Lately I have been extremely busy and have little time to submit pictures.  As I slowly started submitting a few, I noticed something very interesting.

What I noticed is that IStockPhoto sales have slowed considerably in recent months.  In the past, IStockPhoto vied with Shutterstock as my top site and a few times took the lead.  However, that has changed now.

Today, IStockPhoto is fourth for me in terms of sales.  Only StockXPert brings less.  Another problem is that submissions take a long time on IStockPhoto due to their archaic upload system and their own keyword vocabulary.  As a result, it takes me longer to submit to IStockPhoto than to the other sites combined.  It is even more annoying that after submitting the photo my shot is rejected for a keyword that is pertinent.  For instance I had a picture of Jerusalem rejected for using the keyword “Israel”.

Another interesting thing occurred when I was searching for some photos for a friend a few weeks ago.  I was rather stunned that, despite their claim to having an advanced keyword system, I was unable to find the pictures I was looking for.  I had much better success on Dreamstime and Shutterstock.

Therefore, I have ceased submitting regularly to IStockPhoto.  It simply isn’t worth my time.  I will not close my account there though and I will submit pictures that sell well on other sites.

However, the future of IStockPhoto right now does not look bright.

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I enjoy photography, and I noticed that when I started making an effort to take pictures specifically for stock, I liked it much less.  Stock pictures are not very interesting nor are they very artistic.  They are meant to sell and to appeal to graphic designers for general purposes.  Even if I did take pictures specifically for stock, if I calculated how much time I spent taking and processing the pictures and averages out my income per hour, there are a lot of things I can do that pay better.  I must admit that I laugh at people who spend hours editing a photo just so they can make a few dollars from it on the microstock sites.

Therefore, here’s my philosophy and strategy for handling microstock.

First, I would advise you to take the pictures you enjoy taking.  Do not take picture explicitly for stock.  Once you have a good selection of pictures, go through them and see if any might be saleable.  Very often you’ll come across a shot with a tree leaning into the side or a poor exposure or something else.  You think to yourself – “that’s a nice shot, but it’s a shame that blah and blah are wrong with it”.  The next time you’re out shooting, I have a feeling you’ll pay better attention to those things.

Therefore, think of microstock photography as both a bonus and an impartial critique.  Those pictures would have otherwise sat on your hard drive.  Why not make a few dollars with them?  Even if you only make a dollar, it’s a dollar more than you would have had otherwise.  Secondly, treat it as a critique.  Very often when I show pictures to my friends I hear – “nice shot”, “great!”, etc.  When I send the same shot to the reviewers, I see a much different response.  Microstock reviewers have no qualms with shooting down the amazing work of art you just send them.  Treat their reviews as impartial criticism and you’ll find yourself improving quickly.

However, I must stress again that you should not make microstock photography “another job”.  It is simply a way to make some money you would otherwise not have and get some good critiques on your photos in the process.

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Often the best selling pictures are those others haven’t thought of.  Try to be a bit inventive and try some new things.  Some of my best selling images were ones where I thought “let’s try this”.

However, my best selling images by far are those I took on vacation.  Sometimes I have even paid for a good portion of the vacation itself.  Especially if you go somewhere exotic, always remember to bring your camera with you and think about stock when taking photos.  Very often I see a shot that I wouldn’t have thought to take otherwise – but I feel it may be worth a try as stock.  Sometimes the sales of the shot shock me.  Just remember when shooting outdoors to try to take shots during the late afternoon or early morning.  Often this means I have to get up quite early on vacation, but I always find the pictures are worth it – whether or not I sell them as stock.

I always keep stock photography in mind when taking a shot, even if I am not intending to sell the shot.  Who knows?  Very often I find that – when thinking about stock – I improve the shot and my photography overall.  I watch carefully what is in the frame and make sure the shot is sharp – even when taking shots of my kids.  Therefore, when I do stumble on a picture that does well as stock – there is often very little I need to do to it.

In terms of where to start, I recommend that you start with Fotolia first.  This is not the site where you will make the most money.  However, it is the easiest one to join and you receive very quick feedback on your photos.  Once you have a selection of photos that were accepted there, join Shutterstock – where you’ll begin to make a better profit.  Once you are comfortable with microstock photography, join IStockPhoto.

If your photo is rejected, don’t take offense.  I also don’t recommend resubmitting the picture, unless you have strong reasons why it should have been accepted and you feel that the picture will sell well.  Your time is valuable, and if a picture isn’t accepted I wouldn’t bother spending any more time on it.  This takes a bit of time getting used to as many of us don’t like to see rejections, but instead of lingering on the ones that didn’t pass, spend time taking and improving the next batch.

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When I first started in stock photography, I spent a lot of time taking pictures that I thought would sell well.  These were not pictures that I ordinarily would have taken, but were instead taken solely for the purpose of profit.  Here’s an example of one of these shots.

This is not a particularly interesting picture, but could be of use to someone who needed a picture of a pile of saffron, which numerous people have needed.  This particular shot has sold decently, but certainly is nothing to brag about.  What I would find out from doing shots like this though, changed my entire philosophy about stock.

I began to spend a lot of time taking very similar shots – or in general shots of very mundane subjects.  I spent a lot of time learning isolation techniques when the microstock sites started to become more stringent.  I eventually learned how to do correct isolation and started submitting pictures.  The problem that occurred was I spent a lot of time on these types of shots – both in taking the original shots and preparing them in Photoshop.  I began to spend less time taking shots that I felt improved my technique, and more time taking shots that improved my sales.

What naturally occurred was a number of these shots were rejected, and a number of the accepted shots sold poorly.  So after all of the time spent taking these shots, I received very little in return.  My skills did not improve, my wallet did not grow, and my shots were boring.

Several months ago I made a new resolution to only take shots that I liked, and to pick from those shots the ones to submit.  Therefore I began to spend my time actually improving my photography – learning new techniques and studying the works of others.  Since then, I believe I have improved as a photographer.  Interestingly, the shots I do submit sell rather well.  Sure, none of my insect shots are big sellers – but I enjoy taking them and if I can make a few dollars off a shot that I enjoyed taking, I see that as a bonus.

I recommend this technique for the vast majority of us who are just looking to make a little cash with stock photography.  There are photographers that go out there and find subjects they know will sell well, but they do stock photography as a living, not as a hobby.  For those of us just looking for some cash to enable us to purchase new equipment, focus on improving your work as a photographer, then use microstock as a kind of ‘critique’ to see what others think of your hard work.  Using stock photography in this way enables me to use it as a tool rather than as a hindrance.  When a picture is rejected, I look into how I could have improved the shot to get it accepted.  This improves the quality of my work as a whole. In particular agencies such as IStockPhoto give very good feedback about individual shots.

Using this technique also hardens me towards rejection.  If a shot is rejected, I am not heart broken as I took it for myself, not for profit.

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