Hi MicroStockers...

I'm a fairly frequent poster here. I recently decided to step up my MS business by outsourcing a significant amount of my image post work. I did some fairly extensive research and auditioned a bunch of individuals and companies both here in the states and overseas.

My rationale was fairly simple. If I make an average amount of money per stock image I can maximize my profit by posting a lot more images, even though I have to pay a flat amount on each one.

The only way for me to increase my uploads was to hand off some of the work. Since I love taking pictures and only like posting them...the portion of my workflow to outsource was pretty obvious.

I suppose for every photographer the profit equation would be a little different based on experience, skill level, etc. For me, it made sense. I'll be watching my profits over the course of the next 6 months or so very closely - subtracting out the amount I'm paying for post, of course - to verify that this approach works.

In order to really make the process work I've worked very closely with two vendors to provide me with hots retouched "like I would do it, but better" AND that meet microstock criteria for noise, sharpness, etc.

One of those vendors has provided me with a coupon code that I can pass along to you in case you want to try a few shots retouched for free. Basically, you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain if you are looking at upping your volume.

The company is called PhotoFix at www.photofix.com

If you use my coupon code -- "creatista" -- when you sign in initially, you'll get enough credits to check them out and get a couple images retouched for you. I've found, by the way, that if you aren't 100% happy with a given image they are very responsive and will go in and handle any fixes at no additional cost. I'll let them lay out their pricing structure, but I will say that it is quite reasonable.

In the interest of full disclosure...if you try the services and decide to sign up, I get a spiff of some credits for my own retouches. So, of course, I'd appreciate it if you use my code when you try them out.

I also have another resource I'd like to direct you to. I think it's good to have multiple sources. This company is called Photo Grafix and they are available at: www.abetterreality.net

I've found Photo Grafix to be remarkably skilled and responsive. Please make sure you check them out, too. They handle bulk batches of many of my images and the work is very, very good. Eric (the owner) at Photo Grafix is a high-end photo post guy, and I've learned a lot in a short time from working with him. If you drop by the site, please let him know I sent you.

I think that outsourcing post isn't for everyone, but if you think it might be for you I hope these referrals save you a lot of the time and effort I put into finding them.

Cheers,

Scott/Creatista

Scott,

This seems like a good way to easily change some good photos to much better ones with taking them time that I just don't have. I outsource a lot of work and have for years. When it works it really great and has huge benefits. I'm always looking for new things to outsource so I can focus on what I do best(professionally) and enjoy the most (personally).

I went to PhotoFix thinking I'd give them a try but here are the problems I had:

- They require a visa card number before I try them. I don't even know if they are a valid service vs a scam until I get something back. This is a show stopper for me. I've sent them a note saying so.

- They don't accept raw files! If I touch a photo up I'm going to use the raw version (my 20D shots jpg and raw simultanously). Makes me think they're after amateur's.


I don't mean to knock the service too hard, it may work perfectly for some if they don't mind the above issues.

Cheers,
Glenn
Designer of DBGallery: Photo Organiser

Update: PhotoFix got back to me regarding the credit card comment and say "we simply validate a credit card, it is not charged, and the cc# is not retained". I'm going to setup an account and give them a try.

Hi Glenn,

I didn't realize that they don't do RAW. I shoot RAW, but convert to LZW Tiff files in Lightroom for storage and retouching, etc. Maybe they'll look into accepting RAW as more pros look their way?

I'll be interested to know how your experience goes...

Please keep me informed.

Cheers,

Scott

Of 10 I tried I liked only one. That one was the separation of an Eagle from the background (see it here). The rest were color and lighting corrections that turned out not better than if run though a dozen basic image correction programs, and very little better than the original if at all. There was no tinting, saturation, nor anything else done to them to make them much better photos. Given five minutes with Lightroom or Photoshop and I could have done a far better job. Given the results I don't know what the intended audience is, unless it amateurs with pretty bad photos to begin with.

Cheers,
Glenn
Designer of DBGallery: Photo Organiser