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Author Topic: Another Old Same Story : Istock Application  (Read 5355 times)

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« on: December 27, 2011, 05:59 »
0
Hello people, I'm sure you had enough of this. But I couldn't find a way to post Istock so I preferred to post here. (I've always been just a reader here.)

So, let me get to the point. My first 3 photos are rejected. The reason was actually confusing, I couldn't get exactly what was wrong. I want to understand what's wrong and next time solve it. But all the thing they said was something like that:

''Admin Note:
At this time we regret to inform you that we did not feel the overall composition of your photography or subject matter is at the minimum level of standard for iStockphoto. Please take some time to review training materials, resources and articles provided through iStockphoto. The photographs provided in your application should be diverse in subject matter, technical ability and should be your best work. Think conceptual, creative and most important think Stock photography. Try to avoid the average eye level push the button perspective of a common subject. Try and impress us, we want to see how you stand out from the crowd.

We welcome you to return after the number of days specified and upload 3 fresh samples of your work and we will re-process your application. Please note that you will not be able to upload new samples until this waiting period has passed.''


 Would you please take time and look my rejected photos? And critique them? Thanks in advance. The problem is technical or they just didn't find those attractive?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54718845/P1090733_1copyistock.jpg

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54718845/P1090929copyistock.jpg

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54718845/P1100322copyistock.jpg
« Last Edit: December 27, 2011, 06:30 by kultablasi »


« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2011, 06:06 »
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Those links don't work for me, though it might just be a problem with my computer.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #2 on: December 27, 2011, 06:27 »
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If the images have been rejected on iStock, the link won't work.
You'll need to put them up on another host, e.g. your webspace.

« Reply #3 on: December 27, 2011, 06:31 »
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Sorry, I've fixed the problem.  ::)

« Reply #4 on: December 27, 2011, 07:00 »
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The first two are just walk around snaps.  The last one looks ok on first glance, although the base of whatever that thing it looks like it has hard polygonal type isolation instead of a nice smooth round edge.

« Reply #5 on: December 27, 2011, 07:04 »
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The statue is really the only one that is composed and the angle is bad. There are buildings protruding into the edges and part of the pedestal is sitting on the soldier's shoulder. In addition, you would probably get a rejection for a potential copyright problem. Avoid statues.

I can't see anything wrong with the leaves as a background but they say nothing at all about your ability to compose a picture. They probably want something that says more about what you can do. Anybody can point a camera at some leaves.

The product shot isn't really a composition either, just a collection of items over white. The straight-on view probably doesn't help. A more angled and arranged look might work better. Maybe try it with a group of objects where you can use leading lines and the rule of thirds to demonstrate some artistic skill.

I suspect they want you to prove what you are capable of in terms of composition, the message from the statue isn't great and the others really don't show if you can or can't compose.

« Reply #6 on: December 27, 2011, 07:27 »
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Thanks sjlocke, actually took my time to take of that statue photo. The third one is isolated with pen tool, when I say ''make selection'' what number should I type? It might be because of that? So, technically  (noise, focus, expose etc.) nothing's wrong, but a strong composition needed? Also, I wanted to send three different types (I can't shoot people, so far), so for a texture photo, how much can I be creative, extraordinary?

BaldricksTrousers, thank you. The Statue is actually accepted by Fotolia and Dreamstime so I thought it would be ok. :) And you know what, the one thing I liked in that photo is the angle. Some of my friends told me to remove buildings, but I thought they saved the photo being another dull statue photo. Also, ı got rid of all the crowd and ugly parts of the city that way.

Yes, actually I only wanted to submit photos which don't have vital problems and didn't care about the creativity. I thought they only looked for photographs having potential. I didn't expect them to be ''great''. So, I was wrong. But do you think If I send photos technically equal to these, and yet creative / well composed, I can make it? Am I likely to break through? : )

« Reply #7 on: December 27, 2011, 07:33 »
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I think the lighting on the product is a bit flat but apart from that I don't see any particular technical problems. Then again, I've never been an inspector. As for the statue copyright issue, why risk it in an application? Don't the instructions say something about "no statues"? It's better to get yourself accepted first before submitting something that might (or might not) run foul of their rules.

« Reply #8 on: December 27, 2011, 08:27 »
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Actually I'm more happy with product and still life photos. But unluckily they need variety.  Thanks for advice, I will stay away statues. :) But, For Pete's Sake, they also don't like outdoor photos. They don't find a texture photo good enough. What else can I shoot? Bugs, birds, flowers? They hate them, as well. (To be honest, I hate those, too. ::) )

They consider isolated product and food photos as different types?

Tryingmybest

  • Stand up for what is right
« Reply #9 on: December 27, 2011, 10:09 »
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Keep trying. Go for people shots (get releases). Lighting seems a bit harsh in the statue's base. Burn it in some. Maybe you can make a cool photo illustration from it. But they don't care for statuesespecially without some real people in it. Leaves are too yellow. Bring down saturation a little, go up with Lightness in the opposite direction. Try Vibrance or something to keep it warm without losing too much yellow. Razor has strobe reflections. Remove those. Brighten up center of product better. Make the button and details pop with selected Unsharp Mask (use Radius) and Fade back to Luminosity.

Istock is the worst place to start out at. You'll rarely be accepted at first. Try the other sites mentioned on this forum first. That will help get your confidence up.  ;D

Hello people, I'm sure you had enough of this. But I couldn't find a way to post Istock so I preferred to post here. (I've always been just a reader here.)


 Would you please take time and look my rejected photos? And critique them? Thanks in advance. The problem is technical or they just didn't find those attractive?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54718845/P1090733_1copyistock.jpg

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54718845/P1090929copyistock.jpg

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54718845/P1100322copyistock.jpg

« Reply #10 on: December 27, 2011, 10:18 »
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1. a lot of distractions (mainly buildings) and over exposed behind the soldier (ar conditioners on the building have some trademarks too)
2. subject (but perhaps after getting approved they might approve it, I believe they arent that picky anymore)
3. isolation (too rough and tons of saturation)

best of luck for the lowest royalties % in the world :D

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #11 on: December 27, 2011, 11:07 »
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Keep trying. Go for people shots (get releases).
If this isn't possible for you, you don't actually need a release for your application photos, as you don't have to submit your application photos to the site. OTOH, they don't necessarily accept your application photos when you submit them for the site.

« Reply #12 on: December 27, 2011, 11:25 »
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Thanks people, when I search in the site and view the images at %100 size, I can see they are not that perfect! I suppose they act more restricted when it comes to the application? Am I right?

I want to have photos with people in but as I said before, I can't manage right now.  :( Thanks for suggestions people, I will edit photos, but of course, I won't send same photos to Istock again. : ) The overexposed area, yep. Actually that was my main concern about that photo.

About the colors, they don't seem to like colorful photos than desaturated ones?

BTW, I want to ask something else. To be honest Istock isn't my primary goal! I would love to get in Shutterstock. (Not tried yet, since they ask a passport and I don't have one. I want to get one just for SS, but not sure worth it or not.) Would you please tell me, which site is easier to get in(in this case for me)?

P.s: And the statue. Actually it was a monument more than a statue. And it's a real person monument, the one on the horse. He is Ataturk, founder of Turkey. Significant historical figure, actually.  :)
« Last Edit: December 27, 2011, 11:28 by kultablasi »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #13 on: December 27, 2011, 12:01 »
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Thanks people, when I search in the site and view the images at %100 size, I can see they are not that perfect! I suppose they act more restricted when it comes to the application? Am I right?
Not necessarily, though they've probably tightened up a lot since I got in (!). One of my application pictures didn't get into the main collection because of 'flat light'.

Quote
I want to have photos with people in but as I said before, I can't manage right now.  
I have extremely few commercial people pics (non-sellers from a minilypse I attended) and no realistic chance of that changing. You can 'get by' without. There's at least one high seller on iStock who has either no or negligible people pics. Conversely, there are people who have lots of people pics which don't sell (much). If you take people pictures, you're immediately head-to-head against Sean, Lise, Yuri, Uncle Tom Cobley and all, so your available models have to have the right 'look' (that buyers want - I see lots of people pics on the site I think are great but the buyers aren't interested. I guess if you can analyse why, you'd be halfway there) and your studio, posing and lighting skills have to be excellent from the off.
Good luck, though things haven't been happy at iStock for a while now, so it's very wise to check out other sites. On here, SS is getting great praise. It's not always what I'm hearing offsite, but it's obviously worth trying for yourself. I keep hearing it's pretty difficult to get onto SS nowadays, and they really do want commercial 'people' pictures. I'm pretty sure that if you check out the people on here who are reporting good sales from SS, they are (mostly) selling commercial people photos.
« Last Edit: December 27, 2011, 12:14 by ShadySue »

Tryingmybest

  • Stand up for what is right
« Reply #14 on: December 27, 2011, 14:01 »
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Try to get shots of people doing things or studying the statue of Ataturk. Maybe someone working on a sketchpad. Maybe a a child with a lollipop looking up at him. Make it very interesting and marketable. You can do it.  ;)

Thanks people, when I search in the site and view the images at %100 size, I can see they are not that perfect! I suppose they act more restricted when it comes to the application? Am I right?

I want to have photos with people in but as I said before, I can't manage right now.  :( Thanks for suggestions people, I will edit photos, but of course, I won't send same photos to Istock again. : ) The overexposed area, yep. Actually that was my main concern about that photo.

About the colors, they don't seem to like colorful photos than desaturated ones?

BTW, I want to ask something else. To be honest Istock isn't my primary goal! I would love to get in Shutterstock. (Not tried yet, since they ask a passport and I don't have one. I want to get one just for SS, but not sure worth it or not.) Would you please tell me, which site is easier to get in(in this case for me)?

P.s: And the statue. Actually it was a monument more than a statue. And it's a real person monument, the one on the horse. He is Ataturk, founder of Turkey. Significant historical figure, actually.  :)

« Reply #15 on: December 27, 2011, 14:30 »
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Others have commented on those pix for contributor approval. I've nothing to add to that.

However, once you get approved, you should keyword the Ataturk image and submit it. A quick best match search for Ataturk narrowed down to statue OR monument returns 54 images only 13 of which actually are statues and only one of which appears to be this particular statue. You may need to submit it as editorial.

I would also submit the leaves picture and be sure to use keywords like pattern, background and maple leaf. I'm not sure where you took it, but here in Ontario those would be primarily sugar maple leaves. I like the color. They really do look like that under diffused sunlight.

Good luck.

« Reply #16 on: December 27, 2011, 15:10 »
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A lot of this has been said already. :)

Nothing wrong with the leaves shot particularly, just not what I'd use for application. As already said anyone can point a camera at some leaves.

Statue shot as already said, composition isn't the best. Lighting possibly a bit harsh. I wouldn't use statues as as an application shot.

Epilator? type thing. Isolation needs some work. Grey border, on curve in to base on left, various other places look slightly "off" image needs mid range brightness. Again I wouldn't use an isolation as an application shot. you're making it more difficult for yourself.

Send in three good shots, well composed, well lit, and correctly exposed with good focus. A portrait, a landscape, a still life.  They don't have to be complicated or particularly clever, just show you can use a camera. While I'd echo ShadySue's comment about not needing a PF full of people type shots, if I was applying now I'd put in a portrait. Doesn't matter what you want to do in the future.

RacePhoto

« Reply #17 on: December 27, 2011, 22:41 »
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I think what some others are trying to point out, is the finger of the statue is sticking into the top of the building and the flag. If you were watching composition, you would have moved an inch or two or cloned it out? That and have a friend throw a stone at the pigeons, maybe get one of them flying for action and one without them standing on the base of the statue. :D

« Reply #18 on: December 28, 2011, 09:34 »
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Thank you folk, all of you. Really. You made it clear for me. Also, about epilator you're * right!! It needed a little brightness. When I appy brightness with dodge tool, in the white areas, the result was surprisingly good.

LOL RacePhoto.  ;D I could easily get rid of flag, and pigeons but I don't know, I didn't. Well, statue is bigger than seen on photo actually. So we would have to throw rocks, but that wouldn't make sense, I suppose.  :D And the flag was too small to be noticed in the screen, while shooting.

Next round, I will knock down Istock! Here, I will represent my new nominees. By the way, you're great!

RacePhoto

« Reply #19 on: December 29, 2011, 14:04 »
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Thank you folk, all of you. Really. You made it clear for me. Also, about epilator you're  right!! It needed a little brightness. When I appy brightness with dodge tool, in the white areas, the result was surprisingly good.

LOL RacePhoto.  ;D I could easily get rid of flag, and pigeons but I don't know, I didn't. Well, statue is bigger than seen on photo actually. So we would have to throw rocks, but that wouldn't make sense, I suppose.  :D And the flag was too small to be noticed in the screen, while shooting.

Next round, I will knock down Istock! Here, I will represent my new nominees. By the way, you're great!

Yeah, I take a lighter approach to this whole can of worms, so keep that in mind. I still like the idea of the pigeons all taking flight at the instant you make the image. Nice action shot!  ;D

That and watch your background...


 

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