Part 3 - My Stock Photography Options

It's a new day, and a new stock photography site to evaluate. Today's choice? iStockphoto.com.

When I started reading the terms and conditions, I admit I was a little frightened. They are pages and pages (and pages and pages) long, or so it seemed. After calming down and taking a closer look, I realized that this site was simply more thorough than some of the other sites. This is not a bad thing.

On to the content:

1) Keyword "orchid": While most of the backgrounds are black or white, there are several multicolored backgrounds. There's potential here, but some of these arrangements are very "editorial", if that makes sense. Also, there isn't much experimentation regarding depth of field (where some flowers would appear sharp and in the foreground, while others are more blurred and in the background). I would likely prefer to go out and shoot new content before submitting any orchid shots to this website, except for:



2) Butterfly - Many of these shots are what I would classify as "cutesy". Some of my newer pictures could work here, including:



3) Abstract - not a fit at all.

4) Nature - I think my work is a little too "soft" for this category. So, I tried "flowers". Yeah, not so much, either.

5) Travel - Most definitely not.

Not willing to give up so easily, I flipped through some of the other categories. Architecture abstract? Maybe. Churches? Quite possible, something like this:



I didn't see any pictures like this at all. So, there's a chance there.

Overall, though, this was about a below average fit for me. I'd have to think about it.

Tomorrow - Shutterstock - did I save the best for last?

Part 2 - My Stock Photography Options

I kicked off this series earlier in the week to help me understand the potential market for my work. Today, I'll focus on Dreamstime and my stock photography options there.

I found the look and feel of the website to be a little strange (to me), honestly. It's not as user-friendly as the others. This is important because if it's difficult to navigate your way around, then it's probably not easy to buy the images you like, either.

However, my work might be a better fit here. While I would need to go out and shoot more content for submission to Bigstock, some of my existing work has a place here.

Examples:

Keyword "orchids" - while there were quite a few examples with pure black or pure white backgrounds (something I have explored in the past), there were some that did not. Some of my pictures are not crisp enough here, but overall, these pictures are more in line with what I do today.

Keyword "butterfly" - my best butterfly pictures are a good fit here, as well as some of my tier 2 - I think. The common element here is that the pictures are nice and crisp. There's a lot of leeway regarding the backgrounds.

The "abstract" category - there's potential in the "textures" category - I could submit my minerals and NYC building shots, as well as "colors" (since all of my work is quite colorful). Blur is an interesting one, but not a fit for me.

The "nature" category - also lots of options. Oceans, sunrises, sunsets, all a fit.

Finally, the "travel" category - my Syria pictures would look good here.

Naturally, seeing so much of my work as a fit here made me very suspicious. Did they pay any less than the other sites? There seems to be a wider range of earning options with Dreamstime. There's definitely more upside. Bigstock seems to have a model that is less complicated.

Anyway, some examples of pictures I would send here, in addition to yesterday's ideas:

... and others.

Tomorrow - iStockphoto.com and my thoughts.

My Stock Photography Options

This is proving to be quite a project. Over the next week, I'll cover the following sites (aside from Photographers' Direct, which I already covered before):

1) Bigstock

2) Dreamstime

3) iStockphoto.com

4) Shutterstock

My evaluation criteria will be the work they accept, and whether or not I feel my work fits that mold. I don't care as much about process, and most of the payouts are fairly standard. Once I've evaluated, I'll post a few examples of my work that might fit.

For today, though, I'll start with Bigstock. I was a little worried, at first, when I pulled up the top 500 downloaded images and didn't see any macro work. Before giving up, though, I decided to search by category. After looking at the top 500 pictures in the abstract, landscapes, and nature categories, well ... I felt a little discouraged, I admit. Finally, I searched for orchids, and found that the situation wasn't completely hopeless. However, I did notice that almost all of the pictures had white or black backgrounds. Most of my pictures don't.

Another keyword I chose was butterfly. This looked a lot more promising, actually. More so than I'd thought. Cathedrals, not so much. I'll need to look elsewhere. My work doesn't fit.

As for those that could be a fit for this site:



I wouldn't really consider submitting any of my orchids here. I might submit this flower picture:



But that's really it.

I've signed up, taken their tutorials and quizzes, and will ... set this aside for now. Tomorrow, I'l cover Dreamstime.

Getty Submissions

Back in October, I submitted my work to Getty's Call to Artists Flickr page. While my work was reviewed, it was not selected. The general advice is to try, try, and try.

So I'm back, and I'm going to try again! Here are May's submissions:



My evaluation process was much more thorough this cycle:

1) Can I see these pictures in a magazine?

2) How do they look on my iPad? Do they show well? Even when I zoom?

3) Does the collection provide enough variety? (I believe so)

4) Does the collection look nice as a group? (I think so)

5) Do I demonstrate technical skill and a good eye? (I think so)

I loved these so much, by the way, that I changed my iPad backgrounds to two of these - the leaves and the pink flowers. I look forward to when I can show more people my work, that's for sure.

Tomorrow - my difficult photo shoot on Saturday. I've tried to block it from my memory, but have decided that there were good lessons that I should share with you.

My New Toy

I'd mentioned in the past that I'd like to have an iPad for several reasons, but for the purposes of my photography, as a way by which I can display my work in a portable setting. And yes, maybe to show it off, too.

Well, it's here!

What have I done with it so far? Well, not so much, photography-wise, except:

1) I loaded some of my albums.

2) I set my background picture and my lock picture. For now, they are:





This will change. Some casual observations:

1) My pictures show better on my iPad than on my laptop, as far as color and fidelity are concerned.

2) My macro work is either amazing or blah on the iPad. This tells me that I could apply this in real life, too.

3) I have a better sense of what I should submit in my contests. Some of my pictures are simply not sharp enough. It's as though the iPad were a harsh spotlight on my work. This is fine - I have some excellent pictures and I should focus there.

Speaking of which, tomorrow (or the day after), I'm going to submit more work to a stock photography site. More tomorrow on my selections - using my iPad as my evaluator.

Equipment Update

I've had my 17-inch MacBook Pro for more than four years. I love it, and could probably use it for a few more years. However, I've been contemplating an upgrade for several reasons:

1) It's no longer covered under Apple Care.

2) While the processor speed isn't bad at all (2.33 GHz), its memory is maxed out at 3 GB. I've seen some issues with Aperture, especially if I'm running another application at the same time.

3) The hard drive size is driving me crazy. While upgrading that is relatively easy, it still bugs me.

I've waited, though, because I've classified this as more of a want than a need. This is mainly because I've spec'ed out the laptop I want, and it's more than $3,000, including Apple Care (which I will always buy). For that amount of money, I could make a nice dent in my mortgage, or buy a few lenses, etc.

A few things happened that change this a bit, though:

1) I realized that the 13-inch MacBook Pro actually has a faster processor than its larger processors - for much less money. I could buy the same configuration (except for the size) for under $2,000. That's a huge difference!

2) Some events on the financial side gave me some breathing room this month.

Given that, and the upcoming release of the OS X Lion version, well, upgrading is starting to look a little more realistic.

Have a great weekend, everyone! I'm hoping for a reshoot of some items such as these:











Have a great weekend, everyone! Enjoy the weather (if you live on the East Coast)!

Macro Photography and Audience

Yesterday, I'd mentioned that I did not see any macro photography work at the art festival. I had seen several examples during the prior years, though. This made me wonder - am I targeting the right audience with this work?

Macro work is by far my strongest point. Consider these:









That's all well and good, but I haven't seen pictures like these hanging on people's walls - or anywhere else, really - except for in print ads.

Interesting, I thought to myself. I then went to Google a few search terms to see what audience I should target with my macro work. I had to dig through a lot of information, but I realized quickly that I've been missing the mark all along.

Macro photography is best used for marketing (ads), nature, science, and medical photography. I have been entering this work in general contests - not the right target most of the time. Certainly, there's a place for it in the fine art world, but it's not a natural and easy fit. As far as stock photography is concerned, though, it's a great fit - which is why I see macro work in so many ads.

Sounds easy, right? So why did it take me so long to come to this conclusion? I don't know, but I'm someone who looks for those small victories every day. This was a big one for me.

Tomorrow - equipment update!

Bethesda Fine Arts Festival - Observations

Maybe it's me, but the festival seemed much smaller this year. My sister and I went on Sunday, and stopped by or scanned all of the booths. This year, there were far fewer photography booths than in previous years. Some observations:

1) No one had macro photography - at least not of flowers. This is interesting, because this is my strength. I wonder if it's because the audience (a typical consumer) isn't interested in that kind of work? Anyway, this raised a lot of questions for me, so I'm going to blog about this later in the week.

2) The best booth had pictures that looked a great deal like these:







My sister made the same observation. What was different was where these types of pictures were taken - central Europe. I've never been there. I'm guessing it would be an amazing experience for me. Also, though, I felt like I was potentially on the right track with my cathedral shots, and that's important, too.

3) The cityscapes done by this artist were huge crowd pleasers. He printed some on watercolor paper. I've thought about that for my macro work, but that might look pretty with something like this:



Or this:



I don't know where this leaves me exactly, but I do have some pending projects:

1) Brookside - butterfly reshoot (the more, the merrier)

2) The domed cathedral on Mass Ave (DC) - a must, if I can find the time

3) Visit more art shows - this is the easiest to accomplish, because there is one in June that I want to attend. It's the NCCF one. I want to see which photographers' artwork was accepted, and to see what I can learn. I'm looking forward to it!

Tomorrow - macro photography musings.

Opinions are Like Noses ...

everyone has one.

I'm quoting something that was posted on LinkedIn. Lately, my opinion of my work has been faltering. The last shoots I enjoyed were where I took these pictures:







That was a great weekend. My pictures were crisp and everything clicked. Lately, my most recent pictures have been pretty, but blah. Burry leaves, pretty pictures, but no money shots.

Opinions are like noses ...

I flipped through the latest issue of Popular Photography, and could have sworn that my pictures were as sharp as they. Everything looks fine when I shrink my Arboretum pictures to a 5X7 size. Tiling looks quite pretty.

Opinions are like noses ...

I've decided that I need to keep pushing - I'll be happy with my work again. Perhaps a nice trip to Brookside will cure what ails me. I miss the butterflies!

National Arboretum, Raymond-Style

I mentioned that I went back to the National Arboretum over the weekend. This time, I took a friend with me. I took this friend in particular for several reasons:

1) Raymond and I approach pictures in a completely different way. While I like the pretty, fluffy, and floral, like this:



or this:



Raymond spent his time looking for the interesting, and "edgy". Some examples of what he did:

1) He played with the perspective of the brick wall, focusing on it instead of the flowers - in contrast with what I did above.

2) He zeroed in on the details - tree branches, tree stumps, small leaves. I took a more sweeping approach, and stuck to it.

3) He took his time. I tend to move fast and often. He is much more patient. He'll try again and again to get his shot. I'll try a few times and move on.

This may sound obvious, but trust me, his pictures looked nothing like mine. Frankly, that's the fun part about photography - it's highly subjective and unique.

Tomorrow - my landscape photography, past and present.