Last month (or so) I’ve been experimenting with selling stock footage on “microstock” sites. These are companies that sell lower production value footage for lower rates. Generally the footage is from cameras of lesser quality than the broadcasters use. A lot of it is in Standard def and a lot of it is pretty crappy but some of it is pretty good. Hence most of the clips on the sites don’t get sold, but some of the better clips get hundreds of downloads. My idea is that in any future spare time, I’ll be able to go out and grab general stock clips and upload them to these sites and forget about them with the idea that eventually I’ll have enough clips up that even small sales will add up. And if they sell, great, but if they don’t, I’ve gotten good practice with my camera. I have only put up about twenty clips on two sites iStock which is still waiting to approve most of my clips and Pond5 which has already approved my clips but doesn’t have the market reach and share that iStock does.
Well, yesterday, out of the blue, I got an email saying I’d made my first sale on Pond5. Whooohooo! Its not enough to even go out to dinner on, but I’ll take it. I must say, I’m surprised at the clip that sold. Its certainly not the best clip I put up, but I guess that will be part of the learning curve.
Anyway, it only takes little things to improve a day and given the estimate from our mechanic, the day could use it.
Happy spring!
Hoar Frost Pan 01
As you may know, we got to spend a week in Maryland with my Parents and (just) one day with my Sister and family. Here are a few select shots. For the full selection go to the Photoblog tab at the top. Just click on the image for a larger version.
I pretty much have everything I want except my MFA Degree and a Klaus Cam so if you are looking around for ideas for my birthday, I’d very much like one of these 
:
KlausCam me please.
I’ve started posting stock footage on microstock sites Pond 5 and istock photos. Here’s the two clips I have up on Pond 5 so far. iStock is still in review process.
Pond 5 => Dead Plant
Pond 5 => Cold River
As some of you know, I got to go to Churchill, Canada last Oct/Nov for a couple of weeks to work with Polar Bears International making films. I also got a chance to go out on the tundra for a couple of days to see some Polar Bears. They are truly incredible animals and are probably going to go extinct in the next 50 years due to climate change if we don’t do anything about it.
A few of the films I made didn’t make it up on the PBI website so I’m posting them here as I edited them.
The bear footage was shot by John Shier of 45 North Films.
Thanks.