New Years Resolutions!

Following slack uploading and picture taking in the last couple of months of last year, I have made some New Years targets. Armed with a diary and plan of 20 shots per week uploaded, I am going to try to get a 1000 images by the end of the year.

I've learnt the need to be more systematic and to plan the shoots before had. I'm going to list 52 subjects to shoot twice a week, uploading, hopefully, 10 from each session. I'll plan these a few weeks in advance to give time to get props and learn the techniques needed, and try to keep the pace throughout the year.

So far this year, having a couple of weeks off of the day job, I have been able to complete three shoots uploading around 30 images, all of a decent standard.

I also have the goal of joining Shutterstock, so far I have been refused 3 times. With the new shooting schedule I'm hoping to have enough new and quality pictures to be accepted by them.

Lets see what happens.......

November Totals

I'm fealling very pleased with myself this month. I've gone from $6 odd last month to over $50 this month. This was due to an extended license sale on istock and a repeat purchase of a file sold last Dec on Alamy. I'm happy but know there will be a drop next month. I've uploaded a few more files with an extra 100 across all sites. I really need to pick this up for next month. Almost time to make some new year resolutions.

October Summary

This month my total earnings were $6.55 with 1069 pictures online across 11 sites. Up on last month. Still very modest but in the right direction I suppose.

I set myself a loose goal to upload 10 images a week. I kept to this for 2 weeks, but I'm struggling to keep this rate up. A busy couple of weeks at work and a lack of inspiration have been my biggest problems. I purchased a new flash this month to help with some studio shots but a delay in delivery and me not being able to work out how to get both my flashes working together has slowed me down. 

Looking to November, I'm going to try to upload a total of 20 good images this month, but more importantly work out a shoot list and do the research needed to take the pictures. I'm finding I'm really limited by my technical capabilities at the moment. I need to try to divide my time between coming up with concepts, researching shooting techniques, shooting, key wording and uploading. 

These are my graphs:

September Summary

My first month of microstock. It's been a busy month of applying to agencies, uploading, keywording and settling on a workflow. Below are a couple of graphs with my image totals, downloads and earnings for September. Not very impressive but a start I guess.

In Summary: 3 downloads totaling $1.52.

I've been spending a couple of hours a night processing the images I already had and getting them organised. I've now got to work on a routine of coming up with shoot ideas, getting the pictures, processing and uploading. I'm setting a goal of 10 images a week uploaded & accepted.