The 2009 challenge for stock photographers will be to find ways to reduce costs and increase productivity. Jonathan Ross of Seattle’s AndersenRoss—one of the world’s most productive stock photographers who shoots rights-managed, traditional royalty-free and microstock images—has shared his strategy for controlling costs, particularly when it comes to microstock shoots.
Ross noted that traditional agencies are accepting many fewer images per shoot than in the past. In addition, traditional return per image is dropping rapidly. On the other hand, while the microstock RPI is much lower than for rights-managed images, it is growing. With careful planning of shoots, said Ross, it is also possible to get a much higher acceptance rate from a day’s work in microstock.
With these thoughts in mind, the number of accepted images is becoming an increasingly important factor in determining potential gross profit. (Note the comparison between rights-managed and microstock images in “Choosing a Marketing Strategy in 2009.”)
Ross shoots mostly on location and has recently downsized to a smaller studio. Other leading photographers have closed their studios to work from home and rent studio space on the rare occasions it is needed.
In addition, Ross uses contract assistants to keep his staff overhead low. The assistants are tasked with specific duties: The producer/stylist is responsible for pre-planning, including the acquisition of props and models’ wardrobe, which may involve several changes for each model at a single shoot. The color specialist handles post-production.
To control costs on shoots, Ross uses several tactics.
Visiting the location before the shoot: Ross quickly photographs every possible shooing angle using a high ISO and available light. These shots are then printed and used to build a detailed shot list. The photographs also aid in model and wardrobe selection, planning lighting—especially when making use of ambient light—and in shot sequencing. Moving lights tends to slow down a shoot; lighting choreography with minimum time in adjusting lights often sets the pace.
Developing a written shot list: Developed by Ross and his team, a detailed written shot list pre-plans every shot in sequence. This aids in planning for props, special lighting requirements and camera needs. It also speeds the transition between shots: the list enables assistants to prepare the next shot while Ross is shooting.
Selecting unbranded props: Ross’ team makes every attempt to avoid logos or other recognizable symbols on props, thus minimizing post-production time.
| AndersonRoss: Typical cost of one-day microstock shoot (6 hrs.) (US$) |
| Business overhead Includes all business expenses, such as taxes, rent, heat and toiletries. Based on doing 80 shoot-days per year and total annual overhead, excluding shoot-specific costs, of $200,000. |
$2, 500 |
| Talent4 models at @200 for 4 hours |
$800 |
| Lunch for crew |
$40 |
| Second assistant |
$175 |
| KeywordingOutsourced at $0.60 per image for 200 images |
$120 |
| Image upload time |
$100 |
| TotalExcludes prop and location-rental costs. |
$3,735 |
Street-casting models: Agency models are too expensive. When choosing models for micro-shoots, Ross street-casts and pays $50 per hour for four hours. Occasionally, he will pay $75 for a model in a lead role.
Staggering talent arrival times: A typical shoot lasts six hours and uses four models. Two models are scheduled for the first two hours; then two more models arrive. The photographer shoots four models for two hours, and the first two go home. The last two work for another two hours. The total talent cost of this set-up is $800.
Never shooting at f2.8. Ross stopped shooting at f2.8 for micro-shoots, because images were being rejected with the explanation: “Focus not in desirable location.” While his standard practice on traditional shoots has been to focus on the eyes, microstock editors tend to want sharpness throughout the image, although selective-focus is sometimes accepted. Jonathan said: “Because of this, I never shoot below f4 for a single model, f5.6 for couples and f6.3 and above for more than two people. I personally dislike this limitation, but it is their rules, and you have to be willing to change to fit the new machine.”
Ross aims to produce 200 shots during one-day shoot. Thus far, he has a 97% microstock acceptance rate. For a sample of the deliverable results from a single shoot, visit the AndersenRoss Web site. If one day yields 194 accepted images, the average production cost per image is $19.25, which is vastly lower than the cost of most rights-managed shoots.