Shutterstock pulled ahead of iStock for most income for the first time.

Service            % of total sales       Total files online

iStock                  35.44%                    3006
Dreamstime         7.9%                      814
Shutterstock      47.94%                    748
Fotolia                  5.22%                    367
Bigstock                1.37%                   321
Canstock               .09%                    607
123RF                   1.93%                    180
Depositphoto      .10%                     565

Going forward the big goal I think will be to focus getting the remaining library (2000 files yet to go) on the big three.

Shutterstock      Dreamstime     Fotolia

Once all the files are uploaded there (and of course still being on iStock) I’ll get them uploaded to the mid tier sites, but the top earners are the clear priority right now.

Also need to start prepping some newer stuff so I can start getting some fresh stuff on iStock as well.

So even though Kady mostly needed just the head and shoulders shots – we still did the entire routine for a head shot session.   A few outfit changes, shots ranging from tight cropped head shots to 3/4 length shots, and working on both commercial and legit looks.

As for pop, well I think we nailed that one.

If you’re and actor or model either living in the Denver area of visiting soon and looking for some fresh head shots you can find details and rates at this link for Professional Head Shots in Denver.

Plexiglass Sheets

The ones I currently use are 24″by24″ sheets from Delvies Plastics.   With a wide range of sizes from 12″by12″ to 24″by48″ and at fairly decent prices they are an easy choice although Professional Plastics also seems to have good prices and I may consider them in the future.

Light Boxes

The small lightbox with the martini glass was inspired by the Strobist Flavored Vodkas article.

The larger lightbox  that was used with the tomatoes and peppers was modeled on Strobists “The Lunch Box”

For the shots of the apple against the white background the Lastolite HiLite Background was used as a backdrop.   White paper could have been used here as well of course with the right lights.

Speaking of lights…….

My portable slave flashes are LumoPro LP120′s – which are discontinued – but their replacement the LP160′s still looks to be an excellent choice for this type of work.    LumoPro LP160′s at Midwest Photo run about $160 each.

Why these?   Well they have as much power as a top of the line Canon or Nikon flash unit – but without all the dedicated flash controls.    So while these are totally manual flashes and not useful in many situations, in the studio where you can control the light they work well and are a fraction of the cost of the top end dedicated flashes.

These can be fired by optical slave, pc cord, or miniphone port making them easy to use with pocket wizards,  by PC cable or fired from an on camera flash.

The bigger lights in the studio where a mixture of Alien Bees light heads, from the B400 up to the B1600.

Monthly target %

79.33%

iStockphoto gives some bonus in search engine placement to their exclusive photographers. Once my agreement ends not only will my % for commission crash dive I’ll also be pushed further back in search engine results. As a result of no longer being exclusive my monthly downloads and income from iStock will crash – I’m expecting to about 30% of current averages. The real challenge will be as I get my portfolio branched into these other markets will my combined earnings get at least close to what I was making as an exclusive at iStock.

First I did two things.
1: Set a target monthly earnings amount. I chose this amount to reflect not only what I want to make from stock photography at a minimum each month but also a number I’ve been hitting off and on for the last few years. It’s a number for me that helps cover some of the monthly bills. Since I don’t want to give out exactly what I’m making in dollars and cents (that’s my business not yours) I can express my monthly combined income as a percentage of the target. Say my target is $100 and I make $90 one month, well I hit 90% of my target.

2: I pulled some historical data. I went back to 2006 to pull some numbers, all from iStock since I’ve been exclusive for that time.

And here’s the results

Month Year             Target
January-06            11.78%
February-06           14.31%
March-06               25.26%
April-06                  23.39%
May-06                   26.46%
June-06                  49.85%
July-06                   32.65%
August-06              55.30%
September-06       50.82%
October-06           60.96%
November-06       77.66%
December-06       45.44%
January-07          44.99%
February-07        46.59%
March-07            48.73%
April-07               45.99%
May-07                 59.21%
June-07                50.75%
July-07                  41.61%
August-07            60.91%
September-07     64.84%
October-07          93.52%
November-07      85.29%
December-07       69.02%
January-08          72.54%
February-08         78.42%
March-08           120.30%
April-08                86.63%
May-08                  94.19%
June-08              101.88%
July-08               108.66%
August-08          109.56%
September-08   139.04%
October-08        154.71%
November-08   166.80%
December-08   106.03%
January-09         82.70%
February-09      107.33%
March-09          101.37%
April-09               74.41%
May-09                98.66%
June-09               88.61%
July-09                94.79%
August-09          97.03%
September-09    87.68%
October-09       105.42%
November-09   122.44%
December-09     68.11%
January-10      105.81%
February-10     104.54%
March-10         137.90%
April-10              94.01%
May-10               82.31%
June-10              67.09%
July-10             109.97%
August-10          92.70%
September-10 105.98%

So some important numbers to think of with this data.

• I first broke the 100% mark in March of 2008
• My best month ever for $$$ was November of 2008 where I hit 166.8% of my target
• 2008 was also my best year with a monthly average of 111.56%
• My best month of 2010 was March with 137.90%
• My average for the first 9 months of 2010 was 100.04% per month.

So if I’m hitting 100% of my target why am I giving up the iStock exclusive agreement again?

In January of 2011 they are going to slash my royalty rate and that combined with their favoring the search engines towards non-iStock but rather Getty owned portfolios (in which they’ll make even more money) means I would expect my 2011 numbers to slip backwards to 2007 levels.   60% at best – maybe only 50%.

Now of course giving up the exclusive agreement I expect to take even a bigger hit – on iStock only I’ll be lucky to pull 2006 numbers – I’m guessing 30% – BUT, my income won’t be based on iStock alone anymore.

So I’ve got two goals for 2011

1. Bring my monthly % to at least what I estimate it would have been after the iStock changes had I remained exclusive with them, i.e. 60%
2. If I can achieve goal #1 I want to ramp it up to the point where I’m reaching at least as well as I’ve been averaging this year, i.e. 100% (and of course more would be awesome as well).

Modeling for Stock

Stock Photography and Microstock

If you’re expressive I’d love to hear from you for this type of shoot. No age requirements – young and older models are welcome. Male models don’t by shy either. Likewise if you have a job that has a clothing type (as long as it isn’t covered in logo’s that can’t be edited out) this can be a plus. Think nurse, mechanic, construction worker, etc, etc. If you have a child, friend, significant other, etc. you’d like to include in the shoot this can be arranged as well – as long as a release can be obtained from them as well.

In addition to stuff I need part of the time will be devoted to stuff you need. Head shots, fashion looks, swimsuit, whatever it is you need to add to your portfolio.

For new models in this area I ask for 1 or 2 TFP/CD sessions. What these do is help determine how commercial you look really is and how well we work together to produce such work.

In this type of modeling expressions, emotions, natural smiles, and relaxed poses are often more important than the uber sexy fashion model poses and rigid “blue steel” expressions. If you have trouble smiling this might not be the right type of modeling for you.

I’ve added some Youtube videos to my blog site that really covers it well.
http://mh-underground.com/blog/video-training/

If you look at those videos and it clicks with you – lets talk.

If your stuff works out well I’ll add you to the paid list of models for shooting. I usually setup one or two paid shoots a month on some commercial theme and while payment varies it’s never less than $100 for the shoot.

If you’re an artists model and the above just doesn’t apply to you at all please see #2

2) Special Projects. If I’m not shooting for business then I’m focusing on stuff that speaks to me creatively. Currently these are usually in the areas of
Inked – Postcards from the Edge – Figure studies

If contacting me about a shoot please indicate exactly what type of shoot you’re interested in – and a little bit of art and a little bit of commercial is always an option.

So royalties down and more competition. That was finally enough to make me give notice and cancel my exclusive agreement with them.  A lot has changed in the world of microstock since I went exclusive with iStock/Getty back in January of 2006, but I look forward to expanding my portfolio of commercial images to a variety of agencies as an independent supplier in mid October.