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2. Times have changed
Before we look into Microstock sites itself,
lets see how the photographic landscape looks like nowadays and how it has changed over the last years.
The changes of the past years, more specific the rise of digital photography,
are closely related with the existence of Microstock sites.
2.1. How it was
In the past, before there were decent digital camera's, photography was an art.
Exposure and composition had to be correct on the negative itself.
Developing your own film wasn't possible for everyone and it certainly wasn't cheap either.
Digital photography has changed this.
2.2. How it is
Taking a picture doesn't cost you anything anymore
(except the wear of your camera and lenses, which is a cost often overlooked) and if the photo isn't good, you can throw him in the electronic dustbin with just one click.
You can now experiment with exposure and composition as much if you like,
without having to pay for film and developing.
Post-processing is totally different too.
In the dark room there was also a lot of 'photoshopping'.
But that wasn't easy and required a certain skill and expertise.
Today, photoshop is the dark room of the digital photographer.
But it offers many more possibilities than a traditional dark room, and it is also much more within range of the average photographer.
Besides that we can't ignore the technical improvements in camera's and lenses.
Today even ISO400 is useable in most cases whereby in the past the photographers had to worked with ASA64 or similar.
Many lenses do have IS/VR and/or USM/HSM nowadays.
And they all have autofocus, this in comparison with the manual lenses of the past.
These improvements mean that today almost everyone can make decent photos.
2.3. The Changes
Did all this changed the 'paid' photography ??
Just ask a wedding photographer ... In the past almost everyone hired one for their marriage.
Today many marriages are covered by amateur photographers or even by family members.
I don't say the quality is always the same as from a professional photographer, but most of the times the pair is satisfied.
An other example are the hobbyists who make photographs of their hobbies (animals, theatre, sport, ...).
They often give their photos to the organization (sometimes for a small fee like a entrance ticket or something like that).
Such organizations don't feel the need to hire a paid photographer anymore.
Again an other opportunity lost for professionals.
2.4. The Conclusion
Digital photography made it for almost everyone possible to take a decent picture.
Therefore the amount of photos being offered for sale is much larger than in the past.
When supply rises, prices mostly go down (supposed that the demand doesn't rise too much). Not only have the prices of photos come down, it is even much harder to sell one anyway.
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