I've been uploading consitently since July, after not uploading anything for two years! I definitely notice new photos being sold, but I'm also seeing a lot of first sales on very old images. It seems to be bringing exposure to my portfolio in general. :)
@andrewbalcombe13385 күн бұрын
Thant's really interesting to know. Two years is quite a break 🙂Thanks for sharing this. Good luck with September
@GPadugan6 күн бұрын
you'd earn more money working one afternoon at a fast food restaurant and have the rest of the week to shoot.
@andrewbalcombe13385 күн бұрын
but I would never get that day back in my life. When Icould have been doing something I love. Money is necessary sure, but I do it for many more reasons aswell. But having said that. If one does stock photography for money alone, then it is worth exploring other casual work for sure.
@adamconstanza6 күн бұрын
Congrats on your new sponsor, haaa! Over here in New Zealand sells during August picked up and both downloads and $$ more than doubled over that of July. Hopefully September is good for you and me both!
@andrewbalcombe13386 күн бұрын
well done on a strong August. I suppose December, Feb are slow in NZ. All the best for September too! I just sold a video for 22 dollars today so mine has started strong.
@adamconstanza4 күн бұрын
@@andrewbalcombe1338 that's a good start!
@steventritton42456 күн бұрын
Great update Andrew. Are you still hopeful though that things can get better in this industry?
@andrewbalcombe13386 күн бұрын
Hi Steve, I'm doubdtful things will get better for contributors. But having said that there is still money to be made. I have no choice I can't stop uploading and I am pretty confident if I upload more my revenue will increase. But i'm also confident that it will flatten out at some stage too.
@rolfkarlsson94396 күн бұрын
Thanks Andrew. I enjoy listening to a fellow stock photographer on a similar level. Let’s not calculate our hourly earning. Not only does it take 2 months for Adobe to review non-editorial photos these days, they often reject editorial photos as you said, with the comment that they don’t meet their “Illustrative Editorial Guidelines”. And these photos sell on other agencies. Good to diverse I suppose.
@andrewbalcombe13386 күн бұрын
Hi and thanks for reaching out. Yes, it's pretty frustrating but AS have their own rules and that's their right, frustrating though it is. Diversification indeed is necessary.but the pond is getting smaller unfortunately.
@lspeventmedia78367 күн бұрын
Hi Andrew, thanks for the video and for the news about your earnings. SS was very poor for me too. I've been on Level 3 for some months but that doesn't seem to make any difference to their RPD. They still give 10c per pic. It's rubbish. AS has been much better for me in Aug. I have a small portfolio of 1000 images and the sales were about $25. I have been analysing my AS portfolio to learn what items, in my genera of photography, sell there best; and that has been most helpful. I'm finding that shooting marketable images is hard work. Numbers alone don't help as some of the images might never sell. Before shooting I ask myself who might use that image and in what context. Having said that, there are always surprises. Keep up the good works. How's the bathroom coming along? BW Nishi
@andrewbalcombe13387 күн бұрын
Hi Nishi, Good to hear from you. Bathroom is still a pain and leaking. More work is promised from the tradesman next week, so fingers crossed. Thanks for sharing your highs and lows with SS and also the insights with AS. Very helpful. Yes, Quantity doesn't work for me either these days. I try to find what works and then repeat, with variations. Or what's unique and others won't have much of. All the best for now!
@michaelhayward60977 күн бұрын
Great video update amd for the inspiration - re: ADOBE (loved your comment 🙂recently I too have had a lot of rejections on ADOBE which other agencie accepted - hmmm not sure what 's happening with ADOBE but to be fair they have been good to me
@2000moniqueernst7 күн бұрын
Nice video 😂 I also follow Microstock live, and he makes it all seem so easy. But the unexpected happened to me in august. I had like a little over 100 dollar on earnings on Adobe Stock and wanted them to pay it out to me, and guess what happened? My account got blocked! No other reason given that I did not followed their rules. No clue which one and what to do next. Only given thing is a contact link that leads to nowhere and the message that they send me an email which I never got. Finally found a link to send an appeal and did that. This was weeks ago and never heard back from them. So be careful with Adobe, I heard the same happened to several other people!
@kuremotokyo7 күн бұрын
If one day i create a KZbin Channel I want this sponsor !👍😂
@andrewbalcombe13387 күн бұрын
I'll offer my special subscriber discount!
@RemplacementTV7 күн бұрын
terrible August month for me , iearned about 150€ in total ....
@andrewbalcombe13387 күн бұрын
thanks for sharing and I hope your earnings pick up in September! ow big is your Portfolio?
@user-jz1ws8qw8z7 күн бұрын
I always enjoy your videos. This one was especially good for its humor. That part about us being doomed, was that humor or partial truth?
@andrewbalcombe13387 күн бұрын
Thank you! We never really know what's coming in the world of microstock but i'm just going to keep uploading. The industry isn't doomed just yet 🙂
@seanaidan45777 күн бұрын
Uploading even just a few shots every day or so definitely makes a difference to sales
@andrewbalcombe13387 күн бұрын
Words of wisdom for my ears. Just have to keep the momentum up. Thanks for reaching out!
@JWhyte1237 күн бұрын
Thanks Andrew. I was wondering what was going on with the rock and roll intro music.... and you had me smiling the entire video.
@andrewbalcombe13387 күн бұрын
Thanks a lot Jeff. It looks like I might have to switch to decaf for the next vid. Glad you enjoyed it!
@mzk77747 күн бұрын
Wow, Andrew Balcombe pumped up more then ever :) Love that energy. I really like your fresh oysters photos, those are destined to sell well! I managed to avoid the August dip, and finally broke the 300/month mark... Also, I bought second-hand Tamron 17-28 f2.8 in August, and made a few nice trips to blooming heather fields around sunset.
@andrewbalcombe13387 күн бұрын
Hi Milos, the heather never gets old in August. Especially in golden hour. Absolutely delighted for you that you hit 300 dollars last month. Well done sir. Well done!
@andrewbalcombe13387 күн бұрын
great that you got that standard zoom aswell. You should be well served by the Tamron and it will complement the 35 - 150
@R.G.LovesBooks7 күн бұрын
I love your sense of humor
@andrewbalcombe13387 күн бұрын
Thank you very much! Very kind 🙂
@privatename82288 күн бұрын
Great video! I enjoyed the humor.
@andrewbalcombe13388 күн бұрын
much appreciated! thanks for the comment
@melissak97508 күн бұрын
I upload to the sites every day unless I am traveling, and yes, it definitely works well!
@andrewbalcombe13388 күн бұрын
It's a great habit to get into. The challenge is not getting distracted away from it for me 🙂
@JasonYoder8 күн бұрын
I love how you mentioned your hard drive. I just switched to 5TB models. I am up to 7 of them for my videos and images. This business produces a lot of data.
@andrewbalcombe13388 күн бұрын
Hi Jason. Now that is a lot of hard drive storage. I actually need to add to mine. It's the video that eats it up.
@JasonYoder7 күн бұрын
@@andrewbalcombe1338 Yep. producing KZbin episodes eats it up :)
@Midjourneywithdave8 күн бұрын
Portfolio in august on Adobe (only AI): 14300, sold 455 images, good for $380. I quit the youtube talk for tips and tricks cause this will bring your sales down as I see this happen to some other youtubers :-)
@andrewbalcombe13388 күн бұрын
It's true. It's a fine balance between the two. Which I haven't found yet 🙂
@patrickherzbergfotografie8 күн бұрын
That was the best sponsor break I've seen 😂. Getty was disappointing for me too, but I luckily had 1 big sale at Shutterstock. 12 dollars for a photo of a pink flower field at Lisse. In total 56 sales for 41 dollars.
@andrewbalcombe13388 күн бұрын
Hi Patrick 🙂. I thought I would have some fun with this one. Love those flower fields when they deliver sales!
@Chuck85418 күн бұрын
Your editing on this one gave me a laugh! haha
@andrewbalcombe13388 күн бұрын
Thanks a lot and i'm glad you enjoyed it!
@aPizzaStainedSlob8 күн бұрын
Spent the entire day yesterday just going through photographs from the past year and uploading those. I feel you on the Adobe moderation though, I feel I upload a lot less on there because I just know they'll be more harsh in comparison to the rest of the agencies. I'm still relatively new to this stuff and if most of my recent uploads to SS get approved then I'll be just under the 100 image mark, and around 70 videos. I've only had sales on the stills so far though, shots at airpots and in the streets on rainy days. Made $5 on Wirestock just from coming 4th in one of their challenges and that was a nice surprise this morning. iStock is a bit slow and made a cent. That's an agency I mostly upload videos to but I'm looking at the ones that I've edited yesterday to flesh out that portfolio a bit. I've seen that Pond5 is really hit or miss with pretty much everyone regardless of uploads, to which I haven't had a sale on that once ever but everything uploaded gets approved nicely. Tried Alamy once, saw how they operate and reject everything if one image fails and just deleted the account to save my own sanity and time. Not bad given I'm still new to this, mostly doing drone stuff but I shoot everything on the ground too.
@annerichard7888 күн бұрын
Not a bad month for me, not as good as July though. Keep up the good work, I enjoy your videos and get good ideas from them.
@andrewbalcombe13388 күн бұрын
Thank you! Let's hope September is kinder
@MrRFasters15 күн бұрын
I simply do NOT understand. For ages ALL reviews are about optical quality and then we test the ultimo's of the lens, always looking immediately into sharpness, vignetting, aberrations and barrel distortion. And when a lens scored bad in these areas - woooo the lens manufacturor. And now, with Canon trying to get all their DLSR EF(S) body and lens owners onto the R patform - now this isn't an issue any more - for software can easily correct this? WHAT a NONSENSE. A) You're dependent on the in-camera JPG generation and - let's face it - that's not ideal. B) you HAVE TO post-process EVERY raw image. Well: that works quite well when shooting 1.000 images on your wild life trip, holiday, football match or wedding shoot. Any idea how time that's going to cost you? Or how advanced your automatic correcting port-procesisng workflow must be? WTF. Generating a strong, decent, directly OK raw file REMAINS to be very very relevant and this lens SUCKs at this. I'm ranting for I beleieve these type of Hooray! video reviews are either bad reviews or we're looking at marketing sponsored rubbish. And I'm ranting for Canon will simply not UP their game when we - as photograpghers - buy into this BS of accepting very poor optical performance of their newest lenses. I'm sticking to my R system adaptor and the ES, ES-F, L series, Sigma Sports and Tamron high quality lenses and DO NOT buy into this poor quality trap.
@andrewbalcombe133814 күн бұрын
Thanks for your input. I agree that the lens has issues. But on the other side, I stand by my review and if I had the money I would buy it. The editing for stock photography is a pain in general, but most of the issues of the lens are taken care of by the time I import into Lightroom. So I don't have to spend more than the normal amount of time editing. I really like this lens for travel and general stock work. My aimed for stock general set up would be this lens and the Canon R8.
@diduladishan945423 күн бұрын
Hello Andrew, your videos are fantastic and incredibly informative. As someone new to shutterstock I've learned so much from your videos. Thank you for your honest reviews. Please keep sharing more. Thanks!!
@andrewbalcombe133823 күн бұрын
Hey there, welcome aboard and thanks very much for reaching out!
@kennboehansen23 күн бұрын
Do not sell it - try it with at canon ML .. Canon R3 and it is at massiv combo
@WildernessWhispers1325 күн бұрын
Very informative video, thanks for sharing it. 👍🏻
@andrewbalcombe133824 күн бұрын
Thanks very much. I'm glad you found it helpful!
@ekala43r27 күн бұрын
Hola Andrew yo tengo la R50 desde Mayo, es excelente, gracias por el vídeo saludos!
@andrewbalcombe133827 күн бұрын
thanks for sharing and i'm glad you are enjoying that little camera. it certainly performs!
@MarsArseniyАй бұрын
Попробуй canon r10!
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
couldn't find one yet to rent !
@digimanieczАй бұрын
Hi Andrew. I have seen almost every your video and decided to write you about the misunderstanding I can observe in your evaluations of high-pixel cameras like EOS R7. The thing is that you have forgotten about the fact that you are not forced to upload the images in full resolution to stock agencies. The truth is that even if the lens seems not being able to utilize the high resolution, it actually does. I know it seems that it does not but the problem is that you evaluate 1:1 view. If you will evaluate the same output resolution, the story will be different. In other words, 24MPx image from 24MPx camera will be less sharp and less detailed than 32MPx image (which does not seem to be sharp) converted to the same 24 MPx. You will better overcome Bayer interpolation and even with all that diffraction, the image quality will be higher. I have tried old prime lens on 14.6MPx, 24MPx and equivalent of approx. 180MPx APS-C camera (industrial chip from smartphone camera) in terms of pixel density, the results were mind-blowing. Of course, the image from 180MPx APS-C EQ camera with that lens seems to be extremely unsharp when viewed at 100% (1:1) but if it was converted to the same output resolution as the images from 14.6MPx and 24MPx cameras, it was severals levels better in terms of sharpness and details. You do not have to search for another camera. If you want to have Canon (and not another brand), EOS R7 is the best Canon thing that stock photographer like you may get if you do not want to go full frame. 4K60p allows you to make slow-mo and/or to stabilize the clips better (twice as slow twice as steady), 4K30p is oversampled 7K video, IBIS is a great help (especially with horizon problem, OIS in lens is incapable to handle that, much better night shots - lower ISO handheld), higher resolution (better IQ in the same output resolution, capability to crop more if needed).
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
Thanks for sharing that insight into getting the best out of the glass on the hi-res R7. It's an interesting perspective and worth looking into and having a play around with the files. I'm tossing up between the full frame r6Mk1 and the R8 at the moment but the R7 isn't totally discounted.
@RandoPhotographyАй бұрын
Interesting look to see how people do editing. I'm a newbie, so I tend to go into an editing tailspin, and I just keep going and going. lol
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
Glad you found the video interesting! Enjoy the editing journey!
@aPizzaStainedSlobАй бұрын
You should get yourself a drone if you're jumping into the video side of things, really opens up the possibilities in what you can capture. Also a great ton of fun :^)
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
true, but i'm wondering about red tape and laws, which could be a total drag man.
@aPizzaStainedSlobАй бұрын
@@andrewbalcombe1338 i've taken my drone through four countries and i've never encountered an issue while filming; a lot of it is common sense mixed with basic regulations, like not filming populated spaces without permission or not going above certain altitudes in such areas in regards to getting permission it can be as simple as asking the police in the area (if you're in the city) and telling them what you intend to shoot and how, sometimes they'll agree to it, other times they'll decline; and to be honest i don't think most bother with asking for permission if it's a generally isolated natural area where few people are around the dji mini lineup is made specifically to avoid the drone needing to be registered in most places, so it weighs one gram below the required weight for registration the common sense side comes with just looking on the maps to see if you're near an airport, general flight path, or areas like military bases i definitely recommend getting one though, so much fun and the microstock side is just some good icing on the cake
@seanaidan4577Ай бұрын
A wrist strap will stop you dropping it 👍
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
that is true.
@mzk7774Ай бұрын
Cool test session Andrew! I love when you make a long video. Is that a metal detector in your living room? That would make a great stock subject. Is 18mm usually wide enough for architecture? I am thinking about Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD for my Sony A7IV. Any good sales in August so far? I hope things will take off a bit in September.
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
Hi Milos! thanks very much. Yes it is 🙂 It's a guilty pleasure - trying to recapture my youth when I couldn't afford a metal detector. I find 18mm too tight on a crop sensor, but it should work on a full frame for architecture. August is very quiet so far,so I'm just enjoying the summer and whatever happens happens 🙂. All the best matey and have a good one!
@privatename8228Ай бұрын
As a person considering getting into stock photography I find your videos very informative, interesting and motivating. I really enjoy seeing the photos and videos that you have sold.
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
thank you very much for reaching out with your kind words!
@mobelueАй бұрын
Hey, new your channel. Have you done any recent videos on stock photography?
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
sure have. Check out my lastes video from last week. Enjoy and welcome aboard!
@pilgrammedia7295Ай бұрын
only shoot RAW
@lspeventmedia7836Ай бұрын
Hi Andrew, very interested to hear that your trip to Scotland was great. It’s on my list of places to visit next year in our camper van. Congratulations on your iStock earnings - nice surprise. For me July was a bit slow and that could be due to the seasonal dip. I had one good sale of over $13 in July at the unnamed agency and the rest were in 10c -25c range. My small portfolio of about a 1000 images is continuing to do well at AS though videos don’t sell there often. I agree, their rules for accepting editorial images are a mystery to me too. I hope you will make a trip to London sometime. There is always a lot to photography here that sells even though one would have thought that London images would have saturated the micro-stock market. I continue to get surprises! Thanks for sharing your work.
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
hello there in London. Yes, I'll never tire of Scotland. Beautiful and calm and good people too. I'm glad your growing portfolio is seeing some results. I hope to get to London too but it will not be this year. Such a great city, especially for microstock hunting 🙂. All the best for August and fingers crossed you experience Scotland with your camper!
@lauratenveenАй бұрын
Hey Andrew, hope you're good! Nice to hear that you had a decent month! I totally agree with you that the new uploading process on shutterstock isn't the best. I always switch back to the old one. It's the best one out of all the stock agencies in my opinion. My july was way above average, best month of the year actually! Shutterstock $55 for 43 downloads. A lot of 0,10 sales but I also randomly sold images for 0,56, 1,43, 1,79 and even 4,51. Highlight: $40 drone video of the city I live in. Very happy with that one! Adobe stock $36 for 34 downloads, 50% ai images. Highlight: a drone video of wind turbines that I sold for $8,45, 5 days after uploading it. I've been selling quite some recent uploads on both platforms actually which is nice. Hope you've been enjoying the sunny weather!
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
Hi Laura, thanks for taking the time to tell me about your wins at both SS and AS. Also, thanks for the tip regarding SS uploading. I have a question for you, feel free not to answer if you don't wish to. But have you done a drone course? I am thinking about buying one but all the red tape put's me off. Great that you had your best month so far. Congrats and thanks for sharing!
@lauratenveenАй бұрын
I think my reply keeps getting flagged or something, but I answered your question (:
@andrewbalcombe133829 күн бұрын
@@lauratenveen Hi Laura, if you included some kind of link then YT doesn't like it. Perhaps that's what happened?
@lauratenveen29 күн бұрын
Let's try again! I didnt do any courses. I have the DJI mini 2 so no courses were required, just the registration of the drone. I'd say flying it is quite easy. It reminds me a lot of when I used to have a remote control car when I was younger. You just have to get used to it and then it's like riding a bike haha.
@lauratenveen29 күн бұрын
It is annoying sometimes to find a place to fly though. There are Natura2000 areas everywhere it feels like. Those are the places I want to fly so sometimes you just gotta take a bit of a risk 🤫
@melissak9750Ай бұрын
Sorry to hear that the light conditions weren't optimal for the osprey - but heck, I'd still sell them. You should see some of the crap photos in terrible lighting that I sell! :D As for editorial on Adobe, I do really well with it but yes, they are picky. They need to be illustrative editorial with a very clear concept - so think taking a photo of a Taco Bell sign - they would accept something like that. Absolutely no people in the photo either. It's frustrating, as I have a ton of editorial photos on other agencies, but the money is decent. I wish they'd change their criteria!
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
thanks for the Osprey advice 🙂 and also with regard to AS editorial tips. That's very kind of you. I'm happy to hear that you are doing so well with your uploads too!
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
I just uploaded video directly to Adobestock without having to use FTP - Victory!
@danielstassen813Ай бұрын
Never had any issues uploading to Adobe Stock via FTP. In fact, I find uploading via FTP to Adobe Stock more reliable and faster than to Pond5 and SS. Could that be your internet connection maybe?
@Randy_in_PittsburghАй бұрын
Call me crazy, but I'm diggin' that old Toyota Land Rover. I can just imagine driving that around here in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. It would probably do really well in the snow, too.
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
Can't beat a Toyota 4x4
@martanogueiraphotographyАй бұрын
Hello! A few days ago, I tried to upload a video on Adobe the same way I upload photos and it worked. I don't use a FTP anymore :) Try it and see if it works. Thanks for the video, have a nice week :D
@aPizzaStainedSlobАй бұрын
Adobe's weird rules and often poor moderation makes zero sense to me when other agencies are quick to accept. Primarily frustrating when you take a look through the store and see such utter AI trash getting approved when your totally-fine real photographs are rejected. I've had many times where aerial videos get rejected and I have to contact support to tell them that the reason given actually is wrong, and that they need to look again, to which the support ends up agreeing with me and getting the videos pushed through. Had one where my video was totally still, of a sunset over a lake with some birds flying through the shot. Got rejected for supposedly being shaky.
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
Thanks for sharing. Yep it gets frustrating that's for sure. Two steps forward three steps back.
@sven1858Ай бұрын
Hi @andrewbalcombe1338 it was I that bumped into you by chance in Mallaig, glad I made an impression. I never saw any sand eels :( - my visit to the area was only a couple of days, but I got some moody shots of the wreck at Corpach on the way up, not for stock though. Blown away by the white sandy beaches in the area though.
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
hi there! I don't run into my subscribers very often ,so it made quite the impression 🙂. Scotland is a great place. Especially when the weather smiles!
@MikeWieringАй бұрын
The new system on shutterstock is terrible, especially the Catalog manager, fortunately there is still the option "Switch to legacy".
@kittykat2532Ай бұрын
why was a cow considered an editorial photo?
@andrewbalcombe1338Ай бұрын
I thought it could be identified by it's ear tags 🙂
@privatename8228Ай бұрын
@@andrewbalcombe1338very interesting
@MysticalJessicaАй бұрын
Well I am thinking even if it's not a lot of profit, it's still a small motivation to think that as a beginner I can still make a few bucks with my photography. I think I wouldn't have the motivation to take photos and videos as much if I wouldn't have a platform to upload them to! I mean I started this whole thing as a passion and I was taking photos with my phone a lot before buying the camera but just posting on facebook it wasn't that satisfying and I was getting discouraged to continue. Even a few cents tell me someone found use for my photos and that's amazing to me!