Pixels Away microstock » dreamstime http://microstock.pixelsaway.com microstock photography Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:54:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 en hourly 1 Big 4 in My Microstock Portfolio http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/big-4-in-my-microstock-portfolio/ http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/big-4-in-my-microstock-portfolio/#comments Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:48:44 +0000 Marek http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/?p=1247 iStockphoto, ShutterStock, Dreamstime and Fotolia are considered nowadays a Big 4 among microstock agencies. Indeed, they bring together between 80 and 90% of my earnings from microstock photography. After 32 months of submitting the size and content of my portfolio at different agencies are quite different: iStock - 1425 pictures, Shutterstock - 2024, Dreamstime - 1586, Fotolia - 1392.

The above graph show percentage of my earnings from the Big 4 agencies and other mictostock sites during last 2.5 years. I plotted quarterly values to smooth out month to month fluctuations.

I started to submit my pictures to iStock in November 2007 and that agency dominated my earnings until I got accepted by Shutterstock. Then, Shutterstock took a lead for a year so. In the beginning of 2009 my sales at iStock started to grow and today iStock in my number 1 with 40-50% of all microstock earnings. Is it a permanent trend? My sales at iStock are slowing down despite of reaching a gold level which allows me to submit more pictures.

Dreamstime is holding number 3 in my microstock earnings with a pretty steady contribution of about 10%. The number 4, Fotolia, shows some growth recently.

All remaining microstock agencies contribute currently about 12% to my income. I can divide them into two groups: (1) agencies with regular payouts every month or every second month (BigStock, 123RF, CanStockPhoto, Panther Media) and (2) agencies where need several months or a year to reach payout level (Veer, FeaturePics, DepositPhotos, Graphic Leftovers).

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microstock photography earnings

iStockphoto, ShutterStock, Dreamstime and Fotolia are considered nowadays a Big 4 among microstock agencies. Indeed, they bring together between 80 and 90% of my earnings from microstock photography. After 32 months of submitting the size and content of my portfolio at different agencies are quite different: iStock – 1425 pictures, Shutterstock – 2024, Dreamstime – 1586, Fotolia – 1392.

The above graph show percentage of my earnings from the Big 4 agencies and other mictostock sites during last 2.5 years. I plotted quarterly values to smooth out month to month fluctuations.

I started to submit my pictures to iStock in November 2007 and that agency dominated my earnings until I got accepted by Shutterstock. Then, Shutterstock took a lead for a year so. In the beginning of 2009 my sales at iStock started to grow and today iStock in my number 1 with 40-50% of all microstock earnings. Is it a permanent trend? My sales at iStock are slowing down despite of reaching a gold level which allows me to submit more pictures.

Dreamstime is holding number 3 in my microstock earnings with a pretty steady contribution of about 10%. The number 4, Fotolia, shows some growth recently.

All remaining microstock agencies contribute currently about 12% to my income. I can divide them into two groups: (1) agencies with regular payouts every month or every second month (BigStock, 123RF, CanStockPhoto, Panther Media) and (2) agencies where need several months or a year to reach payout level (Veer, FeaturePics, DepositPhotos, Graphic Leftovers).

In my next post I will analyze the trends in performance of the Big 4 agencies. Is it possible to predict my income from the microstock business?

Related posts:
10,000 Downloads from iStockphoto
Microstock Earnings – First 30 Months
Am I Really Making Money from Microstock Photography ? Part 1 and Part 2
My microstock referral links for photographers:
Dreamstime, ShutterStock, BigStockPhoto, 123RF, FeaturePics, Panthermedia, CanStockPhoto, DepositPhotos, Graphic Leftovers

]]> http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/big-4-in-my-microstock-portfolio/feed/ 2 Summertime! Earnings from Microstock Photography in July 2009 http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/summertime-earnings-from-microstock-photography-in-july-2009/ http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/summertime-earnings-from-microstock-photography-in-july-2009/#comments Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:14:02 +0000 Marek http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/?p=411 July was my 20th month in microstock with $7215 of total earnings.

This month my earning report is shorter than usual since I am just leaving for a week of vacations away of computer and submissions to microstock. I will be paddling in the Missouri River 340 race - 360 miles nonstop from Kansas City to St Charles. This year I am taking Surfrigger, my outrigger canoe, for the race. I will try to shoot some travel oriented pictures for stock when driving from Colorado across Kansas to Missouri and back. However, during the race I will have only my "paddling" camera, waterproof Pentax Optio W30, so I would be shooting mostly for my Paddling with a Camera blog. 13 Months of Microstock Photography Earnings: June | July | August |September | October | November | December | 2009 January | February | March | April | May | June]]> Summertime and microstock sales are slow. I added 61 new pictures to my portfolio in July, but my earnings dropped down by 9%. My RPI was down from 0.70$/image to 0.61. This is my total RPI derived using the number of all my pictures prepared for microstock (not pictures accepted in any particular agency).

IS continued to climb and is definitely my #1 earner. DT was also growing. SXP stayed at the same level despite of uncertain future of that agency. Earnings from SS with only one EL dropped down by 25%. FT experienced even more dramatic decrease in earnings.


microstock photography monthly earnings

Microstock earnings and payments from July 2008 to July 2009

July was my 20th month in microstock with $7215 of total earnings.

This month my earning report is shorter than usual since I am just leaving for a week of vacations away of computer and submissions to microstock. I will be paddling in the Missouri River 340 race – 360 miles nonstop from Kansas City to St Charles. This year I am taking Surfrigger, my outrigger canoe, for the race.

I will try to shoot some travel oriented pictures for stock when driving from Colorado across Kansas to Missouri and back. However, during the race I will have only my “paddling” camera, waterproof Pentax Optio W30, so I would be shooting mostly for my Paddling with a Camera blog.



2008 Missouri River 340 – start of the race at Kaw Point

]]> http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/summertime-earnings-from-microstock-photography-in-july-2009/feed/ 3 1000 Pictures in My Dreamstime Portfolio http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/1000-pictures-in-my-dreamstime-portfolio/ http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/1000-pictures-in-my-dreamstime-portfolio/#comments Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:04:51 +0000 Marek http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/?p=376 green peas from my garden. It feels like just a few days ago I was shooting quite different picture of the same peas. A stormy spring in Colorado with a lot of hail was not very kind for my garden. Today, I requested my 7th payout from Dreamstime, so it looks like this microstock agency is working pretty well for me. It is on the third position in earnings after iStock and Shutterstock. However, the growth of my Dreamstime portfolio slowed down during last few months. My effective acceptance rate dropped down below 50%, i.e., I am submitting selected pictures only, and they take only 64% from them. “Too many shots of the same item or from the same series” is the rejection theme. It seems that for some inspectors the main picture subject is not important. The same prop (e.g., my wooden scoop) may be a reason for a rejection. Here is how my Dreamstime portfolio compares to some other microstock sites. ShutterStock accepts almost everything what I submit. The size of my iStock portfolio is kept down by their uploading limits, but my acceptance rate stays the same at 75-80%. My Fotolia portfolio is also quite small due to rather low acceptance ratio. It used to be really low last year, but improved during recent months. ]]> Scoop of green pea

Yesterday, I reached 1000 pictures in my Dreamstime portfolio with this image of green peas from my garden. It feels like just a few days ago I was shooting quite different picture of the same peas. A stormy spring in Colorado with a lot of hail was not very kind for my garden.

Today, I requested my 7th payout from Dreamstime, so it looks like this microstock agency is working pretty well for me. It is on the third position in earnings after iStock and Shutterstock.

However, the growth of my Dreamstime portfolio slowed down during last few months. My effective acceptance rate dropped down below 50%, i.e., I am submitting selected pictures only, and they take only 64% from them. “Too many shots of the same item or from the same series” is the rejection theme. It seems that for some inspectors the main picture subject is not important. The same prop (e.g., my wooden scoop) may be a reason for a rejection.

Here is how my Dreamstime portfolio compares to some other microstock sites. ShutterStock accepts almost everything what I submit. The size of my iStock portfolio is kept down by their uploading limits, but my acceptance rate stays the same at 75-80%. My Fotolia portfolio is also quite small due to rather low acceptance ratio. It used to be really low last year, but improved during recent months.

]]> http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/1000-pictures-in-my-dreamstime-portfolio/feed/ 1 9 Months and Tablespoon of Sunflower Seeds to Reach Payment from Dreamstime http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/first-payment-from-dreamstime/ http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/first-payment-from-dreamstime/#comments Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:12:44 +0000 Marek http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/?p=27 The $100 line was crossed by this picture of sunflower seeds on a tablespoon. About $10 in this amount came from referrals. So, if you like to join Dreamstime you are more than welcome to use my referral link.]]> Dreamstime portfolio

I needed 9 months to reach my first payment from Dreamstime.

The $100 line was crossed by this picture of sunflower seeds on a tablespoon. About $10 in this amount came from referrals. So, if you like to join Dreamstime you are more than welcome to use my referral link.

I have 327 pictures with Dreamstime. My average acceptance ratio is 67% but it is above 80% during last months. This agency provided 8.2% of my earnings from microstock photography. It is my third earner after iStock (40.1%) and Shutterstock (35.5%).

Related posts:

My latest stock photos on Dreamstime Stock Photography Community

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