This’ll be my last post on 36clicks on stock. 36clicks will cease to be on stock, and I am moving my stock photography activities to Corepics. The series of articles I’ve written have already been moved to their new location on corepics, and future thoughts on the photography business will [...]]]>

Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes

This’ll be my last post on 36clicks on stock. 36clicks will cease to be on stock, and I am moving my stock photography activities to Corepics. The series of articles I’ve written have already been moved to their new location on corepics, and future thoughts on the photography business will be added on corepics, too.

36clicks itself will continue as it was originally intended for: the trade name of my own company, De Wolf Images. In about a month or two, this website will be automatically redirected to De Wolf Images

Why these changes?

With the current developments in the market, it makes sense to separate my  photography business, shooting assigned work, from my stock activities. It will make my businesses more transparent, more accessible, and more effective. A web-presence cannot be overlooked, these days. Having too many channels, however,  has turned out to be more of a hassle than have the intended added value I hoped for.

I’d like to thank all of you for your support, and your visits to 36clicks on stock. I hope to see to you again on corepics.com!

Over the last few months, I’ve hammered through a lot of shoots for clients and for stock. Processing [...]]]>

Reading time: 7 – 11 minutes

The situation

Over the last few months, I’ve hammered through a lot of shoots for clients and for stock. Processing the results, I noticed my enthusiasm for the photos faded away rapidly. Not that the images were bad – they matched my clients expectations – but somehow, they failed to appeal to me. They lacked the “wow-factor”. They were kinda bland, missing the sparkle and the eye catching effect. To me, those images were uninspiring, unimaginative and – basically – dull.

The next thing

Doubt. Frustration. Postponing things, because I didn’t feel like it.  More evasive maneuvering. Rut. As I believe in the merits of striving for continuous improvement, this situation is opposite to where I’d liked myself to be.

The Pitfall

The danger of creating uninspiring images is that people will still buy them, creating room for leniency, and failing to pursue continuous improvement. There’s no creativity killer like indulgence. When you’re in a rut, it’s bound to lead to a creative dip. You’ll end up failing to follow up on leads, because you lost interest. A total killer.

The cause

Overproduction, perhaps. Shooting too many comparable images, shooting too many similar subjects, shooting too many familiar themes, and too little differentiating factors. It just all became repetitive. The weather has been gray, rainy and gloomy for almost 4 months now, forcing me into the studio a few days too many, producing more uninspiring images

At this point, some consider taking a creative break, and pursue other interests. I believe, there are several very useful – yet uncommon – methods to break this downward spiral. In this article, I’d like to are a few with you.

The solution

1. Back to the drawing board.

Put away the camera for a while, and stop trying to force yourself to get over it. I found it to be a waste of time, and it has only produced more uninspiring results. In stead, look at your latest images, and assess their weaknesses as well as their strengths. Be very critical of yourself. What could you have done better to make them tick? Make notes of how to improve on a technical and aesthetically level. It’ll make you aware of your weaknesses and the flaws in your images, as well as help you to accept the current dip in creativity. It’s widely accepted, acceptance is the first step to overcoming a challenge. So set yourself that challenge.

2. Changing the game

Changing the game is one of my favorite methods. In stead of shooting what others want you to shoot (or, in terms of stock, what you think will sell), think about what you would like to shoot, but never actually got around to – yet. Make a list things that you don’t get to shoot often, and which gets your photographers’ blood pumping again. Don’t forget to make the next step and start thinking of how to achieve the images you have in mind.Create the images in your mind! If you managed that, then start thinking commercially, again. It is entirely possible, that what’s not been selling today might start selling tomorrow. So connect to the real world and merge commercial aspects with your just found shooting list. Select a few subjects you’re not familiar with. Go out, and close the bridge between the known and the unknown. Add your own touch to the uncommon in your expertise.
(Personal note: I use mindmapping software, such as freemind, to collect, categorize and assess the ideas captured during this process)

4. Refreshing the way to look at things

Look around you. When you’re familiar with your surroundings, the same surroundings eventually become to look boring and plain. They aren’t. Be a tourist in your own town. Go to the sights, and look at what others are looking at. Observe others. What do the sights, common to you, do to others? How are strangers interacting with an environment that’s new to them? Go up, move down. Tilt your head. Wear sunglasses on a cloudy day; things will start to look differently. But whatever you do, don’t bring your camera. It’s all about scouting for locations and getting inspired again. Inspired by what others see. Consider it scouting for new opportunities. Gather intelligence for tomorrow’s game.

5. Change the tune

Switch to a different channel. Get inspired by other forms of art, whether it is music, the movies or other visual art. Try to capture the feel and the vibe, and think of ways to translate that into your work. And make sure, you go beyond your zone of comfort. Been listening to classic rock lately? Familiarize yourself with the vibe of pop or jazz for a while. It’s as simple as watching TV lying down; your mind adapts to the rotated image easily, however, the experience is entirely different.

6. Retrace your steps.

Move back into your portfolio, and select a handful of photos you’re (still) happy with. Preferably, this selection should convey various themes, shot roughly at the same time, within a two months’ span. Go over them again. Reprocess them. Go out and reshoot them. Elaborate on the themes, and create a series of siblings. See if you can achieve a better result, or at least see if you can make them into one series. Try to create a series of images, in which the series together is stronger than each individual image. This will force you, to plan your shots carefully, whilst keeping the broader picture in mind. It’ll help you to search for a correlation between photos, within a very tight scope.

7. Step outside your zone of comfort.

Been shooting with DSLR’s? Pick up an old film camera, of change to a camcorder for a while. The former will force you to make every click count, and thus make you think twice before you press the shutter. The latter will force you to stay within a fixed aspect ratio, making the choices of composition more challenging. My preferred weapon of choice if I decide to change gear is either an old 6×6 camera, or the HDV option.  A combination of the two is to limit yourself in choice of optics; In stead of a medium zoom lens, go for a fixed focal length lens

The theory behind it

As an industrial designer, the methodology of diversifying within the boundaries of the task at hand before converging to reach the final product is multifunctional. This methodology can be applied in a vast array of processes, provided you want to achieve the best solution for your client – whomever it may be – and pursue continuous improvement.

In the trajectory of diversifying, amending associative techniques, such as making cross references, transpositions of external concepts to relevant ones will always provide you new insights. Combine that with the foremost important rule of brainstorming – there are no such things as a bad ideas, but there will always room for better ideas. All you need to do is be open to those new ideas, execute them, assess their effectiveness, and fine-tune them. You’ll be back on track before you know it.

The Sources

My first boss once told me to focus on my strong parts during an appraisal meeting. Create the focus. Improve the strong parts, accept the weaker competences.
My Professor of Design methodologies – who told me, that when you get stuck trying to solve a problem, try to look at it from a different angle.
My dad, who said the answer to any problem is always easier than it may seem at first. Clear your mind, look at the provided information, make an inventory of the tools at hand, and the answer will be right in front of you.
Edward Deming – Plan, Do, Check, Act. [repeat] Mainly as safeguard, as it allows you to steer yourself in the right direction.

Disclaimer:

• This article is based on personal experiences, opinion and situations, and may or may not represent the actual situation.
• Some statements are rather bold, and rough around the edges (or too feathered :)), and there are of course exceptions possible.
• If you think there are any discrepancies or flaws in reasoning in this article, please let me know
• As the topic of this article is of a subjective nature, other opinions are equally valid.
• Care has been taken the sources used are accurate.
• I’m probably my own worst critic, and my views will change over time.

If you have any thoughts on his please share them by leaving a comment!

Crestock just launched a new wordpress plugin, offering bloggers free images. The plugin allows bloggers to directly download blog-sized images (max 400 pixels), free of charge, into their wordpress blog. The plugin has full search functionality. The images will provide credits to the photographer, and a [...]]]>

Reading time: 8 – 13 minutes

Crestock just launched a new wordpress plugin, offering bloggers free images. The plugin allows bloggers to directly download blog-sized images (max 400 pixels), free of charge, into their wordpress blog. The plugin has full search functionality. The images will provide credits to the photographer, and a link back to Crestock.

• More about Crestocks wordpress plugin here.
• Download the plugin here.

How does it work?

Installing the plugin is easy. Crestock recommends installing the plugin manually, rather than through the wordpress. After activating the plugin, a new widget appears on the right, above the others when you start writing a new post.

By entering keywords, the plugin suggests images from Crestock’s collection, matching the search query.

Images are placed inside the blog post, simply by dragging and dropping the thumbnail to the desired spot. The image, then, is automatically downloaded to your server. If the download doesn’t succeed, a placeholder is shown, in stead of the image:

Limitations

• The plugin automatically right-aligns the images, with no option to change it. (this can be done using the HTML edit tab) Adding a control panel for image size and placement would be very handy!
• The credit line underneath the image, including the link back to Crestock (the primary way to increase traffic, resulting in sales for the photographer!)  is easily removed. Way too easy. Perhaps linking the image back to the URL, provided in the credit line, would be more efficient (but also possible to remove)
• The link back to Crestock loads in the current page, drawing away your visitors – again, a control panel could fix this.
• The number of images (still?) seems to be relatively limited, retrieving ‘no results’ for a substantial number of searches. I think if photographers would receive direct compensation for blog images, this could be solved. Solving the issue at the basis – a less ambiguous reviewing process – would perhaps even nip the entire problem in the butt.
• After a while, the Crestock plugin reloads with a randomized selection of images, taking the place of prior search results. Rather irritating, if you’ve just found the image you were looking for, but didn’t place it yet. My vote goes to removing this auto-reload entirely.

Initial doubts

From a photographers and Crestock contributor’s point of view, I have had my doubts about this new service, ever since Crestock announced it.

Confusing email

A week ago, Crestock sent out a rather persuasive email, asking contributors to opt in and give away their images for free, in return for a 5% increase on royalties on every commission sale, exposure, and the increase of traffic. The email itself is convincing, but its interpretation is somewhat ambiguous. Although I believe the figures and facts Crestock states are correct, the conclusions probably depict a too positive picture:

One of the lures was that some of the “big names” had already signed up for it. All very nice, but the sheer scale of the portfolio from those contributors vary greatly from the average photographer. Crestock clearly aims at the top 5 percentile, for whom I can see the benefits of throwing in a frew freebies every now and then.

Wordpress has over 3.1 minlion active blogs. I’m curious how many of those 3.1 million blogs are owned and maintained by Crestock prospects, and what percentage of those prospects will actually start using this plugin.

The most popular plugins have been downloaded 4.42 million times. Crestock omitted, that they’re all general purpose, wheras Crestock’s plugin serves a more specific, if not niche market. Besides, 4.42 million, is the sum of the top ten of most downloaded plugins. The majority of plugins is anticipated to be ~ 5000, and the number of downloads of a plugin doesn’t mean the plugin itself is installed,  removed shortly after installation, or even activated at all.

The link back to Crestock is intended to build deep links to each of our images – indexing search engines where people can buy the images. I like that idea, except, that those omni-important links are easily removed. A dangerous proposition for any photographer, who has just given away an image for free.

The sentence that stung, is Crestock’s remark, indicating the common interest to be to make “you as much money as possible”, when the average commission they offer is lower than at the competition, the number of downloads is relatively insignificant, and on top of that, they fail to pay their contributors within a reasonable time. Not a lot to get me excited.

Underneath the email, Crestock provided a link for photographers, to sign in and participate, and offer the photographers’ portfolio for free. As soon as I clicked the link, I was surprised to find I was instantly signed in for this promotion, without a confirmation page. It took me an email to Crestock to opt out again. (To which Gudmund – luckily – swiftly responded). This instant opt-in through the link provided in the email is a bit too aggressive for my taste – I was expecting to find more information, first.

Doubts on effectiveness

• From a commercial point of view as photographer, I’m not too keen on giving away my images for free. The level of sales at crestock is amongst the lowest around, and although the credit sales at Crestock are relatively fair, there aren’t that many of them, to make a 5% increase on those royalties worth my while.
• Being a photographer, I rarely have the need for someone-else’s images. And if I do, I rather buy the image, than have the image watermarked. Then again, I’m not one of Crestock’s target audience.
• I could think of a couple of reasons why someone would use this feature, and I’m sure it’ll increase traffic to the agent, resulting in an increase of sales. However, I can also imagine, a lot of bloggers would not like their blog to be an advertisement portal for Crestock.
• It remains to be seen, how many bloggers will actually click through to buy one of more larger images. Frankly, it wouldt surprise me, if that number is significant. After all: how many times have you seen an image in a blog, thinking: Hey! Let’s buy an image?
• In order for such a tool to be effective, the number of images should reflect most of the agent’s collection. Having my reservation about giving away free images, and knowing I share those reservation with quite a few others, the quantity of images is (still?) too limiting, to provide an image for all desired contexts.
• I haven’t been able to find an opt-out or settings page to select specific images I’d wish to enter. As far as I know, once opted in, your entire portfolio is opted in, and the only way to opt out is to write an email to Crestock.

The photographers benefits

For anyone, who is a large contributor at Crestock, with significant sales, opting in and giving away blog-sized images for free might make sense, as the increase in traffic, and the odd click-through of anyone following the credit link and becoming a paying customer might be interesting. It will definitely increase the exposure, and might even result in a couple of additional sales. The 5% added commission on credit sales – given enough quantity – might also be tempting for some contributors.

The plugin in use

Although I have my reservation about this plugin from a photographers point of view, I’m sure it’ll be great for quite a few bloggers. the plugin adds functionality, and ease of use inserting images into a blog post. It looks nice, and the user interface is well designed, as is the full advanced search options.

Search results and relevance

I gave the plugin a one time spin, to see how it works. My first idea was to add an image, depicting “controversy”, “mixed feelings”, “throwing away money”, or something depicting the “launching” of a new feature. Unfortunately, no images turned up using any of the keywords. A number of other searches also returned no results. For the keyword “confusion”, the majority of images were irrelevant. This isn’t exactly a flaw in the plugin, but mostly the photographers failure to keyword properly. It is also an indication the number of free images available is anything but substantial.

Conclusion

Kudos to Crestock for trying, and finding an innovative way to market their collection, and for a programming job well done. They developed an appealing,  functional and easy to use interface. Also, I’m pleasantly surprised about the watermark, providing credits to the photographer. Didn’t see that one coming!

In rolling out this program,communicating it, the compensation structure behind it, and their way to ask the contributing photographers for their cooperation, I feel Crestock is a bit over-optimistic.  I feel there will be very little commitment from the photographers point of view to support this initiative, as foremost, this initiative seems to be primarily to the benefit of the Crestock.

If the Crestock plugin catches on, it might well create another downward – and undesired -  trend for most photographers. However,  I see little evidence of such a thing happening. Primarily, because I believe Crestock doesn’t have enough goodwill to get a lot of photographers participating, needed to create the needed leverage and that the conversion between bloggers and paying customers falters behind. In addition, there might be a bit of hesitance about turning a blog into an advertisement portal for Crestock.

• More info on mystockphoto.org
• The email and more initial reactions on microstockgroup.com

It’ll probably be an open door for you when I say that with a decent planning, you’ve already done half the work. I believe a thorough planning is vital for any photoshoot. Whether you work with models, or go go out into the wild. Both indoors, as well as outdoors, [...]]]>

Reading time: 7 – 12 minutes

It’ll probably be an open door for you when I say that with a decent planning, you’ve already done half the work. I believe a thorough planning is vital for any photoshoot. Whether you work with models, or go go out into the wild. Both indoors, as well as outdoors, a planning will only help you to be more productive.

This guide thoroughly describes the way I go about my major productions – using a group of models, on location outside my studio, using one or more assistants. For most (micro)stock productions, this approach will be way too elaborate and time consuming, and a more lean approach can be followed.

1. Come up with a plan before you make a planning.

This sounds redundant, but is often overlooked. What I mean by this first step, is that you need to determine what you want to shoot. I keep a long list of possible ideas in a small notebook (read: iPhone) where I jot down just about everything that triggers me as a prospected photo-op. Every now and then, I go over that list behind my computer, and search those themes on the various stock sites, to see what’s already online, what’s available, and which type of photos are missing from the various catalogues. Based on those results, I pick the “niches“, and create a mindmap, exploring the niche’s potential.

• Notebook, text editor or the likes
• Mindmapping software
• Search function of your stock agent of choice

2. Make a storyboard

This step is actually exactly that. Using a whiteboard (or a pen and paper), I sketch the images I want to capture. As many as possible, but only venturing out into different concepts and settings, without distinguishing between portrait – or landscape format. This usually results in about 30 sketches, depending on the theme and the purpose of the shoot.

• Pen and paper or whiteboard
• Mindmapping software
• Camera (phone, point and shoot, etc – you only need them for reference!)

3. Create lists

The next step is to create lists. What do I need? Think concepts, translated into props, locations, and models. Do not forget to include a list of equipment needed (specific lenses, lighting requirements, etc). Organise them; divide them into things you need to arrange, things you need to buy, things you need to pack. Just write everything down that comes to mind – it’ll have to be revised later anyway.

• I use a simple text editor, post-it’s, or  a task management tool, depending on the magnitude of the shoot.

4. Create a plan of action

The next step is to write down everything I need to do. I usually start by planning a date, on which the shoot is to take place, and then work backwards, to determine when I actually need to start arranging things.

The time before the day of the shoot can (still) be loosely planned. Be aware that arranging models and locations may be very time consuming, though, so calculate this into your planning, and be prepared to be forced to postpone the shooting date, when schedules simply refuse to coincide.

Based on the story-board I’ve created in step 2, I plan the day of the shoot meticulously with 15 minute time slots. My planning describes each of the themes and concepts, the various settings and the number of different photos I intend to end up with. Based on those three variables, I calculate the needed time in quantities of 15 minutes.

Make sure you include time in the planning for the obvious: Checking your gear, charging batteries, setting up on location, welcoming models, and allowing time to sign model releases. In other words, a S.M.A.R.T. plan is essential

• Spread sheet program
• Word program
• Project planner for big shoots to create a Gantt chart

5. Start following your plan

Again, an open door, but what’s the worth of a plan, when you don’t stick to it?

During the process of putting your plan in action, you’ll undoubtedly notice, that you need to revise it. Several times.  During one of those revisions, you will realise, you might need a backup plan, too. This usually happens, when you have to commit to arrangements, and have to spend uncalculated money on models, props, and / or locations. It therefore is a sound advice, to think before you act, and seek for cheaper (if not free) alternatives.

During this step, you’ll notice the pieces of the puzzle will start falling together, and you’ll be able to refine stages 1 to 4. However, I notice, that often, those phases are so well embedded in my mind, that I omit changing the documents created so far, and I carry on to step 6. However, this is typically sloppy of me, and could well fire back, so I would urge you to at least jot down those changes.

• Telephone
• Agenda
• Word program with the planning and draft scenario open

6. Finalise the shooting schedule

When you’ve got everything sorted out, it’s time to finalise the plan of action you drafted in step 4. Usually, I split up this document into three different parts:

1. A full shooting schedule, including all lists, addresses (including telephone numbers), and all tasks I’ve jotted down earlier.
2. A concise shooting schedule, including the events for which you’d need the action of others, and the instructions and agreements with all parties involved. (As personal arrangements may vary, I tend to omit them from this shooting schedule) The concise plan consists of all contact information, including telephone numbers, route description, and the division of the 15 minutes’ time slots, including breaks, time needed to change sets, model releases, etc.
3. A summary, only including the 15 minute’s time slots of the shooting date, in a large font. I tend to make at least 4 copies of this; one is constantly in my pocket for reference, the other three are pinned on the wall for my assistants, the models and the hosts – if shooting on location – so they know when their involvement is required.

Now is also the right time to scout the location which hosts the shoot. Check for ambient lighting conditions, sockets to plug in a laptop, battery charger and extension chords for strobes, etc. Also look for dead spots (disturbing, or unwanted backgrouds, places to store your gear, etc).

If I can afford the luxury, I also assign one assistant as “time keeper”. Knowing myself, I know that when I’m shooting, I tend to loose track of time, and looking at the plan and my watch only disrupts my creativity. Having someone around to tell me to stop shooting and move on to the next scene is worth every dime.

Three days before the shoot, I email everyone involved the concise shooting schedule, including personal arrangements, which are added in the body text of the email. That’s just about when I also talk everything through with my assistants. In most cases, this will all be redundant information, but for two purposes: to stress the stakes involved, and to make sure there are no last minute surprises.

7. The night before the shoot

The night before the shoot, I go over all phases, to refresh my memory, and re-embed the storyboard in my mind. That’s also when I check my gear, and, if I don’t shoot in my own studio, when I check my bag, flight cases, and documents (model- and/or property releases, press card, etc)

8. The day of the shoot

The day of the shoot starts by setting up for the shoot. As all shooting sessions have been carefully thought through, it’s a piece of cake to set up the lights. I usually plan a slots (15 minutes) to take a few test shots, to check the camera settings. By the time I’ve finished that, the models show up, and I (or an assistant) welcome them, and give a short recap of the events ahead.

Bottom line

This guide perfectly describes what I should do. Usually, the time frame does not allow me to go through all the steps, or unforeseen events (inevitably) change everything. However, with every shoot I produce, I notice this preparation flow become more of  a second nature. The result is that I become both more comfortable at organising big productions, become less alarmed when last minute changes occur, as well as make the process more lean by retracing my steps more often. Although the latter may sound weird, it actually saves time and increases the production level if I organise meticulously. It also allows me to skip steps, and helps me to be more on top of things.

Golden rule

Regardless of how perfect my planning is, the best shots I get out of such a production are always the impulsive, improvised –  and thus the unplanned photos. A thorough preparation of a shoot is essential, but leave room for creativity and the unexpected! Remain critical of yourself. When I’m in charge, all mistakes are accountable to me, even if I’m not responsible.

36clicks has been active  in stock photography for three years, and now it’s time to expand into the world of video. The first few steps have already been made, and after some extensive research, I purchased a Canon HV40, earlier today.

[There is a video that cannot be [...]]]>

Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes

36clicks has been active  in stock photography for three years, and now it’s time to expand into the world of video. The first few steps have already been made, and after some extensive research, I purchased a Canon HV40, earlier today.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Using a tungsten lamp, and a simple studio set-up, I set out to capture the expansion of my business. Represented by a mall candle being lit next to a slightly bigger one already burning, I thought this was an adequate concept. Let the steep learning curve from still photography begin! I’m anctious to see how it goes. This first bit of footage is already pending on shutterstock.

I’m obviously interested in what you think.

Why A Canon HV40? Read more below…

Although I’m don’t understand the full consequences of everything, yet, let alone don’t know if these findings are actually ture, My quest for information  learned me the following:

• AVCHD compression still isn’t quite perfect. The closest thing to lossless video compression is still using DV Casettes
• Althought the HV40 is pretty much identical to its predecessor HV30, the HV30 isn’t easy to get your hands on.
• The HV40 creates true 1080i widescreen images. The camcorder is capable of producing all the current formats for stock.
• The HV40 has a lot of options, and a 1:2,7″ cmos sensor, which is basically a mid-to top end consumer camcorder.
• I didn’t want to carry another big chunk of gear next to my studio equipment and Nikon D2x, D3, so I wanted a fairly compact camera. The HV30 roughly compares to the D300 in dSLR’s.
• Price-Quality is still quite reasonable.
• Compared to its Sony counterpart, the differences are marginal. I found the controls and menus on the HV40 more intuitive

With a minimum effort – basically the result of trying out new lighting schemes on myself – I ended up with about a 50 different images of myself. Combining them into different conceptual groupings, all related to business methodologies, a vast series, quadrupling the number of shots needed, erected. This series [...]]]>

Reading time: < 1 minute

With a minimum effort – basically the result of trying out new lighting schemes on myself – I ended up with about a 50 different images of myself. Combining them into different conceptual groupings, all related to business methodologies, a vast series, quadrupling the number of shots needed, erected. This series even won me an iPod in the Dreamstime Engineering competition.

[View with PicLens]

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Thinking about the business methodologies and concepts, there is plenty of room to expand….:)

After only 5 months online as Wolf on Stock, a lot of things have happened, which resulted in a bit of downtime, to put it mildly. But, we're back!

36clicks is now fully dedicated to stock photography, separating the name from my other businesses, and I've reserved this domain for stock related [...]]]>

Reading time: < 1 minute

After only 5 months online as Wolf on Stock, a lot of things have happened, which resulted in a bit of downtime, to put it mildly. But, we're back!

36clicks is now fully dedicated to stock photography, separating the name from my other businesses, and I've reserved this domain for stock related issues only.

That's not all, folks! We also moved to a new provider, a new host, on a new server in a new datacenter. This also gave me the a nice photo-op, to extend the technological niches I tend to shoot. All photos are available through my agents.

[View with PicLens]

I’ve got quite a few topics in the pipeline, let’s see when I get around to actualy typing a few blurbs about them… :)

Following up on my previous post on finding your niche in (micro)stock, I’d like to draw your attention to a very useful tool in assessing if what you have in mind is a potential niche to be explored; picNiche

Also, there is an interesting article for comparison on mystockphoto worth checking [...]]]>

Reading time: 4 – 7 minutes

Following up on my previous post on finding your niche in (micro)stock, I’d like to draw your attention to a very useful tool in assessing if what you have in mind is a potential niche to be explored; picNiche

Also, there is an interesting article for comparison on mystockphoto worth checking out (and not just in respect to finding your niche!).

Thanks to Roberto Marinello and Bob Davies for re-drawing my attention to this subject!

PicNiche is a simple looking tool, but it’s far more elaborate than at first meets the eye. It works very straight forward: you can enter your primary keyword or set of keywords, and it renders a few useful, yet basic, statistics after pressing the submit (analyse) button.

It’ll show you how many images, matching the criteria you entered, were found, how many views those images have generated, as well as how many times the matching images were downloaded. Essentially, this information is key to assessing if you’ve found a niche or not, but picNiche does more.

In picNiches own words:

picNiche is an easy to use keyword search tool for assessing the supply and demand of online stock photography images from microstock sites.

You search for a keyword phrase such as ‘business man’ or ‘orange socks’ and the search system assesses the sales statistics (demand) for images found relating to that search, along with the competition (supply) for that phrase, and returns a rating indicating the likelihood of making a sale as a result of that keyword phrase on your image.

The system rates keywords on an open-ended scale, so performing multiple searches will provide you with the highest rated keywords, those most likely to make a sale.

Rating < 10 is BAD
Rating > 10 and < 50 is OK
Rating > 50 and < 100 is GOOD
Rating > 100 is a NICHE

Thoughts and observations on picNiche

I believe this is a very helpful added value of picNiche. Having toyed around with it a bit, its definitely something I’ll be using frequently to select and prepare my shoots.

However, as with all tools, the information provided should be handled with care, though. The information you get out of it is as reliable as the information you’ve put in. (BS in = BS out) To illustrate this:

As picNiche makes optimal use of User Generated Content, it is also very much reliant on how other users have keyworded their images, and we all know there’s a lot of spamming going around. The consequence of this, is that very specific keywords, or sets of keywords put together with quotation marks might render a lower niche rating than more generic terms. Going too generic in search phrases, however, will also reduce the niche rating.

Example:

In light of the presumed higher number of purchases generated with the words “water“, “treatment” or “plant “, this makes sense. However, neither water nor treatment or plant alone necessarily refers to a “blast furnace”, thus stretching the query beyond the researched niche.

Another thing to bear in mind, is that picNiche does not seem to incorporate the actual buyer’s search terms with which the image was found and purchased – in other words, it remains very important to use common sense and try to think from a buyers perspective when choosing the keywords. Then, there is the complicating factor of iStock’s controlled vocabulary and keyword culling policies, which could well affect the results negatively.

The keyword tool picNiche offers is great to get ideas, and to check if the set of keywords entered is complete. As stated on picNiche.com:

These keywords are suggestions ONLY, any which do not describe the content of YOUR image, will NOT help your sales, and may even harm them, please use only as a guide

Needless to say, a high niche-rating is no guarantees for high sales. In the end, it comes down to the quality, composition and styling of your images, and how well they are keyworded. The line of thought:

“Hmmm; According to picNiche, “courthouse” (953 images) only has a niche-rating of 40,92, but “courthouse” AND “judge” has a niche-rating of 266,5 (282 images), so let’s get that judge there!” remains a dangerous conclusion. Adding the word “felony” to the query will reduce the niche-rating to 210,00 (2 images), however, I’m inclined to believe that’s mostly due to the scarcity of images that include all of those keywords, rather than a reduced demand for such images.

Toolbars

Another killer feature of picNiche is the firefox toolbar Bob offers. Won’t go into details here, as I couldn’t possibly top the review on microstockdiaries.com

Conclusion

Eventhough I initially looked over the tremendous potential of picNiche, I believe it’s an oustanding tool to determine niches and possible sales potential, as it is the only tool I know of that combines demand and supply in one, measurable, factor. But this only applies if handled with care and a bit of thought. I sure hope Bob Davies will continue his work on these tools, and perhaps eventually do his superb work more justice by spending a bit of time in a more fitting presentation?

It’s splattered all over the various forums of microstock agents: If you want to be successful in stock, build a large portfolio. Aim for a versatile collection of images, as that ensures a wide spread interest from buyers, designers, and such, and thus realises sales and generates revenues. All very [...]]]>

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It’s splattered all over the various forums of microstock agents: If you want to be successful in stock, build a large portfolio. Aim for a versatile collection of images, as that ensures a wide spread interest from buyers, designers, and such, and thus realises sales and generates revenues. All very well intended opinions, shared by the big names in microstock.

Outstanding! Now that’s something to aim for, then! Pick up that camera, and go shoot everything around you. If it moves – even better, right? – Wrong.

Five tips to build a porfolio that stands out, and can potentially make you some cash:

1. Do your searches. Start with popular themes, such as “business handshake”, which’ll generate a lot of hits of high selling images. I
2. Don’t copy what’s already popular unless you manage to find a new, refreshing, approach, targetting new prospective buyers
3. Go take a good look at the popular images. Forget what those images are about, but remember the style. you’ll notice a crispness and refreshing style, that sells
4. Try narrowing down the search query to a theme that complies with two rules: the subject of the photos is accessible to you, and there are only a handfull of images depicting that same theme. If you find a search that results in a few images with a lot of sales, then you’ve found a niche.
5. Expand that niche. What could images of that readily accessible subject be used for? How many angles of use can you identify? And how different would photos using that share the same theme look for different uses?

Let’s analyse the situation, and see where that advise originates. I’m all for a large portfolio, and will be the first to acknowledge, that size, in this case, does matter. The more photos you have in your portfolio, the higher chances are, they will be noticed by prospected buyers,who will then surf on to your portfolio for that one image they need for their project. But, to put it simple, if the storefront looks great, but the interior is a mess, or you end up in a pet store whilst being allergic to animals, you’re not in the right place, and you’ll find your way out in no-time, never to return. With a stock portfolio, it’s the same. If buyers don’t see what they’re looking for, they’re gone, and before you know it, your images will be tucked far away in the darkest realms of the search pages.

The big players in (micro)stock have collections of several 10’s of thousands of high quality photos. Most of them have been around since 2004 or 2005, and have learned the tricks of the trade. They have literally spent years in perfecting those tricks, and in assessing the efficiency in terms of generated revenues, by exploring new things. Remember, as microstock is only reaching maturity, in 2004, or even 2006, a lot of things were still new. Back then, it was presumably easier to figure out which images would sell, and which images won’t. And in due course, the themes that sell became apparent to a following crowd of microstock contributors, who started copying what once was hot. The top contributors now take a professional – and full time – approach to finding and exploiting hot themes, backed up by experience and a production mentality. That’s a tough proposition to compete with.

1. Do your searches

At any time, its important to know what’s hot and what’s not. It tells you what has sold a lot – note the past tense! Therefore, it’s also important to establish how long it took to generate so many downloads. And while you’re at it, browse through the contributors portfolio, to see what more he (or she) has to offer. This is all common sense, and generates proper competition intelligence, but also will stimulate your creativity by forming an opinion about the top selling images you see. It’s important not to try to copy those best selling images, as it’s a David versus Goliath proposition, where David (your imitated file) is bound to lose, and it’ll prevent you from developing your own style, brand and the fingerprint feel of your images by which clients might eventually recognise your portfolio.

Search for “business handshake”:

• on iStockphoto, you’ll find 3379 results.
• on Shutterstock, you’ll find 6895 results
• on Fotolia, you’ll find 5544 results

Considering the above agents have a collection of 2,000,000 to 6,000,000 photos those search results may not seem like a lot, and I’m sure you can come up with queries that result in far more images, but “business handshake” is already pretty precise, narrow it down to hands of businesspeople. I’m sure you’ll get my drift. (business alone generates 541,702 hits on shutterstock, for example)

2. Try to improve on what already has been done!

The key in such a search is to stimulate your own creativity – a trick that can be taught – Try to describe “the feel” of the images that appeal to you, and then think about how to achieve and perfect that feel in your own style. Also think about what you whould have done if it were you taking the photo,what you would’ve done differently, and try to guess the photographers motivation for his (or her) choice, resulting in the image you’re looking at. This is, as far as I’m concerned, the most important revelation of analysing top images, but a difficult one. If answering those questions result in a flow of new ideas and approaches, then there’s nothing stopping you form staging such a photo shoot. If you don’t, then pursuing other themes might be more advisable.

3. Analyse the general impact, feel and image quality of top sellers.

If you perform a similar search, as discussed above, you might notice something else: the clarity, vibrance and crispness – the general impact – of the images on the first pages makes even the thumbnail pop out from the screen. Browsing further back through the pages, images become sulkier, lacking contrast and thus also appeal. Try to describe “the feel” of the images that appeal to you, and then think about how to achieve and perfect that feel in your own style. This is, as far as I’m concerned, the most important revelation of analysing top images, and one I’m still struggling with. From experience, meticulous planning of a photo shoot plays a vital element in the quality of the final result.

4. Find your niche

By just looking at the astronomical number of sales of one of the top selling images, it might be tempting to try to achieve a similar type of image. However, I think you’ll find your chances improve by finding your niche. Although finding such a niche might be easier said than done, it is very well possible. If you apply the same types and techniques I described above to subjects and themes in your own personal sphere and surroundings, you are already half way there. Think which locations, what people, and which themes are easily accessible to you, and with which you feel at ease and confident. Explore the potential messages you could capture at such locations, and start planning a first shoot. Having knowlegde and experience in that area will definitely help to provide you with an a competitive edge. Then perform a few searches, using the prime keywords you would use to describe your idea. If you notice that those queries only result in a handful of decently selling images, then you might have found your niche.

Beautiful technology (ambiguous) as niche

As this might still sound a bit ambiguous, I’ll give you an example from my own experience. Being an industrial designer by education, I have worked for a large steel manufacturer for several years. This strengthened my passion for- and knowledge of technology, as well as sheer enormous structures. I decided to combine that competitive edge with my passion for night photography, motion, and long exposures. This resulted in what is now the top tier of my selling images, generating roughly 75% of the total revenues earned. My niche themes range from infrastructure (bridges, motorways, intersections, to logistics and construction. (off topic – Lookstat is a great tool to analyse the performance of individual images over time) The absolute sales figures are still far from impressive, but considering I’m only a small-time microstock shooter, I’d like to think those images have served me pretty well.

Good image, very little sales

The other end of the stick is also quite familiar to me. I have a huge collection of landscape and travel photos, which are lovely to look at, but with one or two exceptions, that collection stays well behind in sales, and quite frankly, most of them are still gathering digital dust on one of my hard drives.

5. Expanding your nice

After a first exploration of your newly discovered niche, get about 10 – 25 images online at your agents, and follow closely how they’re received. If you receive quite a few “abundant category” rejection, then it’s best to get back to the drawing board. On the other hand, if – depending on the agency – your images start selling almost immediately, are added to lightboxes or receive special recognition(initial ratings, editor’s choice), then you might be on to something.

Expanding the niche in transportation

The next step is to carefully examine the performance of individual images from that series. Try to determine what messages and concepts seem to be favoured by the prospected clients. Then start diverging to both improving the general appeal of that message, as well as to think of other potential markets with the same theme.

Friendly industry: pure steam (water)

Using my technology series as example, one could easily think of themes such as global warming, environmental damage and pollution as possible uses. Yet the reverse concept – illustrating heavy industry in a positive and more friendly concept – is also a valid – more positive – aspects to cover. Then, there are various other another angles that could covered: the current economic situation, triggering the decline of production, the hassle of commuting through heavy traffic by car in urban regions, or introducing the human element in the above mentioned examples to illustrate either the downside of automation, or the positive side of quality control. If executed properly, capturing these different themes will result in different images, thus creating a versatile collection of images, all derived from the same basic niche.

Disclaimer:

• These tips are derived from my personal experiences, and may or may not work for everybody.
• The steps described can be applied and will have a positive effect, but there are other ways, too, which might even work better.
• I’m still refining the process of finding a niche and exploiting it.

If you have any thoughts on his please share them by leaving a comment!