Tips on Shooting Photos for Stock with the New iPhone 11

[spacedrone808]

Yes, own it from 2012. Have tried Huawei 20/30 Pro for testing porpuses.

Using all stuff from cell phones to MF cameras. So i know what i am speaking about.

Advanage of Nokia that i can capture a pix without being noticed almost everywhere. 4 inch phone is very stealthy.

[balajisrinivasan]

I had a Nokia 808 Pureview as well for many years but had to give it up when Symbian went bust. It's easily the best phone camera I've ever had, better than the iphone, galaxy s7/8 and huawei p20. Big sensor, bigger than many actual cameras and bigger than any phone ever made.

The only drawback was you couldn't shoot RAW. Got a ton of travel shots with it.

[spacedrone808]

5 minutes ago, balajisrinivasan said:

I had a Nokia 808 Pureview as well for many years but had to give it up when Symbian went bust. It's easily the best phone camera I've ever had, better than the iphone, galaxy s7/8 and huawei p20. Big sensor, bigger than many actual cameras and bigger than any phone ever made.

The only drawback was you couldn't shoot RAW. Got a ton of travel shots with it.

Yeah, it's a pity that this is no raw (but it was 2012!). But there is patch which allows to capture 41.5 mpix shots with file size limitation moved to ~37Mb.

From the other side: raw doesn't help if you have no initial detail:)

 

[balajisrinivasan]

2 minutes ago, spacedrone808 said:

Yeah, it's a pity that this is no raw (but it was 2012!). But there is patch which allows to capture 41.5 mpix shots with file size limitation moved to ~37Mb.

From the other side: raw doesn't help if you have no initial detail:)

 

Yeah, it doesn't. And the jpegs out of camera were anyway really good and better than what you get with some of the pricier phones these days.

In fact, one of the pictures I sold to a real estate agency was taken with the 808 and almost paid back the price for the phone. It was that good.

[MJD Graphics]

On 11/2/2019 at 4:56 AM, Grossinger said:

Just ask yourself, "how many pictures do I have to sell at 25 or 33 cents to pay for this beauty?"
That is what keeps me from trading up. My A-6000 and Galaxy S8+ get me loads of pictures with the seal of approval from the dreaded Shutterstock reviewers and that is all I'm interested in.

This is what you said 7 days ago, and now you have an iPhone 11 Pro Max. I don't get your reasoning in this matter. Spending $1200 to shoot stock doesn't seem like a sound investment to me, unless the phone has other features that you really need.

[spacedrone808]

Some random full sized samples from n808 for stubborn unbelievers.

Narrow dynamic range of old fsi sensor and many other limitaions of camera require very slow style of photography.

All these factors oblige photographer to carefully select right light conditions and perspectives.

[JustPixs]

Just for kicks I thought I would submit a picture off of my Iphone, which is the first time I have ever submitted a picture from my phone and on top of that through the SS App.  I thought their was a good chance that it would get rejected for noise or sharpness issues that were not detectable to me via my only review which was via the phone's screen, but this morning I found that it had been approved.    

[spacedrone808]

today's urban sunset on n808, full-sized, no watermarks

[JustPixs]

32 minutes ago, spacedrone808 said:

today's urban sunset on n808, full-sized, no watermarks

I like it!

[cpaulfell]

Iphone Xs

[Ackab Photography]

p30 pro, quite happy with it

 

[Flexigav]

It is true that smartphone image capture technology cannot match that of decent DSLR and mirrorless cameras, but newer technology has advantages over older technology. There will be a point where new smartphones will equal aging DSLR gear. It is the poor lighting, long lenses, high speed and extreme environments that test technology. Every year it gets better and the greatest improvements are in smartphone development. 

[Grossinger]

On 11/9/2019 at 1:18 PM, Maurice James Dawson said:

This is what you said 7 days ago, and now you have an iPhone 11 Pro Max. I don't get your reasoning in this matter. Spending $1200 to shoot stock doesn't seem like a sound investment to me, unless the phone has other features that you really need.

Awe, golly gee. Yes  I did say that and I stand by that. The math does not change.
I did not buy the Iphone for microstock photography, I've always had a disdain for using smartphones as cameras.
I clearly stated I did not buy it for microstock. The very low number of uploads using the Iphone backs me up on that.
I have also stated that I want a Sony Alpha A7R IV.
Just how many pictures would I have to sell to get my money back from that camera?
The fact of the matter is any money you spend on microstock requires an enormous amount of image downloads to get your money back.
If you go out and buy a great steak dinner for stock photography you will probably never sell enough images of that dinner to pay for it.
The piddly earnings from microstock does not justify any expenditure.
There are a few people here on this forum who make enough to justify their buying great equipment. A very few.
At the moment I'm not one of them and don't know if I will ever be one. In fact right now I'm not sure I will be doing microstock after I hit my 10,000 image goal.
I bought the Apple Iphone 11 Pro Max because my Samsung was showing it's age, does not have all the fancy and glitzy features the Iphone has. So I went out shopping for a new phone. Initially I was not impressed with the pictures from the Iphone. For a thousand dollars it's a lousy camera. That is a fact. It's only advantage is that it's always with me.
The best camera I bought for stock is the Sony A6000. That little camera is a go anywhere, do anything powerhouse for a very low investment. My Nikons I bought way before I went into microstock.
Microstock for the majority of posters here on this forum also means microearnings. Most people can go out and sell french fries for a lot more money.

 

[Grossinger]

Expanding a bit on the microearnings.
If you sell french fries working 20 hours a week, just a part-time job, you will earn around $180 per week.
In some places more, in some places a bit less.
Now excluding Doug Jensen, and some other top money earners, those bragging about being super duper, really great, amazing and wonderful photographers who constantly entertain us with their heavenly creations, maybe you would be better off selling french fries, while the rest of us will be a bit less bored.
Yet another good reason to not brag and post those wonderful images that don't sell enough to buy a burger and fries.
Just a thought.
 

[geogif]

11 minutes ago, Grossinger said:

Expanding a bit on the microearnings.
 

One (1) single foto from Wadi rum brought me, until now, enough money for a ticket to Amman

And it still sell every day, around the whole world.

[MJD Graphics]

3 hours ago, Grossinger said:

Awe, golly gee. Yes  I did say that and I stand by that. The math does not change.
I did not buy the Iphone for microstock photography, I've always had a disdain for using smartphones as cameras.
I clearly stated I did not buy it for microstock. The very low number of uploads using the Iphone backs me up on that.
I have also stated that I want a Sony Alpha A7R IV.
Just how many pictures would I have to sell to get my money back from that camera?
The fact of the matter is any money you spend on microstock requires an enormous amount of image downloads to get your money back.
If you go out and buy a great steak dinner for stock photography you will probably never sell enough images of that dinner to pay for it.
The piddly earnings from microstock does not justify any expenditure.
There are a few people here on this forum who make enough to justify their buying great equipment. A very few.
At the moment I'm not one of them and don't know if I will ever be one. In fact right now I'm not sure I will be doing microstock after I hit my 10,000 image goal.
I bought the Apple Iphone 11 Pro Max because my Samsung was showing it's age, does not have all the fancy and glitzy features the Iphone has. So I went out shopping for a new phone. Initially I was not impressed with the pictures from the Iphone. For a thousand dollars it's a lousy camera. That is a fact. It's only advantage is that it's always with me.
The best camera I bought for stock is the Sony A6000. That little camera is a go anywhere, do anything powerhouse for a very low investment. My Nikons I bought way before I went into microstock.
Microstock for the majority of posters here on this forum also means microearnings. Most people can go out and sell french fries for a lot more money.

 

You replied to this 4 weeks ago then you suddenly removed all your posts from the forum.

[MJD Graphics]

30 minutes ago, Grossinger said:

maybe you would be better off selling french fries, while the rest of us will be a bit less bored

Don't know if this is aimed at me but I have never posted a photo or have bragged about anything on the forum.

[geogif]

9 minutes ago, Studio 2 said:

That's encouraging. If I live that long I may be able to go to Amman. Not sure if i want to go there though as i don't know where it is 🤔

It is quite ugly, but it has an airport.

 

[Grossinger]

4 hours ago, Maurice James Dawson said:

Don't know if this is aimed at me but I have never posted a photo or have bragged about anything on the forum.

Are you trying to start a fight?
You only quoted part of what I wrote and that post is from 4 hours ago not 4 weeks ago.
Yes, I deleted ALL of my posts from the past year. Most were stupid attack posts attacking my ambition to reach my goal of having 10,000 images in my port by the end of the year.
I'm not going to make it. Bah! Boohoo! Too bad. Makes a lot of morons with crap for ports happy.
If the shoe fits, wear it. If not then Happy Holidays!
Move on.
I actually could make it if I gave it my 100% but I don't see the point. The other day I took over 100 images, titled them, keyworded them and then uploaded them. Just to see if I actually could reach the 10,000 by the end of December.
I'm not upset about not making my goal. 8000+ tells me all I set out to discover anyway. It also told me this forum is not conducive to a positive attitude. It consists of mostly gossip people who take great joy in the discomfort of others.
I have no discomfort. I'm not happy about sales. That's for sure. I am even less happy about the trolls on this forum. Seems like the worst survived the massacre.
Good luck and please try to avoid me.
Do the world a favor and don't be a troll. We have enough trolls on this forum as it is.

 

[James R Poston]

@Grossinger I for one figured if anyone could get to the number you set as a goal, it would be you. You have done a fantastic job. 8000+ images is nothing to sneeze at and you did good. Now, just wondering if you had a chance to get any photos with the Iphone11.  I used the iphone 8plus until today. I traded up to the 11 and hope it will perform as well as the 8plus did. Fingers crossed.

[Grossinger]

2 hours ago, James R Poston said:

@Grossinger I for one figured if anyone could get to the number you set as a goal, it would be you. You have done a fantastic job. 8000+ images is nothing to sneeze at and you did good. Now, just wondering if you had a chance to get any photos with the Iphone11.  I used the iphone 8plus until today. I traded up to the 11 and hope it will perform as well as the 8plus did. Fingers crossed.

It should perform better. I have used the Apple Iphone 11 Pro Max camera quite a bit and have about a dozen images in my portfolio.
no, it's not a super camera, but you can do some judicial cropping with it and most images work out just fine.
I don't bother with RAW. I used it at first but the pictures work out just fine in JPG.
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/el-paso-texas-usa-circa-november-1573858855?src=-3-70

I don't use the wide angle nor the telephoto because I have better lenses for that kind of work.
I use the Iphone 11 exclusively for product shots in stores so far.
The acceptance rate for Shutterstock is very high. Over 90%
Generally they are kicked back due to motion blur, which makes sense.
For a $1000 it's a lousy camera but the phone is great.
Compared to other cellphone cameras I think it does rate way above most if not all.
If you buy it for microstock then I don't believe you will ever get your investment back.
The Sony A-6000 is better suited for microstock since you can get it for half the price of an Iphone and do so much more with it.
One more thing, I just did a SS search on that picture I posted the link to. I searched on ricola
Just the one word. That picture is number 3 in the list.
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-sunflowers-perfect-decorating-table-setting-1567192081?src=-1-20

This picture sells regularly. Searching for "red sunflower" it shows up on page 4 out of 666 pages.
Not bad for a lousy old phone shooting in jpg mode.

 

[James R Poston]

31 minutes ago, Grossinger said:

If you buy it for microstock then I don't believe you will ever get your investment back.

Nope....I just was up for an upgrade without any additional cost, so I went ahead and did it.  I use the Sony A6300 and the original Cannon 5D most of the time, but I do like to have the phone camera available for quick shots. BTW, like the red sunflower.