The Way Forward

What advice would you offer to photographers hoping to emulate your success?

 When I started there were about 5 000 stock photographers. Now there are over 150 000 which indicates how the competition has changed - it's absolutely fierce! For the new photographer the industry is very difficult to infiltrate.

I would suggest you team up with like-minded people immediately. Don’t do this on your own because you can't do what I did 8 years ago. It won't grow as fast - it will take a lot longer. Only take the leap once your sales tell you that you have successfully found something that you are undoubtedly good at. Don’t be egotistic or get fooled into thinking that you are good - always let your sales decide whether you are good or not. Otherwise you are going to end up selling your car to buy a better camera only to pack up again in a year and a half.If you want to be more successful in stock photography, start investing in props, like quality clothes, accessories and high-tech trendy items.   

What makes an image "stock-like”?  How do you maintain the balance between keeping something generic enough to be “stock” yet still stand out for designers choosing images?  Seems like an intriguing and difficult line to walk.

That’s a good question and it is a very difficult line to walk. The way we balance generic elements with more unique ones is by inserting elements like real emotions, authenticity, even using regular people instead of models or real families instead of putting model families together. We use natural scenes and scenarios: if we have a family shoot where the kids are opening presents, we actually give them presents to get a reaction and capture those moments. Our trick is to work more from a movie script than from a shoot list - work more with the story instead of emulating popular images. 

How do you feel about the dichotomy between micro stock and traditional stock?

I don't think there's a difference right now - I sell on both platforms. About 40% of my collection is still premium-priced traditional stock. I don't shoot differently and I don't plan or execute it differently either.

I think the only difference is that if you have a shoot that does very well, you can price the images higher, even with microstock. 

How do you view the future growth of stock photography?

There is a growing demand for smaller niche collections like my own, PeopleImages.com, where people get the kind and style of images that they like. Most agencies are trying to be the next Shutterstock by selling similar images continuously. If I was a buyer I would be very frustrated and  would seek out smaller sites that have specific quality contents that match my requirements.

What new projects are you working on right now?

I am working on a series of advanced retouching projects. The one we are currently busy with is a series of before and after shots of houses that have been renovated. You will be able to see the building processes and changes - it is quite a difficult task to fulfill. We are also working on explosions, tanks, warfare etc.  Then we have fairytale monsters like dragons and Game of Thrones type creatures. I am reshooting different concepts in a new style I'm working on, which basically entails leaving the RAW file unedited and developing it as is. The RAW file then becomes your final image. No Photoshop, no developing - only you and your camera.