I was just wondering if anyone here has experience submitting photos to places like istock or shutterstock? I keep getting very generic rejection explanations and feel like I haven't got a clue what they're looking for. My latest submission batch had the complaint of poor composition making it unsuitable for commercial value. What on earth does that mean? I always try to follow the rules of composition when I shoot my photos. Are they looking for something specific?
Great post. I'm kind of considering trying to put some stock images together too. I'll be interested to see what people with experience with stock have to say here.
Can you give a flickr link to the ones that were rejected. I'd love to take a look. (I know that seems kind of counter-intuitive, but I'm interested in learning)
Yeah I submitted some awhile back (w/ my old camera) and most of those were rejected for graininess, which is a very understandable reason. Now that I have a DSLR, that's not an issue.
This time I submitted a wide variety of shots to try to get a feel for what they wanted. Ironically w/ my old camera, they like 2 out of 10 submitted and w/ my new camera they didn't like any! I thought I was getting better, but now I kind of feel like I'm shooting in the dark. Lol.
Good article too - I just read it. It's kind of discouraging though - makes it sound almost impossible to break into the stock business!
I've been trying to figure out how to monetize my love of photography and so far have been really frustrated. I did some portrait shoots recently and sooo did not like doing that. (I'm neither a people person nor a business person! Bad combination.) Stock sounded like it might be an easier way to sell photos, w/o having to be a people person. Maybe not.
Stock photography is basically any generic photo you see in most magazines. People (like you or me) can submit photos to stock agencies and then advertisers license the rights to these photos in their ads. I've heard of people making a good living doing this, but I'm not quite sure who those people are! Lol.
I'm currently going through a photography school and I by no means know what they want nor do i think i now a lot. But the more I do my work the more i find that they like the old school way of things. Not to artistey and the subject is the complete center of attention. Making it clear to the viewer what the subject is. On the first two photos you posted a link to if you hadn't titled them what they were i would still be guessing. However with that said and knowing what they are i think they are really cool shots.
Let me say one more thing... DONT GIVE UP. Learning is a process and if your not out of your comfort zone your not learning. As a result of that there are lots of ups and downs in your confidence. Most people stop learning as soon as their out of school. So let me applaud you for trying and keep it up :)
Thanks Talley. I've definitely seen my confidence go up and down with regards to photography. And I think you're right that all of this is part of the learning process. I am also definitely further along than I was a month ago or a year ago. I will just have to keep at it!
I read somewhere that people who shoot stock tend to take photos specifically w/ stock in mind. I would guess that's because of what you were saying about how specific the guidelines are - very clear subject, not too artsy, etc. I'll have to try taking some shots with stock in mind, rather than just browsing through my favorite shots and trying to guess which ones they'd like!
keep up the good work Jennifer. I don't know what they mean by that either, sorry they can't give you more specifics...but looking at your shots, i see a couple that still could use some editing, maybe that's what they mean ?? for instance the t.v. shot, there is dot in the t.v. that could be distracting, the jelly bean shot looks a tad overexposed, the calendar shot looks a tad underexposed...maybe along those lines. i don't know how it works, but imagine they want the shot just perfect so they do not have to altar it in anyway.
this is just my assumption however.
your composition looks good tho ~ and like talley said, don't give up ~ keep investigating and researching and hopefully you will find exactly what they are looking for :)
Oh yeah they did mention the lighting/exposure on the jelly beans and the calendar pictures. I understand that critique, but having all of them marked down for composition was what was confusing me. Maybe they're defining "composition" differently than we are?
Write a Reply
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
Can you give a flickr link to the ones that were rejected. I'd love to take a look. (I know that seems kind of counter-intuitive, but I'm interested in learning)
I was reading an article last night. It might be of use. http://digital-photography-school.com/microstock-update-how-the-market-has-changed-and-what-that-means-for-digital-photography-students
This time I submitted a wide variety of shots to try to get a feel for what they wanted. Ironically w/ my old camera, they like 2 out of 10 submitted and w/ my new camera they didn't like any! I thought I was getting better, but now I kind of feel like I'm shooting in the dark. Lol.
Okay, so here are the ones rejected for: Composition--Limited commercial value due to framing, cropping, and/or composition.
Disc Golf
Guitar
Watching TV
Jelly Beans
Flowers
Electrical Tower
Coffee Beans
Calendar
Farm
I've been trying to figure out how to monetize my love of photography and so far have been really frustrated. I did some portrait shoots recently and sooo did not like doing that. (I'm neither a people person nor a business person! Bad combination.) Stock sounded like it might be an easier way to sell photos, w/o having to be a people person. Maybe not.
And Jennifer, I think those pictures are great! Maybe the judges are expecting some kind of bribe...?
I read somewhere that people who shoot stock tend to take photos specifically w/ stock in mind. I would guess that's because of what you were saying about how specific the guidelines are - very clear subject, not too artsy, etc. I'll have to try taking some shots with stock in mind, rather than just browsing through my favorite shots and trying to guess which ones they'd like!
this is just my assumption however.
your composition looks good tho ~ and like talley said, don't give up ~ keep investigating and researching and hopefully you will find exactly what they are looking for :)