-Lee

My traditional library advised me to place my images as RM, and they distribute some of my work with Getty, Corbis and others. Returns are not great, but I am comfortable with them.

I tried micro as an experiment last year, and maybe not a fair test as I am not at all comfortable with the micro concept – mainly because I am too emotionally attached to my images. However, I did find that my travel shots were selling best, but with quite low rates of return. I found I was getting a lot of 30 cent subscription dls. Being anti-micro, it was a relief that I could justify not going the micro route.

In addition, I’ve been looking at istock images being used increasingly in high end travel guides, often quite unique images. But when you look at the sales history they only have 1 or 2 dls. These would do better as RM. It’s all very well copying the iconic images and making hay while the sun shines, but in-depth travel photography capturing the smells and nuances of a place, will not get returns to justify the investment on micro. These are low volume sales and a higher price is well justified.

If anyone thinks micro travel is the answer, then I suggest caution, as I think only the early adopters will benefit here. Once everyone is uploading their travel snaps saturation will further depress returns. I would advise anyone contemplating supporting their backpacking jaunts to think carefully about getting the mix right between traditional RM and what might sell well on a micro.

Micro prices arrived by accident, and need to rise a little, plus a higher % going to the photographer. Until that happens, loading up micro with quality travel imagery of unique hard to capture places will result in few downloads of valuable imagery and is selling yourself short.

I also don’t buy into the “I can’t get into traditional libraries” argument. What you mean is you weren’t prepared to work hard enough to raise the bar, and instead accepted the easy route of instant gratification. In that process, especially for travel, you may be undervaluing your work.

And Holger Mette, thanks for your comment Good luck to all of you.

Nice to read the comments!

Travel expenses: in a way this is one of those questions that’s about as easy to answer as “how much am I going to earn on Microstock” – other people’s figures can give an idea, but it really depends on what you like to do and sometimes how good you are at haggling. In some places I’ll obviously spend a lot more – $1500 is an average including all expenses for all the places I’ve been over the last 2 years. Often you find that getting there, and the first week in a place are the most expensive. Some places, like Peru where I am now are almost embarrassingly inexpensive – if you’re trying to minimise costs you can get by for about $15 a day. I know a lot of travelers who get by for less than $1000 a month.

Camera Equipment: I have a full list of the equipment I use on my website. Basically the reason for the E30 over the E3 is that it allows for X-Large file sizes on Istock. Over time I think the difference in $$ will be quite significant. The lens I use most often is the 12-60mm – its a very versatile lens and very high quality all the way through the zoom range.

Post Processing: I generally don’t heavily post process my shots. Partly its because I’m limited to processing on a laptop.There’s probably quite a few that would benefit from corection of verticals – something I’ll look out for!