Comments on: [Stock Photography] Yuri Arcurs Explains How To Sell Stock Imaging

By: Compaan

Compaan — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:29:00 +0000

Nobody says a word about the hundreds of thousands of crap photographers
selling their crap images for peanuts…
My point is: Arcurs didn’t
start in microstock as an excellent photographer dropping his prices to
take the market. Arcurs simply discovered one day that there exists a phenomenon called microstock and then he jumped in as one of the countless crap photographers that don’t sell a
dime. Unlike most of them though, he had the will, the discipline and the dedication to learn
and become better and better, and by doing so, he ended up being what he is
today. Blame him? Don’t be ridiculous.

By: Edd Carlile

Edd Carlile — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:14:00 +0000

Good luck to the man.

By: Brian Carlson

Brian Carlson — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:10:00 +0000

You could argue that Chase, Joe, and Jeremy are hurting the market with their DVDs, speaking tours, books, etc. They are educating the pro-sumer market, which takes away jobs from the pros. (I don't agree with this but it's just an argument you could make) Website Blog Twitter Facebook

By: Nick Schlax

Nick Schlax — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:30:00 +0000

I’m not sure you evaluation of the market is accurate though. Arcurs is a smart guy, and like a lot of others he’s realized that the market at $1-10 is exponentially larger than at $100+. If I’m hearing right, it sounds like he’s bringing in $1million or more a year… I don’t know of many/any traditional stock photographers that are doing that.

By: Caboartisticphoto Cabohunters

Caboartisticphoto Cabohunters — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:08:00 +0000

I think yuri does the right thing, personally is a source of inspiration, we can take pictures of microstock in each region producing what we have at hand, I I live in mexico and in many places require good pictures but they can not get right photos for each type of market so those nations can be generated for specific markets, can not put a picture of a blond person for Latin people.

By: Matt Fitzgerald

Matt Fitzgerald — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:44:00 +0000

The photo biz has and always will change… We can either leverage the change for our business in a positive way or be steamrolled. Either way, change comes.

By: Mike Yamin

Mike Yamin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:55:00 +0000

I can’t help but notice the giant chasm between Yuri and myself (and most other photographers I’d bet). What he does requires massive amounts of efficiency and organization, and those are qualities you won’t often find in artist types. I don’t even really consider myself an artist, but he’s doing things on such a massive scale and I couldn’t easily handle that. Nice work Yuri!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:39:00 +0000

He deserves his success.

By: Remy Musser

Remy Musser — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Microstock photography is just an evolution of the photographic market.

Magazines don’t have the same budgets anymore, most of websites have very limited budgets….
That all came with the raising of the internet.

I used to work on assignments for over 8 years and then switched full time to microstock, and trust me I have no regrets. I even regret not starting earlier… FYI We are not only selling photos for $1… they can go to much higher prices as well.

By: Russell Graves

Russell Graves — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:55:00 +0000

But a single image at a higher price still gets you to the same point as a $1 image sold hundreds of times. Like most all stock images (rights managed or royalty free) visual trends and clothing and hair styles change so the chance of a stock image with people in it selling for years and years is, in my opinion, slim. Instead, those images have to be updated on a regular basis.

In the end you’d be surprised at how often even rights managed images will be licensed. Either way, as I mentioned before, two downloads at rights managed prices gets you to the same point as hundreds of downloads at royalty free prices.

I think we are essentially in agreement on this, Patrick. I may not be explaining myself all that well.

Russell Graves
http://www.russellgraves.com