Recent Posts

Hi guys, Jan here form Charleston SC, USA.... I'm new here to this forum and also a newbie on photography.. Would love to meet new friends and learn new tricks and tips on photography... I'm glad I found this site... Thanks

I know I am upset, what about you?

You can do well if you try hard.  Its a case of you get what you put in.

Hi, I'm Lori! I'm a beginner/intermediate-level photographer and exploring my options career-wise. The portrait photography market is pretty much saturated where I live, so I think that's out. But microstock photography sounds, to me, like it could be fun! And I'm not looking to make millions, so the "will it sell, or won't it" aspect is not that huge a deal to me. I guess I should have said I'm interested in a "paying hobby", lol!

We use -------.com.  Saves lots of time...

When I started years ago, you not only could get almost anything approved, but it would sell also.  It's different now days.  I recommend picking one site to start with (see this page) and working that one site until you get a decent size portfolio.  By then, you will have images to submit to other sites and know more about what will work/sell for you.

I think it is relative to what you feel is "questionable small print".  I know it takes time, but I read them all.  You will probably be surprised in the differences you find.

I belong to 4 microstock sites and 3 traditional ones.  I really have a thing about keeping my microstock and traditional images serperated.  The only problem I have is not really a problem.  Corbis owns Veer.  Corbis dipped into my Veer account for images and then paid me the full Corbis commission.  So, a problem like this I can tolerate.  i do a lot of scientific photography, especially using the microscope.  They end up in textbooks, etc.  Pretty limited niche but I do OK.

To get back on topic, I like Shutterstock because I can count on them to be steady income earners.  It's just that I haven't been with most sites long enough to develop any trends.  I have been with Alamy and Shutterstock the longest (since '02 & '04).  Shutterstock has been the most consistantly accepting of my science stuff.  The others can't seem to decide.  One batch of images will get 100% acceptance and another will get 100% rejection.  So, additionally, I signed on to 2 traditional, science-only sites and things are starting to move nicely.  These traditional sites are accepting 70-80% of my submissions.  Most rejections are images that I have presented at several different magnifications, and then they choose only the ones that most suit their needs.

Jubal Harshaw

I don't use any yet but but I would like to know which (if any) stock agencies have questionable small print in their terms and conditions that we should be aware of, and perhaps should avoid.

Hello all,
Nothing terrifies me more than starting a project that could take a big chunk of however many years I have left. But I have almost decided to give microstock a go. Almost but not quite. Before I jump into that cold ocean I want to find out about how many people sink or swim.
What I have learnt already from other sources is that my existing images are not likely to be worth much because of the subject matter, so I need to develop a good eye for seeing what sells and a good nose for finding it. I hope you guys and gals are going to help so when JustaMinute asks a question, I want you all to fall over in the rush to answer.