No Alamy Sales

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, IKuzmin said:

So why do you (or would you) photograph that Ho-hum? Please, just do not tell me that you make any substantial income from your stock sales, I'm not going to trust that.

Like Michael said. I don’t particularly love taking pictures of trees, bushes, storefronts, & products nearly as much as I like to shoot birds, bees, flowers, and butterflies. I sell way more of storefronts, trees, shrubs & such than I do the things subjects I love to shoot.
It’s just that simple.

And no, I don’t make substantial sums from stock, especially these days. But I did sell an image of one of my homemade pies for $700 back when I got 60%.  And what I do sell are of the things that don’t particularly excite me to shoot. Even so, I take care & shoot them the best way I know how.

I’ve taken two trips to St. Croix, VI. The whole purpose of the first trip was to shoot beaches & people using the beaches…the sea & beauty of it. A destination.  Seaplanes, island shops, etc. I loved shooting there. I may get an occasional zoom of one of those images, & maybe have sold one or two. Weird that what sold was a tree on the island.

The second trip was a family vacation but I still shot more images, and what I thought were some good ones. All I hear from that set are….Crickets.

 

 

 

This is a Ho-hum image I took in the last year or so. It sold this month for $60. It didn’t excite me to shoot this, but I took care.

Edited June 29, 2023 by Betty LaRue

[Rebecca Ore]

I had one old photographer tell me he didn't like taking pictures of beautiful things, but liked taking beautiful pictures of ordinary things.  

[Jacek]

1 hour ago, Rebecca Ore said:

I had one old photographer tell me he didn't like taking pictures of beautiful things, but liked taking beautiful pictures of ordinary things.  

It can be interesting experience and challenge for me taking pictures of ordinary things.

 

Dear All , many thanks for your useful and valuable comments.

[IKuzmin]

7 hours ago, Rebecca Ore said:

I had one old photographer tell me he didn't like taking pictures of beautiful things, but liked taking beautiful pictures of ordinary things.

 

I absolutely agree but (1) I do not think this is exactly about stock photography; (2) it is not about "Ho-hum" but about a passion/desire/ability/talent of

photography art.

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by IKuzmin

[Betty LaRue]

I have 16 zooms showing at the moment. It seems to be good to have a varied portfolio.

 

4 of businesses

3 cutouts

3 plants

2 travel

2 animals, one being of a dog, the other a squirrel 

1 person exercising

1 medical

 

The zoom of the dog is interesting. A shot from the waist down of a man with the dog on a leash. The dog is the focus of the image.  The search term is a phrase: “dog sniffing tree”. I have that exact phrase in my tags which probably made my 8 yr old image come up on the first page. Phrases can work.  The companion image of the dog urinating on the tree wasn’t zoomed. 😁

[IKuzmin]

3 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I have 16 zooms showing at the moment. It seems to be good to have a varied portfolio.

 

4 of businesses

3 cutouts

3 plants

2 travel

2 animals, one being of a dog, the other a squirrel 

1 person exercising

1 medical

Sure. If you like to photograph varied things and these are not "ho-hum" for you.

Although I do not think it is any relevant, I have 21 zooms by now, 16 of which are animals (including 3 cut-outs) and 5 are landscapes. Five of these are unique zooms but even these lately not always convert into sales.

[Rebecca Ore]

4 hours ago, IKuzmin said:

 

I absolutely agree but (1) I do not think this is exactly about stock photography; (2) it is not about "Ho-hum" but about a passion/desire/ability/talent of

photography art.

 

 

I licensed one in the past where what drew me back to finally upload it was the composition, just pavement, curb, water, street.  Stock topics can be photographed beautifully, I think. 

[IKuzmin]

2 hours ago, Rebecca Ore said:

Stock topics can be photographed beautifully, I think. 

They obviously can be. And beautiful photographs will be sold likely more often than "not beautiful". But for the same little $$. And I do not believe that those who chase around trying to "shoot what sells" and "as many as possible" produce those beautiful images, at least in 99.9% of their "shooting effort". In fact, some folks are apparently lacking basic knowledge of composition, lighting, colors, and other attributes of visual imagery.

Edited June 29, 2023 by IKuzmin

[IKuzmin]

18 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

My real photography love has always been travel but it is not practical as much as it used to be.  I still travel and take photos but I used to travel for the sake of stock, not much anymore.  But just to keep the trigger and mind working, outside of my assignment work, I too take ho-hum photos of just everyday normal boring stuff.  I had a sale this month of store front that was just a snap, I may have taken two steps from my car (near zero effort) but glad I did.  Maybe it is a bit like a singer singing the scales between the important performances...keeps you photographically agile. 

I "do not disagree" with you with such a reservation that photography is your "lifestyle" including assignments, hobby, vision, etc. You have the relevant training, knowledge, passion, all together. And indeed produce excellent imagery. I do not think this is a ho-hum for you.

 

(Find keywords in my message 🙂)

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by IKuzmin