Things have changed. I have over 1,000 photos taken with stock in mind. Many of them are not good photos at all, some are downright embarrassing, but they provided practice and experience and I have improved, though I have a very long way to go. You will find you need a lot of practice. It's much harder than I imagined to become good with a camera and lights.
I have 313 approved photos online at iStockphoto.com. I was wrong about their exclusive program. They need you to have SOLD 250 photos from their site before you can go exclusive. I have 195 today. Since they only allow 15 uploads per week and they usually reject something it takes a long time to get a lot of photos online there. But they do more with less. I can see now that when I finally have 1,000 photos up at iStockphoto.com I will probably do fairly well there depending on my ability to take photos that sell. I earn as little as $.19 per photo on their site, but usually I get $.65 to $1.50 or more depending on the size of the photo. I have made 185 sales at Dreamstime.com and they pay a little more than iStock photo.com, or at least it seems that way to me. I have 688 photos online at Dreamstime.com. Shutterstock.com made some changes to the way they sell photos and my income from them has dropped dramatically, but they still do more for me than any other site. I have 871 photos for sale there and have sold 2379 photos there. I have earned $1075.55 at shutterstock.com so far. After you earn $500 they pay $.33 per photo rather than $.25. They also sell enhanced downloads that can earn you more per photo. I have earned about $150.00 at Dreamstime total and $203 at iStockphoto.com. So obviously I have not been profiting from stock photography, at least not yet. I am looking forward to my first payout from Fotolia.com. I have 665 photos there and have sold 121. I'm also at Stockexpert and just got started with 123RF.com. And I'm considering becoming exclusive with one of these sites (iStockphoto or Dreamstime if they offer that option in the future) because it's very time consuming and boring to be uploading to 6 sites. You learn nothing about photography while sitting in front of your computer downloading photos.
Is this discouraging news? I hope not, but I'll be honest, sometimes I feel discouraged. But I enjoy photography, I'm learning, and I believe it will all begin to pay off sometime soon. August has been a slow month for photo sales, so I'm looking forward to September. I need to have 687 more photos online at iStockphoto.com in order to reach a goal my friend told me would lead to better sales there, having 1,000 photos online. That will take another year unless I go exclusive in which case I would be allowed to upload 50 photos per week. Would that be worth it? I think it might. It depends on where shutterstock goes when it comes to sales. Lately they are down dramatically there, but partly that's my fault for taking so many not so great photos. We'll see.
I just ordered a new lens which will allow me to take better photos and a variety of photo styles that I couldn't achieve with the 18-200 lens I've been using for all my product type isolation photos. The 18-200 is versatile, but it's soft and soft doesn't work in stock photography. The new lens is the Nikkor 105mm micro. I bought it at Amazon, but it's coming from J&R Music, so wish me well! The lens cost just under $900. I also need another light and I will be buying filters and gels and other light modifiers that I don't know how to use. I am learning by doing and that's working out okay for me.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Learning 5-9-2009
I haven't posted since December and I've learned a lot in the meantime. I am now a contributing photographer on 5 stock photo sites and I could easily go for more, but uploading images to all those sites is very time consuming and in my mind, not worth the effort. My biggest selling site is shutterstock.com. They sell far more photos than the other sites combined. I hear that this will change once I have 1,000 decent selling photos uploaded. iStockphoto.com sells more somehow once you have more photos. I don't understand why this should be the case, but I'm continuing to upload the 15 photos per week iStockphoto allows. That means it will take a long time to get 1,000 images there. iStockphoto would like their contributors to be exclusive, which means you are not selling photos at any other stock sites. If you go there exclusively they will allow you 50 uploads per week, but you have to have 250 images already accepted before they'll let you go exclusive. Seems to me they are limiting the number of photos they have available to their clientele, but it's their site, so I guess it must work for them. I will not be able to afford exclusivity unless my sales at iStockphoto can compete with my sales at shutterstock.com, and as of today they are not even close to competing. I was accepted as a contributor at shutterstock.com on February 27, 2009. I quickly uploaded 29 photos and they started to sell that day. I was amazed at that because it took months at iStockphoto before I got one sale. So I started shooting like crazy and today I have 475 images for sale at shutterstock.com. My goal these days is to have 32 uploads per day on weekdays. The pay is dismal, usually 25 cents per photo, but I can see that once I have better photos and more of them, I can make some decent money here and it's all on me to get those photos taken and uploaded. It's a lot of work and there is disappointment when I feel my best shots are not popular, but I enjoy it anyway and I'm shooting better photos. I also upload at Dreamstime, Fotolia, and Stockxpert. I like Fotolia. They allow all the uploads you want, as does shutterstock, and they notify you when you have a sale by email. Shutterstock is my kindergarten home. It's where I'm accepted and learning. It's where I can see progress most in earnings. Shutterstock gives me hope that I can reach all my goals.
I was borrowing lighting from photographer friend Tavo Olmos and doing a lot of tabletop photography. I learned the little I know about it from a friend, Steve Cukrov, who has been a major help to me in all things photographic. But the lights were an old set of Normans and when Tavo needed them for his own work I decided to buy my own lights, an inevitable expense I knew was coming. I ordered a 2 mono light kit from Profoto which will be coming in 10 days or so. I think I'll need at least one more light, but for now this expense dipped into my retirement fund, enough said! I was reading Lise Gagne's blog and she says that you will make sacrifices and have to buy expensive equipment, but if you hang in there you will succeed. So far it's all about the sacrifices for me, but I intend to hang in there and it was encouraging to read her words.
I was borrowing lighting from photographer friend Tavo Olmos and doing a lot of tabletop photography. I learned the little I know about it from a friend, Steve Cukrov, who has been a major help to me in all things photographic. But the lights were an old set of Normans and when Tavo needed them for his own work I decided to buy my own lights, an inevitable expense I knew was coming. I ordered a 2 mono light kit from Profoto which will be coming in 10 days or so. I think I'll need at least one more light, but for now this expense dipped into my retirement fund, enough said! I was reading Lise Gagne's blog and she says that you will make sacrifices and have to buy expensive equipment, but if you hang in there you will succeed. So far it's all about the sacrifices for me, but I intend to hang in there and it was encouraging to read her words.
Accumulating Photos 12-20-2008
Turns out coming up with 250 photos is going to be a lot of work. In an attempt to become a more efficient photographer I have been pursuing lights, because usually the problems I have with photos are that they are not well lit. I also know I need the lowest ISO possible and lights help there as well. I could use another lens as well, maybe the 85mm f1.4. I think a fast lens is going to really help with capturing all the available light.
So, I bought some books, went on strobist.com and headed down to Samy's for advice. While at Samy's I was shown how the SB 900 works without any connection to your camera. The flash on your camera has to be in the up position, but you can block the light from it and it still works. I didn't buy the flash for 2 reasons. One was because Samy's adds a premium to the price, but not enough value (in the way of service or instruction) to make the price difference worthwhile. The other reason was that I had read there have been lots of problems with the unit overheating. I don't know if the SB 800 and SB 600 works off camera with no connector or slave like the SB 900 does. If so I'll probably buy one or more of those. I wish I had asked at Samy's.
The books I bought on lighting I'm still working through. I have questions as I read, same with strobist.com, and would like a complete demo of each type of equipment rather than a presentation of options before I have the understanding of the differences, but maybe you'll have better luck and probably given more time I'll figure it out. I want a simple, light weight solution. The thing I did like about the SB 900 was that it did not have to be connected to the camera. The thing I didn't like was that there was no preview mode. You have to shoot, look, adjust, then shoot and adjust again until you get what you're after. I am looking for efficiency, so that didn't impress me. I'm hoping that joining the camera clubs will put me into contact with others who have various systems so I can watch and learn.
My biggest problem is finding people who will allow me to take their photo, but I'm working on it. Just joined 2 camera clubs, met another aspiring photographer shooting stock and he's willing to trade modeling and to wear a business suit. Wonderful!
Good luck in your endeavors!
So, I bought some books, went on strobist.com and headed down to Samy's for advice. While at Samy's I was shown how the SB 900 works without any connection to your camera. The flash on your camera has to be in the up position, but you can block the light from it and it still works. I didn't buy the flash for 2 reasons. One was because Samy's adds a premium to the price, but not enough value (in the way of service or instruction) to make the price difference worthwhile. The other reason was that I had read there have been lots of problems with the unit overheating. I don't know if the SB 800 and SB 600 works off camera with no connector or slave like the SB 900 does. If so I'll probably buy one or more of those. I wish I had asked at Samy's.
The books I bought on lighting I'm still working through. I have questions as I read, same with strobist.com, and would like a complete demo of each type of equipment rather than a presentation of options before I have the understanding of the differences, but maybe you'll have better luck and probably given more time I'll figure it out. I want a simple, light weight solution. The thing I did like about the SB 900 was that it did not have to be connected to the camera. The thing I didn't like was that there was no preview mode. You have to shoot, look, adjust, then shoot and adjust again until you get what you're after. I am looking for efficiency, so that didn't impress me. I'm hoping that joining the camera clubs will put me into contact with others who have various systems so I can watch and learn.
My biggest problem is finding people who will allow me to take their photo, but I'm working on it. Just joined 2 camera clubs, met another aspiring photographer shooting stock and he's willing to trade modeling and to wear a business suit. Wonderful!
Good luck in your endeavors!
Acceptance 12-1-2008
I was successful at getting 3 images accepted at istockphoto.com. Yay! You can view all three accepted images at HERE. I learned a lot about taking good photos by taking on this challenge and now there is a new challenge. istockphoto.com has asked me to begin submitting more photos. I am being allowed to submit 15 photos within one week. I read several very brief articles istockphoto offers and learned that their contributors must have 250 approved images in order to qualify for the exclusive program. So my new goal is to get 250 images accepted. I have a long way to go to come up with all those images.
Lessons 11-15-2008
This was written on 11-5-2008.
This year I bought my first good digital camera, a Nikon D300. I bought it in April and paid about $1800 for it. You can get it for $1200 now. I think I am correct in calling it a semi professional camera. It's not a professional camera, but I considered it expensive for me. I picked the Nikon because I had previous experience with Nikon and I thought the learning curve would be easier with the same brand. It probably made no difference because I have so much to learn. The other choice would have been Canon, but in terms of what I've read about quality, they are comparable with fans of each declaring for their favorite. The other deciding factor was the list of cameras Getty Images finds acceptable, because I wanted to have my photos represented by Getty if possible. Yes, that's a stretch for an amateur photographer, but I don't put limits on myself. I expect to reach the goal eventually. The cheapest Nikon that Getty would accept images from the day I checked was the D300.
This year I bought my first good digital camera, a Nikon D300. I bought it in April and paid about $1800 for it. You can get it for $1200 now. I think I am correct in calling it a semi professional camera. It's not a professional camera, but I considered it expensive for me. I picked the Nikon because I had previous experience with Nikon and I thought the learning curve would be easier with the same brand. It probably made no difference because I have so much to learn. The other choice would have been Canon, but in terms of what I've read about quality, they are comparable with fans of each declaring for their favorite. The other deciding factor was the list of cameras Getty Images finds acceptable, because I wanted to have my photos represented by Getty if possible. Yes, that's a stretch for an amateur photographer, but I don't put limits on myself. I expect to reach the goal eventually. The cheapest Nikon that Getty would accept images from the day I checked was the D300.
I started searching for information about lenses. I found it difficult to learn which lenses to buy. I checked Amazon.com where they have lots of reviews, but very few professional photographers offer reviews on Amazon and it's hard to tell if the review is sound when you're reading the raves of an amateur. Ditto on the Adorama site. I then found the Ken Rockwell site, and I was influenced by Ken to buy the AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 G ED lens. I like the lens, but I regret buying it because I find I need to get to 300 or 400 mm, I'd have liked a faster lens better, and mainly because the photos I take with it are not as sharp as I'd like them to be. I don't blame Ken. It would have been wise for me to rent the lens first and see how I liked it. It's also been a decent lens, versatile in that it comes close to a macro, and it has taken photos that have been approved by 6 stock companies.
I bought a good book on photography for beginners by Bryan Peterson entitled Understanding Exposure which taught me the basics in a very easy to understand way. I'm grateful for the book. I checked out his field classes on one of his websites and noticed he requires that you have a "wide-angle to telephoto zoom or prime lenses, macro lens (or extension tubes)", so I decided that a wide-angle lens was a basic requirement for learning photography and I started to look for one. After a lot of searching online I decided on the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 ED AF-S Nikkor Wide Angle Zoom lens. It cost roughly $1650. It's a great lens and I've taken my best photos with it. The only other things I've purchased have been a SLIK tripod, a polarizing filter, and an 8GB flash card that I paid about $170 for including tax at Best Buy. I have used 5 GB in one shooting session so far, usually I use more like 3. I think I'd have done better buying a couple 4GB flash cards. It would be easier to download a smaller number of files at once and I wouldn't be putting all my eggs in one basket in case this flash card fails one day. It would also have been cheaper. Oh well.
My goal right off was to get my images accepted at Getty Images. But I chickened out and went to istockphoto instead. I'm still working on acceptance there and learning as I go. The great thing is that istock is owned by the same company that owns Getty and they are a gateway to Getty. It makes sense to me to begin there since I don't know photography very well. I've had 2 photos accepted there and I'm working on number 3. You can see the 2 accepted images here. www.laylandmasuda.com/ediesistockacceptedimages.html
I've also discovered that you can think you're sending a perfectly acceptable photo, but the way you save a photo in Photoshop can ruin the photo so that you're not sending what you were just looking at. My rejections are almost always due to noise. A few times it's been really confusing to me because I know the image I sent didn't have a noise problem. I was emailing a photographer friend of a friend of mine, Geraint Smith www.geraintsmith.com about this and he asked me to send him the rejected photos. As I was sending one of them I saw it was full of noise. I realized something must have happened when I saved the image, because it sure didn't look like this before. Or I may have sharpened the image at less that 100% view and sent it without a final review. It's turning out to be a lot of work to learn the ins and outs of submitting an acceptable photo. I'm currently taking an online course on Photoshop CS3 at lynda.com from Chris Orwig. I am really enjoying it. He's a photography teacher at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California and you can tell he is a very experienced teacher. Here's a link to his Photoshop website.
I recommend the lynda.com software learning site. (They have no courses on photography.) I have learned a lot there having taken roughly 25 courses from them. Some of the teachers are better than others. I'll be honest, a few aren't very good. Chris Orwig is outstanding. I pay a $25 a month fee to lynda.com and I have access to all their online video clip courses 24/7. It's the cheapest most convenient way to learn software I know.
Stock Photographer Guide
I am a beginner stock photographer with very little money and no education regarding photography, but with a desire to build a career as a stock photographer. I've been working at my goal for a year. Here is what I've learned. I hope what I share will help you succeed more quickly.
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