Brian Yarvin

In my opinion, the most important additions you can make are more drive space, more usb ports, and a built in card reader. After those, a better monitor.

Jeff, I just checked the roughly twenty or so images I have of museums and their collections and none have had any changes made to them.

Ed, I'm with you. It could also be a group of stock photographers that just found out their favorite software was now available only by subscription.

I'm pretty sure that it played perfectly on Windows 11 and Vivaldi. I'm not perfectly sure because the endless mutual back patting was becoming impossible to watch. YouTube has so much that's important and inspiring that I couldn't bring myself to care.

Jeff, as always, you're a better man than me. I could only get to 3:44.

Chuck, I've just gotten back from NYC and found this. Let me just say that Lancaster isn't Pittsburgh or even outside of Pittsburgh. I'm fine here. Oh ... I love Pittsburgh too, especially the steps, don't get me wrong. While I do wish I still lived in NYC, all it takes is one look at housing prices to get me to change my mind.

Jeff, thanks for the offer, but I'm winding up as wingman for the entire stock photo industry. Indeed, it really seems like you personify it; not by what you shoot or the volume you upload, but by choosing a narrow niche and pushing it to the limit.

Michael, real people doing real things is a tiny slice of the stock photography planet - albeit one well-represented at Alamy. As I see it, Jeff is an outstanding producer of an even narrower slice of that category. Yes, he produces a huge volume of work, but it's not random in any sense of the word. He knows how to do that specific thing and does it very well. I once knew of a successful stock photographer that shot everything with a microscope. There are all sorts of opportunities, and as I said, I can't keep track of them all.

In the five minutes or so since I attempted to enumerate the most popular categories of stock photography, I realized I hadn't even scratched the surface. I didn't even mention food or education. And let's not forget that many lifestyle photographers and photo buyers break it down into sub-categories like family, romance, or business. Who could possibly do all of this? Inquiring minds want to know!

Michael, who might that be? It would have to be somebody with solid collections of sports, lifestyle, still life, commercial travel, editorial travel, spot news, editorial features, wildlife, micro, and health - at minimum.

Throwing everything against the wall never works anyway, and for a very good reason; no photographer can do enough of everything to cover all the bases.

These are exactly the questions I'm wrestling with and why I made the post.

Interesting idea! But it brings up a question ... Let's say (hypothetically) that seventy percent of Alamy's customers spend less than ten dollars an image, and when they see this new option, they think "attempted price gouging" and walk away. Certainly, they're aware of alternatives and know that if they jump ship, they'll be welcomed with open arms by a competitor that will give them a discount and a smile. Will Alamy be able to continue to exist on thirty percent of its former revenue? How many employees will they have to lay off? And then, well ... photo buyers talk too. What will they say about Alamy? How about websites and publications geared towards them?

I'm always struggling!

All or nothing is sometimes how life goes. I don't like it either, but I've been freelancing as a writer and photographer since the eighties and have learned to live with it.