Yeah, nobody sells better than IS.
Nobody even comes close.

I have less than 1/4 of the images on IS than I do at my other sites, and, with the exception of SS, IS outperforms them all. It's only a matter of time before my IS sales exceed my SS sales. I can see myself reaching a point where I'll only incur a small financial penalty by going exclusive with IS - when I reach that point I won't hesitate for a second.

... oy vey!

Some people use Flickr as an online archive.

You can upload an unlimited amount of full-rez shots, and flag them as them as "private" to prevent theft. Cost is very low: $25/year.

Heh ... that's what happens when you move away from Canada! (grin)

I looked into them (along with Corbis and Getty) before deciding to go the microstock route. Among other things, Jupiter requires that you have at least a 12MP camera, which may leave out most of the people here. All three agencies more or less expect you to be able to completely manage a professional photoshoot (e.g. hire models/stylists/assistants, pay all expenses, arrange for travel and accommodations, ...), which is also probably beyond the expertise and experience of this crowd. Bottom line: I don't think they're gonna really consider you unless you are a professional with at least a little experience.

You can, alternatively, develop a portfolio and offer it for sale to them.

A good way in is to know someone: I recently met a guy who was shooting stock for Getty - he got jobs because a friend of his was an editor there. They flew him out to Vancouver from NYC and even supplied him with a Hasselblad and one of these babies!

Here's the questionnaire Jupiter sends you: click me. I wasn't very impressed by its rather amateur appearance.


A telling sign: Yuri Arcurs was approached by one of these agencies and decided that he was far better off shooting microstock than shooting for a large RM/RF/Day Rate/Work for Hire agency.

Quick and easy to do ... thanks for the technique, rjmiz!

I've owned a D60, a 10D, and a 20D - all similar cameras. Of the three, I liked the D60 the most - only because it had a little button in the middle of the back wheel that I could program. I had mine set to change ISO, which was super-handy for shooting performance and events (when lighting conditions change quickly and often). I sold my D60 because of it's limited ISO capability - ISO1000 just wasn't enough.

I've also use a 350D, which I would not recommend if you are at all serious about making images. I consider exposure compensation to be one of the most important features of a camera - the implementation of this on the 350D is clumsy and awkward (involving the simultaneous pressing of a button and spinning of a wheel). Exposure compensation can easily be done while composing on Canon's more 'senior' cameras. I also noticed an unsettling tendency of exposure change with aperture with this camera: an image shot at f/16 will be (much) darker than the same scene shot at f/5.6. A minor annoyance, and one that I could perhaps live with if exposure compensation wasn't so clumsy.

Given your limited budget, you may want to consider the purchase of a used 10D or 20D. A 20D has the same resolution as a 30D while the 10D is 12% lower - not much of a difference. I haven't checked prices, but it's probably a good bet that a 10D will give you the biggest bang for the buck.

Regardless of which model you get, you should strongly consider getting the battery grip for it. Although battery life is pretty good with these cameras, you'll begin to approach 1D/1Ds battery life by having two batteries in the camera. Having a battery grip will also allow you to use a hand strap together with a neck strap, which makes the camera easier to carry.

1000+ DLs on a single day and site is indeed quite an accomplishment. My target for the end of the year (and after one year shooting stock) is 300. So far so good: I'm nearly half way there. To sell at his rate after only two years not only says much about his dedication and work ethic, but also about how and what he shoots.

I think the lesson to be learnt is that in order to be successful you must specialize. I firmly believe that developing a broad and shallow portfolio will not allow you to excel in any specific niche, and your sales will reflect this, forever earthbound. Yuri has chosen to specialize in shooting people within a white collar framework. I have chosen to specialize in aviation photography.

I humbly suggest that you select a subject/topic/niche that interests you - something you are (or can become) passionate about. If outdoor or street photography is your bag, then perhaps you can choose to specialize in capturing that unique something about the area in which you live. If you have young kids, why not document everything about their lives as they grow and mature? If cars are your thing, start shooting them like no one else has before. Wanna shoot fashion? There are plenty of models and stylists on Craigslist and Model Mayhem who are open to TFP/TFCD work. Go for it!

There is a market for every kind of image. Some markets are larger than others, but regardless of the demand for your imagery, it should be your goal to be the best - to be world class - at providing it. It'll be a tough go at first, as you learn your craft and find out what sells and what doesn't, but once you hit your stride you will be very far ahead of your competition - photographers who click/shoot/grab at seemingly random subjects, not having a clear and concise goal, and thus excelling at nothing. If you approach stock photography as an amateur, you will forever be an amateur. As this industry grows and matures it will become increasingly dominated by professionals. Do you want to be one of them, or do you want to sit back and envy them? Are you content with mediocre acceptance and sales rates, or do you want to do something about it?

Maybe 1000+ DLs/day is a wakeup call ... are you listening?



Okay, I'm off my soapbox now ... back to work! (making more airplane shots, of course)


[Edit: After reading this it occurred to me that you may think this is directed at you, madelaide. Rest assured that it is not - it's directed at everyone.]

He has quite an incredible success story to say the least. I had record sales on the same day, albeit I have a ways to go before I'm at his stratospheric level. His success easily motivates me to double my efforts.

A big huge Congratulations!

It's great that you've been single out of the crowd for your excellent imagery, bbettina.

...
This morning, the 2 photos were "rejected" with the following comment: "broken image, please re-upload".

I guess I'm the first one with that reason! 
...

That's exactly what happened to all fifty of mine.

I don't quite understand what it is you are trying to do here.

From a technical point of view, you're breaking two very hard rules: never shoot wide open, and never shoot fully closed. I try to stick to the 'sweet spot' of my lenses (open 2 or 3 stops = f/5.6 or f/8) and position myself to have the desired amount of lens blur (by using a shorter or longer focal length). This seems to me much simpler than making three images and combining them in photoshop.

On top of that, I'm curious as to why you introduced a purple spot into the image.

That's why I wanted the Intuos.

The mouse on the tablet does a jumpy little pixel dance all by iteslf - you don't even have to be touching it!