MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => Newbie Discussion => Topic started by: christiano on June 27, 2017, 09:22
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Hi! I'm new in the stock market, my portfolio consists mainly of travel photos.
I registered as a contributor on the following sites :
-Istock (255 pic)
-Dreamstime (255 pic)
-Adobe stock (130 pic)
-Shutterstock (110 pic)
-pond 5 (255 pic)
-123rf (250 pic)
I had sales on Adobe (10 pic) and Shutterstock (4 pic) only...
I noticed that the sites that are the most severe in the analysis of the photos are the ones that pay the most ... in my case, Shutterstock and Adobe. Did you notice that?
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Do you realise you only get 15% royalties with iStock?
Pond5 is predominantly video, images don't do well there.
Dreamstime and 123RF are very very very slow
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Yes, I noticed that! 15%... It's not worth the effort.
I will concentrate my efforts to Shutter and Adobe i think.
I have few 4k time lapses video on Pond5... No sale so far!
:-)
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Would you mind if you posted a link to your portfolio at shutterstock, for example? I'm also a travel photographer.
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Would you mind if you posted a link to your portfolio at shutterstock, for example? I'm also a travel photographer.
http://www.shutterstock.com/g/Christian+Ouellet?language=fr (http://www.shutterstock.com/g/Christian+Ouellet?language=fr)
the link dosent work idont know why
I'm open to criticism! I still have a lot of photos from different countries to put online
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I noticed that the sites that are the most severe in the analysis of the photos are the ones that pay the most ... in my case, Shutterstock and Adobe. Did you notice that?
I welcome this tougher standard, since you can learn from technical mistakes, but I do think that standards have fallen in the past 2-3 years with some images that would have been rejected now being accepted.
I'm open to criticism! I still have a lot of photos from different countries to put online
Ok, how tough do you want me to be from 0-10? :D I'll be 7.5 harsh but just because you've just started!
The vast majority of your travel images, to me, are snapshots. They carry little consideration about technicals, in particular:
1) Composition: such as crooked horizons, such as 'Indian Landscape', lack of copy space and cutting parts of the image off, and
2) Lighting: harsh lighting (such as 'Machu Picchu, Inca trail, Peru). As another travel photographer, I know that sometimes you're only there for that day and that time so you have to make do with that light. What tip would be to shoot indoor images when there's too harsh of light outside or if you have time wait until 'golden hour'. On a side note, it appears that these images weren't post-processed which would help, if done to a high standard
Just as importantly, the images appear to lack commercial value. That's fine, you're still getting a used to this game, but better you make some adjustments now than a few months/years down the line to save you time. I've written a blog post about which types of images are 'trending': https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2017/06/23/which-types-of-stock-images-are-trending/ (https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2017/06/23/which-types-of-stock-images-are-trending/)
I think you're making the same mistake I did when I first started in that I was so focused on capturing commercial images and avoiding any editorials. It's really tough to go to a busy place like India and only take commercial images (it's just too busy), so I would suggest to not worry about it and take lots of street photography and just submit as editorials. Well-executed busy market images do well, as well as those guys with super long mustaches. Just shoot anything that's interesting and exotic! My portfolio consists of about 1/2 editorials and they're some of my best sellers. Check out my blog at www.brutallyhonestmicrostock.com (http://www.brutallyhonestmicrostock.com) for some tips.
I can't comment on the still lifes as they're not my expertise but i'm sure many here with more knowledge of this would agree that your lighting needs major improvements, and some of the white balance looks nuclear, with purple fringe + noise (fresh orange)...surprised that one was accepted.
One exercise I do whenever I visit a new place is to look at the most popular images on Shutterstock for example, for that destination to benchmark my work. Then your goal is to try to get your images close to that standard. See here the most popular images from Machu Pichu. No point trying to copy those images, make them unique with your own style but executed technically excellent as these:
https://www.shutterstock.com/search?search_source=base_search_form&language=en&searchterm=machu+pichu&image_type=all (https://www.shutterstock.com/search?search_source=base_search_form&language=en&searchterm=machu+pichu&image_type=all)
Good luck and keep shooting!
Alex
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"I welcome this tougher standard, since you can learn from technical mistakes, but I do think that standards have fallen in the past 2-3 years with some images that would have been rejected now being accepted. " Shutterstocks standards are way lower than in the past.....I resubmitted loads of stuff that had been rejected 3-4 years ago 95% was accepted......these days unless you make a mistake or get a rogue reviewer you shouldn't be getting rejections.
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Thanks @Brasilnuts, I am a new one also in photography ... I mean that before, my pictures are taken with a compact ... now I have a mirroless camera and I start classes soon
Thank you for your comments, I will go take a look at your blog...
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Thanks @Brasilnuts, I am a new one also in photography ... I mean that before, my pictures are taken with a compact ... now I have a mirroless camera and I start classes soon
Thank you for your comments, I will go take a look at your blog...
Bonne chance!