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Author Topic: Is iStock worth the effort?  (Read 49407 times)

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« Reply #75 on: April 29, 2009, 13:30 »
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It's definitely one of "hardest" agencies for newbies. If you think you will learn faster if somebody hits you with a ruler all the time go for it :-)


« Reply #76 on: April 29, 2009, 13:36 »
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All kidding aside iStock is definitely worth it if you put the time into it. It can be very frustrating at times, but I can see IS easily overtaking my SS sales soon.

It just kills me to think of the sales I would be getting if I had as many photos at IS as I did at SS or DT.

« Reply #77 on: April 29, 2009, 13:40 »
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My images aren't perfect.  By definition, no digital image is perfect.  Where there is digitization, there are artifacts.  

My images are very lightly sharpened, Because they're raw files with no in-camera sharpening, I  apply USM with very low numbers, while viewing at 100%.  There are no halos, no oversharpening.  The JPG quality setting is max.  There is no noticeable noise in these images - they're all ISO 200. They were good exposures, so I haven't boosted the curve way up at the low end causing banding.  There is nothing more I know how to do to improve these images.  I've done my best, and all the other microstocks are satisfied.  

Honest, everyone, if I knew what they were referring to, and it actually was a correctable problem, I'd fix it.  

batman

« Reply #78 on: April 29, 2009, 13:59 »
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It's definitely one of "hardest" agencies for newbies. If you think you will learn faster if somebody hits you with a ruler all the time go for it :-)

rofl OUCH melastmohican, that sounds like an S&M relationship to me  8)

No, seriously, iStock is the best site in the world you can work for. Best of luck  ;)
« Last Edit: April 29, 2009, 14:04 by batman »

« Reply #79 on: April 29, 2009, 14:17 »
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It's definitely one of "hardest" agencies for newbies. If you think you will learn faster if somebody hits you with a ruler all the time go for it :-)

rofl OUCH melastmohican, that sounds like an S&M relationship to me  8)

No, seriously, iStock is the best site in the world you can work for. Best of luck  ;)

There is no relationship here :-) I kind of give up on them. I submit couple files once in while but no longer care about result. This way I am much less stressed and managed to place whopping hundred files there :-) No sales anyway so I put all my efforts to SS, DT, StockXpert, 123RF and FT. This ones at least give me payouts :-)

stacey_newman

« Reply #80 on: April 29, 2009, 17:14 »
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as Lisa said, adding a note ot inspectors is helpful, though I suspect in most cases of artifacting and noise etc., the examples we're hypothetically referring to are quality issues and not misundertandings.

the other problem is that most of the advice dispensed in how to get on iStock threads is being given by people that have not yet been accepted on iStock. or who are fairly inactive contributors.


« Reply #81 on: April 29, 2009, 18:24 »
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With iStock first setup plaster on the butt and wait...
And in youre dreams try to figure it what they will invent how to screw you.....
Apply Plaster allways before uploading even they want you without it....

« Reply #82 on: April 29, 2009, 18:36 »
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I just applied and was accepted to iStock last month, so I can comment on this.  For my first submission of 3 photos, 2 were accepted.  All I had to do was wait for a duration of 3 days, and then resubmit 1 photo.  You get to keep your 2 approved ones there, and just resubmit for the rejection. 

Thanks for sharing this information. It is good to know that they still might approve images one by one. I had a totally different experience, where all my images were either rejected or approved. I'm guessing that, as a first step, they look at images and judge if they are suitable for stock and if they have variety that they need. This is where they can reject all of them. As the second step, they might judge technical quality of the image, and this is where they reject one or two images. But again, this is just me thinking out loud...

stacey_newman

« Reply #83 on: April 29, 2009, 19:23 »
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it has been over two years since I applied. but as far as I know, this is correct. they will review each of the three files individually and accept or reject them individually. they make take one or two and reject one etc.

again, submit a variety when applying. the competition is certainly fiercer than it was, so it is a good idea to read their submission guidelines carefully and review common searches in the database in order to see what is acceptable.

it is easy to get excited and submit your application too quickly. really take the time to choose three images that demonstrate the best of your abilities.

« Reply #84 on: April 29, 2009, 19:27 »
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they will review each of the three files individually and accept or reject them individually.
iStock customer service told me over the phone at the time of my last rejected application that if one of the photos was submitted with different pictures, it would have had much better chance of getting accepted. They acknowledged that the application process is not explained clearly enough and that they should update their explanation.

The same image got approved later together with the other two.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2009, 19:37 by goldenangel »

stacey_newman

« Reply #85 on: April 29, 2009, 19:38 »
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I wouldn't resubmit images that were rejected. I think the point of what they told you, is that if one is approved, and two rejected...then your next submission would include the file that was approved along with two new files.

but yes, there is a chance that a file previously approved will be rejected by the next inspector. two years ago when I applied, I was accepted on my third attempt. and it was worth it.

« Reply #86 on: April 29, 2009, 19:40 »
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I wouldn't resubmit images that were rejected. I think the point of what they told you, is that if one is approved, and two rejected...then your next submission would include the file that was approved along with two new files.
I think I know what they told me. I listened to them and my next application was approved with the rejected image from my last application.

My point was that not in all cases they judge three images independently but they are also reviewing the quality of the application in general. The reason was for my last rejection was: "Images are very similar in subject matter or style". All three images got accepted later, after my application was approved.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2009, 20:08 by goldenangel »

lisafx

« Reply #87 on: April 29, 2009, 20:01 »
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Two years ago when I applied, I was accepted on my third attempt. and it was worth it.

Same experience here.  Took my three tries to get in.  And it was definitely worth it!

FWIW Istock was my first site and it took me quite awhile (and a better monitor) to cut out most of the artifacting rejections.  Once I was able to get images accepted consistently at istock it was no problem getting them accepted on other sites. 

Only exception was Fotolia, who rejected 90% of what I submitted when I started, but after some back and forth with Chad they were later approved.  Think I got hold of Attila on my first try with Fotolia ;)

« Reply #88 on: April 29, 2009, 20:20 »
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Ok then lisafx, in your experience what exactly are the referring to when they say "artifacting"?

stacey_newman

« Reply #89 on: April 29, 2009, 20:25 »
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hi goldenangel - I didn't mean to imply you didn't understand them. it was more a comment about contributor relations at iStock. once in a while they can give confusing advice. I have had questions that were vaguely answered. so I thought perhaps you had the same experience.

my explanation was for those who have not yet been accepted.

« Reply #90 on: April 29, 2009, 23:01 »
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hi goldenangel - I didn't mean to imply you didn't understand them. it was more a comment about contributor relations at iStock. once in a while they can give confusing advice. I have had questions that were vaguely answered. so I thought perhaps you had the same experience.

my explanation was for those who have not yet been accepted.
Stacey,
I agree. In my case, they acknowledged that the application process is not explained clear enough in a sense that images are not looked at completely independently from each other. If that was the case, rejection reason of images being too similar would not exist.

For those who have not yet been accepted, this does not mean that I suggest submitting rejected images again. It has worked for me because of the rejection reason I got, but it might not work for others.

« Reply #91 on: April 30, 2009, 08:36 »
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I got accepted at Istock a little over 2 months ago.  It took me two or three tries; I cant remember, I must be getting old.

About 2 weeks ago my 15 year old daughter got accepted.  On her first try she got the "Images are very similar in subject matter or style" rejection.  On her second try, 2 of 3 were accepted and on her third try her last image was accepted.

Her first images were accepted and online a few days ago.  She had her first sale yesterday so she was pretty happy.

In answer to the OP question, I think it is worth it.  IStock is my number 2 earner. I am only two months into this and my portfolio is small (91 images) so who knows what the future holds.

« Reply #92 on: April 30, 2009, 09:29 »
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Well I had my first sale on IStock today.  $0.28.   Twenty-eight cents.

All those hoops - the approval process, the 2-week reviews,  the obsession over obscure "artifacts",  the tedious keywording, categories, the rejections - and in the end I get 28 cents.   

So to the original question: is IStock worth it?   So far it looks like my time would be much better spent just taking more photos and putting them on SS.



lisafx

« Reply #93 on: April 30, 2009, 09:33 »
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Ok then lisafx, in your experience what exactly are the referring to when they say "artifacting"?


Only an inspector there could tell you for sure, but from rejections I have gotten it appears "artifacting" is a catch all rejection that includes noise (both color and luminance), sharpening halos, jagged edges from jpg compression, boxy looking artifacts in gradients, etc.

« Reply #94 on: April 30, 2009, 12:10 »
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and in the end I get 28 cents.   

It's not the end, it's the beginning...

« Reply #95 on: April 30, 2009, 19:00 »
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Depends how you determine 'worth'. I have had little success on istock since I joined just over two years ago, but I'm certainly a much better photographer (and artist) for it, so it's worth it to me.

RaFaLe

  • Success level is directly proportional to effort
« Reply #96 on: May 04, 2009, 01:01 »
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Some interesting viewpoints here.

I would ultimately like some advice on a few images that I want to post to iStock for approval.
It's now been 4 attempts, and every one has been rejected.

I am going to watermark them and upload them shortly to my web server, links to which I will post in a little while.

Is it ok to post the images in this thread for crit?

« Reply #97 on: May 04, 2009, 10:24 »
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Sure it is. You might alaso want to post 100% crops from some critical parts of the images, if you would like critique on the technical quality.

RaFaLe

  • Success level is directly proportional to effort
« Reply #98 on: May 06, 2009, 01:08 »
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Hi All :)

Please would you be so kind as to crit the images I've uploaded to my site (URL below).
I would like to submit 3 of the 4 to iStockPhoto for my application, after having been rejected 4 times now  :-\


http://www.alleaume.co.za/2009/05/attention-microstockgroup-members.html

Please comment on the relevant images here in this post.
Looking forward to your comments!

Thanks!

« Reply #99 on: May 06, 2009, 02:24 »
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Chris, I would pick one of the camels and the dragonfly. However, I would also try to find another picture, with people if possible, not to risk being rejected for subjects of images being too similar, which happened to me.


 

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