July 22, 2025 • 45 mins
In this episode of the Wedding at Podcast, the host welcomes back Aubrey Westland, the expert in stock photography, after more than three years. The conversation delves into the intricacies of the stock photography industry, covering essential topics such as the differences between microstock and premium agencies, the impact of AI on the industry, and licensing models.
Aubrey shares her decade-long journey, offers insights on boosting creativity, and provides practical advice for photographers seeking to diversify their income during slow seasons.
Aubrey's Links 🔗
- The Little Black Book of Stock Photo Agencies
- STOCK PHOTO BESTIES: Use code “podcast40" for 40% off your first month!
--
🏛️ Applications Close 7/31: Double Your Prices in 30 Days
💬 Let's Connect on Insta
⭐️ Rate & Review the podcast. Thank uu -xx 🫶🏽 - Apple - Spotify
💡 Resources:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alora (00:00):
Welcome back to the Wedding at podcast.
I have a special guest whohasn't been on here in three
plus years, and she is the stockphotography queen.
Anything about stockphotography?
I just recommend that they talkto Aubrey so we're just gonna
have a casual conversation aboutstock photography, what's going
on in that industry, why youshould probably add it to your
(00:20):
roster if you're struggling withcreativity, burnout, or just
wanting to make money off ofimages you probably already
have.
So Aubrey, welcome back to thepodcast.
I'm so excited to have you.
Aubrey (00:30):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited to get into thisfeel free to ask me whatever you
wanna know, because I feel like.
Most photographers have the samequestions about stock
photography.
It is a really hard industry toreally understand.
So I hope that today I canuncover some of those mysteries
for you.
Alora (00:50):
Yeah, because you were saying this in the green room,
off script it is mostlydominated by elder male
photographers.
And so when I see those ads, Ijust click away.
It does not appeal to me.
It looks outdated.
I was like, I don't really, it'snot something I said to myself
like, man, I really love to diveinto that.
I would like to be a stockphotographer.
It's not like super flashy.
(01:11):
Yeah but I feel like you have somuch knowledge and experience
and you built this yourself fromthe ground up, like with kids in
the pandemic, right?
Wasn't it?
Around that time.
Aubrey (01:21):
That was around the time when I started teaching it, but
I actually started submittingstock photography back in 2015,
I believe.
So I've been doing it for almost10 years now.
Seen a lot of things change aswell.
Alora (01:36):
Yeah.
Okay.
She's got a decade inexperience.
I'm sorry, I only gave you fiveyears.
You have 10.
Aubrey (01:40):
I also shot what I was a wedding photographer for that
full amount of time as well.
So this is something, it wasn'tlike I did stock photography
full time.
It was like during my slowseasons.
That's when I started to buildthis
Alora (01:54):
Can you walk us through a little bit of your journey?
How did you get curious to thinkto yourself?
Oh, I could sell stock images onthe side in slow season one.
That's a great strategy.
And also two.
How did you know it would everamount to anything considering
that we both know on the visualside, it's not very appealing.
Aubrey (02:11):
The answer is I didn't, I was very similar to you when I
thought of stock photography.
It was like.
Photos of like corporate men insuits, shaking hands, or
laughing at their salad, right?
That's not the style ofphotography that I'm into.
So it never occurred to me.
It wasn't something that I wasdrawn to.
(02:34):
It wasn't even something that Ithought like I fit in.
And so it was really likesomething that I fell into
because at the time I got anemail from an agency, it was
like a brand new agency, andthey were trying to get
different types of photographersto join, like professional
photographers who were not yourstandard like studio stock
(02:58):
photographer.
So they were really looking toadd more creativity to this
collection, more artistry, moreof natural style of photography,
like candid photos, that sort ofthing.
Not the posed style that wecan't relate to.
So this agency was calledOffset, and they're actually a
(03:21):
part of Shutterstock.
So many of us are familiar withShutterstock.
been around for a long time, andthey are a Microstock agency
meaning that their goal is tolicense.
volume of photos at a low pricepoint.
That's how they do it.
But that's not the only type ofstock agency.
(03:41):
And so these days we have a lotof premium agencies and think
Shutterstock, they saw thathappening and they said we need
to have a premium side where wecan attract premium clients.
People who want, photos thataren't like available to the
masses because of the pricepoint, but also they're more
(04:03):
curated.
Like I would submit a hundredphotos and I would only get like
20 accepted.
Like the best of the best.
So this is how I am able to earnsubstantial amounts of money I
don't earn like my full-timeincome from stock photography,
but it's like half of my income.
If I was just doing micro stock,I might, I'd be making like
(04:25):
maybe a hundred dollars here andthere, like a hundred dollars a
month or,$20 a month maybe.
But now I can earn a hundreddollars plus per license working
with premium agencies.
I forgot the question,
Alora (04:41):
where do we start?
Aubrey (04:42):
Too far into agencies now
Alora (04:44):
She's so deep guys.
'cause she has such a wealth ofknowledge, but I'm still at
letter A.
So when you say micro stock,what is the difference between
micro stock and the other ones?
What are the different stocksand what is licensing?
Aubrey (04:57):
Okay, so let's start with licensing.
When we work with clients, we'renot giving away the copyright,
Can use those photos usually forpersonal use or for their
business.
They can't resell them oranything.
with stock, it's rather thanthem hiring you to do a full
shoot, usually they have a needfor one or two photos for an ad
(05:19):
or something like that.
so they go and pay the licenseto use it for a specific reason.
Whether that's in print oronline they're downloading.
Small versus a large file.
So that's how the pricing canvary.
we also have royalty free, whichmeans they can use it over and
over again, but they're neverpurchasing the copyright They're
(05:43):
just renting it for themselvesso they can't go and resell it
or anything like that.
that's also why you can licensethe same photo over and over
again.
The difference is in theclientele or like customers.
So Microsoft customers, theydon't really care that photo.
Is being used by a hundred otherbusinesses, right?
(06:07):
For example, I have these photosthat I took of like a wellness
collective.
So there's like yoga and massageand like singing bowls, like all
these different things.
And those photos.
Are very popular on microstockbecause those businesses usually
that type of business, like theydon't have a big budget for
photos.
They don't, they're probablyusing them for their website
(06:30):
headers.
So those same photos are outthere on a ton of different
businesses, websites.
But the photos that I licensewith a premium agency, those are
going like into a magazine or.
Maybe in a healthcare ad, likethey, they need photos that
aren't being used everywhereelse.
(06:51):
Like these are biggerbusinesses, bigger brands that
have the budget for stockphotography, and they don't mind
paying more because if they'reusing my photo in an ad, like
that ad is going to bring in alot of money, right?
So they don't mind spending$500to license one photo because
(07:12):
they're getting.
First of all, the experiencewith the premium agency is
better for them.
They don't have to sift throughmillions of photos to find what
they're looking for.
Like they're already curated.
They are already seeing the bestof the best.
also many of these agencies,they will like help.
(07:32):
Their clients, these biggerbrands they'll send them like
options.
So that's also think of it aslike your luxury wedding clients
versus your budget weddingclients, right?
Like your luxury weddingclients.
They wanna what's best for them.
They don't have a lot of time.
They have money.
They don't have the time.
So how can you save them time?
(07:54):
How can you give them thatluxury experience?
That's something I always thinkabout.
I think this is a good way toexplain it to wedding
photographers.
It's like the customers onpremium sites are like your
luxury clients.
And so needs are different thanthe small business owner who
really just needs to like.
(08:15):
a cheap photo.
So premium agencies, there'stypically like application
process.
They don't accept everyone,which with microstock agencies,
they'll pretty much acceptanyone.
Like you don't have to apply,you can just start uploading
photos and hope they acceptthem.
So there's that difference aswell.
Alora (08:36):
Okay,
Aubrey (08:37):
we feeling now?
Alora (08:37):
I'm like putting it into categories.
I'm like making an Excel sheetin my brain.
So what is the most, that microstock is willing to pay for
images versus the premiumagencies?
What would be an average, likefor example, like maybe micro
stock at the most usually sellsimages at like a hundred bucks.
Or the premium can go up tothousands.
Aubrey (08:57):
So Microstock, it can vary so much because they also
offer like photo packs or peoplewill buy a subscription that
gives them like unlimitedaccess.
So that's where sometimes we getthose commissions that are like
1 cent on a photo.
And that's what most people arefamiliar with stock.
That's why That's why peopledon't think it's worth getting
(09:19):
into.
So I send my rejected photos toAdobe stock and other micro
stock sites because I might aswell still be making money off
these photos.
So on Adobe stock, like oftenI'll see like$1, maybe$10.
I think$35 was the largestcommission I for one photo on
Adobe stock.
(09:39):
But also make more sales becausethere are more customers,
they're willing to buy morephotos because it's so cheap for
them.
But I think in order for it toeven out, you would really have
to be putting your best photoson microstock sites and then
you'd see them like selling overand over again.
But for a low price point.
Alora (09:59):
So the point is to eventually start with
Microstock, but you really wantto end up in the premium
agencies to make it well worthyour time.
Aubrey (10:08):
It's different'cause I work with professional
photographers and I also helppeople who are just like hobby
photographers that wanna And sofor professional photographers,
I would say like if you knowwhat to show your agency and how
to put together your applicationto show that you would be an
asset to their agency, you mightbe able to get in on your first
(10:30):
try.
Like for most other people, Iwould say start with Microstock
or there's also something calleda multi uploader agency.
one example would be CA imageswhere you submit your images to
them and then they disperse themwhere they think they belong.
So they might, choose theseimages and send them to all the
(10:51):
Microstock agencies for you.
And then.
A smaller group of images,they'll send to some premium
agencies that they're partneredwith.
And then obviously they alsotake a cut of any sales you
make.
There's that option as well,which is good if you're just
starting out, because then youcan start to see they chose this
photo for premium.
Like that gives you a clue as towhat premium agencies might be
(11:15):
looking for or these photos wentto Microstock, so maybe when I
put together an application, Idon't wanna put these photos in
my gallery when I apply.
So it can give you clues.
And also, like even withMicrostock, if you pay attention
to what's selling over and overagain, that translates over to
premium as well, because it'sokay a demand for this type of
(11:38):
photo.
Does that make sense?
Alora (11:40):
Yeah, it does make sense.
I feel like if you have been inthe industry for a while,
especially if you're a weddingphotographer, charging higher
prices, you probably could just.
Cultivate a really goodportfolio, submit it and be
like, oh yeah, I know what I'mdoing.
But if somebody is like brandnew or still insecure maybe
about their image style andstuff like that, you can just be
accepted right away andeventually make it up there.
(12:03):
So in terms of stockphotography, like as a niche as
a whole, because I, like I said,I know nothing about it besides
the ads.
What are people talking about,like in this industry, what is
the buzz about ai?
Because right now.
Even if I go in Canva or chatGBT, I'll just be like, make me
this photo, refurnish mybedroom.
And it does a really decent job,How do you feel like that's
(12:25):
affecting the industry?
Aubrey (12:26):
I'm curious, would you ever use those photos to
represent your brand?
Alora (12:31):
No.
Aubrey (12:32):
No.
See, that's definitely a fearthat a lot of people have.
I get comments every day thatstock photography is dead from
middle-aged white men.
And for people that don't reallyunderstand the different sides
of this industry, like it makessense because people are using
(12:53):
AI
Alora (12:55):
Yeah.
Aubrey (12:55):
but the difference is that premium customers aren't
really using ai.
And I actually see, I've seenthe pendulum swing more because
they, I feel like there's this,divide between the types of
brands that will use AI and thetypes that won't.
They don't even want you tothink that they're So now I'm
(13:18):
seeing like these agencies lowerquality images and like less.
Images that are less technicallyperfect, which in the beginning
they never would've accepted.
That was a no-no.
Like I couldn't submit photoswith grain or like any blur at
all.
Like if it was intentional orcreative, they would not accept
(13:39):
that.
And now that's changed a lot.
So I feel like these brands aregravitating more to like even
more authentic photos.
Real models like go out andshoot your friends and family
who are not professional models,right?
Take photos in your own homethat looks lived in and real and
(14:00):
not like a set, like that's whatbrands want now.
Not that we should do away withthe artistry or the creativity,
like I still think that'simportant to premium brands.
But as far as if your photosneeding to look technically
perfect, that's what AI can do.
And so as photographers likecapturing more of the emotional
(14:21):
side or like what it reallyfeels like to be a human I think
that's important.
I don't think that will ever goaway and we'll see things change
like.
Maybe AI will be able to dosomething really cool and brands
will hop on that for a while.
But I think that in the end,like we as consumers, we wanna
be able to relate to a brand.
(14:43):
I don't, there, there's this onecompany that I remember six
months ago, their wholecampaign.
They were using like AI imagesof people and it was very
obvious and it made me like, Ididn't even wanna sign up for
their, it was like for some sortof workshop or something like
that they're putting on aconference.
(15:03):
And I was just like, I don'teven, I'm not interested.
Like that kind of turned me awayfrom their brand.
And I think that a lot of usprobably feel that way.
Like we don't wanna buy frombrands that we can relate to in
We feel like we relate to them.
Think about it in that way whenit comes to future of stock
photography, I don't think it'sgoing to away anytime soon.
(15:26):
I just think like customers whoare now buying AI images are the
same customers that we're likeusing free stock photos,
Alora (15:36):
yeah.
You're like, they were gonna getfree images anyway, and that's
not the whole point.
Aubrey (15:40):
That's not who I'm worried about.
Yeah.
Alora (15:43):
I, and I was gonna ask you too about that being like,
okay, so where do you think.
In terms of brands, because Ididn't even think about how
stock photography is so linkedto marketing and working with
these different companies, youguys will be paying attention to
what companies are hiring for,where the marketing is shifting
based on the images that theypurchase.
(16:03):
I am curious, do you feel likewe're hitting like this point
where?
Because I know you've been inthe industry for 10 years, at
least in the stock photographyindustry, but like we've been
wedding photographers.
There was a time whereauthenticity like really took
over.
Even that word authentic waslike so overused.
And then we went to like verycurated and clean and perfect
because of the Instagram grids.
(16:25):
Do you think we're heading backinto like real and authentic and
maybe even a little nostalgicwith brands, their approach to
marketing the kinds of imagesthey wanna see?
What are your thoughts on that?
Aubrey (16:36):
Yeah, I definitely think we're headed back to the land of
authenticity, I've created somerelationships with different
agencies too, and this is whatthey want.
This is what they're asking usto submit because it's what
brands want.
Like the more natural, thebetter.
I think maybe even now, likepeople are still like in awe of
(16:58):
ai.
Like it's cool, it's fun to
Alora (17:01):
Sure.
Aubrey (17:02):
Exciting to find a new tool that can do these things
that we want it to do.
and so I think that's it's likealmost had its time already.
And so we're already likeswinging back like, oh, that's
not actually what we want.
Or that's not actually bringingus money or making us sales or
whatever.
(17:22):
Yeah, I'm definitely seeing thatThe pendulum always swings.
It'll keep swinging back andforth, but I think that as if
the more you can think like amarketer and like the way that
they think, like that connectionto their customer is so
important.
So that's really, I think whatthey're always going to want in
(17:45):
the photos or the videos.
Right.
Alora (17:48):
If I could be fully honest, if I see a brand, maybe
like even a brand like Apple andthey used that shiny cartoony
like chat GBT kind of image, Iwould be like, whoa.
It would cheapen the brand tome, I think, in a way.
Yeah.
Aubrey (18:04):
It's like, why are they using free stock photos that I,
I saw that on Canva.
Alora (18:09):
Yes.
Aubrey (18:10):
feeling.
It's like
Alora (18:12):
Stand magic.
Aubrey (18:13):
I feel like yeah, you're gonna lose some trust for that
brand
Alora (18:16):
Yeah.
That is interesting.
I realize that you get like afirst glance at where marketing
will be headed based on theimages they're purchasing.
Aubrey (18:24):
And I do wanna say I do think there are uses for ai,
like good uses, and I think wewill see that done in.
Impressive ways, but I thinklike when it comes to capturing
people and capturing like whatwe wanna relate to, I don't
think that's what it should beused for.
(18:44):
I think it should be used for,like what illustration or
animation or like CGI is usedfor, like to bring something to
life that would otherwise not bepossible or maybe would be, like
bad for the environment or, the,that type of thing.
Alora (19:01):
Yeah.
Aubrey (19:02):
A big idea that you really couldn't create in
person.
Alora (19:06):
Yeah.
I feel like it's a good tool,but I wouldn't use it for
everything.
Yeah, I have my thoughts and I'mnot gonna share them because.
Aubrey (19:14):
A lot of, a lot of the people that are putting out
impressive AI art are using it.
Like they're not just generatingthe whole thing, right?
They're using their own photosand they're doing it like hours
of Photoshop work, and that'show they get to the final
result.
Like it's still their vision andthey're still putting in the
(19:35):
time, but it's just like onepart of the process, one tool
that they're.
to their vision to life.
Alora (19:43):
Yeah.
So you think that stockphotography and AI will not be
directly really correlated, ifat all for very long because it
just.
doesn't replace anything.
It might be just fun, but itdoesn't affect that industry.
Aubrey (19:59):
I think it affects it but more like the micro stock
side of Yeah there's also likean opportunity there too, but
I've noticed, so I don't know,maybe two years ago, a few
agencies started accepting AIwork and now they're just like,
whoa.
Like we're gonna start being alot pickier with what we accept.
(20:21):
Last week I had an agency, theysent out an email that was like
you now have to have a proaccount to submit AI
Alora (20:29):
good.
Aubrey (20:29):
So it's pretty much.
And so they're like, if you'rebeing thoughtful and using it as
a tool and coming up withcreative images, that's great,
but if you're just like to poundout, a hundred images and use
this as a way to submit a ton ofwork.
Alora (20:44):
Yeah.
Aubrey (20:45):
So I think they're already cracking down on that.
And I know, like I've done a lotof asking people who use stock
do you filter out AI images?
And a lot of people say yes.
So I think the agencies werelike, oh, this is a great way to
make more money.
But now they're scaling back andseeing like It's cheap.
Again, cheapening their brand,even the agencies.
(21:08):
So there are a lot of agenciesthat won't even accept ai.
Alora (21:11):
I don't wanna drag this conversation so long, but I'm
just like,
Aubrey (21:14):
No.
Alora (21:14):
AI is getting so good.
I saw a photo of Will Smitheating spaghetti, and I know it
wasn't him
Aubrey (21:21):
Yeah,
Alora (21:22):
and I.
Aubrey (21:22):
I saw that too.
Alora (21:24):
And then I looked at the one from 2020 or whenever Chad
GBT was released and he lookedlike a frog versus now, and I
was like, okay, he looks likehe's eating spaghetti.
I guess I'm just gonna bewondering like, how are they
gonna be able to filter out AIforever?
Just curious.
Like it's just so it's gettingbetter and better very fast in
my opinion
Aubrey (21:43):
like how can they recognize the difference?
I don't know, but I do know thatyou would get kicked off of your
agency
Alora (21:51):
Oh.
Aubrey (21:52):
found out.
There are a lot of, there areextra guidelines when you're
submitting ai, like what you canand can't do, when it comes to
generating the image.
So like you're not allowed tomention another artist when
you're generating an image ifyou wanna sell it as stock
photography.
So are very strict about that.
(22:12):
And I guess trying to.
To allow it in an ethical way.
So you could do that, but youalso risk being kicked off if
you get found out.
Even, no matter how good thegenerators or the technology
gets
Alora (22:29):
You run the risk.
Aubrey (22:30):
Or
Alora (22:30):
Yeah.
Aubrey (22:31):
be a, you should be doing things in an ethical way,
of
Alora (22:35):
Yeah.
Okay.
So I know we talked about this alittle bit off script, but you
were saying that to people thatare like hesitant about, getting
into stock photography, that itcan possibly inspire your
creativity after burnout atfirst I was like how, but then
when I think about it,
Aubrey (22:51):
Right.
Alora (22:51):
think about when I travel and I take images that are like
architecturally nice.
They're symmetry and like justI, I mean I do that with my
iPhone all the time, just tomake B roll.
And if I could get paid to takethose photos, I was like, wait a
minute.
I think she's onto something.
Aubrey (23:07):
Exactly.
Alora (23:09):
think that could be possible for photographers?
Aubrey (23:11):
Traveling is a great example because I think a lot of
us, when we travel, it's likewe're in a new place.
And we're automatically feelinginspired.
And so we wanna create, likemany of us, whether it's just
with your iPhone or what, likewe wanna capture that.
We're drawn to that.
And so there's also like a levelof freedom in that you don't
(23:35):
have anyone.
You're not worried about anyoneelse's expectations for you.
can take photos of whatever youwant.
There are some guidelines, likeif you wanna sell more stock
photos, then stick to certainguidelines or certain topics.
But there's still a lot offreedom in it.
It's not like with a wedding,it's like you almost have to
(23:56):
stick to the same.
formula, but way of shooting.
Because there are
Alora (24:01):
Yeah.
Aubrey (24:02):
so you can't just shoot every wedding completely
differently.
But like with stock, it's like Ican go out and if I am like with
someone to take photos of themfor stock, it's like I have the
power because if I'm offering togive them the photos for free,
they're just like, awesome.
(24:23):
Do
Alora (24:23):
Yeah.
Aubrey (24:24):
do.
They don't.
They're not like, probably they,I wouldn't, I've never had
someone like be unsatisfied withthe photos I've given them when
they're free.
It just gives you a lot of powerand freedom back.
And it's if, so say you'rewedding photographer and like
you're just so tired of shootingweddings and you want to shoot
something else, and so you'relike maybe I need to pivot to
(24:46):
brand photography.
Is not like a bad thing, butthat takes time.
And so maybe it's not that youactually need to get out of
weddings, maybe it's just thatyou need more creative freedom
in your life and like you needto be able to go out and shoot
portraits of someone like doingwhat they do because that's
(25:08):
actually what like got you intophotography in the first place.
And.
Once you start setting up a newbusiness, okay, now I have to
market to the people that willactually pay me.
Maybe that's still not whatlights you up.
Maybe you wanna shoot likepeople making pottery, but
they're not the ones that havethe budgets for brand
(25:29):
photography.
So even if you got into that,like that's probably not what
you're gonna get to shoot.
So if you do it for stuffphotography, then it's you still
get paid back for the workyou're doing.
You get to call your own shots.
You get to new connections withpeople.
Like you get to do everythingpretty much on your own terms.
(25:53):
And it is also like a good wayto test out something like
branding, photography orwhatever else you think you
might wanna do, or just followthose little like.
Threads of inspiration and thenmaybe you'll land at something
that you never would've landedat before.
I think, like for me, that'sit's definitely what brought me
(26:14):
back to photography aftergetting burnt out multiple times
from shooting weddings.
I like going out with my cameraand taking stock photos.
And planning shoots for that.
And often it's just like takingphotos of my friends.
Like I'll get an idea and belike, Hey, will you model for
(26:34):
me?
Or do you know someone that doesthis that I could take photos
of?
So that's basically how I do itthese days.
Alora (26:42):
I love that.
I just feel like we get to becreative again.
Aubrey (26:46):
Yeah, exactly you don't have to niche or you don't have
to like, it's really just sofreeing, I think.
Alora (26:53):
yeah it's so cool to know that you could travel and then
essentially pay for that travelby submitting images to stock,
which.
Leads me to my next question.
You said it could be somethingthat could supplement during
slow season and I was just like,whoa, that's such a great idea.
'cause a lot of people arerunning out of things to do
during slow season.
You can only update your websiteso many times, but
Aubrey (27:14):
Right.
Alora (27:15):
you could be submitting stock images.
How much money somebody couldmake by submitting to stock for
submitting stock for one to twoto three months.
What kind of income would thatlook like?
Aubrey (27:26):
The issue is that it takes more time upfront for
Images to gain traction.
So it's definitely not likesomething that's gonna pay you
back in that season.
So keep that in mind, but it'sjust like a snowball effect.
So the photos that I'm sellingnow, the photos that sell most
(27:48):
frequently are the photos thathave been up for the longest
amount of time.
So photos I
Alora (27:55):
long.
Aubrey (27:56):
eight years ago, even like the other day, I saw I, I
licensed a photo for the firsttime that I uploaded in 2020.
So
Alora (28:05):
Wow.
Aubrey (28:06):
all gonna take that much time, but the longer they're up
there, the more they're gettingsaved and favorited.
And you also have to think amarketer, they're not buying the
photos that you're, they're notreally, if you're out there
taking photos right now, they'reprobably not buying those right
now.
Like they're buying holidayphotos right now.
(28:27):
Also a strategy with how you'reuploading.
Yeah, or they might see a photoand think oh, this might work
for a campaign that I end updoing, in six months or down the
road.
They might save it because theylike it, but then not
necessarily find the perfect usefor it for a couple years.
Like it's gonna show up higherin search results.
(28:48):
So that is going to increaseyour sales down the road.
Alora (28:54):
It's like a long term kind of strategy.
It's like setting it up now,Getting everything going maybe
during slow season and it willsure pay off by next slow season
you think?
Kinda like SEO maybe.
Okay, gotcha.
Aubrey (29:09):
If you are committing like eight hours a day to this,
then obviously you're gonna seeresults a lot quicker than if
you're spending 20 minutes a dayon it, which is about what I do
these days, like just tomaintain it.
And also it depends on youragency and like how many
portfolios you have.
So there's so many factors, butI think the way you.
(29:30):
Put it like, by next slowseason, you should be seeing
that income.
And like with me, starting inend of 2015, by the time 2020
hit and COVID happened and Ilost all my wedding clients,
like I had enough income comingin from stock to keep us afloat.
And that was
Alora (29:50):
What.
Aubrey (29:50):
that's, I think that's why a lot of people think I
started in 2020.
Because that's like part of mystory is that's what.
Paid the bills during that time,because at that time I, my, most
of my weddings were inCalifornia still.
So all the venues shut downthere.
Other states where like peoplewere just moving their weddings
(30:12):
somewhere else, or just goingahead with it, with fewer
guests.
It was like nobody could work.
There was no work for us duringthat time, and stock photography
was like my only income.
Alora (30:23):
That's insane.
Insane.
Aubrey (30:25):
never know what's gonna happen, but I just feel like
every photographer needs to atleast putting in 20 minutes a
day because you never know likehow it's gonna help you down the
road.
And the other thing is if youhave a goal, like for me in the
beginning it was like I neededto pay off all the student loan
debt.
I didn't wanna take on moreweddings.
(30:46):
I didn't have the capacity totake on more clients.
I think like at the end of theday, it's still safer to have
another income stream.
Multiple income streams, right?
That's how you.
Truly build a business that'ssustainable.
If you need extra money, likehaving another income stream
that isn't gonna burn you out inthe same way, I think is
(31:10):
probably better.
And also it's just not havingall your eggs in one basket.
Even if it's like you wanna havea maternity leave, photography,
like start building that now,planning ahead so that at least
there's something for you.
Alora (31:25):
Yeah.
A lot of my students right noware either finding out they're
that they're pregnant.
Planned or unplanned.
And also thinking about, okay, Iwanna build a family, or I had,
I wanna have another child, or Iwanna get married and I need to
have this capacity.
So you said that stockphotography is half of your
income, which is absolutely inhainsane to me.
(31:46):
And I know it's taken a decadeto get to that point, but just
knowing that you could possiblydo that, like down the road
because of something you built.
Some time ago that pays offlater.
And I know they say seven figurepeople have seven streams of
income or something like that.
But think of this as it's likeprobably, is it high lift in the
beginning and low lift later?
Aubrey (32:03):
And I think it's also, it's high lift in the beginning
because like I said, it's it'shard to figure it out, right?
Like
Alora (32:11):
Yeah.
Aubrey (32:11):
to most people.
And like even photographers whohave been in the industry for
decades, like they don't knowwhat stock photography is or how
it works.
And it changes so quickly.
So like I was telling youbefore, a lot of the information
like that's out there isoutdated or like the people that
are on forums talking about it,like they don't really know what
(32:33):
they're talking about anymorebecause they did it 15 years ago
and it's so different thesedays.
So yeah, that's just, I thinkthat's like a big reason why it
feels hard to get into, and sothey just don't do it,
Alora (32:47):
Is it really that quickly changing or is it just keeping
ahead of the.
Trends, like if you look at adsand look at commercials and
marketing, if you're doing thatkind of research, you know where
things like, I knew things wereshifting to the personal brand.
I knew ahead of time thatauthenticity was coming back.
That's pretty much all you hadto do, right?
Is just stay on top of thetrends.
Aubrey (33:07):
And I think yeah, if you're aware, if you have any
understanding of marketing, thenyou're in a good place.
And like I feel like maybe asfemale females, we're drawn to
that a little bit Males and liketrends and like we're out there
using social media in the waysthat like marketers are using
them.
I know what would make a goodphoto for a story backdrop or A
(33:30):
website header, right?
Because I'm doing it.
So also going to be a hugeadvantage for you.
But I think like when I saythings have changed, it's like
agencies have changed so muchand there are new options out
there and.
It's not just the big names thatwe all know, like Getty and
Shutterstock, but I think that'sjust what people focus on.
(33:54):
Like we talked about microstock,when people hear stock
photography, that's what theythink of.
And so I should probably startlike seeing, licensing your
photos instead of stockphotography because it's just,
it's the wording, but it is,it's still stock photography.
It's.
About finding agency that fitsyour style of work, right?
(34:17):
So you don't have to change whoyou are as an artist.
Like you don't have to go rent astudio and hire models.
If
Alora (34:24):
Yeah,
Aubrey (34:24):
B-roll, that can work for female entrepreneurs.
Then there's an agency for thatlike just being younger and
knowing agencies will featurephotos that are like point of
view style, like shot with youriPhone, right?
Like older gentleman is notgonna know to do that.
Alora (34:45):
Aubrey,
Aubrey (34:45):
doing that.
We are,
Alora (34:47):
there is 5% men that listen to this podcast.
Aubrey (34:51):
that's.
You know what?
This is what I say.
'cause of the problem here is Iget a lot of hate from the men
that I'm describing, like themen that really, let's just say
they, they dominated thisindustry for so long, and so I
think like they're salty thatnow we want people.
(35:15):
Honestly, if you have a photo ofdiverse person compared to a
photo of a white person, likemost brands are gonna want the
diverse, they want morediversity.
Now.
They don't want like all this,these photos of white men, like
that's not like what most brandswant.
So sorry.
Things have changed and yourphotos are no longer in high
(35:37):
demand, but, I have, I do havemen in my programs, and as long
as they're respectful, that'sall that matters to me, and I'm
happy to have them there.
But I actually love when I getthe hate comments from men
because then I turn them intomore content.
Alora (35:55):
I was gonna say, what do you get?
Tell me do you have screenshotsor like reels
Aubrey (35:59):
Call me names.
They tell me that I'm just likean MLM lady, and I'm like I'm
not, like, how is this MLM I'mnot getting paid from the
agency.
And also I have likepartnerships with agencies, like
they re-share my content totheir contributors, trust me
because they know that what I'msaying is true and it's just,
(36:22):
ugh.
I don't know.
Like
Alora (36:25):
had it, you guys,
Aubrey (36:26):
The men that are trolling me are not listening to
podcasts by females.
I'll say that
Alora (36:33):
no, I honestly, I can resonate with that because I
just remember, like when I firstgot started in the industry and
I was looking on, do you guysremember forums?
Like how old am I?
There was a forum, like a photoforum, and they were just like,
oh, I'm so sick of these 20 yearolds trying to take over the
wedding industry.
But they're fancy angles inthey're low quality prime
lenses.
Everything is about zooms.
(36:54):
And so it just took me back fora minute being like.
Oh we're here to stay the changeand how things shifted you're
shifting things in a way thatI've never seen before as well.
Yeah.
Aubrey (37:02):
the same type of mindset.
Like I had a man pull me asideat a wedding and at me for not
using a Zoom lens during theceremony.
And I'm just like they hired mebecause they liked my white
ceremony shots.
Hiring me use a Zoom lens and Ican use a Zoom lens.
(37:23):
There's nothing wrong with it,but him thinking that like my
way is the only way is just
Alora (37:28):
yes.
Aubrey (37:29):
we've moved on from that,
Alora (37:31):
we have.
How dare you use a prime lens inthe ceremony?
Aubrey (37:35):
Yeah.
Seriously.
Alora (37:37):
Oh my goodness.
Reminds me of.
Aubrey (37:38):
there's 10 people at their cell phones in the aisle.
You're
Alora (37:42):
Or
Aubrey (37:43):
at them, are you?
Alora (37:44):
literally, or my father-in-law with his iPad, I'm
like, why would you bring that?
Put it away, please.
Aubrey (37:52):
Oh
Alora (37:52):
We're on a tangent for no reason.
Okay, so if somebody is like,this all sounds great.
I wanna get started today.
What is something I couldsubmit?
If I decided to just dip my toeand just talk photography, what
images that you probably alreadyhave on your desktop, on your
portfolio just from life ormaybe even like high quality
images because, I remembertaking landscape scenery with
(38:14):
your professional camera.
You take a photo of where it'sat, wide closeup, portrait, all
that great stuff.
What is something they couldsubmit now and it would be easy
profits.
Aubrey (38:25):
Great question.
So starting with just like yourlife, so photos you have from
traveling, photos of your kids,you mentioned some of your
students wanting to startfamilies.
For stock photos and familiestoo because think of it like
families are some of the top.
Consumers, right?
(38:46):
So marketers wanna market tofamilies and babies are cute.
Everyone loves babies.
Of your, like your partnerwearing your baby around or
whatever, take photos of yourreal life.
'cause we, oh yeah, especially Ihave a photo of my ex-husband
baby wearing men carryingbabies.
Yeah, those are hot.
Not not sexy, but like they'llsell
Alora (39:09):
is his head cut off or are we looking at him looking at
us?
How would this be framed?
I'm trying to picture this beinga stock image.
Aubrey (39:16):
So he is wearing like one of those baby carriers with.
With my daughter in it, and he'sI don't know, he's just like
walking from one point toanother and I shot a picture,
like that's all it was.
So anything that's natural, likereal life shows, family life or
whatever your life is, whateverage you are, your family getting
(39:38):
together for the holidays orgoing on vacation, like all of
that is.
Stop gold.
But then when it comes to whatphotos you could reuse from like
your B-roll, Are certain, I'vefound like certain categories
from weddings that do betterthan others.
(39:59):
So photos of the bride and groomare actually like, there is
demand for that, especially, forthe summer months.
Think of like the venues.
Or, like jewelers ringcompanies, like they'll use
those, but they're not popularfor me as just like the detail
(40:20):
shots or Flowers, food.
So like a lot of times atweddings you've already got like
the food plated beautifully.
Take those photos and submitthem.
Different table settings.
Ring shots, so like shots ofjust hands do really well, or
Alora (40:36):
Really.
Aubrey (40:37):
A caterer, like holding a tray.
It's always like the simplestthings.
It's
Alora (40:41):
Wow.
Aubrey (40:42):
it's the opposite of what you would put on your
website, right?
Like The opposite of that epiccreative shot.
It's the mundane, so like theplate of food the cupcakes.
If you can get like a modelrelease from guests, like if
it's a wedding where you knowpeople and you're not afraid to
ask for that.
(41:02):
People mingling that can be usedfor so many different things
beyond just weddings, like forparties, celebrations, holidays,
those photos can be used.
There are some agencies thatwill take the photos without
model releases if you can't.
identify them in any way.
So if they're baseless,basically, and those photos are
popular too.
(41:22):
a lot of baseless photographyis, has definitely seen more
demand in the past few years.
Often when I.
Shoot a wedding, like I'd be ina beautiful location or I'd be
traveling to a beautifullocation.
So there's opportunities therefor just the scenery and the
landscape Oh, thing we didn'ttalk about yet was keywords.
(41:44):
And this is honestly the part ofthe process that most people
hate, but we have gotten muchbetter AI tools to help us in
the past two years.
So it's a lot easier now than itever has been but you can really
use keywords to set yourselfapart when you have like a more
general photo by using reallyhyper-specific or local
(42:07):
keywords.
Have a photo, it's just.
Beautiful photo of a cactus inlike really nice glowy, golden
hour lighting.
And that photo has sold so manytimes for me it's made thousands
of dollars.
And I think the reason why isbecause when you type in boho
cactus on Shutterstock, it comesup in like the first page, like
(42:28):
third line in the first page.
So, I think that one keyword wasjust like something that people
were searching it now.
And so that has really helped itrise in the search.
Which is hard to do when youhave like really general
subjects.
So that's where keywords andgetting really specific, you
type of local keywords that youcan think of from the area,
(42:51):
because a lot of times generalphotos will sell to someone
local.
If you use local keywords,they'll use them, you know,
they'll be.
Searching like Joshua Tree andif everyone else is just using
keywords like cactus, then yoursis the one that's gonna pop up
for them.
So there's a lot you can dothere as well.
Alora (43:10):
Yeah, I mean it's, it's almost like you just need to
kind of set everything up nowand you just have no idea what's
gonna take off later.
But just having that as a skillI think is just so valuable.
Ugh, Aubrey, thank you so much.
This has just been a masterclassabout stock photography and just
get excited about it and, ifthey're thinking about it, it
kind of like just gives you thatnudge.
(43:32):
Tell the listeners where theycan find you, how they can
connect with you, and do youhave any goodies for us?
Aubrey (43:37):
Yes, so I'm definitely most active on Instagram and.
In my email newsletter, so youcan go to my Instagram, it's
just Aubrey Westland.
Find me, sign up for mynewsletter or sign up for a
freebie.
I have a great little black bookof stock photo agencies, and
that's a good place to start.
Just to kind of go a little bitdeeper, learn a little bit more
(43:59):
about different agencies andmaybe that will give you a clue
as to where you should start,where you should apply, where
you should start uploading yourwork.
'cause that really is like thefirst step.
And then from there you're gonnaneed to learn the guidelines and
the rules.
So I do, I talk about thosethings on Instagram and I also
have like a course Stockphotography academy.
I have my membership stock photobesties.
(44:22):
So whatever flavor of learningyou enjoy it should be there for
you.
And it's all updated.
It's not the things you findonline that are, you from 10
years ago and I'm alwaysupdating, like thing is that it.
I mean, we talked about itchanges, but it doesn't, but
what your agency is looking for,things like that they do change.
(44:42):
So I try to keep all of thatinformation up
Alora (44:45):
Yeah to learn all things stock photography and more where
this came from, especially withAubrey's humor, she's hilarious.
Connects with her using thoselinks and definitely grab her
freebie.
And I will see you guys in thenext episode.
Bye.
Welcome back to the Wedding at podcast.
I have a special guest whohasn't been on here in three
plus years, and she is the stockphotography queen.
Anything about stockphotography?
I just recommend that they talkto Aubrey so we're just gonna
have a casual conversation aboutstock photography, what's going
on in that industry, why youshould probably add it to your
(00:20):
roster if you're struggling withcreativity, burnout, or just
wanting to make money off ofimages you probably already
have.
So Aubrey, welcome back to thepodcast.
I'm so excited to have you.
Aubrey (00:30):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited to get into thisfeel free to ask me whatever you
wanna know, because I feel like.
Most photographers have the samequestions about stock
photography.
It is a really hard industry toreally understand.
So I hope that today I canuncover some of those mysteries
for you.
Alora (00:50):
Yeah, because you were saying this in the green room,
off script it is mostlydominated by elder male
photographers.
And so when I see those ads, Ijust click away.
It does not appeal to me.
It looks outdated.
I was like, I don't really, it'snot something I said to myself
like, man, I really love to diveinto that.
I would like to be a stockphotographer.
It's not like super flashy.
(01:11):
Yeah but I feel like you have somuch knowledge and experience
and you built this yourself fromthe ground up, like with kids in
the pandemic, right?
Wasn't it?
Around that time.
Aubrey (01:21):
That was around the time when I started teaching it, but
I actually started submittingstock photography back in 2015,
I believe.
So I've been doing it for almost10 years now.
Seen a lot of things change aswell.
Alora (01:36):
Yeah.
Okay.
She's got a decade inexperience.
I'm sorry, I only gave you fiveyears.
You have 10.
Aubrey (01:40):
I also shot what I was a wedding photographer for that
full amount of time as well.
So this is something, it wasn'tlike I did stock photography
full time.
It was like during my slowseasons.
That's when I started to buildthis
Alora (01:54):
Can you walk us through a little bit of your journey?
How did you get curious to thinkto yourself?
Oh, I could sell stock images onthe side in slow season one.
That's a great strategy.
And also two.
How did you know it would everamount to anything considering
that we both know on the visualside, it's not very appealing.
Aubrey (02:11):
The answer is I didn't, I was very similar to you when I
thought of stock photography.
It was like.
Photos of like corporate men insuits, shaking hands, or
laughing at their salad, right?
That's not the style ofphotography that I'm into.
So it never occurred to me.
It wasn't something that I wasdrawn to.
(02:34):
It wasn't even something that Ithought like I fit in.
And so it was really likesomething that I fell into
because at the time I got anemail from an agency, it was
like a brand new agency, andthey were trying to get
different types of photographersto join, like professional
photographers who were not yourstandard like studio stock
(02:58):
photographer.
So they were really looking toadd more creativity to this
collection, more artistry, moreof natural style of photography,
like candid photos, that sort ofthing.
Not the posed style that wecan't relate to.
So this agency was calledOffset, and they're actually a
(03:21):
part of Shutterstock.
So many of us are familiar withShutterstock.
been around for a long time, andthey are a Microstock agency
meaning that their goal is tolicense.
volume of photos at a low pricepoint.
That's how they do it.
But that's not the only type ofstock agency.
(03:41):
And so these days we have a lotof premium agencies and think
Shutterstock, they saw thathappening and they said we need
to have a premium side where wecan attract premium clients.
People who want, photos thataren't like available to the
masses because of the pricepoint, but also they're more
(04:03):
curated.
Like I would submit a hundredphotos and I would only get like
20 accepted.
Like the best of the best.
So this is how I am able to earnsubstantial amounts of money I
don't earn like my full-timeincome from stock photography,
but it's like half of my income.
If I was just doing micro stock,I might, I'd be making like
(04:25):
maybe a hundred dollars here andthere, like a hundred dollars a
month or,$20 a month maybe.
But now I can earn a hundreddollars plus per license working
with premium agencies.
I forgot the question,
Alora (04:41):
where do we start?
Aubrey (04:42):
Too far into agencies now
Alora (04:44):
She's so deep guys.
'cause she has such a wealth ofknowledge, but I'm still at
letter A.
So when you say micro stock,what is the difference between
micro stock and the other ones?
What are the different stocksand what is licensing?
Aubrey (04:57):
Okay, so let's start with licensing.
When we work with clients, we'renot giving away the copyright,
Can use those photos usually forpersonal use or for their
business.
They can't resell them oranything.
with stock, it's rather thanthem hiring you to do a full
shoot, usually they have a needfor one or two photos for an ad
(05:19):
or something like that.
so they go and pay the licenseto use it for a specific reason.
Whether that's in print oronline they're downloading.
Small versus a large file.
So that's how the pricing canvary.
we also have royalty free, whichmeans they can use it over and
over again, but they're neverpurchasing the copyright They're
(05:43):
just renting it for themselvesso they can't go and resell it
or anything like that.
that's also why you can licensethe same photo over and over
again.
The difference is in theclientele or like customers.
So Microsoft customers, theydon't really care that photo.
Is being used by a hundred otherbusinesses, right?
(06:07):
For example, I have these photosthat I took of like a wellness
collective.
So there's like yoga and massageand like singing bowls, like all
these different things.
And those photos.
Are very popular on microstockbecause those businesses usually
that type of business, like theydon't have a big budget for
photos.
They don't, they're probablyusing them for their website
(06:30):
headers.
So those same photos are outthere on a ton of different
businesses, websites.
But the photos that I licensewith a premium agency, those are
going like into a magazine or.
Maybe in a healthcare ad, likethey, they need photos that
aren't being used everywhereelse.
(06:51):
Like these are biggerbusinesses, bigger brands that
have the budget for stockphotography, and they don't mind
paying more because if they'reusing my photo in an ad, like
that ad is going to bring in alot of money, right?
So they don't mind spending$500to license one photo because
(07:12):
they're getting.
First of all, the experiencewith the premium agency is
better for them.
They don't have to sift throughmillions of photos to find what
they're looking for.
Like they're already curated.
They are already seeing the bestof the best.
also many of these agencies,they will like help.
(07:32):
Their clients, these biggerbrands they'll send them like
options.
So that's also think of it aslike your luxury wedding clients
versus your budget weddingclients, right?
Like your luxury weddingclients.
They wanna what's best for them.
They don't have a lot of time.
They have money.
They don't have the time.
So how can you save them time?
(07:54):
How can you give them thatluxury experience?
That's something I always thinkabout.
I think this is a good way toexplain it to wedding
photographers.
It's like the customers onpremium sites are like your
luxury clients.
And so needs are different thanthe small business owner who
really just needs to like.
(08:15):
a cheap photo.
So premium agencies, there'stypically like application
process.
They don't accept everyone,which with microstock agencies,
they'll pretty much acceptanyone.
Like you don't have to apply,you can just start uploading
photos and hope they acceptthem.
So there's that difference aswell.
Alora (08:36):
Okay,
Aubrey (08:37):
we feeling now?
Alora (08:37):
I'm like putting it into categories.
I'm like making an Excel sheetin my brain.
So what is the most, that microstock is willing to pay for
images versus the premiumagencies?
What would be an average, likefor example, like maybe micro
stock at the most usually sellsimages at like a hundred bucks.
Or the premium can go up tothousands.
Aubrey (08:57):
So Microstock, it can vary so much because they also
offer like photo packs or peoplewill buy a subscription that
gives them like unlimitedaccess.
So that's where sometimes we getthose commissions that are like
1 cent on a photo.
And that's what most people arefamiliar with stock.
That's why That's why peopledon't think it's worth getting
(09:19):
into.
So I send my rejected photos toAdobe stock and other micro
stock sites because I might aswell still be making money off
these photos.
So on Adobe stock, like oftenI'll see like$1, maybe$10.
I think$35 was the largestcommission I for one photo on
Adobe stock.
(09:39):
But also make more sales becausethere are more customers,
they're willing to buy morephotos because it's so cheap for
them.
But I think in order for it toeven out, you would really have
to be putting your best photoson microstock sites and then
you'd see them like selling overand over again.
But for a low price point.
Alora (09:59):
So the point is to eventually start with
Microstock, but you really wantto end up in the premium
agencies to make it well worthyour time.
Aubrey (10:08):
It's different'cause I work with professional
photographers and I also helppeople who are just like hobby
photographers that wanna And sofor professional photographers,
I would say like if you knowwhat to show your agency and how
to put together your applicationto show that you would be an
asset to their agency, you mightbe able to get in on your first
(10:30):
try.
Like for most other people, Iwould say start with Microstock
or there's also something calleda multi uploader agency.
one example would be CA imageswhere you submit your images to
them and then they disperse themwhere they think they belong.
So they might, choose theseimages and send them to all the
(10:51):
Microstock agencies for you.
And then.
A smaller group of images,they'll send to some premium
agencies that they're partneredwith.
And then obviously they alsotake a cut of any sales you
make.
There's that option as well,which is good if you're just
starting out, because then youcan start to see they chose this
photo for premium.
Like that gives you a clue as towhat premium agencies might be
(11:15):
looking for or these photos wentto Microstock, so maybe when I
put together an application, Idon't wanna put these photos in
my gallery when I apply.
So it can give you clues.
And also, like even withMicrostock, if you pay attention
to what's selling over and overagain, that translates over to
premium as well, because it'sokay a demand for this type of
(11:38):
photo.
Does that make sense?
Alora (11:40):
Yeah, it does make sense.
I feel like if you have been inthe industry for a while,
especially if you're a weddingphotographer, charging higher
prices, you probably could just.
Cultivate a really goodportfolio, submit it and be
like, oh yeah, I know what I'mdoing.
But if somebody is like brandnew or still insecure maybe
about their image style andstuff like that, you can just be
accepted right away andeventually make it up there.
(12:03):
So in terms of stockphotography, like as a niche as
a whole, because I, like I said,I know nothing about it besides
the ads.
What are people talking about,like in this industry, what is
the buzz about ai?
Because right now.
Even if I go in Canva or chatGBT, I'll just be like, make me
this photo, refurnish mybedroom.
And it does a really decent job,How do you feel like that's
(12:25):
affecting the industry?
Aubrey (12:26):
I'm curious, would you ever use those photos to
represent your brand?
Alora (12:31):
No.
Aubrey (12:32):
No.
See, that's definitely a fearthat a lot of people have.
I get comments every day thatstock photography is dead from
middle-aged white men.
And for people that don't reallyunderstand the different sides
of this industry, like it makessense because people are using
(12:53):
AI
Alora (12:55):
Yeah.
Aubrey (12:55):
but the difference is that premium customers aren't
really using ai.
And I actually see, I've seenthe pendulum swing more because
they, I feel like there's this,divide between the types of
brands that will use AI and thetypes that won't.
They don't even want you tothink that they're So now I'm
(13:18):
seeing like these agencies lowerquality images and like less.
Images that are less technicallyperfect, which in the beginning
they never would've accepted.
That was a no-no.
Like I couldn't submit photoswith grain or like any blur at
all.
Like if it was intentional orcreative, they would not accept
(13:39):
that.
And now that's changed a lot.
So I feel like these brands aregravitating more to like even
more authentic photos.
Real models like go out andshoot your friends and family
who are not professional models,right?
Take photos in your own homethat looks lived in and real and
(14:00):
not like a set, like that's whatbrands want now.
Not that we should do away withthe artistry or the creativity,
like I still think that'simportant to premium brands.
But as far as if your photosneeding to look technically
perfect, that's what AI can do.
And so as photographers likecapturing more of the emotional
(14:21):
side or like what it reallyfeels like to be a human I think
that's important.
I don't think that will ever goaway and we'll see things change
like.
Maybe AI will be able to dosomething really cool and brands
will hop on that for a while.
But I think that in the end,like we as consumers, we wanna
be able to relate to a brand.
(14:43):
I don't, there, there's this onecompany that I remember six
months ago, their wholecampaign.
They were using like AI imagesof people and it was very
obvious and it made me like, Ididn't even wanna sign up for
their, it was like for some sortof workshop or something like
that they're putting on aconference.
(15:03):
And I was just like, I don'teven, I'm not interested.
Like that kind of turned me awayfrom their brand.
And I think that a lot of usprobably feel that way.
Like we don't wanna buy frombrands that we can relate to in
We feel like we relate to them.
Think about it in that way whenit comes to future of stock
photography, I don't think it'sgoing to away anytime soon.
(15:26):
I just think like customers whoare now buying AI images are the
same customers that we're likeusing free stock photos,
Alora (15:36):
yeah.
You're like, they were gonna getfree images anyway, and that's
not the whole point.
Aubrey (15:40):
That's not who I'm worried about.
Yeah.
Alora (15:43):
I, and I was gonna ask you too about that being like,
okay, so where do you think.
In terms of brands, because Ididn't even think about how
stock photography is so linkedto marketing and working with
these different companies, youguys will be paying attention to
what companies are hiring for,where the marketing is shifting
based on the images that theypurchase.
(16:03):
I am curious, do you feel likewe're hitting like this point
where?
Because I know you've been inthe industry for 10 years, at
least in the stock photographyindustry, but like we've been
wedding photographers.
There was a time whereauthenticity like really took
over.
Even that word authentic waslike so overused.
And then we went to like verycurated and clean and perfect
because of the Instagram grids.
(16:25):
Do you think we're heading backinto like real and authentic and
maybe even a little nostalgicwith brands, their approach to
marketing the kinds of imagesthey wanna see?
What are your thoughts on that?
Aubrey (16:36):
Yeah, I definitely think we're headed back to the land of
authenticity, I've created somerelationships with different
agencies too, and this is whatthey want.
This is what they're asking usto submit because it's what
brands want.
Like the more natural, thebetter.
I think maybe even now, likepeople are still like in awe of
(16:58):
ai.
Like it's cool, it's fun to
Alora (17:01):
Sure.
Aubrey (17:02):
Exciting to find a new tool that can do these things
that we want it to do.
and so I think that's it's likealmost had its time already.
And so we're already likeswinging back like, oh, that's
not actually what we want.
Or that's not actually bringingus money or making us sales or
whatever.
(17:22):
Yeah, I'm definitely seeing thatThe pendulum always swings.
It'll keep swinging back andforth, but I think that as if
the more you can think like amarketer and like the way that
they think, like that connectionto their customer is so
important.
So that's really, I think whatthey're always going to want in
(17:45):
the photos or the videos.
Right.
Alora (17:48):
If I could be fully honest, if I see a brand, maybe
like even a brand like Apple andthey used that shiny cartoony
like chat GBT kind of image, Iwould be like, whoa.
It would cheapen the brand tome, I think, in a way.
Yeah.
Aubrey (18:04):
It's like, why are they using free stock photos that I,
I saw that on Canva.
Alora (18:09):
Yes.
Aubrey (18:10):
feeling.
It's like
Alora (18:12):
Stand magic.
Aubrey (18:13):
I feel like yeah, you're gonna lose some trust for that
brand
Alora (18:16):
Yeah.
That is interesting.
I realize that you get like afirst glance at where marketing
will be headed based on theimages they're purchasing.
Aubrey (18:24):
And I do wanna say I do think there are uses for ai,
like good uses, and I think wewill see that done in.
Impressive ways, but I thinklike when it comes to capturing
people and capturing like whatwe wanna relate to, I don't
think that's what it should beused for.
(18:44):
I think it should be used for,like what illustration or
animation or like CGI is usedfor, like to bring something to
life that would otherwise not bepossible or maybe would be, like
bad for the environment or, the,that type of thing.
Alora (19:01):
Yeah.
Aubrey (19:02):
A big idea that you really couldn't create in
person.
Alora (19:06):
Yeah.
I feel like it's a good tool,but I wouldn't use it for
everything.
Yeah, I have my thoughts and I'mnot gonna share them because.
Aubrey (19:14):
A lot of, a lot of the people that are putting out
impressive AI art are using it.
Like they're not just generatingthe whole thing, right?
They're using their own photosand they're doing it like hours
of Photoshop work, and that'show they get to the final
result.
Like it's still their vision andthey're still putting in the
(19:35):
time, but it's just like onepart of the process, one tool
that they're.
to their vision to life.
Alora (19:43):
Yeah.
So you think that stockphotography and AI will not be
directly really correlated, ifat all for very long because it
just.
doesn't replace anything.
It might be just fun, but itdoesn't affect that industry.
Aubrey (19:59):
I think it affects it but more like the micro stock
side of Yeah there's also likean opportunity there too, but
I've noticed, so I don't know,maybe two years ago, a few
agencies started accepting AIwork and now they're just like,
whoa.
Like we're gonna start being alot pickier with what we accept.
(20:21):
Last week I had an agency, theysent out an email that was like
you now have to have a proaccount to submit AI
Alora (20:29):
good.
Aubrey (20:29):
So it's pretty much.
And so they're like, if you'rebeing thoughtful and using it as
a tool and coming up withcreative images, that's great,
but if you're just like to poundout, a hundred images and use
this as a way to submit a ton ofwork.
Alora (20:44):
Yeah.
Aubrey (20:45):
So I think they're already cracking down on that.
And I know, like I've done a lotof asking people who use stock
do you filter out AI images?
And a lot of people say yes.
So I think the agencies werelike, oh, this is a great way to
make more money.
But now they're scaling back andseeing like It's cheap.
Again, cheapening their brand,even the agencies.
(21:08):
So there are a lot of agenciesthat won't even accept ai.
Alora (21:11):
I don't wanna drag this conversation so long, but I'm
just like,
Aubrey (21:14):
No.
Alora (21:14):
AI is getting so good.
I saw a photo of Will Smitheating spaghetti, and I know it
wasn't him
Aubrey (21:21):
Yeah,
Alora (21:22):
and I.
Aubrey (21:22):
I saw that too.
Alora (21:24):
And then I looked at the one from 2020 or whenever Chad
GBT was released and he lookedlike a frog versus now, and I
was like, okay, he looks likehe's eating spaghetti.
I guess I'm just gonna bewondering like, how are they
gonna be able to filter out AIforever?
Just curious.
Like it's just so it's gettingbetter and better very fast in
my opinion
Aubrey (21:43):
like how can they recognize the difference?
I don't know, but I do know thatyou would get kicked off of your
agency
Alora (21:51):
Oh.
Aubrey (21:52):
found out.
There are a lot of, there areextra guidelines when you're
submitting ai, like what you canand can't do, when it comes to
generating the image.
So like you're not allowed tomention another artist when
you're generating an image ifyou wanna sell it as stock
photography.
So are very strict about that.
(22:12):
And I guess trying to.
To allow it in an ethical way.
So you could do that, but youalso risk being kicked off if
you get found out.
Even, no matter how good thegenerators or the technology
gets
Alora (22:29):
You run the risk.
Aubrey (22:30):
Or
Alora (22:30):
Yeah.
Aubrey (22:31):
be a, you should be doing things in an ethical way,
of
Alora (22:35):
Yeah.
Okay.
So I know we talked about this alittle bit off script, but you
were saying that to people thatare like hesitant about, getting
into stock photography, that itcan possibly inspire your
creativity after burnout atfirst I was like how, but then
when I think about it,
Aubrey (22:51):
Right.
Alora (22:51):
think about when I travel and I take images that are like
architecturally nice.
They're symmetry and like justI, I mean I do that with my
iPhone all the time, just tomake B roll.
And if I could get paid to takethose photos, I was like, wait a
minute.
I think she's onto something.
Aubrey (23:07):
Exactly.
Alora (23:09):
think that could be possible for photographers?
Aubrey (23:11):
Traveling is a great example because I think a lot of
us, when we travel, it's likewe're in a new place.
And we're automatically feelinginspired.
And so we wanna create, likemany of us, whether it's just
with your iPhone or what, likewe wanna capture that.
We're drawn to that.
And so there's also like a levelof freedom in that you don't
(23:35):
have anyone.
You're not worried about anyoneelse's expectations for you.
can take photos of whatever youwant.
There are some guidelines, likeif you wanna sell more stock
photos, then stick to certainguidelines or certain topics.
But there's still a lot offreedom in it.
It's not like with a wedding,it's like you almost have to
(23:56):
stick to the same.
formula, but way of shooting.
Because there are
Alora (24:01):
Yeah.
Aubrey (24:02):
so you can't just shoot every wedding completely
differently.
But like with stock, it's like Ican go out and if I am like with
someone to take photos of themfor stock, it's like I have the
power because if I'm offering togive them the photos for free,
they're just like, awesome.
(24:23):
Do
Alora (24:23):
Yeah.
Aubrey (24:24):
do.
They don't.
They're not like, probably they,I wouldn't, I've never had
someone like be unsatisfied withthe photos I've given them when
they're free.
It just gives you a lot of powerand freedom back.
And it's if, so say you'rewedding photographer and like
you're just so tired of shootingweddings and you want to shoot
something else, and so you'relike maybe I need to pivot to
(24:46):
brand photography.
Is not like a bad thing, butthat takes time.
And so maybe it's not that youactually need to get out of
weddings, maybe it's just thatyou need more creative freedom
in your life and like you needto be able to go out and shoot
portraits of someone like doingwhat they do because that's
(25:08):
actually what like got you intophotography in the first place.
And.
Once you start setting up a newbusiness, okay, now I have to
market to the people that willactually pay me.
Maybe that's still not whatlights you up.
Maybe you wanna shoot likepeople making pottery, but
they're not the ones that havethe budgets for brand
(25:29):
photography.
So even if you got into that,like that's probably not what
you're gonna get to shoot.
So if you do it for stuffphotography, then it's you still
get paid back for the workyou're doing.
You get to call your own shots.
You get to new connections withpeople.
Like you get to do everythingpretty much on your own terms.
(25:53):
And it is also like a good wayto test out something like
branding, photography orwhatever else you think you
might wanna do, or just followthose little like.
Threads of inspiration and thenmaybe you'll land at something
that you never would've landedat before.
I think, like for me, that'sit's definitely what brought me
(26:14):
back to photography aftergetting burnt out multiple times
from shooting weddings.
I like going out with my cameraand taking stock photos.
And planning shoots for that.
And often it's just like takingphotos of my friends.
Like I'll get an idea and belike, Hey, will you model for
(26:34):
me?
Or do you know someone that doesthis that I could take photos
of?
So that's basically how I do itthese days.
Alora (26:42):
I love that.
I just feel like we get to becreative again.
Aubrey (26:46):
Yeah, exactly you don't have to niche or you don't have
to like, it's really just sofreeing, I think.
Alora (26:53):
yeah it's so cool to know that you could travel and then
essentially pay for that travelby submitting images to stock,
which.
Leads me to my next question.
You said it could be somethingthat could supplement during
slow season and I was just like,whoa, that's such a great idea.
'cause a lot of people arerunning out of things to do
during slow season.
You can only update your websiteso many times, but
Aubrey (27:14):
Right.
Alora (27:15):
you could be submitting stock images.
How much money somebody couldmake by submitting to stock for
submitting stock for one to twoto three months.
What kind of income would thatlook like?
Aubrey (27:26):
The issue is that it takes more time upfront for
Images to gain traction.
So it's definitely not likesomething that's gonna pay you
back in that season.
So keep that in mind, but it'sjust like a snowball effect.
So the photos that I'm sellingnow, the photos that sell most
(27:48):
frequently are the photos thathave been up for the longest
amount of time.
So photos I
Alora (27:55):
long.
Aubrey (27:56):
eight years ago, even like the other day, I saw I, I
licensed a photo for the firsttime that I uploaded in 2020.
So
Alora (28:05):
Wow.
Aubrey (28:06):
all gonna take that much time, but the longer they're up
there, the more they're gettingsaved and favorited.
And you also have to think amarketer, they're not buying the
photos that you're, they're notreally, if you're out there
taking photos right now, they'reprobably not buying those right
now.
Like they're buying holidayphotos right now.
(28:27):
Also a strategy with how you'reuploading.
Yeah, or they might see a photoand think oh, this might work
for a campaign that I end updoing, in six months or down the
road.
They might save it because theylike it, but then not
necessarily find the perfect usefor it for a couple years.
Like it's gonna show up higherin search results.
(28:48):
So that is going to increaseyour sales down the road.
Alora (28:54):
It's like a long term kind of strategy.
It's like setting it up now,Getting everything going maybe
during slow season and it willsure pay off by next slow season
you think?
Kinda like SEO maybe.
Okay, gotcha.
Aubrey (29:09):
If you are committing like eight hours a day to this,
then obviously you're gonna seeresults a lot quicker than if
you're spending 20 minutes a dayon it, which is about what I do
these days, like just tomaintain it.
And also it depends on youragency and like how many
portfolios you have.
So there's so many factors, butI think the way you.
(29:30):
Put it like, by next slowseason, you should be seeing
that income.
And like with me, starting inend of 2015, by the time 2020
hit and COVID happened and Ilost all my wedding clients,
like I had enough income comingin from stock to keep us afloat.
And that was
Alora (29:50):
What.
Aubrey (29:50):
that's, I think that's why a lot of people think I
started in 2020.
Because that's like part of mystory is that's what.
Paid the bills during that time,because at that time I, my, most
of my weddings were inCalifornia still.
So all the venues shut downthere.
Other states where like peoplewere just moving their weddings
(30:12):
somewhere else, or just goingahead with it, with fewer
guests.
It was like nobody could work.
There was no work for us duringthat time, and stock photography
was like my only income.
Alora (30:23):
That's insane.
Insane.
Aubrey (30:25):
never know what's gonna happen, but I just feel like
every photographer needs to atleast putting in 20 minutes a
day because you never know likehow it's gonna help you down the
road.
And the other thing is if youhave a goal, like for me in the
beginning it was like I neededto pay off all the student loan
debt.
I didn't wanna take on moreweddings.
(30:46):
I didn't have the capacity totake on more clients.
I think like at the end of theday, it's still safer to have
another income stream.
Multiple income streams, right?
That's how you.
Truly build a business that'ssustainable.
If you need extra money, likehaving another income stream
that isn't gonna burn you out inthe same way, I think is
(31:10):
probably better.
And also it's just not havingall your eggs in one basket.
Even if it's like you wanna havea maternity leave, photography,
like start building that now,planning ahead so that at least
there's something for you.
Alora (31:25):
Yeah.
A lot of my students right noware either finding out they're
that they're pregnant.
Planned or unplanned.
And also thinking about, okay, Iwanna build a family, or I had,
I wanna have another child, or Iwanna get married and I need to
have this capacity.
So you said that stockphotography is half of your
income, which is absolutely inhainsane to me.
(31:46):
And I know it's taken a decadeto get to that point, but just
knowing that you could possiblydo that, like down the road
because of something you built.
Some time ago that pays offlater.
And I know they say seven figurepeople have seven streams of
income or something like that.
But think of this as it's likeprobably, is it high lift in the
beginning and low lift later?
Aubrey (32:03):
And I think it's also, it's high lift in the beginning
because like I said, it's it'shard to figure it out, right?
Like
Alora (32:11):
Yeah.
Aubrey (32:11):
to most people.
And like even photographers whohave been in the industry for
decades, like they don't knowwhat stock photography is or how
it works.
And it changes so quickly.
So like I was telling youbefore, a lot of the information
like that's out there isoutdated or like the people that
are on forums talking about it,like they don't really know what
(32:33):
they're talking about anymorebecause they did it 15 years ago
and it's so different thesedays.
So yeah, that's just, I thinkthat's like a big reason why it
feels hard to get into, and sothey just don't do it,
Alora (32:47):
Is it really that quickly changing or is it just keeping
ahead of the.
Trends, like if you look at adsand look at commercials and
marketing, if you're doing thatkind of research, you know where
things like, I knew things wereshifting to the personal brand.
I knew ahead of time thatauthenticity was coming back.
That's pretty much all you hadto do, right?
Is just stay on top of thetrends.
Aubrey (33:07):
And I think yeah, if you're aware, if you have any
understanding of marketing, thenyou're in a good place.
And like I feel like maybe asfemale females, we're drawn to
that a little bit Males and liketrends and like we're out there
using social media in the waysthat like marketers are using
them.
I know what would make a goodphoto for a story backdrop or A
(33:30):
website header, right?
Because I'm doing it.
So also going to be a hugeadvantage for you.
But I think like when I saythings have changed, it's like
agencies have changed so muchand there are new options out
there and.
It's not just the big names thatwe all know, like Getty and
Shutterstock, but I think that'sjust what people focus on.
(33:54):
Like we talked about microstock,when people hear stock
photography, that's what theythink of.
And so I should probably startlike seeing, licensing your
photos instead of stockphotography because it's just,
it's the wording, but it is,it's still stock photography.
It's.
About finding agency that fitsyour style of work, right?
(34:17):
So you don't have to change whoyou are as an artist.
Like you don't have to go rent astudio and hire models.
If
Alora (34:24):
Yeah,
Aubrey (34:24):
B-roll, that can work for female entrepreneurs.
Then there's an agency for thatlike just being younger and
knowing agencies will featurephotos that are like point of
view style, like shot with youriPhone, right?
Like older gentleman is notgonna know to do that.
Alora (34:45):
Aubrey,
Aubrey (34:45):
doing that.
We are,
Alora (34:47):
there is 5% men that listen to this podcast.
Aubrey (34:51):
that's.
You know what?
This is what I say.
'cause of the problem here is Iget a lot of hate from the men
that I'm describing, like themen that really, let's just say
they, they dominated thisindustry for so long, and so I
think like they're salty thatnow we want people.
(35:15):
Honestly, if you have a photo ofdiverse person compared to a
photo of a white person, likemost brands are gonna want the
diverse, they want morediversity.
Now.
They don't want like all this,these photos of white men, like
that's not like what most brandswant.
So sorry.
Things have changed and yourphotos are no longer in high
(35:37):
demand, but, I have, I do havemen in my programs, and as long
as they're respectful, that'sall that matters to me, and I'm
happy to have them there.
But I actually love when I getthe hate comments from men
because then I turn them intomore content.
Alora (35:55):
I was gonna say, what do you get?
Tell me do you have screenshotsor like reels
Aubrey (35:59):
Call me names.
They tell me that I'm just likean MLM lady, and I'm like I'm
not, like, how is this MLM I'mnot getting paid from the
agency.
And also I have likepartnerships with agencies, like
they re-share my content totheir contributors, trust me
because they know that what I'msaying is true and it's just,
(36:22):
ugh.
I don't know.
Like
Alora (36:25):
had it, you guys,
Aubrey (36:26):
The men that are trolling me are not listening to
podcasts by females.
I'll say that
Alora (36:33):
no, I honestly, I can resonate with that because I
just remember, like when I firstgot started in the industry and
I was looking on, do you guysremember forums?
Like how old am I?
There was a forum, like a photoforum, and they were just like,
oh, I'm so sick of these 20 yearolds trying to take over the
wedding industry.
But they're fancy angles inthey're low quality prime
lenses.
Everything is about zooms.
(36:54):
And so it just took me back fora minute being like.
Oh we're here to stay the changeand how things shifted you're
shifting things in a way thatI've never seen before as well.
Yeah.
Aubrey (37:02):
the same type of mindset.
Like I had a man pull me asideat a wedding and at me for not
using a Zoom lens during theceremony.
And I'm just like they hired mebecause they liked my white
ceremony shots.
Hiring me use a Zoom lens and Ican use a Zoom lens.
(37:23):
There's nothing wrong with it,but him thinking that like my
way is the only way is just
Alora (37:28):
yes.
Aubrey (37:29):
we've moved on from that,
Alora (37:31):
we have.
How dare you use a prime lens inthe ceremony?
Aubrey (37:35):
Yeah.
Seriously.
Alora (37:37):
Oh my goodness.
Reminds me of.
Aubrey (37:38):
there's 10 people at their cell phones in the aisle.
You're
Alora (37:42):
Or
Aubrey (37:43):
at them, are you?
Alora (37:44):
literally, or my father-in-law with his iPad, I'm
like, why would you bring that?
Put it away, please.
Aubrey (37:52):
Oh
Alora (37:52):
We're on a tangent for no reason.
Okay, so if somebody is like,this all sounds great.
I wanna get started today.
What is something I couldsubmit?
If I decided to just dip my toeand just talk photography, what
images that you probably alreadyhave on your desktop, on your
portfolio just from life ormaybe even like high quality
images because, I remembertaking landscape scenery with
(38:14):
your professional camera.
You take a photo of where it'sat, wide closeup, portrait, all
that great stuff.
What is something they couldsubmit now and it would be easy
profits.
Aubrey (38:25):
Great question.
So starting with just like yourlife, so photos you have from
traveling, photos of your kids,you mentioned some of your
students wanting to startfamilies.
For stock photos and familiestoo because think of it like
families are some of the top.
Consumers, right?
(38:46):
So marketers wanna market tofamilies and babies are cute.
Everyone loves babies.
Of your, like your partnerwearing your baby around or
whatever, take photos of yourreal life.
'cause we, oh yeah, especially Ihave a photo of my ex-husband
baby wearing men carryingbabies.
Yeah, those are hot.
Not not sexy, but like they'llsell
Alora (39:09):
is his head cut off or are we looking at him looking at
us?
How would this be framed?
I'm trying to picture this beinga stock image.
Aubrey (39:16):
So he is wearing like one of those baby carriers with.
With my daughter in it, and he'sI don't know, he's just like
walking from one point toanother and I shot a picture,
like that's all it was.
So anything that's natural, likereal life shows, family life or
whatever your life is, whateverage you are, your family getting
(39:38):
together for the holidays orgoing on vacation, like all of
that is.
Stop gold.
But then when it comes to whatphotos you could reuse from like
your B-roll, Are certain, I'vefound like certain categories
from weddings that do betterthan others.
(39:59):
So photos of the bride and groomare actually like, there is
demand for that, especially, forthe summer months.
Think of like the venues.
Or, like jewelers ringcompanies, like they'll use
those, but they're not popularfor me as just like the detail
(40:20):
shots or Flowers, food.
So like a lot of times atweddings you've already got like
the food plated beautifully.
Take those photos and submitthem.
Different table settings.
Ring shots, so like shots ofjust hands do really well, or
Alora (40:36):
Really.
Aubrey (40:37):
A caterer, like holding a tray.
It's always like the simplestthings.
It's
Alora (40:41):
Wow.
Aubrey (40:42):
it's the opposite of what you would put on your
website, right?
Like The opposite of that epiccreative shot.
It's the mundane, so like theplate of food the cupcakes.
If you can get like a modelrelease from guests, like if
it's a wedding where you knowpeople and you're not afraid to
ask for that.
(41:02):
People mingling that can be usedfor so many different things
beyond just weddings, like forparties, celebrations, holidays,
those photos can be used.
There are some agencies thatwill take the photos without
model releases if you can't.
identify them in any way.
So if they're baseless,basically, and those photos are
popular too.
(41:22):
a lot of baseless photographyis, has definitely seen more
demand in the past few years.
Often when I.
Shoot a wedding, like I'd be ina beautiful location or I'd be
traveling to a beautifullocation.
So there's opportunities therefor just the scenery and the
landscape Oh, thing we didn'ttalk about yet was keywords.
(41:44):
And this is honestly the part ofthe process that most people
hate, but we have gotten muchbetter AI tools to help us in
the past two years.
So it's a lot easier now than itever has been but you can really
use keywords to set yourselfapart when you have like a more
general photo by using reallyhyper-specific or local
(42:07):
keywords.
Have a photo, it's just.
Beautiful photo of a cactus inlike really nice glowy, golden
hour lighting.
And that photo has sold so manytimes for me it's made thousands
of dollars.
And I think the reason why isbecause when you type in boho
cactus on Shutterstock, it comesup in like the first page, like
(42:28):
third line in the first page.
So, I think that one keyword wasjust like something that people
were searching it now.
And so that has really helped itrise in the search.
Which is hard to do when youhave like really general
subjects.
So that's where keywords andgetting really specific, you
type of local keywords that youcan think of from the area,
(42:51):
because a lot of times generalphotos will sell to someone
local.
If you use local keywords,they'll use them, you know,
they'll be.
Searching like Joshua Tree andif everyone else is just using
keywords like cactus, then yoursis the one that's gonna pop up
for them.
So there's a lot you can dothere as well.
Alora (43:10):
Yeah, I mean it's, it's almost like you just need to
kind of set everything up nowand you just have no idea what's
gonna take off later.
But just having that as a skillI think is just so valuable.
Ugh, Aubrey, thank you so much.
This has just been a masterclassabout stock photography and just
get excited about it and, ifthey're thinking about it, it
kind of like just gives you thatnudge.
(43:32):
Tell the listeners where theycan find you, how they can
connect with you, and do youhave any goodies for us?
Aubrey (43:37):
Yes, so I'm definitely most active on Instagram and.
In my email newsletter, so youcan go to my Instagram, it's
just Aubrey Westland.
Find me, sign up for mynewsletter or sign up for a
freebie.
I have a great little black bookof stock photo agencies, and
that's a good place to start.
Just to kind of go a little bitdeeper, learn a little bit more
(43:59):
about different agencies andmaybe that will give you a clue
as to where you should start,where you should apply, where
you should start uploading yourwork.
'cause that really is like thefirst step.
And then from there you're gonnaneed to learn the guidelines and
the rules.
So I do, I talk about thosethings on Instagram and I also
have like a course Stockphotography academy.
I have my membership stock photobesties.
(44:22):
So whatever flavor of learningyou enjoy it should be there for
you.
And it's all updated.
It's not the things you findonline that are, you from 10
years ago and I'm alwaysupdating, like thing is that it.
I mean, we talked about itchanges, but it doesn't, but
what your agency is looking for,things like that they do change.
(44:42):
So I try to keep all of thatinformation up
Alora (44:45):
Yeah to learn all things stock photography and more where
this came from, especially withAubrey's humor, she's hilarious.
Connects with her using thoselinks and definitely grab her
freebie.
And I will see you guys in thenext episode.
Bye.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com