Comments on: business: photo assistants and mentoring

By: Noah

Noah — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:32:01 +0000

I’m a little late I know, but I’m here! I’ve been with Photoshelter for a couple months now and I’ve been pretty happy with what they offer (even though I haven’t actually made a cent yet ). They’ve got a good keywording system and lots if different pricing options for both rights managed and royalty free images. I think what I like most is the community they are building. They’ve got a great blog with tons of information for stock shooters in it as well as some pretty active forums. If you’re considering stock work I’d definitely check them out. Jim is right though, keywording is king and it pays to work hard to keyword your images correctly and even point clients to your Photoshelter portfolio from other locations.

My (small) page is here:

http://psc.photoshelter.com/user/nhutson

By: Jim Talkington

Jim Talkington — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:15:46 +0000

I admit, I’m not currently participating in stock photography. I will say, though, that PhotoShelter really seems to value photographers and their work, one of the last havens where photographers are put first. Hopefully Noah will see this and chime in, I know he’s a member. Something tells me that success with stock these days also means actively promoting / marketing your work on your own, too.

Is anyone up for a trip over to the discussion forum? I’d like to explore Mike’s situation of whether it’s time to leap fully into the profession or not.

By: Kenneth Rhem

Kenneth Rhem — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:18:54 +0000

Thanks Jim for your time and effort. It’s important for people to know that there is a difference in the knowledge you gain from the internet or even shooting small assignments and the experience you gain working on a big production with stylists, grips, a digital tech and the ever dreaded Art Director. Plus as an assistant you can ask people you know to trust about how to bill a client, how to PROPERLY bid for a job, and what agencies/art directors/editors are worth working with in your area.

@ Mike C. - There is no fast track to being a Pro except extreme luck. I’m of the opinion that the extreme luck shooters don’t have 20+ year careers (well i guess that’s except for J. Teller and T. Richardson)

By: Mike C

Mike C — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:42:50 +0000

That’s what my perception is, the site is more pro oriented, which is a definite plus. Also their pricing model attracts me, they have a minimum $50 price for any photo and you get to set your own prices. In addition they pay out 70% of the sale price instead of the usual 30-50%. With all that it just sounds to good, so I’m trying to find the catch before singing up.

By: Craig Lee

Craig Lee — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:15:39 +0000

I don’t really know very much about PhotoShelter, Mike. I’ve been wondering about it myself. It seems to have a better reputation among professional stock photographers than the micro-stock companies. Several people over on the digital Photograph School forums have had images accepted by them, but I don’t know of any sales yet. I also think they do more than just stock photography collection/sales. I think they allow you to set up a merchant site to sell prints using your own price lists as well as providing online galleries like SmugMug or Zenfolio.

By: Mike C

Mike C — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:54:15 +0000

Craig, or Jim for that matter, or any one else.
What are your thoughts on PhotoShelter? I was looking to starting an account there, is it worth it? The whole stock market side of photography is relatively new and fuzzy to me. Especially in the current market.

By: Mike C

Mike C — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:44:55 +0000

It’s posts like these that leave me wondering what’s next? On one hand I would love to start assisting and probably accelerate my photography carrier much faster. Networking while assisting would be a great way to jump start, as apposed to now, when I have a day job and networking and getting clients is quite challenging. On the other hand the realist in me sees that I still have to pay off loans, rent, food and having a day job certainly helps. So where do we draw the line?

By: Craig Lee

Craig Lee — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:10:24 +0000

Ooooo, another e-book. Although I think I might have read the posts you compiled it from already. It will still be nice to have it all together in one spot though.

I bookmarked 1prophoto.com. Thanks for another good link. Are they associated with Photoshelter? The seem to have a lot of posts made by the Photoshelter guys if they aren’t.

By: Jason Phillips

Jason Phillips — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:06:40 +0000

I have read John Kieffer’s book. It is very good. I think it was loaned to me by an instructor. Or did I buy it? Dang, time to dig in my closet.