This time usual stuff, landscape shot taken at Bodega Head. Three days of February and two extended licenses already. I wish I got got one every second day 
Bodega Head
Archive for the ‘Shutterstock’ Category
Second extended license this month
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011Strawberry tiramisu – extended license sold
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011Never in almost 3 years of doing microstock I got extended license sold on first day of the month. Also I am happy that for a first time it a photo of cake I made, strawberry tiramisu.
Strawberry Tiramisu
I think I am going to post translation of this recipe I got from knedlik.blox.pl.
Ingredients: 400 ml of sweetened condensed milk (I added about 200 ml), 500 g of mascarpone, 3 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 large package of lady fingers biscuits, 3 / 4 kg of strawberries, juice of 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons sugar, fruit vodka or plum brandy.
Wash strawberries, cut into quarters, add sugar and lemon juice, let stand for half an hour (at the time should come off strawberry juice). Mascarpone (taken out straight from the fridge) put into a bowl, add vanilla extract, whipped and fluffy. Gradually add condensed milk. Biscuits placed in a spring form pan, soak them in plenty of vodka. Put half the strawberries (with sauce), so half of the curd. Repeat these steps. Garnish with strawberries, or leave the cheese smooth. Put into the fridge for 8-10 hours.
I used apricot brandy instead of fruit vodka.
Top 15 images
Wednesday, January 5th, 2011I have been submitting to microstock agencies for 32 months and still I am feeling like very serious hobbyist. Starting with my collection of landscape and travel shots I learned that it’s not most profitable niche in microstock. Your images got buried in a pile million images from all over the world. Still my two best earners are representing this category:
NYC
Mission San Francisco de Asis
Later I realized that microstock best images are actually model released photographs. I was not ready to throw money and hiring models so I decided to shoot me and my family.
Father having fun with his daughter on the beach.
Mother is feeding little girl
When you have infant at home your travel options are limited but still I was able to get some sales from the stuff I did before.
Lake Tahoe
Then your child start walking which again opens possibilities for exploring outdoors together.
Assisted walking
You cannot go very far so your are happy that old stuff still sells.
Hang gliding
You start visiting places like museums and aquariums.
Chrysaora fuscescens
It seems like my other subjects never got much traction. Still I am mostly selling my old collection of nature and travel shots.
Lake Shasta Caverns
Racetrack Playa
Bodie, California
Bixby Bridge
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Big Sur
Inca Trail
Extended license sold on Shutterstock
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010First time I sold extended license of marine life sold. I am happy cause it was shot hand held in dark room of the public aquarium.
Chrysaora fuscescens
Chrysaora fuscescens is a common free-floating scyphozoa that lives in the Pacific Ocean, and is commonly known as the Pacific Sea Nettle or West Coast Sea Nettle.
November 2010 earnings breakdown
Thursday, December 2nd, 2010After records in October I was expecting worse result next month. It was not that bad overall. Actually it was 6th best month this year and second in this half of the year. Previous month was very bad for FT and it looks like they recovered in November. Everybody in top 5 made around their average so SS have only 56% of total earning. SXP keeps getting less than it was before but Veer returns are now almost at the same level so I hope it will replace it in future.
Microstock November 2010
Portfolio size increased mostly on Veer, SS and FT. DT keeps rejecting most of my submitted images. RPD went down almost on every single site except IS but I have not got Thinkstock results yet. After adding plenty of subs from there IS RPD would drop dramatically. Also I have had a single extended license anywhere.
2010 Microstock Trend
Nov Nov/Oct RPD
SS 56.14% 56.31% 0.52
DT 9.68% 90.82% 0.74
123RF 9.07% 50.28% 0.48
IS 8.75% 105.40% 1.42
FT 7.37% 208.97% 0.58
SXP 3.91% 111.76% 0.25
Veer 3.31% 115.00% 2.01
BS 1.44% 140.00% 0.88
CS 0.21% 100.00% 0.25
CSP 0.12% 7.89% 0.30
Total 66.74%
Video sold on Shutterstock
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010This is actually first time I able to sell video clip on Shutterstock. I got only 36 movies there so I has never took off for me. Maybe it’s a good sign. This time it is Pacific coast dusk at Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur, California.
Pacific coast dusk at Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur, California
New contributor page on Shutterstock – Beta
Thursday, November 11th, 2010This “closed beta” test of new landing page packed full of new statistics, a new header and footer and a messaging center. I have been invited to participate in this beta I feel great about this page and new improvements.
Lets take a a quick look at what new.
Pros:
1. Latest Downloads with geographic location of image buyers.
2. Earning statistics
3. Current earning and number of downloads on a top of the page
4. Expandable Message Center below page header
Cons:
1. Page does not fit one screen in resolution 1600×1200
2. According to feedback survey we can see Acceptance Rate, I do not see it.
3. Smallest period for stats is 3 months, I wish to see monthly stats.
4. I wish for more statistics like Return per Download.
New Shutterstock Contributor Page
October 2010 earnings breakdown
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010It was best month ever since I started my adventure with microstock 2.5 years ago. It was BME for SS and totally but mostly because my best earning agency scored 67% of royalties. I am also happy with results form 123RF and DT, both earning more than average. For others I do not have anything positive to report. FT clearly got worst results this year while SXP never recovered to previous levels after acquisition. Thanks to their poor performance they both were passed by IS.
Oct Oct/Sep RPD
SS 67.37% 206.15% 0.80
123RF 12.19% 203.86% 0.54
DT 7.20% 102.82% 0.81
IS 4.36% 86.77% 0.98
FT 2.38% 42.35% 0.61
SXP 2.36% 100.00% 0.25
Veer 1.94% 20.00% 3.50
CSP 1.06% 100.00% 1.27
BS 0.69% 166.67% 0.83
CUT 0.29% #DIV/0! 1.06
CS 0.14% 14.29% 0.25
Total 133.02%
Portfolio size increase is much slower now. Most of the sites reject much more images recently but still it is less than at the peak which was this summer. Surprisingly Veer accepted largest number of images this month so maybe I can see some sales there. At the moment I see most growth on 123RF and FT. Number of downloads has grown on many sites but still I got 5 times more from SS than any other site. I am also obesrving increase of numbers from SXP and IS but this means mostly 25 cents subs from ThinkStock. Return per Download (RPD) usually is better on the sites which are low earners for me. In other words I sell mostly subs. Extended licenses are extremely rare and so far I got them only on SS, CSP and 123RF.
Nature photo extended license sold on Shutterstock
Friday, October 22nd, 2010I went for a trek to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska in 2006 then when I started doing stock in 2008 I uploaded these to most microstock sites I am working with. Nature shots are not huge sellers on commercial sites so I happy to see extended license sold.
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Kennicott Glacier is a glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It trends southeast 43 km (27 mi) from Mount Blackburn to its terminus at the head of the Kennicott River in the Wrangell Mountains. It is located in the middle of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park near the small town of McCarthy, Alaska and the historic ghost town of Kennecott, Alaska.
It was named in 1899 by Rohn of the United States Geological Survey for Robert Kennicott, pioneer Alaska explorer and director of the scientific corps of the Western Union Telegraph Expedition in 1865.
Third extended license this month sold on Shutterstock
Thursday, October 21st, 2010Great month so far, hopefully it will be the best this year.
Modern apartment buildings on a sunny summer day
