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Can't look at the pics. Says they are locked.

Image 1 has a lot of noise in the OOF areas.  The monkey is almost sharp enough.  You might be able to downsize it to help with both, or do some selective blurring.

Image 2 is not sharp at the top of the plant where one would expect, and the OOF areas look like you maybe laid a blurred layer over them.

Image 3 would be great if it was sharper.  Maybe a downsize.

As is, I don't think any would help your case.  You need to try nailing a wildlife/nature, object and person.

Sean, thanks for your advice.

Is downsizing something that is typically done for stock images? I'm new to the game.

Image 1: Mmm, good point about the noise. I guess I thought I could get away with it. My ISO was only at 500, so I thought this would be tolerable. Seattle Zoos on a cloudy day can be treacherous.

Image 2: Only had color post-processing applied (and lightly at that). I think the lens is just soft at the edges, and it was a close up shot. Maybe I'll ditch this one and retake it with the 35mm prime I've had my eye on.

Image 3: I did have trouble keeping this one as sharp as I would have liked. I didn't want to use any noise reduction or sharpening masks on it and lose any details inherit in the picture though. I guess I thought it could stand on it's own given the subject matter.

I'll try the content you suggested and reapply!
Thank you again for your comments, and please keep them coming.


I forgot to write the exif data for the pictures. Apologies.

• Image 1: Monkey
  Nikon D90: 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 500, 300mm
• Image 2: Small Plant
  Nikon D90: 1/40s, f/8.0, ISO 320, 62mm
• Image 3: Grizzly Bears
  Nikon D90: 1/250s, f/9.5, ISO 200, 300mm

1. Noise in the background; bad composition: the monkey is cropped out in a bad way.
2. Top of plant out of focus; no commercial value whatsoever; boring composition.
3. Cool, but the bear is slightly unsharp; what lens do you use?

Three wildlife shots won't you make pass iStock. They need a variety: nature, people and preferably some still life/product shot/interior.

There are tons of blogs and resources online that explicitly recommend new photographers to post their best shots in the IS forum first to get a valuable opinion about their commercial value and if they are suitable for application.

Shot #1 has way too much noise and nobody on the IS forum would have advised you to submit that shot.

Shot #2 is not focused properly and IS wants to see more of your creative side rather than a straight shot at a growing plant.

shot #3 is much better due to its much more rare subjects. Not everyone has a bear in the backyard not to mention such big mountains This is more along the lines that IS wants to see.

Just post your future application images on the forum here and you will get proper feedback so you can avoid another rejection note from IS.

Bear in mind many zoo animals are off limits for non released commercial photography ...

These are for IS application, not for adding to the collection necessarily, and I don't think the noise or ISO issues are important for an application - and certainly they don't need releases.  For submission though, you would do well to keep the ISO at 100 if possible and certainly less than the 500 you mention, unless you have a full frame camera maybe.

As FD-Regular said, what they want to see is more variety.  Three wildlife/nature shots won't cut it unless perhaps they are all truly stupendous!

The monkey would be nice if it were all in frame and looking at you, but as it is I don't think it works.
I'm afraid the seedling does nothing for me at all, sorry.  Lose it.
Bears are very nice, again, it'd be even better if they'd looked your way, but even so worth keeping.

Downsampling was suggested - it's something that is commonly done if the image is slightly out of focus or noisy, as it helps the apparent sharpness, but again I doubt it would be considered a factor in an initial application.  Just try to use three different subjects, well lit and well composed.

One correction: the sweet spot for the Nikon D90 is ISO 200, not 100.  In fact, that's true of the entire Nikon line.  At ISO 100 you increase the chance of blowing out details even in RAW, details that may not be recoverable.

Best of luck on your next attempt.

Here's my take on the images:

Images 1 and 2 have almost no value in terms of stock.  You will not be able to make any money uploading these types of images and, given istock's annoying upload process, it will take you forever and waste your time in the long run

Image 3 is wonderful.  Images like this will have much more potential.  The suggestions above are great, just keep in mind what they suggest and couple that with images that will have an impact.  Also, most wildlife images just don't have that staying power.  Don't be too discouraged if you don't get many downloads on your wildlife/landscape photos vs. other subjects

Thank you for your comments.

As noted by Sean I couldn't post in the IS forums because I haven't been passed the application process, and haven't bought content.

I thought I'd stick closer to their "wanted images" list for the next submission:

• Grizzly Bears (resized for sharpness from 3463x2312 to 2500x1660 honestly that made me a little sad)
• A person playing a tennis or some other sport. Any tips on removing logos from the shoot are welcome.
• I'd like to try a concept shoot, but I'm not sure what yet. Maybe something indoors to show I can work in a variety of conditions.

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

Thank you again for your thoughts and words,
Knox