Shutterstock have published a new article on what buyers want, it has many of the same views that were in the PhotoShelter article with the same name.

More natural images seems to be the theame, when PhotoShelter had this idea it did not filter down to the inspectors and many of the images the submitters shot with the article in mind were rejected.

just interested in a general discussion if you have a diverse portfolio and have seen a changed in what is being accepted?

David

I would interested to see how many sales some of those images have that they used as examples, in particular the little girl and the guy fishing. Not that they are bad shots, I just dont see them pulling a lot of sales on SS.

Phil,
I would agree there is limited use for the samples, would you upload them to earn $0.25 - $0.38 or would you target Direct Sales, Alamy, Midstock or some of the new more Arty style websites and collections that will pay a much higher revenue.

Through multiple venues of customer interaction, including at tradeshows, in emails, phone calls and more, Shutterstock clients continuously request �more natural feeling� images -- photos that convey an idea or concept without the stiff and overly-posed characteristics held by much of today�s stock.

While handshakes and studio-lit business shots are fine for certain situations, we would like to see photographers supplement their galleries with more shots conveying the idea of spontaneity. We want to be less aware of the presence of the photographer in your images and more focused on the photograph itself.
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Read design and photography magazines. Industry magazines such as Communication Arts, Creative Review and Photo District News (PDN) publish �photo annuals� that showcase some of the best photography over a wide range of categories, including stock, editorial, commercial, and personal to name a few.

If the buyers are requesting this style of image they would already be purchasing from other traditional or niche agencies and going forward from microstock collections like Istock Vetta, and paying quite a bit more than a few credits, so yes it would be good for Shutterstock and the Buyers but what about the artists?

I.M.H.O. it looks like Shutterstock want to add some diversity to thier library at the artists expense, this would be the production, preperation and upload time to capture a small number of downloads, as the style of images they are requesting are more suited to macrostock, midstock and RM collections rather than microstock libraries, as these will not be multi-downloaded big sellers, as an artist you would be looking for more than $0.25 - $0.38, even more than for an EL licence, if an image has a narrow market appeal and limited use you need to maximise the revenue, possibly with a RM license to capture any recurring use, regardless of the production cost, the value of an asset is weakened by similars where the image is harder to find a premium is in order.

David    

last submission I did 21/6/09 still had

Be sure to have a look at the top 50 photos and top 100 keywords for more ideas

also thought it ironic that the 'popular images' on the email (and when you click it on the site) is not of the style suggested

The new set up at FP is tending in that direction, they now are at the beginning of building a Macro (Mid) collection, . . . . .  also RM.

We will see.

SS has been making numerous policy changes.  It makes you wonder what is going on behind the scenes. 

Now a shift toward �more natural feeling� images.  It makes you consider just who is actually asking for these changes.

Personally I think they are headed in the right direction and as mentioned earlier in this thread; the addition of a higher quality collection would be a positive change.