What is Microstock?

Microstock is a term that has developed to describe a number of online image and video agencies that source images from a wide variety of contributors ("crowd sourcing") and distribute them for a small price. While there are a fairly large number of such agencies, I limit my regular contributions to successful and reputable agencies. The larges of these are (links will open my portfolio on each site):

For a full list of agencies and how to get started have a look at my article: How to get started with microstock

Why Microstock?

I have been contributing images to a number of microstock agencies since December 2005.

Some photographers are critical of microstock on the basis of it driving down prices for photographers. While I can appreciate these arguments, it is important to understand that the market for images has changed fundamentally through advances in technology. This has significantly altered the balance both on the demand and supply side of the equation.

  1. Supply – digital technology has made high quality camera equipment far more accessible than ever before. The biggest changes here are in the cost of consumables, which for photographers is now negligible and the availability of processing – digital processing is far more convenient for non-specialists than a traditional darkroom. The sum of this is that anyone with a digital camera is potentially now a photographer.
  2. Demand – expansion of digital technology has also resulted in a much greater demand for images. A website that is devoid of graphical content will not stand out in today’s marketplace. Similarly advertising products without the use of images is almost unthinkable.

The result of these two changes makes micro-stock a viable and healthy market-place for images. It allows a whole range of businesses and individuals to access images at a realistic price, while providing for a convenient mechanism for photographers to earn supplementary income. While aspiring micro-stockers should be aware that this not an easy way to make huge profits, a portfolio of quality images will produce worthwhile returns over the medium term.

As a travel photographer, microstock provides for a modest, but regular income stream that doesn’t rely on my presence in any particular location or time. I can contribute work from anywhere that I can find a decent internet connection, and process images anywhere that I have electricity. On occasion I receive feedback that one of my images has been used by a community group, student or small business – such feedback is very welcome, and is actually one of the main reasons I will continue to contribute to microstock agencies: accessibility. For these groups, “macro” agencies which have licenses that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars simply aren’t an option.

Could I make money through Microstock too?

When I meet people, especially other travelers and they find out that I'm funding my travel with photography, the natural questions that I get next are often variations on the theme " Could I do it too?"

In theory there is little stopping anyone with a camera, a computer and a copy of some decent editing software from opening accounts on microstock agencies and selling photos. There are however barriers to earning a living from stock photos:

  1. the returns from a particular image or types of image will diminish as the number of similar images increase
  2. new images face competition from images that have established their place in search engines through popularity
  3. it's actually work - it takes time to process photos, add keywords and descriptions and upload them.

If you're planning on making a living from travel images, and starting now you probably need a portfolio of at least 2000 images of decent quality to earn enough to travel through countries outside the "first world" - probably double this to travel in the United States, Europe, Japan or Australia.

For me, travel in this way is achievable due to my style of travel (budget), the fact that I've eliminated all expenses from home - ie. I sold my car, gave up my apartment, canceled my mobile phone etc etc, and where I chose to travel - mainly through developing countries and areas where the US$ has an exchange rate advantage. On top of that I still have savings from the time when I had a proper job. While I wouldn't discourage people from trying microstock, I would advise you to be reasonable in your estimates of what is achievable.

More information?

When I first started with microstock, it was hard to get access to good information about what you could expect to earn or about the industry as a whole. If you're seriously considering microstock, or just want more information, I'd suggest you have a look at the following pages:

Disclosure

A lot of microstock websites offer referral programs, as does Isyndica and Smugmug. If you sign up to these sites from the links listed on this page I'll benefit from these programs via commission payments. Doing so doesn't result in any detriment to you - in some cases such as Smugmug you get a discount (coupon code: MsL5wMS7s3tmU ). The benefit to you of using these referral codes is good karma (a higher share of the profit ends up going to another photographer!) and through advice when you seek it.

I endeavor to provide additional assistance to photographers and artists who sign up to microstock sites using my referral codes - just let me know that you've signed up through my codes and I an add you to my creative networks and receive a more considered response to any questions through email (which isn't to say I won't respond to you if you don't sign up through me of course!).

More importantly I don't tailor my advice based on who does and doesn't have referral programs or who advertises on this site. The number one site you should contribute to (istock) for example doesn't have a referral program for photographers, not does fotolia (but pays large commissions for people referring buyers). If someone pays a commission, I try to make this pretty clear and you can base your judgments accordingly. For more information, see my Disclosure and advertising page.

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