Hi & welcome back! NiltoMil is officially off and running again – I’m keywording, submitting, pushing images and then working on shooting some new today.  I’m going to be pushing some older images even though I know they won’t sell as well as I’d like simply because I want the momentum to begin NOW not in a month when I get new stuff edited.

I’m ready for 2010!  January will be a very poor month since I’m starting so late but February should show some recovery.

In the last 6 months when I was mainly gone:

• Shot weddings – and we have 4 other photographers who shot during that time as well.
• Sold my house/bought a new house – a fixer-upper.  We’ve been working on it almost everyday since Nov 20th for 12+ hours per day.
• Delved into the food styling/preparing/photo world.  I’ve read almost every post on Still Life With, Matt Bites, and many other foodie blogs.  I’ve devoured four entire food photography books including Rinder/Smith’s new book and Lou Manna’s classic.
• Redesigned our business brand
• Traveled to Maine, twice.  Traveled to NYC.

Now that I’m back my goal is to create an income that will pay my mortgage first, other bills later.  Our mortgage is $680.  This is an achievable goal that I do have to reach for. I’ll do a more extensive goals post in the next week or so but that’s the start of it.

Current BME: $575.46, July 2008

During the last few months one of my major goals has been to shoot more food photography.  I am really interested in the subject, I enjoy all aspects of it, and I think I can do it well (eventually).

So my past few months have been focused on learning – studying food photos, “becoming” a foodie, learning styling techniques – I never wanted to jump straight into food but rather be a food person who knew how to photograph.  I’ve been studying food, food photos, collecting recipes, deciding on what I want to focus on. In learning to “be” a food stylist/chef  you learn about presentation.

Thus my thought for the moment – become involved in the shots you want to shoot.  You shoot sports?  Go PLAY sports more – referee for the kid leagues, shoot hoops more at the park and watch more games.  See how the pros present sports.  You want to shoot business people?  Get deeper into business – meet with SCORE, talk about business planning and attend a seminar so you can see how someone has designed their speech.  Desire to shoot more animals & nature?  Interact – get out there, follow wildlife, hunt (with or without the gun), track animals – learn their behaviors.

— Related tangent —

When I first started learning to be a wedding photographer I listened to everything wedding photographers said. Advertising, marketing, sales, websites, SEO, photography & lighting, everything!  Eventually it dawned on me that photographers were good at making images.  I should learn advertising from an advertising specialist.  I no longer pay much attention to wedding photographers when they speak on subjects other than booking or shooting weddings.  The thought is very similar to what I’m talking about above.  Learn to be great at your subject – not just aware of it.

Sometimes when I want to shoot something I just pull it up, shoot it, wonder why it doesn’t sell.  I think the main reason is because someone else understands the subject while I just wanted a good photo of it.  Can I take good photos?  Yes.  Absolutely!  I shot models for years – and then I realized that because I don’t enjoy it all that much, the images weren’t high-class.  I can shoot well enough but the connection wasn’t there.  The question is – how involved are you in the shoot?

It doesn’t make sense for a city-dweller to go shoot cows and barns.  It doesn’t make sense for a sporty jock to shoot ballet.  Who are YOU and what can you shoot better than everyone else?

Let me quote myself.

I am not going to stick around and pretend to be something I’m not.  Too many people set goals and fail to reach them, yet still continue the journey unfazed.  I often share my experiences and ideas in hopes of helping you.  If I can’t help myself first, I can’t help you.

If I fail to reach both goals (10k images, $25k for the year) by 12/31/09, NiltoMil.com will close for good whether I continue to shoot microstock or not.

At this point in the year it is obvious that I will not reach 10k approved images OR $25,000 this year.

I am modifying what I wrote above.  I am not going to destroy or delete Nil. I am going to stop posting earnings, stop posting ideas until they are working better.  I AM going to keep Nil up for the archives and the posts that often get referenced.  I AM going to continue to put up posts of interest to me – whether that’s of interest to anyone else or not.  My journey will continue.

I need to help myself first.  I need to figure out the steps I should be taking to reach my goal  and when I do, I’ll be back full force with the full effort I can give Nil.  Until then, expect sporadic updates on what I’m doing, how stock is going and what I am trying to do to improve.

I’d like to address something – the time I spend on microstock.  I think some people who read this blog are slightly confused about me slaving away and getting nowhere.

In July, I added 15 new images to my sites.  That means I worked on it for under 1 hour in July.  I made $500 in July.

In June, I added 150 new images.  About 4 hours of work.  I also made $450.  I’ve now in 2 months made $950 on 5 hours of work.

In May, I added 160 new images.  About 4 more hours of work.  Made $400.

Grand total: $1400 while doing 9 hours of work.

What I need to do in order to increase my earnings is actually work on microstock.  I do need to continue improving – I’m just really starting my second year of being a stock photographer.  I need to upload with momentum – that’s proven very successful.  But I’m not sitting here day after day churning out work that isn’t selling.  I’m just simply not putting in the time.

Why?

Our studio has 4 photographers, we’re currently hiring 2 more and we’re going to do between 40 and 50 weddings this year combined.  We’ll likely do another 150 portraits and next year will come close to 70 weddings/250 portraits.  Our wedding and portrait business has brought in over $100k each year for the last 2 and will do so this year and next as well.  I am also in the midst of building a studio management software for photographers that will track clients, billing, orders, calendaring, expenses/taxes, and task management.  It’s a huge project but one I love doing.

All that to say, don’t cry for me, Argentina.  I’m here, I’m going to continue working on micro when I can.  Right now I’m being torn in 3 directions and this one is the least of my issues.

This post is more for my benefit – to look back on and laugh – than it is to educate & inspire you all.  We’ve been doing a LOT of learning & shooting on food lately.  I posted the brownies, we shot some shorter shoots (cupcakes too!) and we are doing another on Saturday (learning pasta I guess!).  I just wanted to get a few things out.

1) I bought two food photo books: Digital Food Photography by Lou Manna and Food Styling for Photographers by Linda Bellingham and Jean Ann Bybee.  Both seem really great!  It’s fun to learn some of the craziness that goes into great food photography.  I would like to get Working the Plate by Christoper Styler and David Lazarus as well as a fun, illustrated cookbook.

2) Blogs & sites are very helpful – as well as styling stores.  Some of my faves are:

StillLifeWith

Foodesigns

The Styling Store

3) Food is tempermental.  The brownie dried out, the ice cream melted and the whipped cream fell FAST.

4) Planning a shoot is both more work and less.  More because we have to come up with ALL the ideas – the model won’t move into a flattering position for us by default.  Less because the model always attends the shoot, doesn’t require emails back at any point, doesn’t cancel the day before, and doesn’t require a lot of attention between shoots.

5) There are some AMAZING food photographers.  Competition will be fierce!

These are just some of my initial thoughts on food.  I have spent a few weeks doing almost nothing but learning and looking.  There’s a LOT to learn.

My upload strategy of late has been momentum.  I think if we upload consistently rather than doing Power Week then nothing, we’re going to be better with sales and have a better acceptance ratio.  So far that has proven to be true.  I am now almost a full week into this consistent strategy and what I’m finding is that sales on SS, DT and SXP are rising.  Fotolia always takes awhile and BSP/123RF don’t sell enough to notice trends yet.  This consistent approach is also good for my portfolio.  Let’s take a look at where I was/am as an update.

• Shutterstock 1/1 – 1441
• Shutterstock 6/7 – 2395




• Dreamstime 1/1 – 1570
• Dreamstime 6/7 – 2346




• Fotolia 1/1 – 646
• Fotolia 6/7 – 1696




• StockXpert 1/1 – 1365
• StockXpert 6/7 – 2758




• Bigstock 1/1 – 1540
• Bigstock 6/7 – 2857

5 full months of uploading has nearly doubled my gallery on many sites, +700 or 900 new images on many other sites.  However, I’m nowhere near where I need to be on images, sales or earnings to get what I want.  So this change, along with some other new things I will be doing, will hopefully get me closer to goal.

So from now on, I’m uploading 25 a day 5 days a week, every week.  I think 500 new approved images a month is going to have to be a “good enough” goal.  If I can manage that, by the end of this year I will have 3500 new images or over 5000 on every site (except IS of course!)

Another goal that will happen this month – I’m adding at least a couple batches to DeepMeta for Istock, submitting more to Fotolia and trying to create some images that may sell better than things I have now.  We need to improve out quality to keep up with the best in this business!

Just an update for some of you who have been waiting for information from me or Shutterstock.  I will continue to add to this at the bottom of this list so please check back.

* The email Shutterstock sent is *not* being received as “an official signed letter” and it is very likely at this point that Shutterstock will need to mail you one.  Please do not file your ITIN until this is resolved as you may waste time & money.

* We are still waiting on the answers to two important questions: 1) will US sales only be counted? and 2) what percent of sales are US based?  I will update those AS SOON as I get the information.

* You will receive a form 1042 at the end of the year to show your withheld earnings.   This may be used to reduce taxes in your own country, depending on your tax laws.  It is proof of withholdings in the US.  http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1042.pdf

* Please see my previous post for a country-by-country list of threads on Shutterstock to help you deal with the situation.  I will keep it updated for as long as possible/reasonable.

* If you have a SSN or EIN you should contact support@shutterstock.com with that information.  It is possible you do not need an ITIN because all three are “id numbers” which is basically what you need.

* The best step-by-step tutorial on this so far is here.  Your specific country thread may provide more info.

* If your country is not on the treaty list in this thread, do not apply for an ITIN because it will not help you.  You are subject to 30% withholding from the US.    Sorry.

* For help in Russian, visit http://www.zastavkin.com/forum for German, see FotoTalk

Yikes!  Ok, full disclosure I am a photographer in the US so all of this new tax & Shutterstock doesn’t apply to me.  I would bet it applies to many of my friends and readers though so I want to cover this to the best of my ability so you guys get some clear, exact answers in one place.

If you post your questions here, I will do my best to get an answer and post it here as well.  I’ve read all 75 pages of the long thread as well as many of the other threads and have seen a lot of answers already.

Edit to add: Shutterstock just emailed me to let me know that whatever questions you post, we can try and get answers to.

What is the issue?

First, read the original post.

If you are not a US citizen or resident, and you do not obtain an ITIN and provide Shutterstock with a Form W-8BEN, US law requires them to withhold 30% from your earnings. If you are a member of one of our tax treaty countries you will have less withheld, sometimes 0% extra.  If your country is not on the list, you will have 30% withheld for income on Royalties.

Why?

US tax law imposes a 30% withholding tax on US source passive income, such as royalties, that are paid to persons who are not citizens or residents of the United States. US tax law requires the person paying the royalties to withhold the tax and pay it to the US Internal Revenue Service. If the person receiving the royalties is a resident of a country that has an income tax treaty with the United States, the withholding tax may be reduced or eliminated. However, to take advantage of the lower withholding tax US tax law requires that the person receiving the royalty payments provide a properly completed Form W-8BEN. US tax law also requires that the person who provides a Form W-8BEN for this purpose have an ITIN.

A lot of people are wondering “why do we pay this – what benefit do we get in the US?”  The answer, although you won’t like it, is that you get the benefit of selling your work in the US and under IRS tax law, you ARE doing business in the United States if you sell to US companies.

More Details

If you are in a country with no tax treaty with the US, you seem to be stuck paying 30% no matter what.

The payouts going out for May will not be affected but June’s may be affected.

If you wish for your account to be removed, the SS CEO is offering to remove it for you.

Yes, US residents pay their tax – we pay it in April as income tax.  We know you pay yours in your home country too.

At the end of the year, you will get a Form 1042 from Shutterstock.  This can be found here: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1042.pdf  You will know your tax liabilities in the US.

ITIN Info

• ITIN FAQ’s in English
• ITIN FAQ’s in Spanish
• Obtaining an ITIN from Abroad
• Publication 1915, Understanding Your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (PDF)

So what can we do?

Step By Step Tutorial

Armenia

Australia

Canada

Czechs

Croatia

France

Germany post

Greece

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Malta

Malaysia

Mexico

Netherlands

Poland

Russia

Romania

Serbia

Sweden

UK

How to Notarize a passport (copy) info (multiple countries)

A bit of info in Spanish

All questions for Shutterstock about taxes can be directed to their new forum on tax questions.

Again, if you post your questions here, I will do my best to get an answer and post it here as well.  I’ve read all 50 pages of the long thread as well as many of the other threads and have seen a lot of answers already.

Speed Editing, Intro

We have examined our workflow many times over the last year in an attempt to gain speed without sacrificing a bit of quality.  The first step in that process is always difficult and time consuming but ultimately necessary and extremely beneficial.

Our first step is to create an awareness of our current situation and workflow.

What steps do you take in order to go from image in camera to image on site?

I would suggest that while there are other steps to many photographer’s workflows, the following covers all of the bases and is a starting point to use.

1. Download the cards to your computer.
2. Backup the original files.
3. Choose the images to edit.
4. Edit the keeper images.
5. Keyword the keeper images and add title/description IPTC data.
6. Upload the images.
7. Backup the edited images.
   
8. Push the images on each site to completion.

Downloading Cards

Normally the download of cards happens while you do something else, such as drink coffee, watch tv, reply to email.  So most people are not concerned with download speed.  If you are trying to absolutely maximize your potential you will care but normally it will not matter much.  Start with a Sandisk ImageMate card reader or a firewire reader.  These are the two fastest options and will pull images from your cards very quickly.

Backup Originals

We prefer to backup our files to two external 1 TB harddrives.  As professional photographers both in microstock and wedding/portrait fields, we know that it is of ULTIMATE importance that we have these originals.  DVD backups fail  more often, period.  However you backup, however, just make sure you do it.  Some photographers never backup or only do it “every so often.”  Bad habits breed problems.  Backup the same day you download, every single time.

Choose the Keepers

I prefer Adobe Lightroom for this step.  If you have it, use it here.  If you do not, you have to look at your current time and make a decision about the speed you are getting.  Four clear choices exist for culling images from the rest.  Adobe Lightroom, ACDSee, Aperture and PhotoMechanic.   Whichever you are using, sorting the wheat from the chaff is going to be one of the most time consuming steps so measure your time here carefully.

Edit the Keepers

Photoshop, Gimp, PSP – these are your main editing tools for this, of course.  Use what is familiar.  Do not try to use Lightroom for the bulk of stock editing.  The detail required in noise removal, sharpening and simple spot editing requires Photoshop to be open.  Even though I am a Lightroom LOVER, it’s going to slow you down in the editing stage.  Stick to single image editing programs.

Add Keyword/IPTC data

I prefer to use CushyStock as my keywording/IPTC editor.  It is simple, fast and helps me do bulk images very quickly.  I’ll be exploring this more in detail soon.  Whether you use Lightroom, ACDSee, CushyStock or ProStockMaster, you should have a bulk IPTC tool for simple series labeling.  Photoshop is *not* the right tool for this job.  It does the job, but it’s not the right tool.  You can use a rock to pound nails in too, but a hammer is more efficient.

Upload the images

Again, because I use CushyStock, I’m sticking in it for this step as well.  Once the images are keyworded, set them to upload and you’re done for now.  This part of the process on 50 images does take some time but a bulk upload tool or FTP program will help you immensely not to have to monitor it for each agency.

Backup the edited images

Do this step here, now.  Once the images are headed online, back them up.  If you do it before adding keyword data you can obviously understand what a mess that would be if you lost the images and had to re-keyword them.  Do it after upload because once an FTP has started they can safely be backed up.  If you backup and then start uploading you can cause conflicts which cause either the backup or the upload to fail.  Doing it in this order is computer-preferable.  Again, we obviously recommend double harddrives.

Push the images on each site

I’m not sure what most people call this step.  Completing?  We call it “pushing” because you’re giving the images one final PUSH toward review.  You need to do whatever it is each site requires to complete the process of uploading once the images have been FTP’d.

Some photographers would add things to their workflow such as tracking accepted images, etc. but realistically these are not part of the workflow that gets your images on a site.  Stick to the basics for now.  Download, backup, cull, edit, keyword, upload, push.  That’s it, that’s all stock is at its basics.

That leads us to stage 2 of improving our workflow for speed.

How long does your current workflow take?

In measuring the time it takes to do your workflow we must have a basis for comparison.  I would suggest that a batch of 50 images is a good standard.  Why 50?  Shutterstock’s full page is 50.  Dreamstime upload limits for anyone under 80% is usually 50 and StockXpert used to be 50 and is now 25, or 2 days of transfer.  It’s a nice round number for figuring out percents as well, as half of 100.

Do this: time every step for your next 50 images.  Separate 50 images you want to do the process to and mark it.  Here’s a guide from my last 50.

1. 3 minutes (2.5 gb, 481 originals) to download.
   
2. 1 minute (2.5 gb to 2 external HDs) to backup drives
   
3. 28 minutes to sort 112 keepers from 481 originals.
   
4. 63 minutes to edit 50 of the keeper images.
   
5. 37 minutes to keyword and IPTC 50 images.
   
6. 1 minute setup (50 images to 14 sites).
   
7. 1 minute setup (50 images) to backup drives.
   
8. 9 sites pushed in 35 minutes, 3 sites remain undone (FT, DT and BSP).

My total from the last 50 edited images, 169 minutes.  Of this, the 28 minutes to sort really gave me 112 not 50 usable images so it counts for about 12 of the 28 minutes for just this batch.  It will take me slightly longer than 1 hour to finish FT, DT and BSP  pushes.  So in roughly 4 hours of work I uploaded 50 new images start to finish.

So get an idea where you are – that’s all for now and I’ll come back later with tips on speeding up, where I save time, where I lose time, and what programs we can use for everything we do.

So I know I’ve gone about two weeks since the last update.  I’m still here – it’s just that season.  We’ve been meeting with brides a lot, shooting some early season engagement sessions, finishing taxes for 2008 and yes, working on a business plan for a new software we are developing.  So let’s take that in order.

Brides and weddings and such are the main thrust of our business.  We own a studio of 4 photographers, each shooting 15-30 weddings a year.  I do all of the editing, most of the marketing and a good deal of the shooting for it.  It has been interesting balancing a “shoot and edit quickly” type of thing like weddings with a “Shoot and then photoshop as good as you can no matter what” type of stock shoot.  I think sometimes I try and edit stock too fast which is why it ends up in rejection mode.

Taxes basically suck.  The more money I make from stock, the more I pay in taxes.  With our wedding business we have figured out where the expenses will go, what we’re spending on so we’re not paying taxes on EVERYTHING, etc.  Stock is basically using the same gear I already have, a few travel receipts and tons of income proportionally speaking.  Making $6000-10,000 in a year is good.  But when you only keep $3500-6000 of that, you have to wonder what you’d need to make for it to be worth it!

Oh and our business plan – we are creating a software for small service business management that will basically do everything – track clients, appointments, shoots, income, invoices, tasks to be done, everything.  It’s going to be amazing and should be done late summer, early fall assuming we can find ANYONE to finance us.  If and when that happens I’ll be sure to post about it as well.  I’m really excited for the possibility of solving some of our problems as well as helping others with it.

So that’s my last few weeks – Sarah’s still shooting and I’ve done some editing.  I think I have 300 edited but not yet keyworded to get on.  That should be a good goal for the next few weeks – keyword everything, edit more, get a few 100s submitted.

Coming up soon on NiltoMil: Picniche’s toolbars, Photoshop tutorials including “Editing without a mouse” and “Workflow Speed 2.”  With the trouble Cushystock has given me lately I may also pull out a Prostockmaster vs. Cushystock post.  Stay tuned (and visit the sponsors to the right who help keep us here!)