Thursday, April 8, 2010
A Suggestion for Earning More Money In Stock Photography
No Secrets in Stock Photography
There really aren’t any secrets in stock photography. If you make more images, you earn more money. When you make better images you earn more money. If you make images that are relevant to the market, you make more money. If you make intelligent choices in your distribution…then you earn more money.
A Suggestion: Shoot Seniors (Maybe I should say Photograph Seniors…)
You want to make more money in stock photography? Here is a suggestion: Shoot seniors. Shoot mature adults living active, vital lives. Seniors connecting with young people. Shoot seniors connecting with their doctors, nurses and care givers. Shoot seniors connecting with each other. Shot ETHNIC seniors! Shoot seniors at work, at play, running there own businesses, enjoying their grandchildren.
A Need For Seniors
There is a HUGE need for seniors. In a couple of years, for the first time in human history, there will be more people over 65 than under 18. Check out what the agencies have in the way of “mature” adult images…talk about holes! And those huge holes become absolute canyons when you check out the senior ethnic content.
“Mature Adults” Pushing Boundaries And Inspiring Us
My creative director suggested to me a couple of years ago that an image of a senior woman dunking a basketball would be a great seller. I am getting close to doing it too! I swear! So there is another category…seniors doing outrageous things, seniors breaking the stereotypes that we have of them. Seniors surprising us and pushing the boundaries…which when you think about…is part of real life today. There are all kinds of seniors busily changing our perceptions of what the “golden years” are all about. We should be out shooting them…and being inspired by them!
Simple Shots and Significant Profit
My girl friends mother came to visit us a year ago. I photographed her in my office. Simple shots…sitting at a desk, using a computer, a close of her hand in her daughter’s hand. We spent about an hour, maybe an hour and a half shooting. No make-up artist, no styling, not even an assistant. I did get a model release though! Total cost…nothing. So far that little shoot has brought in just over $2,000.00. You don’t have to make shoots into huge productions to make them profitable. That little senior shoot will be bringing me revenue for years to come.
An Active and Vital Senior Model
Yesterday I was contemplating a SCUBA diving trip…maybe to Cozumel for some drift diving, or perhaps Bonaire off the coast of Venezuela (don’t be fooled…I go diving at least once every decade or so). As I do, I started to think about how I could make the trip pay for itself…and it suddenly came to me. I can base the trip around an active and vital senior. There would be a bit of a twist though…because it occurred to me that I could be the model…arrgh…I am a senior! I would go with my partner Stephanie. We can photograph each other enjoying ourselves in various situations and activities…from researching the trip, to packing, to traveling to enjoying the vacation itself.
Focus, Shot Lists, and Follow Through
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that within two to three years the images we will create will not only pay for the trip, but will be generating profit. In recent years I have been able to generate considerable money from each trip I have taken. It is simply a matter of having a focus, creating a shot list, and having the discipline to follow through.
Time, Hard Work, Common Sense and Income Opportunities
You can still make a living in stock. It takes time, hard work, some common sense, and shooting for the holes in existing collections. And one big hole in every collection is in their imagery of the demographic consisting of what we refer to as seniors or mature adults. The need for that imagery is just going to keep increasing, and providing all of us with an opportunity to increase our stock photo income as well.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Photo Credit lines, Copyright Notices, and the Benefits of Big
Credit Lines, Copyrights, and Watermarks
When looking at the image shown at the top of this photo blog, what are the chances someone is going to steal it and use it on their site? I would say not likely, and certainly a lot less likely than if the photo had a less prominent credit line and copyright notice. What are the chances they will know the image is copyright protected? How about the chances of finding my site in order to license the image or see more of my work? I now believe in big watermarks!
My Name In Huge Letters
I am in the process of upgrading all my online images to have a rather prominent credit line. Originally I didn't want to clutter up my images with a watermark, you know, that photographer-ego thing, but having seen the rampant theft of my photography, I have changed my mind. Do a search for "Massage Cats" and there is my image everywhere...but almost none of them have a credit back to me (but now this one does). Besides, when I see my one of my images used somewhere on the Internet without my permission then it at least feels a little to better to have my name in huge letters across the image!
Live and Learn
This has been a gradual process for me, starting with a very tiny and unobtrusive credit line, then progressing to a larger one, and at this point really big to where it is essentially a watermark (in this case I believe bigger really is better). It is a huge task too! I have probably 3000 images left to go, and that doesn't count the over 3,000 images I have yet to migrate to my site. Too bad I didn't start off with this mentality. Oh well, live and learn.
Advertising, Promotion and Education
If someone does steal the image they will either have to put some time, effort, and skill into removing the credit line, or I will at least get some advertising and promotion out of the deal (yeah I know, on some of the images it would take two seconds to get rid of the credit line.but they still have to put it into Photoshop and at least spend some time). To me, at this point, huge watermarks and/or credit lines are a no-brainer! In a way, putting larger credit lines on your work is also an educational process. The more people see images with big copyright notices and credit lines on them the more it might sink through their skulls that images are not all free!
File Names, Alt Text and Finding Pictures
Of course, at the same time I am upgrading the file names to have more meaning for search engines, I am adding better alt text as well. Alt text is one of the key ways that search engines know what the picture is about. This is a ton of work and slow going. I sit in front of the TV at night with my laptop on my lap and watch Law and Order (or American Idol or.whatever) while I do this work. I have learned not to rush though. I believe it is better to do a good, thorough job on each image. It isn't something a "robot" can do (I know a number of photographers who are having programmers create robots to systematically "harvest" their images off of agency sites.fast, but in the long-run I don't believe it will work as well as giving more individual attention to each image).
Overnight Success and Years of Hard Work
Sometimes it seems totally hopeless to have all this work in front of me. But then I remember how difficult it was to learn and do professional quality work with Photoshop back in 1990, and how much that ended up helping my career. It is hard to get around the fact that overnight success usually requires years of hard work.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Iconic Symbols and the Power To Communicate In Stock Photography
Iconic Symbols and the Power to Communicate
There are images that have become so identified with certain concepts that they not only ubiquitous but have become clichés as well. These “iconic” symbols are ubiquitous and often banal, but even then retain the power to communicate effectively. Such images include the light bulb to demonstrate “ideas”, a life preserver for “rescue”, and a lighthouse for “guidance”. Another such symbol is the piggy bank. We see it everywhere, and we instantly know that the topic is finance of one sort or another.
Images That Serve Your Client
While we can look at such overused images as a liability, if they are portrayed in a new and interesting way they can be extremely powerful in getting a message across. What they have going for them is instant recognition; what goes against them is the boredom factor. Get rid of that “boredom”, show that symbol in an eye-catching and interest-provoking manner, and you have an image that serves your clients well, and in turn can bring in substantial revenue for you. A another example of a piggy bank image that does that refers to "Stretching Your Savings".
Volatile Financial Markets and Bucking Broncos
In this case I wanted to create a stock photo that could be used to point out the volatility, the ups and downs, and the risks of finance markets, whether they are in savings, capital investment, the equity markets or any other financial instruments. I chose to use a man in business attire to expand the concept beyond that of personal finance and to include corporate entities as well. The cowboy on a bucking bronco is a concept that all Americans, indeed that the whole world is familiar with, and has an inherent drama to it. Success in that rodeo sport is possible, but is hardly a given. I think it is a perfect merger of two familiar and iconic symbols.
Successful Stock Photos and a Piggy Bank
Some of the things that make for successful stock photos are motion, or a sense of it, a positive spin, a clear message with a quick read, and effectiveness at thumbnail sizes. To impart that sense of motion we have dramatic body positioning for both the piggy bank and the executive riding it. Another detail that works to help add to the sense of movement is having the businessman’s tie flying out. We also made sure to have our model smiling to add that positive aspect to the photo. By having the image on white we make it easy for those licensing it to incorporate it into a wide variety of uses…and to expand the image to accommodate headlines and body copy. Generally images sell better when they are in an environment, but in this case my intuition was to use that more generic white background.
From Newsletters to Ads To Editorial Illustrations
This is the kind of image that can be used by a huge portion of the business and finance communities for everything from newsletter embellishment to bank adds to editorial illustrations. With that in mind I put the images into Blend Images Royalty Free collection to get maximum distribution and to avoid eliminating those potential users who avoid using Rights Managed images for real or perceived reasons of expense.
Interesting, Compelling and Iconic Images
Time will tell if the image turns out to be successful or not, but the principle works. If you can take one of those iconic symbols and show it in an interesting and compelling manner, then I bet that you will have, at the very least, one of those bread and butter images that are so important to having a thriving stock photo business.
There are images that have become so identified with certain concepts that they not only ubiquitous but have become clichés as well. These “iconic” symbols are ubiquitous and often banal, but even then retain the power to communicate effectively. Such images include the light bulb to demonstrate “ideas”, a life preserver for “rescue”, and a lighthouse for “guidance”. Another such symbol is the piggy bank. We see it everywhere, and we instantly know that the topic is finance of one sort or another.
Images That Serve Your Client
While we can look at such overused images as a liability, if they are portrayed in a new and interesting way they can be extremely powerful in getting a message across. What they have going for them is instant recognition; what goes against them is the boredom factor. Get rid of that “boredom”, show that symbol in an eye-catching and interest-provoking manner, and you have an image that serves your clients well, and in turn can bring in substantial revenue for you. A another example of a piggy bank image that does that refers to "Stretching Your Savings".
Volatile Financial Markets and Bucking Broncos
In this case I wanted to create a stock photo that could be used to point out the volatility, the ups and downs, and the risks of finance markets, whether they are in savings, capital investment, the equity markets or any other financial instruments. I chose to use a man in business attire to expand the concept beyond that of personal finance and to include corporate entities as well. The cowboy on a bucking bronco is a concept that all Americans, indeed that the whole world is familiar with, and has an inherent drama to it. Success in that rodeo sport is possible, but is hardly a given. I think it is a perfect merger of two familiar and iconic symbols.
Successful Stock Photos and a Piggy Bank
Some of the things that make for successful stock photos are motion, or a sense of it, a positive spin, a clear message with a quick read, and effectiveness at thumbnail sizes. To impart that sense of motion we have dramatic body positioning for both the piggy bank and the executive riding it. Another detail that works to help add to the sense of movement is having the businessman’s tie flying out. We also made sure to have our model smiling to add that positive aspect to the photo. By having the image on white we make it easy for those licensing it to incorporate it into a wide variety of uses…and to expand the image to accommodate headlines and body copy. Generally images sell better when they are in an environment, but in this case my intuition was to use that more generic white background.
From Newsletters to Ads To Editorial Illustrations
This is the kind of image that can be used by a huge portion of the business and finance communities for everything from newsletter embellishment to bank adds to editorial illustrations. With that in mind I put the images into Blend Images Royalty Free collection to get maximum distribution and to avoid eliminating those potential users who avoid using Rights Managed images for real or perceived reasons of expense.
Interesting, Compelling and Iconic Images
Time will tell if the image turns out to be successful or not, but the principle works. If you can take one of those iconic symbols and show it in an interesting and compelling manner, then I bet that you will have, at the very least, one of those bread and butter images that are so important to having a thriving stock photo business.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Secret Lives of Elephants: A Photo Odyssey
The Secret And Remarkable Lives of Elephants
We all know that Elephants are remarkable creatures, but until very recently we didn’t know how remarkable. It was on a two-year expedition to previously unexplored regions of both Africa and South East Asia that I was able to gain the trust of these ponderous pachyderms to the point where they let me photograph them in there normally secret activities and feats that have never before been witnessed by humans. Elephants, as it turns out, have amazing skills in music, dance, in athletic performances and even in the metaphysical.
Burmese Jungles and Elephant Ballads
At one point, having hacked our way through the deep jungles of Burma for weeks, sharing meals and stories with Tribal people including the neck-ring wearing Padueng, some of whom had never seen westerners before, and seeing nothing but malaria mosquitoes, leeches and venomous snakes, we were rewarded with a truly inspiring sight. We actually heard it before we saw it. An eerie but incredibly beautiful melody, a haunting harmony punctuated by rap-like bellows and an deep rumbling base that came up through the ground and reverberated into our chests. And then, as we parted the vines and tropical leaves, there before us, four of the huge beasts, trunks upraised, stood together and harmonized in their elephant ballad that spoke of eons of history, of heartache and accomplishment, of lost brothers and sisters, and of hopes for the future.
Bangkok, Disco Dancing and an Elephant in a Bar
But our elephant adventure was not confined to the Burmese rain forests. In the back alleys of Bangkok, where tourists are never seen and darkness hides the comings and goings of those who frequent unlikely venues, we were ushered into a cavernous unmarked warehouse whose plain and pedestrian exterior belied the extraordinary scene within. A huge, pulsing room filled with a flashing staccato strobe and streaming colored lights washing over a crowd swaying to the music and surrounding a towering bull elephant standing upright and disco dancing with surprising agility. When the music stopped the hulking animal lumbered over to the bar (you may have heard about the elephant who walked into a bar…) and enlisted three stools as he settled himself in at the bar for a little libation.
Angkor Wat, a Buddhist Monk, and a High Wire Act
But the athletic ability of elephants isn’t, as it turns out, limited to dancing. In yet another jungle clearing, this one not far from Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat, an ancient, leathery Buddhist monk led us to a sight I will never forget. Among the fallen stones of a long forgotten temple, the elephants had set up a school, a school of performing arts, and we were lucky enough to witness one young adolescent practicing his high wire act with the help of a balance beam. As we watched another youngster drifted by in the background clinging to a balloon with his trunk. In the corner of my eye I caught one elephant practicing his chameleon act changing from grey to pink in just an instant. As awesome an experience as it was we couldn’t linger. We had to press on with our journey of investigation into the secret world of elephants.
Flying Elephants, Elephants Hiding in Trees, and Elephants in the Room
In the course of our mission we saw flying elephants, we saw elephants hiding in trees, and even elephants practicing yoga. But perhaps the most amazing ability of all that we witnessed in the elephant repertoire, is a metaphysical ability, the ability to slip virtually undetected into any room in which a conversation is taking place, and to remain undetected as long as the conversation continues. I myself witnessed, and photographed, such feats more than once (once in a hospital recovery room, and again in an office).
The End of Our Odyssey, and One Last Treat
Eventually we had to end our odyssey. Our funds had run out and it was time to get back to work. But the elephants had one last treat for me. As we headed to the airport on our back home, I took one last glance out the back of the cab and caught a glimpse of a lone elephant emerging from a side road and then disappearing into the distance…on a unicycle.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Social Media, An Art Buyer, and Google Image Search
Social Media and Google Image Search
Upon arriving in my studio this morning there was a message on my voice mail from an art buyer for a large corporation who was inquiring about an image of mine created to illustrate the concepts of social media and social networking. She had found the image doing a Google Image search. Keep in mind this art buyer is very familiar with both Corbis and Getty. Interestingly enough, the social media image in question is with both Getty and Corbis (it is actually a Blend Images photo distributed through many agencies including the “Big Two”), but she found it first on my site! The image, by the way, is one of several I have recently completed to try and service the growing need for photos that deal with social media and such.
Providing Excellent Service Through SEO
My conversation with this art buyer reinforced a few things for me. It offered proof that even experienced art buyers turn to Google to find images…at least occasionally; that helping such prospective clients find your images is a legitimate and important extension of client servicing; and that my program of SEO and online presence is succeeding.
Art Buyers Turn To Google…and License Images
PhotoShelter, in their survey of art directors, art buyers, and designers, clearly indicated that such industry pros do use Google Image search from time to time. Since most of my images are with agencies, and when someone wants to license those images they are automatically taken to the agencies site. I seldom find out if my images are licensed after being found on the Internet. I do know that at this point around twenty people a day are sent to sites of the various agencies from my own site…I just don’t know if they complete the licensing process once they get there. So it is encouraging when I find out, as I did today, that a licensing process is completed.
Good SEO and Online Presence Is An Important Service To Clients
When I called this art buyer back she was effusive in thanking me for making it easy to find the image she was looking for. She volunteered that she would be keeping me in mind for similar imagery as well. She was grateful that I had put the time and effort into SEO, into making her job easier by making my images easier for her to find. Got to love that!
SEO and Online Databases of Images Do Result in Higher Sales
As demonstrated in this case, art buyers (and art directors, designers, animal lovers and other photography enthusiasts and people in need of images) are finding my pictues in those Internet searches, licensing them and purchasing prints and products from me. There is no question that it is working…the questions are how much such activity will increase as my traffic increases, and how quickly will that traffic increase? Originally I figured a year to get to a significant sales volume, but now I am thinking two years…and that is with several hours spent on my site and SEO almost every day! In my experience SEO is a long and laborious process…but one that works and one that someday I will be very glad I undertook!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
In Praise of Stock Agency Blend Images
Well, I guess it won't be exactly like this stock photo I shot in a Buenos Aires night club, but I am looking forward to seeing friends and getting a creative boost at the Blend Images Spring Creative Meeting.
In the interest of fairness I have to disclose that I am a part owner of Blend Images, a stock photo agency that I am about to praise. Tomorrow I am flying to Palm Springs to participate in a day of creative presentations (Saturday) by Blend Images for its photographers. Besides iStock, are there still any agencies that put on events for their contributors? I really look forward to these events. Stock photography can be a isolating career, so it is great to meet face-to-face with my peers, trade shop talk (O.K. little gossip too), strategies and what is going on in our lives. Trust me, this is better than Facebook!
A Creative Event, Creative Direction, And Rising Sales
In addition to putting on a once-a-year creative event, Blend Images also gives each shooter a ton of creative direction, access to an art director, an online forum, daily info on their sales, and a whole lot more. Blend is small enough to be nimble and responsive to both clients and photographers alike. Working with Blend feels like how it should be. And maybe the best part of all, my sales are going up (of course, I don’t know if that is true for everyone)!
Big Sales Still Do Happen
Blend Images truly is a stock photo agency run by photographers (even our CEO, Rick Becker-Leckrone, is a shooter) for photographers. It was founded by twenty-four stock shooters and now has a roster of over a hundred contributing members. It prides itself on transparency and accessibility. Oh yeah, and don't forget those sales! As I mentioned, you can log on to the contributor site and check your daily sales. When I logged on this morning, to my pleasant surprise, one of my associate photographers had a Rights Managed sale for over $3,000.00 (Blend handles Rights Managed, Royalty Free, and a new collection, Boost, which is a mid-level offering between RF and Micro). That is $3,000.00 to the photographer! Yes, big sales do still happen!
Blend Images, Getty, Corbis and SuperStock
While I still contribute to Getty, Corbis, and now SuperStock (of which Blend Itself a part owner) as well, I consider Blend Images to be a cornerstone to my business. They are a vital part of my program to diversify (Blend has over 200 sub-agents world-wide including Getty, Corbis and so forth). Blend now represents half of my income and, considering they just started five years ago, and I have been shooting stock for twenty years. That's pretty impressive!
An Ethnically Diverse, Tight Edited Collection
Blend is, in a sense, a niche agency. It specializes in ethnically diverse business and lifestyle imagery. It has a tightly edited collection so as not to waste the time of those looking for that kind of content, and lets face it, everyone wants that kind of content! In fact, a blend is what our world is becoming (a shout out to Shalom Ormsby, one of our founders, for coming up with a great name). OK, maybe I am getting a bit carried away here, but suffice it to say that I am really looking forward to the next couple of days, of meeting some shooters I have only corresponded with over the Internet, of getting some great and relevant creative direction, and of inundating myself with my fellow stock photographers! What fun!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Many Ways To Succeed in Stock Photography
Apples to Apples and Many Ways To Succeed
I have the privilege of seeing the sales reports from a dozen stock photographers. One thing that stands out to me from looking at all those reports is that there are many ways to succeed. Each of those photographers has there own style and approach. That point is accentuated to me by the fact that a core group of about six of us often have combined our efforts in group shoots…which means there are plenty of images shot by different photographers but using the same models in the same locations. It is, in a sense, a rare opportunity to compare apples to apples.
A Studied Approach and a High RPI
One of these photographers has a very studied approach. He spends the most time casting and location scouting of any of our group. He spends more time lighting and setting up a given shot, gets fewer images per shoot, but makes a higher per-mage return (RPI) than the other photographers.
A Constant Flow of Ideas and Tight Editing
Yet another shooter has the incredible (to me anyway) ability to spring into action instantly. I recall a shoot in which he and I teamed up on a location shoot on the ridges of Marin County’s hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We drove up, parked, and began to pile out of our two vehicles. I gathered up my camera equipment and shot list, turned around, and watched in amazement as he followed a model up a trail, camera held down at near ground level as he snapped away. He just stepped out of the car and started shooting. He consistently out-shoots all the other photographers I know in terms of quantity. He is in a constant flow of ideas shooting hero shots, details, still lifes…getting it all. Interestingly enough, not only does he end up with the most images, but he also edits extremely tightly. He credits his tight editing for his high number of accepts from a given shoot. In the shoot he and I did overlooking the Pacific he had something like 80 accepts and I felt pretty good with thirty something!
Styling, Propping, Decisiveness and Consistent Sales
One of the women in our group puts a heavy emphasis on styling and propping. She tends to get fewer images out of a given shoot but her images consistently sell well. Her style can be almost campy at times, but I have learned that there is definitely an audience for it. She also shoots a lot of children and many of those images are among our top selling photos. One thing I have really learned to appreciate about her is her decisiveness and trust in her own instincts.
Everything Sells
Then there is me. I tend towards the concept images and often feel a little out-of-place shooting lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong; I always end up enjoying the shoots…no matter what I am shooting. I love getting to know the models and I love the sense of camaraderie I end up feeling with both the models and the crew. I do, however, usually get the fewest selects of any of our group, but make up the difference with my strong concept imagery. I am working hard at expanding my vision and not getting so fixated on just the concept end of things. One thing I have definitely learned from seeing the sales reports of so many photographers is that everything sells. While the concept shots tend to have the highest RPI’s, the lifestyle shoots earn the most per shoot, which seems to me to be a rather important consideration.
Play to Your Strengths…and Shoot A Lot
I haven’t covered all of our shooters here, but you get the idea. Each shooter has his or her strengths and when they play to their strengths they do well. One other important point, and I don’t think it just pertains to our little group, but it does appear that the photographers who shoot the most, earn the most. Not the most exposures per shoot, but the most consistent effort at planning, shooting and following through with submitting and uploading the images. What a surprising discovery!
I have the privilege of seeing the sales reports from a dozen stock photographers. One thing that stands out to me from looking at all those reports is that there are many ways to succeed. Each of those photographers has there own style and approach. That point is accentuated to me by the fact that a core group of about six of us often have combined our efforts in group shoots…which means there are plenty of images shot by different photographers but using the same models in the same locations. It is, in a sense, a rare opportunity to compare apples to apples.
A Studied Approach and a High RPI
One of these photographers has a very studied approach. He spends the most time casting and location scouting of any of our group. He spends more time lighting and setting up a given shot, gets fewer images per shoot, but makes a higher per-mage return (RPI) than the other photographers.
A Constant Flow of Ideas and Tight Editing
Yet another shooter has the incredible (to me anyway) ability to spring into action instantly. I recall a shoot in which he and I teamed up on a location shoot on the ridges of Marin County’s hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We drove up, parked, and began to pile out of our two vehicles. I gathered up my camera equipment and shot list, turned around, and watched in amazement as he followed a model up a trail, camera held down at near ground level as he snapped away. He just stepped out of the car and started shooting. He consistently out-shoots all the other photographers I know in terms of quantity. He is in a constant flow of ideas shooting hero shots, details, still lifes…getting it all. Interestingly enough, not only does he end up with the most images, but he also edits extremely tightly. He credits his tight editing for his high number of accepts from a given shoot. In the shoot he and I did overlooking the Pacific he had something like 80 accepts and I felt pretty good with thirty something!
Styling, Propping, Decisiveness and Consistent Sales
One of the women in our group puts a heavy emphasis on styling and propping. She tends to get fewer images out of a given shoot but her images consistently sell well. Her style can be almost campy at times, but I have learned that there is definitely an audience for it. She also shoots a lot of children and many of those images are among our top selling photos. One thing I have really learned to appreciate about her is her decisiveness and trust in her own instincts.
Everything Sells
Then there is me. I tend towards the concept images and often feel a little out-of-place shooting lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong; I always end up enjoying the shoots…no matter what I am shooting. I love getting to know the models and I love the sense of camaraderie I end up feeling with both the models and the crew. I do, however, usually get the fewest selects of any of our group, but make up the difference with my strong concept imagery. I am working hard at expanding my vision and not getting so fixated on just the concept end of things. One thing I have definitely learned from seeing the sales reports of so many photographers is that everything sells. While the concept shots tend to have the highest RPI’s, the lifestyle shoots earn the most per shoot, which seems to me to be a rather important consideration.
Play to Your Strengths…and Shoot A Lot
I haven’t covered all of our shooters here, but you get the idea. Each shooter has his or her strengths and when they play to their strengths they do well. One other important point, and I don’t think it just pertains to our little group, but it does appear that the photographers who shoot the most, earn the most. Not the most exposures per shoot, but the most consistent effort at planning, shooting and following through with submitting and uploading the images. What a surprising discovery!
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