Hey guys, so far I have 2 images up on Fotolia, and 1 on FeaturePics...I'm trying to figure out what kind of other stuff i can get photos of, where to shoot and find stuff, and how to compose Stock shots, and stuff like that. Anyone have any useful advice?

I think I may be able to use Shutterstock...but I still need to pass their 10 picture thing...is it difficult?

SS has one of the toughest initial reviews in the business. It's definitely best to study their site, read their forums, etc., to learn about their expections before submitting images. You can also post images here for us to critique and give honest opinions about.

The best way to learn about what makes a stock image is to browse the "most popular" images on the various sites, and study them. Browse through magazines advertisements, look at billboards or posters or flyers, even take a look at spam e-mail. From those images, you will get ideas about what makes a stock image.

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Photography by Karin Lau | SmugMug Pro Account | Shutterstock | Mostphotos | StockXPert | Dreamstime | iStock | 123RF | BigStock

Yeah, like we talked about over instant messager, dude - wait until you've got a solid portfolio of 20-30 really good shots that sell, and then use those to apply to Shutterstock and the rest of the tougher cookies You'll be glad you did, because you don't want to miss out on all of those opportunities.

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s e l l p h o t o s . t k

Top Sellers ? Shutterstock ? Fotolia ? Dreamstime ? BigStock ? StockXpert ? FeaturePics ? MostPhotos ?

In no particular order:
1) If you want to deal with SS, then learn all you can about noise and how to avoid it or correct it!!! SS is infamous for noise rejections regardless of a picture's other merits, and you can be sure they won't show any mercy on your first 10 no matter how good you think they are!
2) Be honest with yourself, do some soul-searching, and find out what subjects really appeal to YOU. Chances are, they'll also appeal to many other folks, and you're more likely do your best work with subjects that you like best.
3) LEARN as much as you can about proper image exposure, proper focus, and all the other aspects of basic photography, or else you'll be singin' the blues when you get rejection after rejection. The discouragement might make you quit before you've hardly started. If you want to go anywhere with this, you have to learn more than simple pointing and shooting. Read books, photo-instruction websites, Laurin Rinder's posts, anything that will help you understand photography better. Most importantly, take what you learn and put it into practice every chance you get!!

Then again, if you're just in this for the fun of it, none of the above matters. It is fun, but it takes work to get anywhere.

SS shot me down on my first 10 and they were my best sellers out of about 70 at three other sites. I had to wait like 60 days or something to try again. Just uploaded the other day so I'm still waiting to hear. To be honest my first submission included a lot of 35mm slide scans. Although I cleaned up the noise enough to make the others happy, SS didn't like them. This latest submission has all been shot in digital. Got my fingers crossed.

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michaelmill
Dreamstime
Bigstock
Fotolia
Featurepics
My Website

Yeah, one thing about SS is they definitely don't seem to like film anymore, except maybe medium or large format, but in that case the effort isn't worth the $ return. I also got shot down on my first try because of submitting film scans, then I came back with a vengeance (and a new digitial SLR) and sailed on through on my 2nd try.

If you're looking for ideas, try out a new site my wife and I have just released at www.cameraclash.com. It's a photography battle website where you have to shoot photos for a specific theme each round of the battle. You don't have to join a battle right away, but if you sign up for a free account, you can vote on submitted photos, see what others are shooting and post in the forums.

Hope it helps!

check out www.lockstockphotography.com for general tips on microstock photography aimed at beginner stock photographers.

I was a complete novice 7 months ago, had never even used an SLR before, but Ive learnt a fair bit since then and didnt find shutterstock to be tooo bad, not quite as bad as some people make it out to be. These days, about 2-3 of 100 images are rejected by them. Sometimes less! Its a simple process of learning what is acceptable and what is not.

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LockStockPhotography
Shutterstock
Fotolia!
IStock

Just got rejected again on this, my second and maybe last try with them. Don't know what they want, this batch was all sharp, noise free, well exposed digital 6mp selling on other sites images. If you guys didn't all talk about how good they are I wouldn't care and just move on!

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michaelmill
Dreamstime
Bigstock
Fotolia
Featurepics
My Website

One thing that I recommend for SS is downsizing your photos to the minimum required resolution. ( I don't remember what it is for new applicants. ) They are really tough on noise, and by downsizing you eliminate noise and also increase the sharpness of the photo.

Unlike other sites, you get a flat payout rate for download (excluding ELs) so there is really little reason to submit the high res. files ever. (as another thread is discussing)

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