When shooting stock photography, particularly for microstock, the perception often is that there exists an endless choice of subjects just waiting to be captured, and sold, Yes, for real money!
“But wait…” I hear anybody who has been selling stock for a while scream, “you can’t just shoot anything and expect to rake in the cash.”
I’ve dug through searches made on the picNiche system for the last year and put together a simple (intentionally vague) list of subjects you’d do well to avoid, not because they don’t sell, because they all do, many of them exceptionally well. But because there is so much competition of such a quality that you’d be very hard pressed to really capture a decent size of the market, especially if you’re new to microstock photography.
Don’t shoot?!
I’m not suggesting you don’t shoot any topic in this list at all, if you really like shooting business men or domestic animals (lol ;)) then you should do it for the love of it. Though you will need pristine-quality images, with an interesting and engaging ‘twist’ on the concept before you risk the time to produce them and end up lost on page 274 of the agency search engines.
This list is built from supply/demand metrics composited across a variety of associated search phrases and queries to picNiche over the last year or so. I’m currently working up some algorithms to get the other end of the this table built too.
It is roughly ordered by the amount of competition for that subject, so you’d need to work a whole lot harder to sell images from the top of the list than from the bottom, but even the bottom of this list would require hard work and professional-level output to really make an impact, especially if you’re arriving ‘late to the game’ in what remains a young, but rapidly maturing market.
Do you agree/disagree with the items in the list?
Is your entire portfolio focussed on one of these topics?
Have you seen an improvement or decline in sales over the last years/months/weeks for any of these themes?
Please let us all know what you think in the comments below 🙂
The List:
| Subject | Research Links |
| new year | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| christmas tree | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| cell phone | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| united states | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| icon set | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| Easter egg | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| national park | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| red wine | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| santa claus | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| blue sky | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| young adult | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| fast food | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| still life | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| bird of prey | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| light bulb | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| business man | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| design element | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| business people | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| coffee bean | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| sea shell | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| Christmas present | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| mobile phone | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| valentine card | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| traffic sign | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| dried fruit | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| coffee cup | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| water drop | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| young woman | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| hair style | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| south africa | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| little girl | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| web icon | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| front view | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| kitchen garden | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| business woman | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| healthy eating | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| studio shot | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| lying down | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| merry christmas | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| in love | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| business travel | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| fishing boat | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| built structure | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| long hair | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| flower garden | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| wine glass | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| healthy lifestyle | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| 25-30 years | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| for sale | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| sea gull | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| sandy beach | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| single object | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| coffee beans | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| easter eggs | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| italian food | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| orange juice | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| sexy woman | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| domestic animals | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| brown hair | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| brick wall | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| roof tile | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| christmas decoration | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| wood texture | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| looking up | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| side view | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| building exterior | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| home interior | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| green pepper | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| wild animal | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| facial expression | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| teenage girl | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| young man | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| gift box | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| human hand | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| sea food | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| nautical vessel | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| healthy food | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| fruit cake | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| cup of tea | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| red pepper | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| travel destinations | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| water sport | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| asian food | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| business person | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| abstract background | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| red square | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| clear sky | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| blond hair | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| abstract concept | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| greeting card | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| drinking glass | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| christmas day | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| water fowl | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| clock tower | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| fashion model | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| fruit tree | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| water garden | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| baby girl | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| green field | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| christmas card | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| raw meat | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| kung fu | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| pink flower | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| water bottle | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| autumn leaves | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| vegetarian food | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| paper currency | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| coffee break | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| little boy | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| baby animal | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| tranquil scene | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| short hair | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| chinese food | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| green apple | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| spring flower | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| human eye | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| green leaves | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| citrus fruit | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| christmas ornament | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| healthcare and medicine | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| web button | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| farm animals | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| asian woman | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| casual clothing | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| christmas ball | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| night sky | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| tile roof | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| travel destination | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| white flower | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| stone wall | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| vegetable garden | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| sunny day | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| human face | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| group of objects | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| fishing boats | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| rural scene | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| traditional culture | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| lake district | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| yellow flower | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| blue water | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| construction equipment | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| holiday home | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| baby face | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| orange flower | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| historic building | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| ribbon bow | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| business suit | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| spring flowers | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| pine cone | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| christmas decorations | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| old car | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| red background | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| little girls | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| red rose | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| tea cup | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| river boat | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| fresh fruit | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| glass of water | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| office equipment | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| office worker | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| non-urban scene | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| head and shoulders | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| single flower | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| sea animal | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| red flower | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| old book | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| rose garden | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| tomato sauce | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| red flowers | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| flag pole | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| red heart | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| christmas background | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| modern architecture | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| hair care | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| happy girl | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| sea mammal | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| red onion | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| christmas ornaments | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| holiday season | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| abstract design | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| seamless pattern | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| glass bottle | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| happy holidays | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| old wall | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| human age | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| summer holiday | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| blue flower | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| happy child | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| yellow rose | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| orange fruit | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| christmas child | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| juicy fruit | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| abstract texture | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| ancient art | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| color pencil | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| red apples | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| hot tea | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| red tulip | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| white cheese | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| rocky mountain | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| medieval castle | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| red tomato | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| white bird | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| low angle view | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| fall leaf | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| mountain landscape | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| flower bud | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| abstract backgrounds | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| modern building | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| teen girl | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| cute baby | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| old door | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| water background | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| brown background | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| yellow tulip | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| beautiful flower | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| sexy body | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| hot coffee | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
| city park | pN FT IS SS DT BS |
Extro (like an intro, at the end)
There are plenty of blog posts around about what you should shoot (though not many about what not to, if you have one please link in comments and I’ll add), and I’d suggest checking them out.
But in short… find a subject you love, and be creative with it 🙂
What do you think?
17 Comments
I think that there is no subject to avoid if You are good in it and You like it, but such lists and researches are good to just see the competition and avoid repetition (in fact these phrases are very general and can include completely different images), also to explore new way of expression, quality improvements and so on.
Unfortunately link to my article about is under construction;) I’ll post it here right after publication.
I think the blog post title is a bit confusing.
The keywords you list DO sell very well. But since many photographers know this the offered quantity and quality is yery high on these topics. This makes it hard as a newbie to get sales there, but I wouldn’t tend to say that efforts would be worthless.
Bob, funny and interesting. I can sell “dried fruit” and “mountain landscape” Wow! Maybe ’cause there is another keyword more “niche oriented” that was used in the search.
Cheers,
roberto
Plrang:
Yes I agree, they are intentionally vauge (took a lot of database queries to get them this vague lol, if it was any more specific it would be 202,000 ‘challenging subjects; 🙂
Robert:
I’ve adjusted the title to more accurately reflect the content of the post 🙂 I was trying to be ironic and kinda skipped over the literal meaning 🙂
Roberto:
The figures are from a set of composited figures and topics across a few thousand searches, they will sell if excellent quality, but for a newcomer producing sub-premium-quality I think it would be a waste of time to try 🙂
Challenging Subjects sounds good!
@bobbimac:
I understood that your title was ironic, it just somehow reminded me of the post in Yuri’s blog where he stated what you shouldn’t shoot and one commented that almost his entire portfolio consists of these shoots. 😉
lol yes, if only we all had access to Yuri’s studio and production team 😉
eheeh what a huge list of different and equal subjects! :p
I am quite new in microstock but I think we need to create more and something different than the usual, because there is a lot of “same” images that are already online, like business handshake etc..! I have a new board concept that I am working on it and there only a few things on the market, and I am seeing some sales there…!
keep shooting 🙂
So I should avoid shooting colour images? Darn…
‘colour image’ as a subject, yes, so things like those shots of multi-coloured umbrellas and rainbow/swatch style textures, and other patterns highlighting just colour are oversupplied.
Not of course images in colour 🙂
Then maybe i’ll use it with Your permission under that second title 😉 We’ll see which one get more hits 😉
Naah, i have my next article on the way
I don’t do much microstock at all, but I don’t see how this list is that useful, to be honest, because the subjects are so vague. It almost seems more like it’s a challenging list of keywords, rather than a challenging list of subjects. For example, under “Still Life,” I looked at what IS had–and it’s everything from an isolated object (baseball, with over 400 dls) to a smear of pink lip gloss (0 dls), and that’s just on the first page. Does that mean that ALL potential still life subjects shouldn’t be shot by beginners? I can’t imagine buyers always use only 2 key words for searches, and contributors have to use at least 7 or so. I’ve just recently started using picniche and I find the more keywords I have (that are accurate and valid, not spamdexing), the more of a “niche” I find to shoot. Do I have it all wrong?
Heya Colleen, yes and no, for your example ‘Still Life’, as a ‘subject’ it is severely oversupplied, not of course, ALL still life images.
Images very representative (cliches) of still life (fruit bowl on a curtain, a single wine bottle, etc etc) would be in very competitive segments, as with the rest of these subjects, for a newcomer to stock, they’d have to be producing very high quality images to be able to focus primarily on that and expect high RPIs for the work.
I’ve focused on searches consisting of 2 words here simply because the median search is somewhere between 2-3 words, I think the last figure I saw was 2.5ish, though I did read a while back that it was slowly rising. I wish I had access to good quality buyer data to be able to mine this further 🙂
With regards to your ‘more keywords = better rating’ question, this in some cases is true, as more keywords generally do indicate you are approaching a niche by the ‘proper’ definition, on picNiche results though you also need to keep in mind whether the phrase is likely typable by a buyer (not many buyers would type “my dog ate my shoes and I’m angry” whereas “dog eating shoe” is more realistic).
Determining this can be helped by checking the Views/File and Downloads/File metric, though sadly, interpreting the data still comes down to one of those things which many people are still trying (and failing) to automate, common sense 🙂
Not sure if that helps?
Yes, it does help. I think I understand it better now. Thanks! 🙂
I love a not to do list; it makes me feel so much less pressure! Seriously, it is pretty useful in encouraging us to focus on niche subjects and/or twists instead of adding more to an already over supplied subject.
Well, I shoot any subject that crosses my mind. Even if it’s challenging won’t hurt to extend my portfolio.
I mean if you have easy access to a particular subject even if it’s competitive is always better to have it.
Usually yes, but don’t forget that some microstock agencies penalise contributors who have a high proportion of images which don’t sell. Sometimes (only sometimes mind) more is not better… (always though) better is better 😉
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[…] 202 Challenging Subjects when Shooting for Stock by Rob “bobbigmac” Davies (picNiche’s author); <<The list is built from supply/demand metrics composited across a variety of associated search phrases and queries to picNiche>> […]
[…] photographers, discuss this taboo on clichés. The evidence is out there – the stock sites, a PicNiche article, on Mystockphoto and the microstockdiaries views on Clichés. There’s even a […]