I just got an email saying my initial 10 photos were accepted. :)
Do they normally accept the first batch or was I nervous for no reason? I was expecting to get rejected.
I got rejected twice before I finally got in. If you got all 10 accepted, you're definitely on the right track. Now join istockphoto, fotolia, dreamstime, and 123rf (although I'll admit I have yet to join 123 myself). Hang on, and enjoy the ride--stock is fun!
Don't however join Shutterpoint. It's a big waste of time.
I've made 0$ on photos there that I have made a lot on elsewhere. I had a full portfolio of great images on there, and some of them only had like 5 views. (They were all business/technology/medical related images) which are typically hot sellers.
Shutterpoint feels like a scam to me. Stick with istock and shutterstock ;-)
Product photos do okay, too. And still lifes that can be used for advertising agencies. For example, a photo of a "pretty girl" holding a big plate of nice food behind her and smiling would very easily adapt to any number of restaraunts, hotels etc. Men and women talking on cellphones dressed in nice suits in a downtown "business" sector, talking on a headset inside an office and such also do well.
I know some people who work purely as stock photographers and do okay at it. (About $2000 a month on average) They seem to do most of their work for paper stock agencies, however. If you can keep up with the changing trends you can do pretty well.
How much can you make in a month on shutter stock with say 50 good images? Do any of you use almay?
I haven't used Alamy or any of the macro agencies, they just don't fit my tastes or wants.
As far as shutter stock with 50 good images: that depends on defining good and what's in demand. Funny thing, I sell a lot of photos of Candy canes YEAR ROUND. Look at the top-selling photos on the sites, and the top searched keywords, if you come close to those, you could make damn good money with 50 good images.
If you have 50 good images that score well here at DPC, you may be waiting for a while to get a check.
How much can you make in a month on shutter stock with say 50 good images? Do any of you use almay?
I haven't used Alamy or any of the macro agencies, they just don't fit my tastes or wants.
What exactly is a macro agency (i'm new lol)? Almay seems to charge a lot more for images with bigger payoffs, but I suspect that sales come a lot slower. I've heard a few people argue that SS devalues photography in general?
What exactly is a macro agency (i'm new lol)? Almay seems to charge a lot more for images with bigger payoffs, but I suspect that sales come a lot slower. I've heard a few people argue that SS devalues photography in general?
You basically answered your own question. Alamy (and the macro agencies) sale photos for larger lumps of money and yes the sales are generally slower.
Thier customer base is different than the micorstocks, such as SS.
I was doing about $30 a month at 50. Sales are getting better as I plan and attack certain keywords and themes.
I think it depends on the time frame you're looking at. At Shutterstock I got my first payout in the second month after I started submitting with about that many photos. However, I didn't upload them all at once. Downloads for new images seem quite brisk. However, long term I think it will be closer to what awpollard says.
I've decided I'm going to treat this like a part time job. I work 40 hours a week third shift and have two small childrens so I am going to have to actually schedule time to get out and do some shooting. I hope to upload about 100 images a month, give or take a few. We'll see how it goes.
You were nervous for no reason. Pretty much anyone can get in no problem. Go there and do a search for something, anything and just look at how poor the quality of photos are of 99% of things.
Okay, here's another question for those who submit to more than one site. How do you get around the fact that each site has their own model release forms? I can't imagine making a model sign 4 release forms because I want to upload my image to istock, shutterstock, 123rf, anf fotolia. Will they accept just a generic all-encompassing release form that is not their proprietary document?
Does anyone else use Verizon as their ISP here? I tried to sign up with Shutterstock and cannot receive their email because Verizon has them blocked. Shutterstock doesn't accept free email accounts. Anyone else have this problem? If so, how did you resolve it? I use gmail for DPC now, since this site was also blocked through Verizon.
Verizon should allow you to unblock specific addresses. If not, complain to them about being unable to receive messages from your legitimate correspondents.
I've never tried the generic release route but it would be a great thing if they'll accept one. I have my doubts however.
As for your question GeneralE about multiple faces in a shot, I know that at istock you need individual signed releases for each person. Then you stitch the scans together and upload the single document along with the photo. A real pain.
At ShutterStock there is a new procedure that I haven't tried but it sounds great. There you upload a model release just once and it stays on file. Then when you upload a photo of that model there is some way to attach the previously uploaded release to that upload. Should work great for multiple subject photos too.
