Stock Photography
A while ago, I posted about selling your pictures thru various micro stock agencies. Well, After having a little more experience using these sites I have decided to put together a bit of useful information about the one's I submit to.
The list is not exhaustive, but it is certainly a starting point for anyone considering selling or even buying photos.
Before I talk about individual Microstock agencies, I just wanted to go over a few useful tips to consider before you attempt to submit your portfolio.
All Agencies have their own set of requirements for accepting images. All images need to be technically great. The subject of the photo must be clearly defined, in focus, no noise. Additionally, there should be no copyright logos in any of the pictures - such as a can of Coke. All photos that have identifiable people in them require a model release. The photos must be of a suitable size to sell - typically, you need at least 4Megapixels (Selling stock is where more pixels really pays off)
All of the Micro's have (slightly) different requirements and you should read about each of them before signing up. It really is much easier to get accepted if you shoot with a DSLR - but it is possible to get accepted if you have a Prosumer type of P&S camera as well.
I only have a very small portfolio at each site and don't make much money out of it. It is possible to make several hundred $ a month with a decent (200+) portfolio of the right sort of photos.
It is a fact hat what you think are great photos will be rejected by the Agencies - learn from it! To start with, I was getting about 70% rejection, but now that is much lower (less than 20% rejection)
Firstly, I want to talk about Bigstockphoto. BSP is one of the easiest agencies to get accepted. It was the first site that I got accepted for. Check them out and once you get accepted and have some photo's online you will have learnt a lot and be ready to try your hand with some other Agencies. Sales at BSP tend to be a little slower than other sites, but it is certainly a worthwhile staring place to learn about Stock.
Next place to take a look at is Dreamstime. They are a bit harder to get accepted at than BSP, but my sales here have been much better! I tend to get a few rejections here but lately they have been due to "too many similar images" rather than for technical problems with the photo's.
When you look at Dreamstime, also take a look at iStock. It took me a couple of attempts to get accepted here. I actually learn the most from my rejections here - they always explain the reason and if it is a technical reason that can be fixed, you are allowed to re-submit your photos.
A newer Agency that I have started to submit to is Featurepics. So far, I have not had a single rejection here, but I have not had any sales yet either. What makes Featurpics unique is that they are Both Royalty Free and Rights managed agency, and you the photographer can set the price on each image in your portfolio. Additionally, they have the best payout % of all the Micro's.
There is just one more in my list and that is Shutterstock. I have tried twice and have yet to be accepted. It is common for people to try several times before being accepted by Shutterstock. They are the most demanding of quality in the images that they accept of all the Microstock agencies. From comments, they also tend to be the best selling agency for most people who submit.
This list is not a definitave one, but just one of the Micro's I have personal experience with.
I have photos on one site that has been rejected by other sites that are good sellers - so it really does pay to get your portfolio accepted on 3 or 4 sites as you have the best chance of selling your photos. Different photos sell on different sites - another reason to use several Agencies.
So, grab your best photos and sign up - you never know, your sales might mean you can afford that expensive lens sooner than you thought!
