Great analogy Colette and I can only concur. The only thing I'd say is as you climb the mountain it gets more stressful as you get used to certain figures and aim to improve constantly. Great though not like a
 normal job eh?!

Hi All

Im interested to know if anyone has applied to getty (or corbis) through the traditional channels. By that I mean creating a bespoke portfolio for getty and then applied through the traditional way, in that youve put your portfolio online and then posted the link in the form on there site (or sent 10 images) and then waited for a response.

I know that there are other avenues, but istock isnt open to me as a relative newbie it will take forever and a day for me to be exclusive even if I wanted to be and then I know the process is still not guaranteed. Im also aware of flickr and may try that but Im not sure if that is all in all the same as the traditional acceptance. In essence I would like the opportunity to regularly contribute as a I do in microstock. The portfolio I am developing for mid/macrostock is very different and far more time consuming from micro and so I feel will work better there, its also very conceptual/metaphorical and will be lost in micro.

Any advice guys?

Jo

'I have been at this for 5 years and seem to have hit that wall. I upload roughly 30 images a week. '

Lisa, I was wondering whether when you hit the wall you tried to change sector, (sorry as a relative newbie Im not sure what you shoot), or have you covered off all the major sectors with that 5000...? Also you seem to me one of the pro's here, so one other question if I may, if you submit to macro/midstock have you found the same to be the case there (albeit with a different portfolio)

Thank you Lisa

Jo

Well it looks like I may have a couple if years to plateau and if so I'm happy with that... Obviously if that level is high enough! However I wonder if the vector nature of my portfolio will help. After all a silhouette or icon or map etc is undateable as powerdroid mentioned. If I can get some in the first page of the searches (by downloads) they may have more staying... power. In the meantime I guess I need to cover more bases and start with shooting some shaking hands... Hahaha no I will leave that to the masses!

Any vector guys out there with views?

Well I've only been doing this a year but every month has been a BME so far... When do things flatten out?!

I'd like to add a few thoughts from a relative newbie, Ive been doing this since march last year so pretty much 12 months, I do both vectors and photography, the latter has been a huge huge learning curve. I live in London where the cost of living is high and I earn a good wage as a freelance designer and lecturer. I actually started stock after some of my students started asking about iStock and how to contribute and thought I'd have a go myself. What I'd say is that after a year I earn a third of my income from stock which isnt bad and above what I'd expected. In terms of earning a living I think that it is definitely possible even for a newbie living in London but its a few years work, however the biggest drawback for me is iStock, with there low upload limits and there very strict policy on vectors (it seems they want very detailed work largely, though photo acceptance i've found relatively easy) it would take a very long time to build a substantial saleable portfolio. Most of iStocks consistently big seller categories are simply not accepted, maps and globes and silhouettes would be a good example but there are many more, I should think for those who got in there earlier with the simpler stuff its a walk in the park! I think for those that have already established a larger portfolio on iStock things should be somewhat easier in terms of income as I know the RPI is great. Would love to hear from any iStockers who feel otherwise...

I appreciate my view is only based on a years work and I wasn't around when it appears some of you were earning much more, but I dont see things as negatively as many here and would actively encourage good photographers and illustrators to have a go, at the moment I spend about 8 hours a week on this as i have a young family and my normal work...

Jo

Hi Guys

Although Im new here Ive been reading this forums pretty much every day for a few months, so hi everyone, I definitely feel as if I know some of the characters in here, my first post is in regards to flickr. I have a small portfolio on flickr, mostly long exposure landscape shots separate from my microstock portfolio, I have about 1500 images across the stock sites half of which are illustrations. My question is has anyone uploaded their stock portfolio to flickr and found it useful, had any work from there?

On another note I wasnt sure whether to add my portfolio links to my profile I notice a lot of people dont and prefer anonymity, any advice much appreciated, Amended!: Have decided to be open cant bear the cloak and dagger stuff my links are in my profile!

Jo