shutterstock rejections

[laurie millar]

I didn't get accepted at istock until the third try. So if at first you don't succeed....(: Great advice on here! Good luck!

[shb-jcb]

Thanks for all the frank replies and I do appreciate them. Take a look at some shots,Im sure there will be hundreds of technical things wrong with them but your input will be appreciated.

DSC_0167 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

sunset at adelaide on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

DSC_0007 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

DSC_0380 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

DSC_0509 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Delhi trip 155 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I now know what these chaps want; they dont want snapshots but pics of products which will be viable for advertising companies,law firms,students etc. Lets say I can get some pics like what they want. Ta

Ok, real quick:

1. All your photos are ISO200 or 400...they usually reject them unless they are ISO 100 or have run through noise reduction software.
2. Flowers and sunsets are severely overdone. Even if you get accepted, they probably won't sell.
3. One or two photos look a little dark, which they usually have an issue with.
4. One photo is crooked.
5. One flower photo was probably marked as unexpected focal point.

Stock photography is a little goofy. Don't think "awesome photo with artistic quality" (which, btw, all of your photos are very nice)...think "no noise, perfect exposure".

They don't have to be interesting. One of the #1 photos on Istock right now is a photo of a Macbook with the screen erased (so someone can enter their own photo on the screen). That photo has sold over 10,000 times, which equates to about $20,000. It's technically a good photo, but artistically crap.

[shb-jcb]

Thanks photoboothguy,you have put things into perspective.Hmm how did you know that the ISO was not 100? Yes my DSLR is on ISO 400 and the compact makes its own settings and could be ISO 200 yes! I now get a better picture,commercial and not artistic! Cheers

[lonni]

You also need to consider what the photo would be used for, a pretty picture is fine but ask your self what type of use would it have. You also need to remember to leave copy space, or negative space i think is the photo term.

Think about the type of people who use a stock photgraphy site and think what photos they would need. Objects, food and peoples faces with different expressions is what i use most.

I use istock alot mainly beceuse the quality of the photos is so high but also casue i can always find what i need for my customer. Ideally i take my own shots but soemtimes it is not an option.

[shb-jcb]

Im still understanding some of the concepts of digital photography and was wondering if the guys who view photos for stock, check submissions in photoshop? Is that where the do the 100% check for flaws in a pic? Will having photoshop help in submissions, I know the original pic should be of a certain standard too. I believe its quite expensive? For me at the moment $500 would be a tad expensive and I dont think they have free downloads like lightroom or GIMP! Ta

Originally Posted by shb-jcb

Im still understanding some of the concepts of digital photography and was wondering if the guys who view photos for stock, check submissions in photoshop? Is that where the do the 100% check for flaws in a pic? Will having photoshop help in submissions, I know the original pic should be of a certain standard too. I believe its quite expensive? For me at the moment $500 would be a tad expensive and I dont think they have free downloads like lightroom or GIMP! Ta

One of the major items I found (and the stock agencies flagged) was that my black backgrounds weren't 100% black. There was a lot of pixels (usually reddish) that were showing up when you looked really close. Using Lightroom, I was able to easily increase the black levels (i.e. make near-black stuff completely black) or clean up some areas with the brush.

But no, you don't need to pay for photoshop, but post-processing does help (just don't over-do it).

[aprillove20]

I've learned new things from this post . What are really the standards of a photo?

[shb-jcb]

Thanx photoboothguy. So I guess I can use gimp or lightroom to do ppd work? In that case it will be swell.