alamy - Victoria Ashman Photography

Importance of health and my love of photography

Fyi, this is more of a personal post, but it does talk about both my health and photography.

Last night, was a long night. I was up at 2am and then 4am, which in itself is nothing unusual for me. But, last night as well as not being able to walk, (as there is gout in my foot) for a very brief moment I could not open my eyes. It was frightening, it took me about 30 seconds and then I could open them but they were stinging so much. I have had what feels like grit in my eyes for the last couple of months. But I wonder now if this is to do with the gout, another horrible complication of renal failure. Fortunately the Gp has given me steroids and I really hope that this is quick to work, for my eyes are very sore today.

As I couldn’t sleep, I was just thinking. A past-time I have got particularly good at in the last few months. My thoughts focused on positive mental attitude. I am a firm believer that this makes a difference. If the brain can keep going, the body keeps going too. If the brain gives up, the body has nothing to tell it it needs to fight on, it will be ok, it is worth the pain, and you will get through to the other side. It motivates and mobilises the body to keep fighting. But at the same time, I also think that a positive mental attitude can’t cure you. If major things start to go wrong with the body, you need help. The body is an amazing delicate ecosystem and once things start to go wrong there is a domino effect. All the positivity in the world cannot redress that.

My photography as always has always been a positive force in my life. I am continuing every day to do photoshop work and to take a couple of pictures, even if I am only walking a couple of metres to photograph it. The photography has been my solace ever since my diagnosis, it provides distraction and it is a creative endeavour. It is important to be able to create when your body feels like it is being constantly damaged. My love of photography is uplifting and no pun intended keeps me focused. My health and photography are now completely entwined.

I do remain positive, and I do believe I will be ok. The aches and pains that have been plaguing my body for at least a year, well, the doctors have found the cause. It can be easily rectified by removing a troublesome gland. So, I am positive that I will be able to keep strong, keep going and keep shooting.

Stay well, Victoria x

Saunton sands, Devon — Saunton Sands, Devon. Reflections in the water.

Saunton Sands, Devon. Reflections in the water.

Stock photography by Victoria Ashman at Alamy

I have thrown my hat in the ring in the last few months and joined a few of the microstock image libraries. So far, the earnings have been fairly minimal. But I have found that some are better than others. Alamy is my favourite, but the sales seem to be very slow. But at least they pay well when there is a sale. You can get 50% of the sale from Alamy, most of the other sites only give you a 15% commission.

After Alamy, Shutterstock seems to be the best site. The sales are much more frequent. But they only pay $0.25 for a monthly subscriber image. $0.81 for a small/med on demand image and $1.88 for an on demand image large. When you reach a certain threshold of earnings i.e. $500-$3000 the payment goes up but only minimally (a few cent).

So far, food and drink and some of my historical landscape photos seem to be selling best, so this is where I am concentrating my portfolio, for the moment.

Microstock Image Libraries — Prosecco bottles in ice bucket

I have been on istockphoto for about a year. Initially earnings seemed quite good. But I soon saw that every now and again I was only getting $0.03 an image. I have since left my gallery live, but I have not added any more as it doesn’t warrant the time it takes to keyword and it completely undervalues the pictures that I have online at other sites.

I have also uploaded to Adobe stock, Deposit photos, Crestock and Dreamstime. But it is too early to tell if these sites are going to be successful. Crestock also seems to have an extremely slow review period. Alamy and Shutterstock are the best in terms of review, as images are considered and accepted or rejected within 24 hours, which means I can add to my portfolio every day.

Looking at a lot of research on this subject, I have read a lot of information about how to start selling images microstock image libraries and have come across this book. It may be worth reading for people that are new to the microstock library world and would like a comprehensive guide on how to get started. https://victoriaashmanphotography.co.uk/recommends/817-2/

I have decided that I am going to add the option to download and buy stock images from this website. Digital backdrops were added last week, and the process seemed fairly easy to setup. But it is quite time consuming. So it should take me a couple of weeks.

To my mind microstock image libraries must be extremely difficult and time consuming for buyers to find what they are looking for, (if they have a specific image in mind). Microstock sites surely will become overwhelmed with images. So maybe there will be a trend for photographers selling stock images independently. Or maybe small niche image libraries will become a stronger force in the market again. For now though I am keeping my hat in the ring.

SHUTTERSTOCK https://www.shutterstock.com/g/vickyashman?rid=185033396&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ctrbreferral-link

ALAMY Stock photography by Victoria Ashman at Alamy

ADOBE STOCK Portfolio https://stock.adobe.com/uk/contributor/239766/victoria%20ashman

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Health and photography

Importance of health and my love of photography

Microstock Image Libraries