Getting Started in Microstocks

Stock Image - Finance and China









If you have a DSLR camera, a passion for photography (and video) and an appetite for learning then microstocks could be for you. Treat it as an experiment and the very least it will do for you is to broaden your photographic horizons.

I’ve spent time on Flickr, which is great for learning photographic style and getting inspiration.

Microstocks are great for learning those softer technical skills that could help you earn some money from your photography like; why ISO is important, how to deal with noise, how to make isolated images and what kind of pictures sell.

You have a choice of agencies to start with but some require that you qualify for photographer status first before you can submit i.e. Shutterstock and 123RF.

I’d suggest that you first try Dreamstime and Fotolia because;

• You can summit photographs once you have registered.
• If your photographs get rejected, you will get feedback.
• You will learn from rejections and be in a better position to submit more photos.

Fotolia, despite not requiring you submit photographs for inspection before accepting you as a photographer, are very fussy over what they accept.

You can build up a portfolio and also understand which photos are the most suitable to use to gain qualified status at 123RF and Shutterstock.

Shutterstock is now considered to be the number one in microstocks. It certainly is in my experience but it’s also notoriously hard to get accepted. It took me three goes.

Here are some tips for submitting to Shutterstock (also for 123RF).

• Only submit photos that were taken at ISO 100 or less.
• Submitted photos should be different from one another.
• Use the Shutterstock forums to help. They have one specifically for critiquing new submitters.


And good luck. I’ve found that once you have been accepted by Shutterstock that they are fairly constistent with what they accept and reject. It’s now my favourite site.

There are other microstock agencies but these ones are in the top 6 and they provide some income and a lot of fun. Good luck in your microstock adventures and be careful - it's very addictive!



Free Registration at Fotolia

Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$$

Escaped the Race - February

I've escaped the race, well, at least for now. Currently I'm in Macau, hence, no photo. The place is very photogenic but the weather has been miserable so far and seemingly getting worse by the day.

Yesterday was a great day as I did something that I thought I'd never do. I'll put the video up and some photos when I get back to Taiwan but I won't spoil the surprise just yet.

February targets

Writing

Contact 10 editors about stories I'm developing
Visit the Taiwan Tourist Board and develop an article for them.
Develop some articles so by the end of the month I have 4-5 complete-ist articles and another 4-5 developing.

Blog

Overall, I want to get more professional in my blogging.

Learn how to do internal links in a post.
Use Luis's suggest on how to insert tables - print screen
Follow some more relevant blogs
Link up with Youtube

Videoing

Get more familiar with the technology
Download video on to the computer
Check out video submission requirements for Shutterstock
Make some Language orientated videos.

Photography

This should be easily accomplished

Upload 40 new photos for 123Rf, Shutterstock and Dreamstime.
Do some involving people.

Update

Update

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past month researching ‘language learning’. There are definitely many camps out there but the one that’s got my attention is the ‘acquisition approach’. This approach requires a ‘silent’ period that can last for up to a 1,000 hours and massive input of the target language. It doesn’t require books, study or even thinking, as these practices will ultimately restrict your ability in your chosen language.

Advocates of this approach include;


Though I haven’t researched it thoroughly, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of products for this approach to language learning. The advocates would say that in this age of technology you can source many of the things yourself but this is time consuming and if you’re not familiar with your target language you might end up getting stuff in the wrong language i.e. Mandarin and Cantonese.

I want over the next few months to develop a proto product designed to meet the requirement of the ‘acquisition approach’. I will use it myself to learn Chinese and I’ll share with friends to see what they think.

Chinese – this is slowly improving. I can understand many more words now and sometimes I get the gist of what they’re talking about on TV. There hasn’t been any jumps in my comprehension though.

Photography – my income for July was down to $36 from $41 in June. Currently I’m likely to get around $30 for August. The summer months are suppose to be slower than most other months and I hope this turns out to be true. My aim is now to earn a $100 per month by the end of the year. To achieve this I really need to increase my uploads. I also need to upload people pictures as they’re more in demand than objects and scenery.

Writing – I haven’t done much on this for some time.

Videoing - despite getting a brand new video camera I haven’t done much with it. I have a plan to make a language video as well as to record different techniques that could be used to ‘acquire language’.

Overall, I don't think I'm making much progress towards being free from work. There are ideas bubbling but I really need to take the next step with them.