Thanks for throwing the farewell party Susan, but I'm afraid I might be a day or two late. And the flight costs seem to have gone up by about 100% too. Perhaps I'll just put some chocolates in the mail instead (I think Australian customs [Read more...] posted in I went out and got some new shots, what lenses do I need??

Thanks for throwing the farewell party Susan, but I'm afraid I might be a day or two late. And the flight costs seem to have gone up by about 100% too. Perhaps I'll just put some chocolates in the mail instead (I think Australian customs dept might raise their eyebrows a little if I try to send your other favorite toys and lingerie......). Here in Queensland winter has arrived; we get deep blue skies and no rain (all the rain falls in the summer). Instead of enjoying all that I'm cooped up with cardboard boxes as Jung-Hee packs a prepares to leave in a couple of weeks. On Oct 1st we'll meet again in the Cote D'Azur and then we'll see what the future holds for us. We did go to the Temple to ask Buddha if he would look favorably on our future lives together, but I think he's probably distracted by 100 million Americans all asking him to rescue them from financial disaster as home prices crumble another 10% and mortgage costs rise. I'm concerned for America; this financial crisis is bad and could get a lot worse, and I don't think the Federal budgets have the trillions needed to resolve this one. I think America is teetering on the edge of a chasm and the risk of falling into that chasm is high. I did try to warn you about all this many months ago Noonie but you seem to get distracted by other things so easily. And I thought wimmin were meant to be able to multi task..... posted in I went out and got some new shots, what lenses do I need??

Jim, you won't make your fortune in microstock photography. And if you have thoughts of 'building a library as a nest egg' you might as well forget that too. You might be able to achieve these things as a specialist photographer selling [Read more...] posted in I went out and got some new shots, what lenses do I need??

Jim, you won't make your fortune in microstock photography. And if you have thoughts of 'building a library as a nest egg' you might as well forget that too. You might be able to achieve these things as a specialist photographer selling through a specialist RM agency, but you might as well accept that you won't achieve these things in microstock. I too imagined that a large, commercial portfolio would provide a regular income, and that pictures created now would be an income producing asset for the future. That might have been the case many years ago, but today its pie in the sky. Let's look at some available statistics: the leading 'subscription agency' was accepting about 20,000 new pictures a week when I started doing microstock in Feb 2007. They had 50,000 contributing photographers. Now, just over a year later, they accept 50,000 pictures a week and have 110,000 photographers. Similar statistics apply to all the agencies. In short, over the past year the supply of new images has increased by 150%. It seems that everyone in the world wants to buy a digital camera and make some money (including Noonie, but she's the only one who can take photos while riding a bike carrying a whip and eating chocolates all at the same time). This huge increase in supply means two things: first, that new images have to compete against a much larger immediate supply; second, that existing images are getting swamped by 'new' which then reduces shelf life considerably. Most of the most successful stock photographers are reporting stagnant or decreasing earnings as they fight to survive against the flood of new supply. Most people can make some money at stock, and a handful will be very successful. The number who thought they could make a living at it is declining. But it ain't a golden goose or a horn o' plenty. The people who will make a fortune are the owners of the agencies; they take the supply and distribute to demand, and so long as the demand is there they will reap the benefit. I cannot produce 150% extra high quality pictures every week to compete with the supply, and this is why I've decided to become an exclusive photographer for one agency; being an exclusive adds benefits and priorities and gives a little insulation against at least a part of the dilution taking place. I'm sure you'll make some good money submitting to microstock agencies, but forget the nest egg idea because that simply isn't going to happen. posted in I went out and got some new shots, what lenses do I need??