Hi Stock Folks,

As of late I am having very poor acceptance rates on Dreamstime let alone Shutterstock. Here is my approach on submitting pics to both of these top tier companies-

1. I upload my potential photo to Canstock (CanStockPhoto) first since they are good at looking for keywords and trademarks.
2. If it is accepted by CanStockPhoto than I upload the photo to Fotolia and all the mid-tier and Low Earners.
3. If it is accepted by Fotolia I than upload to Dreamstime.

Here are the basic rejections that I am getting from the big top tiers -

- Poor lighting setup, poor contrast or incorrect exposure.
- We have reviewed your file and this is not quite what we're looking for. Please note that this image is not eligible for resubmission


Now if they are not quite what they are looking for should I stop taking photos of those particular areas? Lately, I have been using the Pen tool and then blasting the background vial levels to get 255/255/255 true White. Is this a mistake? Some folks tell me to try to get as much possible done via the camera and lighting and as little as possible via cS5.  I  would include a sample of the photos in question but I don't have a website yet and the photos are too small to view on the attachments. Thus another question- do I need a website to be successful?

Sorry for all the dumb questions. I have the drive but truly lack the experience and skill at this point in time. Any suggestions on books or videos for me to study would be great. My personal goal is to make around $1,000 per month after few years of working part time on this new business venture. Maybe I day dreaming?


Tom

jeezzzzz for the 40th time see Tyler tutorial
http://www.tutorvid.com/photoshop-tutorial/how-to-isolate-an-image-on-white/

regarding shooting and learning photograpy! hit the streets hit the object hit everything that moves or not and shoot HARD, back in home see what you got, learn from that, use the blinks/highlights feature on camera, use exposure compensation, shoot raw, shoot more and more in different angles, try to submit then to FT to other that don�t have exam to get in, again the more important before uploading is shooting at least average with nice lighting and exposure and sharpness, learn your camera!

reaching 1000$ is hugely hard doing average stuff, I am not even talking about cheap pictures, stock is hard to build up a nice portfolio and starting to have nice sales, hard work for sure but first learn what to shoot properly

if you need anything tell me but no more talk about isolations and tutorials regarding that!!

You've come very late to the party and have got a long way to make up. You will need to invest heavily in learning and equipment and models and props and sets to make a lot money. And remember, you're up against all the people who already have lighting, equipement, models, props and set ups down to a fine art.
I have no idea of your photo experience, but as for stock it seems that these two books are excellent for stock beginners
Ellen Boughn:P Molcrostock money shots
and Rob Sylvan: Taking Stock
Remember: Look and see what's available already. You have to do better, or why would your image sell over theirs?
If you've got a niche that few others have access to: are there buyers for that subject who buy on microstock sites? Often these specialist subjects are covered by existing experts who provide words and images packages for publications, so there is very little market for random images.
You need to do a lot of research to see what's possible.
And remember, the more people, like me and you, who get into micro, the thinner the sales are spread. My sales and $$$ are well down this year compared to last year at this time, and many others, who have been at it for a while, are saying the same. You can rise for so long, then there's a plateau. When you sell ten images a month, 15 images the next month is a huge rise, but that's not, to borrow a phrase 'sustainable' for most of us.

My personal goal is to make around $1,000 per month after few years of working part time on this new business venture. Maybe I day dreaming?

There's no straight answer on this one. Some people can make $1,000 per month with 100 images, some people make $100 per month from 1,000 images. You can only try and see how it works out for you.

and Rob Sylvan: Taking Stock

I hear there's lots of interviews with very smart shooters in there ...

I will be careful on the model and property releases for sure. I just got a great reply for the stock editor on my rejected photos here what they stated- The one part that does confuse me is about the 2nd source of light being of non-diffused light. What kind of light source is that? I've been told that if my soft boxes are using 5500k make sure my spot light is also using a similar range as well. I noticed my spot light was 3600K thus an in-balance on the lighting.


"Your image has been refused because it is underexposed which makes it
> unappealing. You need to either increase the overall exposure by
> increasing the main light or add a second light to emphasize details, or
> do both in a balanced way.
>
> It is always best to get the optimal lighting, composition and details
> during the actual shoot. This not only saves time in post-processing but
> also ensures higher overall quality of the final image. When you
> increase the exposure (or levels) in post-processing the chances that
> you'll have visible noise in the dark areas increases. This is only one
> of many disadvantages of fixing too many important things after the
> image has been taken.
>
> Furthermore, when it comes to photography, light is not only about
> power. It's also much about quality - where the light is coming from,
> what modifiers are being used, how does it emphasize the main concept of
> the image, etc. Your refused image could benefit from more diffused key
> light, but I would suggest adding a second non-diffused source from the
> camera right or top to emphasize the texture and shape of both the hand
> and the car key.
>
> There are various articles and message board threads on the topic of
> light posted on our message boards and blogs section. Some book
> suggestions have also been made there. I'd recommend searching through
> these and practicing more with various setups."