A Blog About Stock Photography. John specializes in shooting stock photos including a mix of funny animal pictures with anthropomorphized pets (including dogs, cats, cows, elephants, monkeys and more), and concept stock photos for business and consumer communications. John's site includes interviews with photographers and leaders in the stock photo community as well as numerous articles on photography, digital imaging, and the stock photo business.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Opportunities Are All Around Us
Hey, that's me they are operating on!
Just over a year ago I had emergency surgery in which a couple of feet of my small intestines were removed. Ouch! Six months later I had an “incisional” hernia when the incision site from the first operation gave way. The repair involved inserting a plastic mesh underneath my abdominal muscles. In a true case of “If you don’t ask for it you won’t get it” I got permission from both my surgeon and from the hospital
to have my friend and fellow stock photographer, Shalom Ormsby, photograph and video tape the operation. The stock photos and clips are available through Getty Images.
This morning Shalom dropped by and handed me my share of the first royalties we have received from this material. This little event demonstrates several points that I think are important. Firstly, it behooves us all to have strategic alliances with others in this industry, whether it is other shooters, stock agencies, modeling agencies…the more strategic alliances the better. Secondly, it takes a lot of time for the wheels of stock to turn. It is not at all uncommon in my experience to wait six months to a year before your efforts begin to pay off (keep in mind the vast majority of my experience is with Rights Managed stock, and I have zero experience with Micro Stock). And thirdly, the opportunities to create income generating assets (stock photos) are all around us, all of the time, if we just pay attention.
So go buddy-up to another stock shooter, have an operation, and be patient!
4 comments:
Seems like you should be able to write off part of it as a business expense :) .
Thanks John, just started reading your stuff recently and enjoying it greatly.
You sure have the guts to go where no other stock creator has gone before...
Sorry, couldn't resist a bad joke.
Sean,
Or, in this case my medical insurance subsidized my stock career!
Enquiries,
Yeah, but i have less guts now than before the operation:).
Post a Comment