Author Topic: Completely new to this, where/how do I start? (Read 9812 times)

ehchromatic · « **on:** July 12, 2010, 15:22 »

I feel pathetic posting this.

My fiance just introduced me to the idea of submitting my work to "stock" sites.
I'd like to give this a try and I have no clue where to start.

Any suggestions of what site I should use since I'm a novice when it comes to submitting stock? I mainly have nature/animal photos and obtaining a model release (some of my work is of my best friend) would be effortless (if I just knew what exactly I need to do).

Thanks in advance.

lisafx · « **Reply #1 on:** July 12, 2010, 15:37 »

You don't need a model release for nature or animals. Only for recognizable people, so you should be all set there.

I would start by asking why I want to sell stock and what I hope to accomplish. Easier to know when you have accomplished your goals if you know what they are

It's also a good idea to check out the images already on the stock sites that are of the same subjects as yours. If your images are significantly better than what's currently available, then you have a good shot it will sell. If it isn't, then you will probably not sell much.

Istock's "How to sell stock" article is probably as good a starting point as any:

http://www.istockphoto.com/sell-stock-photos.php

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #2 on:** July 12, 2010, 15:39 »

Quote from: ehchromatic on July 12, 2010, 15:22

Any suggestions of what site I should use since I'm a novice with no stock selling experience? I mainly have nature/animal photos and obtaining a model release would be effortless (if I just knew what exactly I need to do).

Most "novices" have plenty of nature/animal photos on their hard drive, since it's relatively easy to take a walk through the park or zoo, so they don't really hold a lot of sales potential. As Lisa said, you will need to figure out what you actually want to do with this, and work towards that. The days of "I've got a bunch of snapshots on my hard drive, where's my cash?" are gone.

Dreamframer · « **Reply #3 on:** July 12, 2010, 15:41 »

Welcome!
I agree with Lisa. Search stock sites and look at photos. Compare them to your work, and make a decision. If you think you could reach, or to be close to the quality of photos that you already see on stock websites, that's a good start.
Good luck!

ehchromatic · « **Reply #4 on:** July 12, 2010, 15:42 »

Quote from: sjlocke on July 12, 2010, 15:39

Quote from: ehchromatic on July 12, 2010, 15:22
Any suggestions of what site I should use since I'm a novice with no stock selling experience? I mainly have nature/animal photos and obtaining a model release would be effortless (if I just knew what exactly I need to do).

Most "novices" have plenty of nature/animal photos on their hard drive, since it's relatively easy to take a walk through the park or zoo, so they don't really hold a lot of sales potential. As Lisa said, you will need to figure out what you actually want to do with this, and work towards that. The days of "I've got a bunch of snapshots on my hard drive, where's my cash?" are gone.

I'm not a novice photographer, I'm just a novice when it comes submitting to stock websites.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #5 on:** July 12, 2010, 16:04 »

A portfolio link would certainly help here.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 12, 2010, 16:05 »

I love this forum too bad I haven't joined before

Always on FIRE!!

cathyslife · « **Reply #7 on:** July 12, 2010, 16:12 »

Quote from: ehchromatic on July 12, 2010, 15:42

I'm not a novice photographer, I'm just a novice when it comes submitting to stock websites.

It depends on what kind of photographer you have been, too. A wedding photographer may not understand what designers are looking for in stock. The advice given by lisafx and sjlocke are all good places to start. See what constitutes good stock images and if you have similar subjects and style, submit those.

If you let us know what type of images you mostly have, it might be easier to recommend which site to start with. For instance, if you have a lot of landscapes, you might sell more on one site and sell nothing on another. They are all different and cater to different markets.

You will have to spend some time looking around the top 4 or 5 sites and get familiar with how you upload images. Most sites have a list of images they would like to see submitted. That would be start, too.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #8 on:** July 12, 2010, 16:23 »

join the Top 5 or 6.. look here at the Microstock Poll Results, then upload and see how it goes!

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #9 on:** July 12, 2010, 16:25 »

You'll see a lot of discouraging comments about nature, landscape, wildlife photography. Mostly good advice but not empirical. Most of what little I sell is in that genre. If you look at the image and can understand WHY the image was taken, it will probably sell.

Any of the Big Four will accept the good stuff. If it gets accepted, it will probably sell.

Good luck.

donding · « **Reply #10 on:** July 12, 2010, 16:32 »

You need to ask yourself rather you want to make a living at this. If that is your goal then your looking at years down the road to build up a port that will be able to do that. A lot of the members here that do make a living at it got their starts in the early days and have large ports. Today it is much harder with upload limitations and stricter reviewers to reach that point. Also there is a lot more competition these days so to get up there in the higher ranks is a lot more difficult. A lot of these websites are based on contributor popularity. In other words the more downloads that picture got the higher up it will be in the search results with a "best match" search. It will pull up those older images first simply because they have already been there for years and have a lot of downloads. So unless your photos are unique in nature and pop right out at you, they will not always be real popular. You can make money, not always a lot, but as far as making a living that is a bit more complicated.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 12, 2010, 16:57 »

Quote from: donding on July 12, 2010, 16:32

You need to ask yourself rather you want to make a living at this. If that is your goal then your looking at years down the road to build up a port that will be able to do that. A lot of the members here that do make a living at it got their starts in the early days and have large ports. Today it is much harder with upload limitations and stricter reviewers to reach that point. Also there is a lot more competition these days so to get up there in the higher ranks is a lot more difficult. A lot of these websites are based on contributor popularity. In other words the more downloads that picture got the higher up it will be in the search results with a "best match" search. It will pull up those older images first simply because they have already been there for years and have a lot of downloads. So unless your photos are unique in nature and pop right out at you, they will not always be real popular. You can make money, not always a lot, but as far as making a living that is a bit more complicated.

I agree but he never said that he wanted to become rich or live from microstock, but is possible like you said good and unique content!

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Author Topic: Completely new to this, where/how do I start? (Read 9812 times)

ehchromatic

lisafx

Sean Locke Photography

Dreamframer

ehchromatic

Sean Locke Photography

luissantos84

cathyslife

luissantos84

WarrenPrice

donding

luissantos84

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