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Newbie Discussion / ex-Istock Exclusive discovering freedom (and the pain that goes with it)
« on: February 21, 2013, 07:29 »
Hello everyone,
I decided to drop my crown as an exclusive istock contributor last month, after many weeks of hesitation and wondering. I felt pretty good about that decision.
Then, I started uploading to other sites a few days ago. It's all new and exciting to me, as I have only known Istockphoto in my photographer life.
Of course, I was expecting to suffer a little, as i was not any longer used to wait for inspection, for example, nor to get rejections. Actually, i was pretty confident about rejections, as i had read here and there that istock inspectors are the hardest - and they are pretty kind to me (after the first years, where they massacred me of course).
First, i was happy to discover that Fotolia is pretty reactive : the inspection time was quite short. But the answers were very disconcerting ! 18 rejections / 8 acceptance so far. All images that were accepted no problem on istock, and i consider some of my best work. Even images from the Vetta Collection ! Here are a few examples :
http://francais.istockphoto.com/photo-22817017-chania-harbour-in-crete-island-greece.php
http://francais.istockphoto.com/photo-18791294-paris-arc-triomphe-rue-france-voiture.php
http://francais.istockphoto.com/photo-13235503-voiture-paris-vieux-citroen-citroen-2cv.php
http://francais.istockphoto.com/photo-18010050-cabine-plage-nuage-pluie-colombages-cahute.php?st=ef40612
The reason is always the same : technical problem. After having struggled with istock high standards, i thought i knew what a technical problem for stock photography is. I'm starting to have doubts about it. There is definitely something i don't understand. Am i too used to istock standards that i don't see something obviously wrong with these images. Are my style or my favourite subjects wrong for Fotolia (or stock in general) ? Should i focus on other sites ?
If you have time to read that post and to answer, your help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Ivan.
I decided to drop my crown as an exclusive istock contributor last month, after many weeks of hesitation and wondering. I felt pretty good about that decision.
Then, I started uploading to other sites a few days ago. It's all new and exciting to me, as I have only known Istockphoto in my photographer life.
Of course, I was expecting to suffer a little, as i was not any longer used to wait for inspection, for example, nor to get rejections. Actually, i was pretty confident about rejections, as i had read here and there that istock inspectors are the hardest - and they are pretty kind to me (after the first years, where they massacred me of course).
First, i was happy to discover that Fotolia is pretty reactive : the inspection time was quite short. But the answers were very disconcerting ! 18 rejections / 8 acceptance so far. All images that were accepted no problem on istock, and i consider some of my best work. Even images from the Vetta Collection ! Here are a few examples :
http://francais.istockphoto.com/photo-22817017-chania-harbour-in-crete-island-greece.php
http://francais.istockphoto.com/photo-18791294-paris-arc-triomphe-rue-france-voiture.php
http://francais.istockphoto.com/photo-13235503-voiture-paris-vieux-citroen-citroen-2cv.php
http://francais.istockphoto.com/photo-18010050-cabine-plage-nuage-pluie-colombages-cahute.php?st=ef40612
The reason is always the same : technical problem. After having struggled with istock high standards, i thought i knew what a technical problem for stock photography is. I'm starting to have doubts about it. There is definitely something i don't understand. Am i too used to istock standards that i don't see something obviously wrong with these images. Are my style or my favourite subjects wrong for Fotolia (or stock in general) ? Should i focus on other sites ?
If you have time to read that post and to answer, your help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Ivan.