously, only a handful of professional photographers were good enough to break into the market and sell their images, which were priced at $300 - $1,000 each. Bruce Livingstone created the first microstock agency, iStockphoto, and now anyone call sell photos online and earn an income.

What is the appeal of microstock photography for photo contributors?
Upload and describe your photos and they can each earn you ongoing commissions. A typical photographer can earn $2 per photo per month, so a portfolio of 1,000 photos becomes an annual salary of $24,000 that you don’t have to do anything to earn.

How is microstock different from other photography business models?
The photo sharing boom created by Flickr doesn’t yet pay the contributing photographers. Traditional stock photography is extremely difficult to break into with only 1% of professional photographers finding success. Microstock enables anyone to instantly start earning and continually build their earnings by building their portfolio. It’s the only open and lucrative market.

Why will photographers succeed with microstock?
Microstock is an open market with the potential to generate good money. There’s very little downside with the only risk being time invested in uploading and describing. Hobby photographers can make a respectable side income and professional photographers can easily earn a respectable salary. It’s a new and growing market with boundless opportunities for everyone.

How do photographers make money with microstock?
Photos sell on a royalty free basis, which means they sell many times over. Contributing photographers are paid small commissions when a photo is sold, usually $0.20 - $1.00 depending on the microstock website and the image size purchased. Good photos can sell hundreds of times earning hundreds of dollars per year. By investing time in their portfolio, photographers can build their earnings to any level.

Just like blogging wipes out the borders between mainstream media and citizen journalism, microstock photography challenges the very idea of professional photography as elite occupation.

Related info:
Selling microstock photos
Premium Stock Photo Images - A picture is worth a thousand words
Photo Studio

Sphere: Related Content

Comments

One Response to “Microstock photography - hobby that pays the bills”

  1. Two new microstock photo websites are launched | Venture Itch on July 23rd, 2007 5:16 am

    [...] posts: Microstock photography - hobby that pays the bills Selling microstock photos Sphere: Related [...]

Leave a Reply