Shutterstock is bad for your photography business

 

Yes.  You read that right.  Shutterstock is dead.  Whoever uploads to the site is a total moron.  Why would you upload your images or videos to a site that pays you pennies on the dollar?  I sell my photography and videos on various sites including 123RF, Adobe Stock, Bigstock, Canstock, Deposit Photos, Dreamstime, Pond5, and Storyblock.  I also sell on Fine Art America and Redbubble along with my own website.  All of my sites outsell Shutterstock.  I sell one photo on Canstock for 25 cents to several dollars and still outsell Shutterstock.  I so far have sold 18 photos on Shutterstock this month for a grand total of $4.24.  On Canstock, I’ve sold 2 photos this month for roughly $17.  Tell me how Shutterstock is better than any other site?  They’ve almost won the race to the bottom but iStock beat them to eat several years ago when they started selling our photos for $0.10 a photo and even less.  I closed my iStock account in 2019.  I still get sales for a whopping $0.07, $0.08 and $0.09 a piece.  December of 2020, I got a $75 sale of a picture on Shutterstock and that was the biggest sale I got there since January of 2020.  

Dealing with companies like iStock and Shutterstock is just not worth the time.  It’s actually insulting.  I look at the comments sections of Shutterstock and people get butt hurt if Shutterstrock doesn’t approve their photos.  Why would you even bother uploading anything to Shutterstock or iStock when they’ll sell your photos for $0.10 a photo and $0.24 for a 4K video clip?  Why?  Why would you do that to yourself?  Why do that to your business?  

Even if you’re uploading shots you took with your Android or iPhone?  It’s just not worth it.  Shutterstock and iStock have killed the microstock photography business.  Stop supporting them if you’re a photographer/videographer or a buyer!!!!  Just stop!!!!

Review of Adobe Stock. And it’s not good.

I started with Adobe stock about 2.5 weeks ago.  I realize my portfolio is small.  About 1150 photos and clips.  I’ve sold two photos on there within the last couple of weeks.  When I started with Shutterstock, I sold a photo on my first day and I had 7 photos accepted.  My portfolio grew and so did the sales.  I have 15,000+ photos and 1,500+ footage clips on Shutterstock.  I make sales daily pretty much on Shutterstock.  Weekends are a disaster on every micro stock agency.  So I should not be surprised that I’m getting very view sales on both Adobe and Shutterstock.  I typically now sell 46 to 60 shots on Shutterstock monthly.  That’s down from 120+ monthly from 2 years ago with a portfolio that is 75% larger.  My portfolio is varied on both sites.  I’m adding to Adobe and Shutterstock daily.  I’m hoping sales increase next year when I move out west.  The last two days here in Ottawa have been miserable weather wise with rain and more rain every day.

I thought Adobe Stock would be much better than it is.  Reading the reviews of other contributors I thought I would get a few more sales than I have.  I am going to continue to upload shots that I’ve taken over the last seven or so years, picking out the best ones and adding them to both Adobe and Shutterstock if I haven’t already done so.  Pond5 and Storyblocks aren’t doing that well either.  Sales have fallen over the past two years to very minimal.  Maybe one or two sales on Pond5 a month.  Storyblocks has a subscription model on their site now.  I sell less than twenty dollars on average over the past two months which is atrocious.  

Also, I’ve decided, today, I am going to buy the Sony A7RII camera, lens and battery grip when I save enough photography money.  I want to do this as my full time job.  I will be using my Canon Vixia HF R800 for my YouTube channel I think.  As good as the Sony RX100 Mark VII is at video, the 2018 Apple iPad Pro with iPadOS just doesn’t function well.  It takes too long to import gigabytes of data just for a 10 minutes video.  The Sony file structure doesn’t work well with iPadOS.  

I just have to weather the next 5 months here in Ottawa till I move.  It’s just very depressing.

I have no patience. Not a photography related post.

I'm supposed to find out about a job tomorrow with Global Affairs Canada tomorrow.  I also have a meeting with a pimp tomorrow to talk about possible job opportunities with them.  These meetings I find are a complete waste of time as you meet with them and in my experience never hear from them again.  I'm 90% sure I have the job with Global Affairs Canada because I've worked with them a few times in the past.  I've pretty much given up going back to CMHC for phase two of the project.  They are going to lose all three of us that basically ran the project and did 90% of the work.  

I'm wanting to get another drone so bad.  I don't know what DJI will do for me with my last one that disconnected from my remote and I lost it in some deep brush.  I want to go buy another one.  But without a job, I'm unwilling to spend money on a drone I could get back for free.  I'm supposed to find out either tomorrow or Thursday.  If I get a new one from DJI, that would be so awesome.  I want to be flying again.  I think having a drone for my photography/footage business is an amazing opportunity which could make my business grow and give me some awesome opportunity.

I have a PayPal button on my blog and I'm not one to beg.  I've always worked for what I have.  I don't depend on the charity of others.  When I was fighting cancer (I won), I never wanted material things or money.  I wanted to work and no one gave me a chance.  Luckily I survived and I'm back in good health.  The only way people could support me is if they buy my photography or footage from one of the sites I upload to daily.  You can find it on my main blog on the right hand side.  Just sign up and buy.  If you're a photographer or videographer, you can sign up to Shutterstock here and become a contributor as well.  If you get others to be contributors as well, than you can make more money as well.  It's a win win for all.