Microstock

Just two years ago I started uploading to a couple of stock sites, Alamy and Shutterstock and earlier this year to Adobe Stock as well. I am not a dedicated stock photographer, just doing this for fun and the occasional modest payout, so I don't set up special scenarios or use paid models and have a pretty small portfolio. However in June Shutterstock changed their payment structure which had rewarded those building large portfolios with higher rates and also reduced their minimum from a measly $0.25 to just $0.10; at that point I lost the incentive and haven't uploaded anywhere since. From the start SS has had many more sales and I like that they show a world map and list of where each download occurs, giving rise to queries such as why a middle eastern state would want a snap of morris dancers? And curiously snaps of the local hardware store have proved exclusively popular in southern Australia, the list goes on. Also curiously each site has a completely different list of downloads although the Adobe Stock portfolio is much smaller as they only accept images for commercial use. One thing I have learned is that you cannot predict what will sell and those shots you wonder whether it's worth uploading often turn out to be best sellers.

Anyhow I thought it would be amusing to share my most popular shots in terms of sales numbers, which isn't mirrored by the earnings chart where one sale of a photo on SS has earned more than others with multiple sales.

Can you guess which is my top seller? And which earned the most?

Top Seller - Reel to Reel

Biggest Earner - Two chaps talking

Nope!

Top Seller - Spaceship

Biggest Earner - Moth

Top seller - correct! Very popular in the US, as well as Mexico and Brazil. This came from a local photography group macro evening, a member brought this tiny model of the Enterprise which lit up so I snapped it with off camera flash and added the blue streaks in Lightroom.

Can anyone guess the highest earner?

Ok I have clearly got you all stumped. The best earner is the first one of the white flower In a single sale. The last shot of the moth is the best seller so far on Adobe Stock but early days there. The blue clematis, joint no. 2 with the tape recorder, has proved most popular in Eastern Europe and occasionally places like Holland and New Zealand.

In case you are curious the chap in no. 8 is Deiter Rams, chief designer for Braun products in the latter half of the 20c and of which the two hifi items are examples. These are all most popular in Europe, South Korea and elsewhere in the Far East. How I met Dieter is quite an interesting anecdote if you bear with me; In Leamington Spa the furniture company Vitsoe built a stylish new factory on the site of the former Ford foundry but for a couple of years the site itself looked Just as when the builders left, none of the usual anodyne planting usually required by planners. Then one day I drove past and the whole site was covered in red poppies, a spectacular sight in the middle of a retail park so I rushed home for my camera and took photos which I sent to Vitsoe with a note saying thanks for such a wonderful scene. They thanked me and asked permission to use them to which I of course agreed. Next thing I get an invite to a private event when a permanent collection from the US of Braun products was being unveiled at Vitsoe, the guest of honour being Deiter Rams from Germany, the connection being that Deiter also designed Vitsoe products. A very pleasant chap with whom I had a long interesting chat. Deiter’s design approach has wide influences to this day and in particular in Apple products - the clock and calculator apps for instance are sourced from his originals. Interesting where this hobby takes us is it not, I have found it opens all sorts of opportunities.

Great to hear your experiences Rob - and it would have taken me loads of guesses to get them right! As you've said - it's not always the photos that you would choose that appeal to others, and in commercial there are often very specific requirements.

Enjoyed your story about Deiter too

I was going to say the Star Trek one also!

Just sold an image of Darth Vaders head on Alamy for $60 myself

Nice one Gareth!