Hi all, newbie here.   

I'm just about to dip my toe in the microstock waters, but I'm really surprised by the lack of information on microstock companies and determining what might be the best fit for me.  I was under the impression that each company drew a slightly different audience, so it might be better to go with one that best suited my photographic niche, until I saw that people were typically members of ALL the major microstock sites.  Doesn't this create difficulties with terms of services (such as not being allowed to use the same batch of photos across different sites)?

I'm also not sure about what would typically be expected of me once uploading a collection of photos.  Would I still be allowed to use a particular stock photo I've uploaded on say, my own blog, or on Flickr?  So confused here...   

I think once I get a handle on how this all works, I can start uploading my batch of 5,000 to 10,000 photos.  Oh Lord...  that's gonna be fun.   

I have some comparison tables in my guide which show the differences in how much you images will sell for, minimum size requirements, upload limits.

My microstock guide

Some agencies will accept virtually anything but sell virtually nothing whereas others will accept a much smaller percentage but they actually have some customers so the photos sell.

Bare in mind that the microstock agencies are all very strict about the photo being royalty free no company logos etc and others are fussy about digital noise, colour profiles etc so you make to have rework some photos.

If you have spent all that time processing a photo and keywording the amount of extra time submitting to more than one agency isn't that much more. Certainly not a business to have all your eggs in one basket.

Good luck

I'm exclusive at iStock so my opinion may be skewed. However, I'd start by trying to get excepted by Shutterstock and iStock. If you really have 5,000 to 10,000 stock quality photos then you should do well. I should caution you though. I get the impression that you have a lot of photos, and not necessary stock quality. First I'd go look at what the sites are accepting and then look at your photos with a very critical eye. Then pick your best 10 for Shutterstock, and 3 for iStock. I think for most people shutterstock and istock are their best earners (they were for me before I went exclusive).

Definitely not too late to the party. If your stuff does sell well and exclusivity becomes an option, I would encourage you to then try the other agencies first before making a decision.

Good luck!
-Steve

Lincoln, if you want to see fast success, try to get into shutterstock. They are pretty hard to get into, but as soon as you are in, your images start to sell 12 hours after they got accepted. Istock is strict yes, but it is not a good site to upload plenty of images in a short time period. They only allow you to upload I think 25 or 20 images per week in the beginning.Istock has the worst upload process from all of them.
Yes it is true, you will get probably the most earnings /image on Istock, but if you have thousands of images, you need years to get them online, so SS is definately much better the effort in my opinion. If Shutterstock is too hard, try out Fotolia. Pretty easy to get in and they accept a lot. But sales are not so fast.
Oh and you can write keywords and title and description in the IPTC info of your images. The Big 5 will read those, so you do not have to keyword again and again for each agency.

Yingyang, how are you doing at Istock as Exclusive? I am just curious.

Lincoln, if you want to see fast success, try to get into shutterstock. They are pretty hard to get into, but as soon as you are in, your images start to sell 12 hours after they got accepted. Istock is strict yes, but it is not a good site to upload plenty of images in a short time period. They only allow you to upload I think 25 or 20 images per week in the beginning.

Well that sucks.

I hope my best photos pass the test.  This should be interesting. 

BTW, forgive me since I'm a moron, but what does IPTC stand for?  I assume there's software I can use so I can easily add the respective keywords into them?

Lincoln... have you familiarized yourself with requirements of major sites for photo acceptance? Maybe to avoid surprizes you may want to post your candidates here first, both thumbnail and 100% crop, before submitting them to reviewers. Experienced folks here may save you a lot of grief

I've skimmed through some of the requirements for photos, but I'll only know for sure once I upload a few samples, which I'll probably do tonight.

Here's a Flickr link to a very small sample of my photos reduced to 800x600 (original was 3264 x 2448)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37393811@N00/sets/72157594226392086/

The photos of Lincoln and Capitol Hill are some of my better photos, but don't represent what's typical.  I like to take photos from unusual angles of a broad number of subjects, except for people, unless in unusual circumstances.

I just read what iStock is particularly looking for, man they sound mean.   

Ugh, I just noticed this:

I'll only know for sure once I upload a few samples, which I'll probably do tonight.

I would really advise you to hold your horses... better prepare well, time spent on this preparation is less waste than to be quickly shot down because of the rush and then have to wait a month for the next chance with SS. Take it from someone who happily uploaded everything in sight to all sites at the beginning, not giving it second thought, lol. They do have a way to sober you up in hurry

Take it from someone who happily uploaded everything in sight to all sites at the beginning, not giving it second thought, lol. They do have a way to sober you up in hurry

Or getting you to drink again.   

Don't worry, I'm going to carefully read through iStock and Stutterstock's terms before doing anything for sure.

I have to admit I'd rather see them being photo * about it than to let every Tom, Dick and Harry upload their images.  I'll feel all the more like a special person if I can get in.   

Quote from: pr2is on August 06, 2007, 18:16

I see you shoot with Oly 8080... be careful with noize, especially in the blue sky, that camera is known to be a noizy beast. And do not submit too many of similar theme shots for your test. 10 "travel" photos will raise their flag even if they are good. Try to show variety

Variety is good.     I use a tripod and keep my ISO limbo low to avoid noise.  I love taking nightshots and love this camera for it too.  That reminds me, can you get away with post processing?  I have a noise reduction plugin in Photoshop that I use sometimes, but not often.

Yes you can get away with postprocessing, if you do not overuse noisereduction. Shutterstock is quite picky with noise. Do not be discouraged, when they reject you the first time. I just want to warn you, it allmost seems like policy of them to reject your first and sometimes second application. But if your are it I think the requirement are not so high as in the application.

Glad you intervened to bring Lincoln down to earth a little Niemega.  I was about to post a reply along the same lines as yours - out of 5,000 photos, perhaps only 20 are the right quality etc etc.

Life in Microstock has changed; now there are many professional quality photographers submitting world class images and the agencies can afford to be very selective (and they are, as you have discovered).

I have an 83% acceptance rate at iStock.  I use Nikon gear with prime lenses and $3,000 worth of studio lighting; but STILL they reject some of my stuff.

It is all very well getting images accepted at places like BigStock, but IS and SS are the places if you want pictures to SELL.  I earn more in ONE DAY at IS and SS than I earn in an entire MONTH at BigStock, so that just underlines the huge difference between the leading agencies and the secondary players.

However competitive though, there is a place for everyone, so good luck to everyone here with whatever images they've got for sale.

Well, after sifting through thousands of photos I've personally taken, I found maybe 8 that might be stockworthy, and from them I picked three samples to upload for my application.  One of them I think is a sure thing (I hope), but the other two were iffy.  Still, they were the best I could come up with since they were unique and had no noticeable photo blemishes.

Ah well.  I'll probably wait to see how iStock responds before taking a look at Stutterstock.

Ah well.  I'll probably wait to see how iStock responds before taking a look at Stutterstock.

Good luck, let us know how it goes! Also, don't assume that what one of them accepted is a sure thing for another. Not the case at all. Somewhat higher chance at best, I'd say