So how is your 2018 going, eh?

[Marb]

On 01/07/2018 at 13:00, Joseph Clemson said:

Things were going swimmingly for me following a tweak to the Alamy search engine in late 2017, which up until then had been very poor compared to previous years. Zooms and sales then returned to reasonable levels. Then, as Allan notes,  Alamy made another change to the search engine in May 2018 which returned it largely to the state it was in 2017. As a result my views, zooms and sales have again been decimated. 

That is exactly why I can’t be bothered with re-keywording as weeks of work could be wiped out in a tweek of the search engine. A bit like snakes and ladders back to square one.

[RedSnapper]

33 minutes ago, Marb said:

I genuinely can’t be bothered to pick up my camera, especially in this heat.

 

pick up the camera

make photos of the effects of the heat

submit to live news

make sales (possibly)

 

what have you got to lose?

 

km

[spacecadet]

1 hour ago, Marb said:

That is exactly why I can’t be bothered with re-keywording as weeks of work could be wiped out in a tweek of the search engine. A bit like snakes and ladders back to square one.

The effects, and even the existence, of said tweak are debatable, and debated here. For example, personally I didn't make any changes or notice any difference. Neither apparently did you. So you don't seem to have any grounds for complaint.

And open a window.

[Avpics]

I've been trying to stay positive, but am very concerned now. Having tasted a fair amount of success and continued to do what seems to be considered the correct approach of continually taking, uploading and carefully keywording images the sales have almost dried up. All of my images are simple editorial and I would accept criticism that I don't have any contrived material, or targeted approaches towards what the market might require, but they were selling, and now they're not. Frustrating.

[John Mitchell]

1 hour ago, spacecadet said:

The effects, and even the existence, of said tweak are debatable, and debated here. For example, personally I didn't make any changes or notice any difference. Neither apparently did you. So you don't seem to have any grounds for complaint.

And open a window.

 

I guess it depends on the state of your keywords. I've noticed a significant difference after updating tags, etc. of older images and plan to continue the slog to the bitter end. It probably depends on the state of your keywords. Mine did not transition well to the new AIM. Also, I was too economical -- and lazy -- when keywording a lot of my older images. Most of my images that are being zoomed -- and licensed in some cases -- these days are ones that I've updated.

[John Mitchell]

28 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

I'd say the more salient point is the dilution that comes with a collection of 140,000,000 images growing at the rate of 100,000 every day. 

 

It is absolutely inevitable that an individual's sales income will suffer given those growth stats combined with the fall in licensing fees.

 

True. Figuring out how to keep one's head above water is the biggest challenge these days. I see updating tags and captions as just one small part of the puzzle.

[AlbertSnapper]

On a par with last year for both sale numbers and income.

 

Not too many added in that time.

Like John M three posts above, I am also slogging along updating keywords/adjusting older images. It is a horrible tedious task.

Also being honest with myself, deleting many images that are simply not good enough, especially location type shots, where the competition is better/much more recent.

Edit well. It's not just a numbers game.

 

Reasonably happy here

[Michael Ventura]

22 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

I'd say the more salient point is the dilution that comes with a collection of 140,000,000 images growing at the rate of 100,000 every day. 

 

It is absolutely inevitable that an individual's sales income will suffer given those growth stats combined with the fall in licensing fees.

 

So in theory, we just need to keep up with the overall growth of the whole collection (or better) with our own collection.  If Alamy adds 100,000 images a day to 140,000,000 photos, that is about a .00073 % growth per day.  So for my collection, I would need to add about an average of 8 photos a day to keep up with the agency growth.  No wonder my income and sales are slow to climb.  That along with sales prices dropping.

[John Mitchell]

15 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

So in theory, we just need to keep up with the overall growth of the whole collection (or better) with our own collection.  If Alamy adds 100,000 images a day to 140,000,000 photos, that is about a .00073 % growth per day.  So for my collection, I would need to add about an average of 8 photos a day to keep up with the agency growth.  No wonder my income and sales are slow to climb.  That along with sales prices dropping.

 

Interesting math. I've been averaging the same number of sales per month for almost two years now. It's uncanny. I'm definitely not unhappy about this, but I realize that, with my slow uploading, I'll probably be hanging out on this same plateau for a long time to come. Unless, of course, there's an unexpected earthquake and I go tumbling down into The Valley of No Return.

[Marb]

3 hours ago, RedSnapper said:

 

pick up the camera

make photos of the effects of the heat

submit to live news

make sales (possibly)

 

what have you got to lose?

 

km

Truth be told I am far too depressed to do anything at the moment. There is nothing newsworthy here except a few dry looking farmers fields.

[Sally]

27 minutes ago, Marb said:

Truth be told I am far too depressed to do anything at the moment. There is nothing newsworthy here except a few dry looking farmers fields.

That, in itself , is newsworthy.  Haven't you seen Redsnapper's images of dried up reservoirs?  I have learned that, with the right caption, you can make almost anything newsworthy. A little bit tongue-in-check, but you get my drift.

[John Mitchell]

1 hour ago, geogphotos said:

The thing is I don't see any shortage of new recruits to stock photography, so there may well be impacts and probably already are in certain respects with people dropping out, but the agencies have a near unlimited supply flow of images to tap into ( obviously not all of the same quality). 

 

To many, if not most, stock does not have to be a profitable business it is enough to be an enjoyable pastime and I mean absolutely no criticism in saying so - I am not a professional photographer. 

 

 

 

For me, it's both an enjoyable activity and a source of much-needed extra income. I've been at this for a long time, initially as a freelance writer/photographer specializing in travel and culture who started submitting images to stock agencies and selling on his own 25+ years ago. Alamy has opened new doors for me, which I'm very happy about. Hopefully I can keep those doors open. So far so good, but it's obviously going to be a challenge given the flood of images, falling prices, etc. As far as all those new recruits go, it does seem to be a matter of "many are called, but few are chosen" (to quote someone famous).

[John Mitchell]

30 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

 

Thinking about it I am not really sure where and what my original motivation was, partly to do with teaching,  partly some sort of loosely 'artistic' outlet, something involved closely with experiencing places more intensely than simply seeing. I had thousands of stock images before I had heard of stock photography. So I imagine I will carry on taking pictures for as long as I can simply because that is what I do. It gets me out, provides a purpose, a tangible outcome. Whatever the downsides I have found what I want to do. 

 

Unfortunately, I see some of the same negative trends that made me lose interest in freelance writing now infecting stock photography -- too much competition, low financial gain, collapsing print markets, and bad deals (I'm sounding like Mr. T).  On the plus side, the Web has created all kinds of new markets for images, and we're becoming an increasingly more visual culture (FBFW). All is not lost...

[RedSnapper]

12 hours ago, Marb said:

Truth be told I am far too depressed to do anything at the moment. There is nothing newsworthy here except a few dry looking farmers fields.

 

 

we're in the middle of the longest uk wide heatwave since 1976 and you cant find anything newsworthy?

 

you need to look again

and again

 

km

(if you have a look at the first page of my images here, at least 12 of them have been licenced in the past week...)

[Broad Norfolk]

12 hours ago, Marb said:

Truth be told I am far too depressed to do anything at the moment. There is nothing newsworthy here except a few dry looking farmers fields.

 

21 minutes ago, RedSnapper said:

 

 

we're in the middle of the longest uk wide heatwave since 1976 and you cant find anything newsworthy?

 

you need to look again

and again

 

km

(if you have a look at the first page of my images here, at least 12 of them have been licenced in the past week...)

 

Good advice here - it's a great big world out there. Hard work usually brings it's rewards.

Jim

[Marb]

Thanks Kay,  I appreciate your suggestion. I already have dry, cracked soil in a field uploaded here that hasn’t sold from the last heatwave we had. I genuinely have no motivation. Sadly, depression is rather debilitating but a lot of people who don’t suffer it don’t understand. Getting up in the morning is a big enough effort.

[Sally]

5 minutes ago, Marb said:

Thanks Kay,  I appreciate your suggestion. I already have dry, cracked soil in a field uploaded here that hasn’t sold from the last heatwave we had. I genuinely have no motivation. Sadly, depression is rather debilitating but a lot of people who don’t suffer it don’t understand. Getting up in the morning is a big enough effort.

It would need to be a Live News image to be likely to sell just now.  If you are suffering from depression, my commiserations. Perhaps here is not the best place to express it, though. Speak to your GP if you haven’t already done so.

[Marb]

5 minutes ago, Sally said:

It would need to be a Live News image to be likely to sell just now.  If you are suffering from depression, my commiserations. Perhaps here is not the best place to express it, though. Speak to your GP if you haven’t already done so.

Sorry, i only mentioned it in context with my motivation, or lack of it. I wont bring it up again.

[KODAKovic]

On 7/6/2018 at 17:51, funkyworm said:

 

 

Ian,

 

I can only give you advice based on my own experiance and with the caveats that I am not a professional. At least, not in this regard.

 

It's not the best industry to be in at the moment for good news. A few years ago I found myself in a mental state from which something had to be done. The first thing I did is use some of my pension money, first to fly to some friends in Dubai who pampered me, and then onto Sri Lanka. I am a bit of water baby and bobbing up and down in the Indian Ocean thinking of nothing, clearing my head, with no pressure to do anything but bob up and down in the Ocean, did me a lot of good.

 

Thereafter I made sure there were extra diversions in my life. An allotment a distance away from my worklace (home.) Gardening gives you a reason to get up because you are always planning. Preparing the soil, sowing the seeds, eating the crop. And, it is true, getting annoyed when hares or slugs or caterpillars gobble my goodies. Being on an allotment also means a new social dimension, new people, with new information, which is learning. But choose the allotment carefully, the people on mine are not patronising, but informative when they see me creating a challenge for myself. Thereby I started rowing lessons as I mentioned elsewhere. A reason to meet up with chums, do something sporty and meet new people away from my professional work. I mentioned Budworth Sailing Club. Pop along and have a chat. I used to sail Fireflies and cant recall whether Budworth were the fanatical or social sailors, but just pop along and have a chat, it might fit. And these clubs always need people to man the race office, or the rescue boats, or, or, or... Again a diversion. Finally, again with friends, I learned to play the ukelele. Playing music is good for you. Even if I dont play it very well.  

 

These are just suggestions from a stranger in a far off country. They may be pertinent, they may not. With all these suggestions there is no pressure. I have no expections of representing the Netherlands at rowing at the Tokyo Olympics, or playing the Carnegie Hall with my ukelele, and the grub I grow is the tastiest in the world mainly because it is the grub I grow. All have introduced a joie de vivre in my life which was lacking. And more social interaction away from work. Which of these suggestions if any, you can do, only you know. But do something, you'll thank yourself.

 

Richard

(... and yes, I have taken photos along the way, including of my state of mind at that time, one of my best sellers.)

 

Very inspirational... thx for sharing

[Marb]

On 7/6/2018 at 16:51, funkyworm said:

 

 

Ian,

 

I can only give you advice based on my own experiance and with the caveats that I am not a professional. At least, not in this regard.

 

It's not the best industry to be in at the moment for good news. A few years ago I found myself in a mental state from which something had to be done. The first thing I did is use some of my pension money, first to fly to some friends in Dubai who pampered me, and then onto Sri Lanka. I am a bit of water baby and bobbing up and down in the Indian Ocean thinking of nothing, clearing my head, with no pressure to do anything but bob up and down in the Ocean, did me a lot of good.

 

Thereafter I made sure there were extra diversions in my life. An allotment a distance away from my worklace (home.) Gardening gives you a reason to get up because you are always planning. Preparing the soil, sowing the seeds, eating the crop. And, it is true, getting annoyed when hares or slugs or caterpillars gobble my goodies. Being on an allotment also means a new social dimension, new people, with new information, which is learning. But choose the allotment carefully, the people on mine are not patronising, but informative when they see me creating a challenge for myself. Thereby I started rowing lessons as I mentioned elsewhere. A reason to meet up with chums, do something sporty and meet new people away from my professional work. I mentioned Budworth Sailing Club. Pop along and have a chat. I used to sail Fireflies and cant recall whether Budworth were the fanatical or social sailors, but just pop along and have a chat, it might fit. And these clubs always need people to man the race office, or the rescue boats, or, or, or... Again a diversion. Finally, again with friends, I learned to play the ukelele. Playing music is good for you. Even if I dont play it very well.  

 

These are just suggestions from a stranger in a far off country. They may be pertinent, they may not. With all these suggestions there is no pressure. I have no expections of representing the Netherlands at rowing at the Tokyo Olympics, or playing the Carnegie Hall with my ukelele, and the grub I grow is the tastiest in the world mainly because it is the grub I grow. All have introduced a joie de vivre in my life which was lacking. And more social interaction away from work. Which of these suggestions if any, you can do, only you know. But do something, you'll thank yourself.

 

Richard

(... and yes, I have taken photos along the way, including of my state of mind at that time, one of my best sellers.)

Thanks, I appreciate your time taken in encouraging me. I do garden organically grown produce  in my small, walled space and agree it does relieve stress (bar the pests) Unfortunately I am not one for social groups as I like to keep myself pretty much to myself. I don't like being involved in anything that ties you into a set pattern, a place and time. I like my freedom too much but I am sure it is great to sail. I always enjoy taking the rowing boat out on Derwentwater, Keswick with my wife. I also make my own music so we seem to have a lot in common.

 

Sill almost dry sales for 2 months so sadly my motivation for photography is nill. For the amount of images I have here I should be at least getting 1-3 sales a month. Even if I go out and shoot the heatwave for live news and a paper does pick it up, it will only sell for peanuts.

[spacecadet]

Live news rates are much better than scheme, apparently.

And...if you live in the Lakes, there's a lot to be positive about. All I can hear out of my window is traffic and sirens.

[Marb]

7 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

Live news rates are much better than scheme, apparently.

And...if you live in the Lakes, there's a lot to be positive about. All I can hear out of my window is traffic and sirens.

No but the Cheshire countryside is lovely enough at least.

[RedSnapper]

7 hours ago, Marb said:

Even if I go out and shoot the heatwave for live news and a paper does pick it up, it will only sell for peanuts.

 

 

Wrong. Again

 

live news rates are •significantly* higher

 

why do you think we bother doing it ?

 

km

[Marb]

I have been willing but the hours put into Alamy shooting, editing, keywording are futile in my case at least. Almost 2 months with no sale, with my amont of images as well below the average stats. Unfortunatley apathy is setting in.

[Sally]

46 minutes ago, Marb said:

I have been willing but the hours put into Alamy shooting, editing, keywording are futile in my case at least. Almost 2 months with no sale, with my amont of images as well below the average stats. Unfortunatley apathy is setting in.

 

46 minutes ago, Marb said:

Sill almost dry sales for 2 months so sadly my motivation for photography is nill. For the amount of images I have here I should be at least getting 1-3 sales a month.

 

I think you must not get too fixed in the idea that sales MUST come if you have a certain number of images. IMHO even 1,800 images is not a large portfolio in the context of the number of images on Alamy. There are no guarantees, and an average is just an average. It doesn’t mean anything. I was prepared to wait a year or more before my first sale. Luckily it came much sooner than that but I’ve been putting in an enormous amount of time into my portfolio.

 

It IS a lot of work to process and tag images. Stock photography is labour intensive. If that’s not for you, or not for you at the moment, then it might be better to focus on something else which will give you greater rewards and boost your morale. No point in focusing on something that will only continue to leave you feeling frustrated and disappointed.