Stock Photography

I have been doing stock photography for about 2 years now.  At first, the hardest part was getting images accepted by various stock agencies.  Those who do stock photography will tell you that their rejections some times get very demoralizing.  It's sometimes difficult not to take their rejections personally.  But they're only doing their jobs.  These stock agencies have a business to run.  And they have to offer the best images to their customers.  So it's good that their standards are high.

Initially I started with two or three agencies.  Then I decided to only focus on one stock agency (Dreamstime.com) so that I could focus more on the craft of stock photography rather than spending time uploading images and keywording them.

Stock photography differs from traditional photography in that very often the purchaser doesn't want a completed photograph.  Purchasers are often designers who need a certain image to incorporate into their "bigger" design.

The image above is a sample of what a stock photograph looks like. Images often are taken with a pure white background in order for designers to easily incorporate these images into their designs and the objects are usually very trivial.  (For the full image, please click here)

Doing stock photography has been a very rewarding experience (skill-wise and financially) for me.  Dreamstime has a high standard yet they have a very congenial atmosphere so new photographers could fit right in.  They run monthly contests and have bonus rewards for exclusive photographers.  When I first joined, I didn't even have a DSLR.  But it was through working with Dreamstime that I found how fun photography could be which prompted me to get my first DSLR.  I haven't looked back since.

Although I am no longer only working exclusively for Dreamstime as I wish to expand on other areas of photography, if anyone wishes to start off as a stock photographer and to hone their basic skills, Dreamstime is definitely the place to start.

Cheers,

JN