Question for professional photographers with (10+ years experience)

Here is good info from seasoned contributors: The Microstock Life Wrap (beehiiv.com)

Former "professional" photographer now retired and working primarily with AI. I put professional in quotes because I never really made enough photographing weddings, portraits, figure, fine art, etc. to make a living from it.

I taught photography and computer graphics at a local community college. Surprisingly, even though I was an adjunct educator whose main full-time duty was videotaping educational and informative materials for business and industry, the college paid to send me to a number of photography and video workshops headed by renowned photographers the likes of Joyce Tennesen (three times), Greg Gorman and a number of others. I also used to work for internationally renowned photographer Robert Faber, designing a website for what Apple Computer said was arguably the first educational photography website on the internet.

What would I have done differently? Well, as Robert Farber once told me, "You know, you're a very good photographer. But you don't know how to market yourself."

And I didn't. Or I did, but it just wasn't in my personality to put myself out there. I lacked the confidence. In any case, the last wedding I photographed was for a friend last year and was my first in probably 20 years. I now spend my time producing and editing AI images using prompts I'm familiar with as a photographer while watching based-on-true-story Lifetime Movies on Youtube because they are so darned silly and unbelievable that I can concentrate on editing AI without needing to keep abreast of who is murdering who or why. 

Part of photography in general is a journey one must take to find their creative selves.  Even if you could do something different, should you?

Part of that journey is discovering what works commercially, if that is your goal.

I began with film a l-o-n-g time ago, before digital cameras and microstock services.  100% of what I shot was for work & personal pleasure. 

Stock is less about the photographer and more about what customers want & are willing to pay for.

• Pay attention to trends and what people are buying today.  
• Anticipate what people will need in the future and be ready.
• Stay open to new ways of looking at ordinary objects.
• Create a plan and execute it.
• Experiment with different light sources, focal distances and camera settings. 
• After the shoot, select your best work.  Correct the defects and compare it with current Stock inventory to see if yours measures up.
• If it's visually & technically good, tells a story and has something to offer a wide range of customers, go ahead & submit it.
• Repeat.
• Most importantly, enjoy the process. 

Hope that helps.