Finally approvals from Dreamstime

Well, I got my first images accepted at Dreamstime. So far they've been the pickiest that have actually accepted any of my photos. Crestock still hasn't accepted anything of mine. We'll see if that changes.

In honor of my first uploads I'll be dropping this Dreamstime counter in the right column of my blog. It links directly to my portfolio at Dreamstime.

Flash doggies

Flash doggies
Originally uploaded by punkd0rk

Two things I experienced during this "shoot". Hard light and fall off. Basic principles are the harder the light, the sharper the shadows and the closer the light to the subject vs light to background, the quicker you'll get fall off. There just wasn't enough ambient light to get a decent balanced exposure on anything higher than maybe iso 800 which a huge aperture. Next time I can just move the flash back, throw on an umbrella and get light everywhere. If only I had another flash. Well, somebody go buy some of my pictures!

Misty Falls

snoqualmie falls 1
Originally uploaded by punkd0rk

I don't know if there's anything more overexposed on the microstock sites than waterfalls. But hey, I have one less than five minutes away from my house so I ran by this morning and took a few shots. You can see from the lighting that I'm dealing with overcast skies. Hopefully I can stop by on a sunny day soon and even catch a rainbow. Anything to help it stand out. I also plan to drive down to the bottom of the falls and see what I can grab as well as bring a tripod to get some long exposure, smooth water shots.

Third time's the charm?

iStockPhoto is another one of those sites who has an approval process. Submit three pictures, if they pass, you're in. They differ a bit from Shutterstock after that. If only one of your shots is accepted then next time around (after a one week wait) you have to submit two shots. Throw your next set at them and then another might be approved and then you wait another cycle and hopefully your third submission is your last. If you're lucky and or have better pictures to start with then you can easily end up accepted all at once. Sine iStockPhoto seems to be one of the biggest earners you definitely want to get in. In the long run, stricter entry policy should mean better quality photos which should mean better traffic to the site from serious buyers. We'll see.

For the examples of what was and wasn't accepted so far, look below.


Rejected for lighting. The lights are too bright and the shadows too dark. Hindsight being 20/20 this is a no brainer. I do love the look of the geckos though.


Rejected due to artifacting. I think this was a nice way of rejecting rather than saying that I should leave the vacation snapshot at home.


This one was approved. Looking back I'm a little surprised as the composition and lighting are only so so.

Round two.


Rejected, lighting composition. Interesting technique using a snoot. I learned about snoots from Strobist. However, not really stock photo styling.


Approved.

Now I'm waiting for round three. 47 hours to go.

10 swings, 8 strikes at Shutterstock

Shutterstock has a policy that before you can submit as much as you want, you must become an approved submitter. This process involves submitting your "top 10" pictures for review. In order to be approved, 7 of 10 need to be accepted. If you fail, you're on time out for 30 days. I bit the bullet and through 10 at them today (I don't really have a large portfolio of stock work as of yet) and got turned down. Here's what I submitted and their reasons for refusal:


Poor lighting. This photograph was accepted by 123RF and Fotolia. Declined at Crestock, out of focus (depth of field I think).


Poor lighting. Accepted at 123RF. Declined at Crestock, out of focus (depth of field I think).


Poor lighting. Accepted at 123RF. Declined at Crestock, out of focus (depth of field I think) and sharp shadows.


Composition/Limited Comerical Value. Accepted at 123RF and iStockPhoto. Declined at Crestock, Limited Commercial Value.


Accepted. Also accepted at Fotolia and 123RF. Declined at Crestock, sharp shadows.


Potential trademark or copywright infringement. Declined at Crestock, out of focus (depth of field I think) and sharp shadows.


Potential trademark or copywright infringement. Accepted at 123RF. Declined at Crestock, out of focus (depth of field I think).


Accepted. Declined at 123RF and Fotolia for lighting. Declined at Crestock, out of focus (depth of field I think). Declined at Dreamstime for lighting and "lack of concept" (its an image of a Kokopelli, what other concept do you need?) I need to re-shoot this guy with better lighting and the camera on a tripod. He's got sharp edges and is very reflective so it's challenging.


Focus. Accepted at Fotolia, declined for lighting at 123RF. Declined at Crestock, out of focus (depth of field I think).


Composition/Limited Commercial Value. Approved at iStockPhoto. Declined at Crestock, doesn't meet their creative standards (snapshot I suppose).

From this you can see there is quite a bit of varience of what is considered acceptable at different agencies. Standards will also vary from one reviewer to another. I'm still waiting to hear back from other agencies and I'll update this post when I get results

Another thing you might've picked up from this post is how limited my current stock photography skills and portfolio currently are. Hopefully, by the time another 30 days rolls around I should be into Shutterstock with no problem.