Ah, Will, you're learning that not all that glisters is gold.  
Always bear in mind the 'T' word.

I noticed you mention a particular stock site, iStockphoto. Even with my limited experience in the microstock market even I have heard about these folks. In the pro world their called iFlop

Lol, the "pro world".

I don't know any personally and I don't even think I know any professionals that contribute to microstock sites with images either. Some probably do make a living from microstock, even I have heard of one guy from Scandinavia, Yuri ? - but a Getty colleague said he believes even he is jumping soon and will sell his pictures through his own website. No doubt he will make some serious income doing that.

This little bit makes me think Roxx is not quite who he proclaims to be.  The statement is a bit "I know nothing, but oh, by the way, I heard this...", made with full knowledge of the topic.

It would have been a bit more convincing if you misspelled his name .

I hate to sound rude after you gave me a great reply and a all round good post to read. However, I am fed up of people going "Stock isn't for you", "Why do you want to do stock" and "To develop a proper career in photography the last place you should look is towards stock sites".

But Will, you've come here seeking advice about what's "stocky".  People have suggested you take more people shots and other "stocky" type photos but as you've said, you prefer to keep taking photos of landscapes, flowers, animals etc... subjects that are well covered and will be rejected.  If you want to photograph what you want to photograph then to be successful, you're better off looking at alternatives to microstock.  This is why people (including myself) are saying Microstock is not for you since you really don't want to produce the typical microstock images.  Microstock is on a downward spiral and really, it's not for anyone starting out anymore... only the hobbyist that doesn't give a rat's arse about selling their images next to nothing.  I've seen so many contributors talking themselves up here and rubbishing people but when I find out who they are and look at their portfolios, they sell like 10 images a month lol.

Many have made a living from microstock but they started in the game when competition was low and commissions were higher.  They have thousands of images in their ports and you're just starting out.  By the time you build a decent size port, they'll have doubled theirs because with their experience they will produce images much faster than you.   Your images will be lost and hardly ever seen.  You're also forgetting (or are unaware) that these established microstockers are feeling the squeeze themselves... even Yuri.  They're having to work much harder for much less than they did when they first started and even a lot of them are thinking about alternatives.  iStock, which you have your heart set on for some reason, pays the lowest commissions in the industry.  Recently they cut contributors cut from the crap 20% commission to 15%.  Why on earth would you want that?  A lot of non-exclusives have left the agency and a lot of exclusives have become independents so they can eventually leave the company or build portfolios elsewhere.  If you want to make a living in microstock, you have to be as good as these high earners just to get noticed.  You will be new so your images will be placed at the bottom of the millions of other images.  A lot will never sell, even if they're top notch images.  Why would you want your images going stale on a microstock site when you can do something else with them and have money coming in?  If you really want to do micrstock fine, but my advice is to not lock yourself with one agent... spread your images around, sell some prints, sell directly to customers, do some freelance work.  Don't just do stock because realistically, although microstock agents are booming and making money, the sad truth is, the contributor is seeing the opposite effect.  The bigger the companies grow, the smaller the piece of the pie we all get.  If I had to rely on microstock for a living, I'd be dead lol.  I do some custom design work, I sell on microstock and I sell on PODs.  I'm not a photographer, I'm an artist/designer/illustrator.  My earnings have grown each month... except for microstock which has dropped despite my port growing.  This is my breakdown of my earnings in June:

Microstock:      $132
Zazzle:            $225 (I had a bad month)
99designs:       $642
Custom work:   $680 (customers gained from Zazzle and 99 designs)

I've been doing this for only a year.  I'm a management accountant and have been an artist since I was about 8.  I've only just begun doing graphic illustrations... I sort of discovered it by accident.  I had no clue about graphic art over a year ago.  I don't produce for microstock... that would be bloody boring.  I produce artwork and break it up into pieces and sell them here (like scrap) or I add my leftovers to stock.  My portfolio at microstock since I've started has grown but my earnings have reduced.  Do you understand now?  I don't think $132 is going to send you to Africa where you will take some awesome wildlife photography that will earn you a few more pitiful sales.  Stop listening to those people that puff out their chest and brag about how good they are... they're not that good and they don't make that much money.  The ones that do are still feeling the pinch but they're here bragging hoping someone like you will see their post and will click on their referral links and you will then earn them more money.  You will continue struggling, feeling disappointed the entire time until you eventually quit or find some other way of making money.  I'm just trying to spare you the disappointment so you can look outside of microstock and either follow another path... one you love or follow a few different ones.

As I said earlier, I like your enthusiam but you should take some of Roxx's advice and think about using that enthusiasm to better yourself as a photographer... you can still contribute to micro but you should spread your wings a little and not lock yourself into something that's obviously dying.  The micro companies won't die but our passion and our earnings will.  Roxx�s post was a little over the top and extremely entertaining (for me).  I don�t necessarily agree with her because I have seen some talent here.   Sure microstock is considered low end.  As a designer I see that all time from customers... �no microstock please�.  It's almost considered rude to provide them with stock.  A lot of microstock contributors upload the cheesy stock but who cares... if they sell then they sell and if they�re able to make a living out of it, good luck to them.  But selling cheesy stock is getting a lot harder as time goes on. A lot of the microstock contributors have put in years of time and effort into this.  They're feeling the hard times but this industry has sucked the life out of them and a lot of them are too worn out to even think about alternatives... they're too tired to start over.  If they were starting out in the business now, knowing what they know, I'm sure they would branch out into other areas.

Bloody hell, that was a long post!

Quote from: Roxxstock on July 18, 2011, 06:23

I don't know any personally and I don't even think I know any professionals that contribute to microstock sites with images either. Some probably do make a living from microstock, even I have heard of one guy from Scandinavia, Yuri ? - but a Getty colleague said he believes even he is jumping soon and will sell his pictures through his own website. No doubt he will make some serious income doing that.

This little bit makes me think Roxx is not quite who he proclaims to be.  The statement is a bit "I know nothing, but oh, by the way, I heard this...", made with full knowledge of the topic.

It would have been a bit more convincing if you misspelled his name .

I have to agree, I thought this post was a little 'try hard' but at the same time, I'm not so sure that Yuri is as popular outside of the microstock world.  I've put up a poll in my facebook page asking if people know him..

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunny-Mars-Designs/150453311638512

No one's answered yet, they're probably googling him, don't give a stuff about him or sick of seeing his name... we'll see tomorrow.

Will,

if you want to do stock just do it.

You cannot know if you will be a good stock photographer unless you try. And noone is stopping you from selling prints, shooting weddings or exploring anything else while doing so.

Stock photography requiers technically very clean images. I teach a class on stock photography at a school for photography that specilizes in art. The reason they want me there is because the technical demands of stock are good preparations for assignment work later.

Plus, the students can earn a little money on the side. Certainly beats serving coffee or working at Mc Donalds as a side job.

Also remember that stock is not limted to photography. I would anyway suggest to take a DSLR that does video and look into shooting video on the side.

If you work as a pro photographer you will get many clients that will ask you if you can "do the video as well", obviously unaware how much work that is. But many photographers will provide it as an additional service, so you might as well take a look at that.

It is also not true that the commissions are going down. the returns per sale have gone up a lot in the last 6 years, from a few cents to over 30 Dollars or more depending on size. Number of downloads have dropped with the price increases, but if you do make a sale, you will be getting a lot more money than i did when I started in 2005.

It is true that it has become a lot more competitive, but there are plenty of buyers out there.

.....It is also not true that the commissions are going down. the returns per sale have gone up a lot in the last 6 years, from a few cents to over 30 Dollars or more depending on size. Number of downloads have dropped with the price increases, but if you do make a sale, you will be getting a lot more money than i did when I started in 2005......

From the meter thingy you're right at the top end on IS and may well be getting $30 / download - folks in Will's position (comme moi) are still looking at averaging in cents rather than dollars... 

Will,

IS is not the place to start - much easier to try sites that don't have an "entrance exam" in the beginning to get a feel for what will and won't be accepted...

Quote from: sjlocke on July 18, 2011, 06:43

Quote from: Roxxstock on July 18, 2011, 06:23

I don't know any personally and I don't even think I know any professionals that contribute to microstock sites with images either. Some probably do make a living from microstock, even I have heard of one guy from Scandinavia, Yuri ? - but a Getty colleague said he believes even he is jumping soon and will sell his pictures through his own website. No doubt he will make some serious income doing that.

This little bit makes me think Roxx is not quite who he proclaims to be.  The statement is a bit "I know nothing, but oh, by the way, I heard this...", made with full knowledge of the topic.

It would have been a bit more convincing if you misspelled his name .

I have to agree, I thought this post was a little 'try hard' but at the same time, I'm not so sure that Yuri is as popular outside of the microstock world.  I've put up a poll in my facebook page asking if people know him..

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunny-Mars-Designs/150453311638512

No one's answered yet, they're probably googling him, don't give a stuff about him or sick of seeing his name... we'll see tomorrow.

I live in one of the top ten paradises of the world, so there are a lot of togs here on assignment from the telegraph, or thomas cook or other splashy magazine things.

I'm kind of like a dog that when it sees another dog will instantly run over and try and sniff its camera - so I meet a lot of them. All of them instantly become alert (possibly the same way you become alert if someone deposits a giant dog poo on your lawn, but still alert) when I mention microstock and all of them, bar none, have heard of Yuri, or more accurately 'some guy from denmark with a funny name, Yorgi or something, built his own kitchen in his studio...'

.......aside from all this microstock is the King, Queen, Royal Duchess and Archchancellor of the Internet.

Actually, I think those positions are probably occupied by porn 

Quote from: Will Dutt on July 15, 2011, 02:19

So what are microstock agencies looking for? Is it fashion, models, objects? Can someone point me into the right direction towards what the agencies are looking for?

Not fashion. But "Lifestyle".

People newbielink:http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=people [nonactive] (Sort by "Most Popular")

Objects
newbielink:http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=object [nonactive] (Sort by "Most Popular")

This is what your flower image would need to compete with (1,370,298 search results: newbielink:http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=flower [nonactive] newbielink:http://www.tmart.com/Camera-Chargers/Brand--Samsung/ [nonactive] newbielink:http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=flower [nonactive] (Sort by "Most Popular")

It's not a good thing to try copy existing images, but it's always a good thing to see what the competition is so you can make your images better and/or different.

Shooting ideas: Shoot something you know lot about, something you are specialist at. Shoot some location that isn't accessible for the general public. Follow the news and trends to see what images could be needed for illustrating different topics. Have a notebook and a pencil and write/draw ideas for images. The idea is half the work IMHO, the shooting part is just mechanics

Although I am not the specialized photographer, but I like the life in recording joyfully very much in my picture, then always felt that is very good. Your suggestion, I thought that is very good.