Beginner Microstock Tips

8/12/2019 Beginner Microstock Tips

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How long will my Photos Continue to Sell?The lifespan of your images on a microstocksite, or more specifically the time for which they continue to

sell is of great interest to the microstock photographer. With a relatively large investment in creating and

uploading images, and with typical incomes in the first month being measured in dollars and perhaps tens

of dollars you would hope that your images will continue to sell for quite some time enabling you to claw

back your time investment and turn a profit.

This is not a new topic to the microstock world, it's already been well covered by Lee at microstockdiaries and his

post on feeding the microstock beast. So as not to reinvent the wheel this post outlines only my view of the subect,

some e!amples of my results, and is concluded by outlining how you can begin to measure your own results.

Images featuring IT equipment have a short shelf-life.

Sales tail off over time

When " started microstock in #$$% one of the most attractive things for me was that after all the 'hard work' was done

each image was online and would be there selling 'forever', or at least that's what " thought... While certain images do

age, there are plenty of 'timeless' stock images which if they age at all, do so a lot more slowly. &ere's a graph of

earnings from one of my early images, if you had asked me back in late #$$ " would have described as 'no longer

sells'.

This image sold an average of ( times per month between Sept #$$% and )arch #$$*, the sales probably grew in

line with the growth of istockphoto...
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The same image that sold steadily over those previous years then sold +ero times between )arch and ctober #$$.

Since ctober last year it's started selling again. -oted these are the results of ust one image on one site, and the

graph is of earnings not downloads, hence it's been skewed as commission rates have increased. "f we average the

graph over months then the recent crop of sales #$ sales still results in an overall downward trend in downloads

compared with those made in #$$/0#$$*. We can draw one conclusion, an image is not dead even if it's not sold

in months.

&ere are the earnings from another image, and while overall downloads are down, and the image is not a big seller, it

has remained a consistent earner over the years, boosted by the increase of commission for each download. 1"n real

terms that a loss against the cost of living.2

The times where " can see the most noticeable boom then bustin downloads are with my more recent images

uploaded in the past year, and especially those accepted onshutterstock1an agency known for a strong bias towards

recent images2.
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Looking at this graph reminds me of those stock market graphs which show a decline, but turn out to be ust a blip

when you look at the bigger picture, only by looking at this recent upload in a couple of years time will we be able to

see the full picture.

"f you were to only upload to a couple of sites and one of those was shutterstock then it's quite conceivable that if you

stopped uploading your income could drop by up to ($3. " took a break from uploading between late -ovember $

and early )arch $4, 5!cluding shutterstock " didn't see anything like a ($3 drop on my overall income.

6s a rule of thumb microstock images have a half life of at least # years, but that statement is very much open to

debate and very much dependent on the style and content of the image. Some images are more timeless than

others.

Extended Licenses occur any time

7rom what " can see e!tended licenses are not affected by how generic or esoteric an image is, "f you have a poor

selling image that represents a popular search term and looks a lot like some other images that are available then it

seems ust as likely to generate and 5L as something that's quite esoteric or specialist and is not selling much at all.

Such 5!tended License sales can easily return your investment on a low earning image in a single sale.

&ere are a couple of images that were quite happily drifting through life accruing one of two downloads a month, and

then....


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The various posts " have read about the microstock 'long tail' seem validated 1 larynandanel,feeding the microstock

beast2. Having a portfolio full of 'unusual one of a !ind stuff', even if it only has limited applications, sooner or

later will sell8 and perhaps for a tidy premium. When combined these images will earn more overall than your most

popular images. The 9*/,$$$ question is :which is more cost effective;:, each of the log tail images has such a

lowRPIthat the production costs become critical to making them cost effective when compared to a high selling

single image.

Conclusions

)y point of view, gathered from years of selling. " appreciate that the forums are full of people suggesting it's a good

idea to cull old images from your portfolio, but for me that's not the way " see iton't feel obliged to contribute regularly, contribute when you can, or when you have something worth

selling.
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"f you stop uploading, income may reduce from some agencies 1the initial boost that agencies give to new

images2 but most of your 'long tail' will continue to sell quite steadily.

>on't remove old images that 'no longer sell' in a bid to get a better ranking

?emember than an image with +ero downloads over a couple of years can quite easily be the perfect image

for someone who will fork out for an 5!tended License.

We can reinforce that microstock is 'active income' and not a passive income stream, but if you stop

uploading you can e!pect some level of income for several future years.

"opic how much can # earn from microstoc!?istockphotopay out around 9.*million 1@S>2 per week to

their contributors 17eb #$$2, so clearly someone is

making money at microstock.&ow much you can earn has a

similar answer to :&ow long is a piece of string;:. &ow hard you

work, how good your photos and keywords are, subects and

style will all have a significant impact on how well your images

sell. 6rtists who spend long hours creating detailed illustrations

and vector drawings could earn a similar amount to a

photographer with a portfolio only a tenth the si+e.

Earnings Comfort $one

Ahotographers are notorious for having low incomes, but that is

often through their own choice. Birtually everyone says they

would like to earn more money, but when the crunch time comes

and you need to sit down and do some difficult work itCs very easy

to shy away and continue what you are currently doing. 5arning

enough money to live on is a comfortable situation for mostpeople, thatCs why photographers often earn ust enough money

to live on. "f their income drops they are forced to bite the bullet,

put some effort into analy+ing their business and perhaps make decisions to step out of the comfort +one to increase

their earnings. % lot of photographers wor! &very hard at time consuming tas!s that (ring little financial

revenuebut in which they take some enoyment doing, there is nothing wrong with this, itCs personal choice. 6 typical

e!ample might be a backlog of photos to upload, if you enoy taking photos and earn enough then there is reduced

incentive to upload the new ones. " know that this is an over simplified view on what is in fact the comple! tapestry of

Dmodern lifeC8 my point here is that your motivations, the goals you set and your personality will have a large impact on

what you can make selling stock photography.

Calculations

The things to remember with microstock are thatisney's =inderellas =astle. "t is more likely that you need a property release for something much more mundane

like a private home. This does not mean that you need a property release for every article contained within a photo, it

'tends' to be for those where the property forms the main subect or the photo was taken on private property 0

beginners should take notice of places like +oos, stadiums, theme parks etc. which usually prohibit commercial work

as part of the contract of admission.

"alent )elease

Talent releases are required for stock audio, for the composition of the music and also for all artists either singing,

creating spoken sounds or playing an instrument.

=eneric 2odel )elease 3orm

There was a simple time back in the mid to late #$$$'s where all the agencies 1stock!pert etc


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istock offer their )?s translated into $ different languages.

8hen do # need to get a 2odel )elease signed?

Eou should get a model release for each shoot you take with a person in it 0 even if it's ust a figure in silhouette. 5ven

if you use the same model, same location but a different day, it will take seconds to create a second release 1the

initial e!planation etc. if any will not be needed if the model is already happy2. "t's better to get a release at the time

than go chasing for one at a later date. 6n e!cellent article in the istock training manual aboutwhen and where )?s

are neededis well worth reading. "t's clear you need a release for a photo of someone, and don't need a model

release for a photo that does not contain a person, but there is an awkward middle ground in between. ften photos

of someone facing away from the camera or below the neck are still identifiable but only by the conte!t they are in

e.g. with a group of other people they would recogni+e only if seen together, showing a birthmark or scar etc.

nly at some agencies can you get away with a catch all release with which you can submit from multiple shoots of

the same model 0 to be future proof one shoot setup R one model release. 5ven if there is for e!ample a shoot at the

beach and a shoot in the studio during one day, then get two releases to be on the safe side each describing the two

shoot locations.

7urther ?eferenceSL?. )ore mega pi!els is important, even if cheaper cameras produce

images with more noise 1noisy images are almost always reected by microstock agencies2 the e!tra megapi!els

allow you to downsi+e the images to reduce the noise. Smaller images are however less profitable than larger higher

resolution ones which can sell for a higher price. ?ead more about cameras for microstock

Consider the Long "ail

)any people lose patience with microstock. 1" did back in #$$%, " saw little results in the first few months and didn't

submit more for about 4 months2 The earnings you will make in the first few months might well be quite pathetic, but

those :dollars here and there: add up, you need to (e in microstoc! for the long term. Working in microstock is

often about long tail earnings, the images you take will be in your portfolio to sell in the future for at least several

years. The time you spend uploading to each agency should pay itself back sooner or later leaving you with a steady

stream in income for years to come. 6gencies wa! and wane, some will go out of business, so your income from

each agency will not carry on forever but it should carry on for many years to come so long as the style or content of

your images does not date too much. When udging how successful you are consider how much you enoy the task,

the fle!ibility and the long term income situation.

To some e!tent there is a 'microstoc! momentum'. =ommissions at some agencies grow in tiers with more sales.

The more images you have at each agency the more likely it is that someone will see not ust one of your images, but

from that image also click on another of your images or your profileKportfolio. Leading microstock photographers also

create a brand 1making a name for themselves2 which adds e!tra cache to their photography and hence higher sales.

6gencies use clever algorithms which display 'proven' images 1popular K high sales2 in search results, in some cases

it can take a while for images to gain sales, in others they tail away over time.

Where now; Oetting Started 0 6n overview of our guides for beginners

8hat !ind of #magessell (est?

The main thing to remember is that microstockis

stock photography, it's not a place for the 'art of

photography'. While artistic images might be

accepted and sell in limited quantity these are

probably not the best way to go if you want to

make some good earnings. Likewise the photosthat a lot of people praise either by word of mouth

or in comments on a site like flickr do not

necessarily make good microstock pictures8 these

often look pretty or have a wow factor, but usually

lack a meaning or concept, this is a common

mista!e for most (eginning

photographersdipping their toe into the stock

industry.
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7rom my e!perience and that of a few other industry commentators " have read, microstock is a place for 'clean and

simple: 'middle of the road' photos. ne tip " would give is to make sure that your images look good as thumbnails,

that might sound like an odd thing to say, but there are some photos are quite striking when viewed full si+e but due

to their lighting, colour palette or composition lose their impact when viewed at small si+es. Thumbnail readability is

very important for getting high volume sales, your images need to stand out on the search page as 'the perfect

image'.

"hree !ey features of all stoc! photos

6 good stock photo can be broken down into three main components, all of which must be correct to make a high

selling image.

; Choice of Su(


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covered. ne trick here is to 'accessorise' the photos to create something with more of a concept. "nstead of

'computer keyboard' think 'working from home' or 'overworked in a busy office' and instead of 'bowl of salad' think

'fresh salad eaten out on the terrace'. =onstant research 1be looking out for photos wherever you go2 will help, for

e!ample immerse yourself in food maga+ines and illustrated cookbooks that contain photos in a style you like. Aeople

make their entire career out of taking images of specialist subects so there is a very high standard of work currently

available. Table top is probably the easiest place for the beginner to start out taking photos specifically for their stock

collection, although it depends on your connections, you might also consider mastering portrait photography and

shooting models if you already have some willing volunteers to practice on.

Take care when choosing subects to photo, make sure that nothing contains any logos or branding, or is a well0

recognised design, more on this in copyrighted and trademarked photography subects

Tips and ideas for microstock macro photography,

Landscapes

"f they are to be accepted and sell at all then they really

need to say something, even if it's ust 'wilderness' or

'farm land'. Landscapes won't work if the subect is too

generalised like some fields with a mountain in the

distance, even worse a sunset. 6lmost always the

landscape will need some people in it to give it scale and

allow the viewer to imagine themselves there. There are

lots of photographers who specialise in fine art

landscapes, taking photos in ust the right light, some of

these sell, but it's better if the photo is taken in a :travel

photography: style. With ust a little e!tra planning when

setting up such landscape photo trips can be used to

create some stock images.

"ravel

This is a popular one with the beginning microstock

contributor, everyone takes holiday snaps. To sell well

the photo must not ust depict a location but capture

some essence of what it's like to be there. 'Lovers in

Aaris', 'Snorkelling on the Iarrier ?eef', 'Snowboarding in

the 6lps'. Simple travel photos are usually more than ust

landscapes, landmarks and cityscapes. There are good

sales to be had from simple shots of an iconic landmark

subect despite the amount that these have already been

captured, this is often e!actly the 'clich' that some

buyers have in mind8 that said there are lots of buyers

looking for a different aspect on a well0known subect.

?emember that there are landmarks local to you, you don't have to travel to e!otic locations, document what you see

near where you live.

)ore tips for the hobbyistKopportunisticmicrostock traveller
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3ine %rt Photography

"t depends very much on the subect, be thinking 'movement in blurred car headlights' than a 'stormy seascape that

looks like )ark ?othko painting'. There are surprising sellers in this area. 6s well as things like fractals and =O

backgrounds, you can sell te!tures like the ubiquitous 'brick wall' and 'rounded pebbles'8 these are easy to take and

can sell reasonably well if not already covered (y someone else. utdoor details like breaking waves on a beach

can also create useful 'backgrounds' for a designer to use. )icrostock is ideal for buyers in the market for a cheap

background pattern, te!ture or shapes to use as design elements.

Try to stay away from the photography night school clichs of sunsets and abstract blurred fairy lights. While these

are fun to take and somewhat sickening to see on0line with a lot of earned downloads, someone invariably got there

first with a lot of these subects. They are however a great learning e!perience in technical photography, composition

and selecting the best images to sell for the beginning stock photographer. Such subects should be shot if you

'happen across them', keywords and descriptions can be used to differentiate your photos especially with abstract

topics like 'future'. =learly that's not a way to make a business but for the microstock hobbyist these subects are fine,

and perhaps more importantly, enoyable

While you can imagine using your photo of some storm clouds for the masthead of some design, look at it from a

different perspective. There is nothing to stop a designer, for the same price, downloading a great looking location

shot that includes a stormy sky and cutting and pasting from that. 7rom the agencies point of view why clog up the

server with yet another photo of 'ust a stormy sky' when they have already accepted one that also depicts a stormy

landscape location people might want to use in its own right;

Try searching for 'storm clouds' at one of the big agencies, you will see you have some competition to deal with

#llustration :1ectors;

"f you can draw then consider creating a few illustrations to sell as stock. This is not a subect " can impart a great

deal of knowledge on as " have little e!perience, apart from a few surprise sales from a non0vector illustration " put

together in Ahotoshop in five minutes. The only thing " can say is that there is the potential for illustrations to sell very

well due to being fresh, stylish and usable where photos are not suitable8 but also loo! very dated a few years

down the line. Stock sites are currently full of GA style icon sets and web elements, a couple of years back it was all

SG style icons with reflections. True that ageing is the same for some types of photos where hair styles or

technology goes out of date, but every time " think of illustrations at the moment with those floral leaf patterns " then

imagine how that will look ten years down the line, will " have the same feeling about those as the now dated looking

airbrush or pastel business characters in triangular suits that were everywhere less than ten years ago;


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2ver'*here 'ears ago - 3o*here 3o*.

"cons and sets of web navigation buttons also seem to have high download rates, but their creation is obviously quite

time consuming compared to a photo, of course vector illustrations command a higher payout when downloaded as

the original vector file.

+0 )endered #mages

6re these a stock image fad that will go out of fashion; "f you have the skills with %> software then do it, no problems

with being reected fornoiseor compression artefacts. " have noticed that "'m seeing a few less silver or gold %> stick

figures with big heads gracing shareholder reports and corporate newsletters, so the boat might have already sailed;

There are plenty of microstock portfolios full of thousands of rendered images like this so it's clearly something worth

investigating if you are talented in %> modelling.

Help from the %gencies

&ere are a few links to pages where microstock agencies have listed images in demand or images that sell well,

almost all the agencies have some photographer guides like this listed somewhere on their siteigital

cameras can also generate ugly artefacts on brightKburnt out spots these can be discretely smoothed away with the

blur tool reducing your chances of :compression K artefacts: reections.

"hings # 0on't 0o Sharpening, other than what camera raw does 0 " very rarely do any

sharpening.

3oise?eduction, " shoot at "S $$ nly, )ore on noise reduction

and artefactsfrom post processing.

=ropping, usually not, but it's sometimes a side effect of straightening

and image or getting those parallel lines all... parallel 0 again this should be a

'get it right in camera' adustment

"ime is 2oney

" evaluate on the fly how much time " will spend on each image, but it's rarely

more than $ minutes, in fact $ minutes is probably the amount of time "'d

e!pect to spend on editing and keywording. Some images ust don't turn out
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how you planned, and if possible it's best to go back and re0shoot unless a paid model was involved etc. Sometimes

you can rescue an image by processing it, but it's getting ever harder to get those images past the image inspectors

and their pi!el peeping scrutiny. ccasionally if an image is worth trying to rescue then " will but do it too often and

you risk damaging your acceptance or approval rate.

The time you spend depends on what you shoot, if you do a lot of isolated subects you might spend longer, as you

will if you create conceptual images stripping together several different photos, changing background or replacing a

cloudless sky with a few clouds etc.

Photographer application process - =etting a goodstart in microstoc!

The bar is continually rising, it's getter ever harder

to be accepted as a photographer by thetop

microstock agencies.

Signing up to sell microstock is free, but that does not

mean everyone can do it. )ost agencies vet their

photographers before they are allowed to upload in

earnest. )ost sites make you submit some sample

images andKor pass a multiple choice test on their site.

Completing your 2icrostoc!Profile

ne of the first steps to a successful application is completing your profile at each agency you apply for. "'m not

saying that all agencies take this into account when accepting a photographer, some might not even look at it. % laDy

incomplete profile with missing or incorrect contact details will not exactly scream 7# have high standards7.

Eou should be prepared to complete as much of the information as you can, your equipment, and include a creative

statement about your photography and whyKhow you do it. Eou can include a self portrait 1or avatar2 and in some

cases link to a gallery website with more of your work if you have one. This all helps enhance your online presence.

6lthough most people start in microstock as amateur photographers, all of this information makes you come across

as a little more professional in your outlook.

Passing the Photographer "est

The test should be fairly easy to complete if you have read up on each sites photographer guide. )ost of the

question's in these tests are common beginners pitfalls. uestions can (e easily answered if you ta!e the time to

read the photographer hand (oo! or standards guide at each site. 6t some agencies if you answer incorrectly, the

site displays the correction and you move onto the ne!t step. The test is a learning process for you and a way for the

agency to weed out people who don't really understand what stock photography is about. There are usually some

questions on"ntellectual property issues1trademarks and logos etc.2,)odel releases,and some obvious questions

like :>o you think it's okay to find someone else's photo on the "nternet and upload it for sale;: 1" hope you already

know the answer to that one2

Sample Stoc! Photos
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6 new agency may also ask you to submit some sample images. These may be more critically vetted on technical

correctness, but should also be useful as stock photos. Stick with conventional, 'typical stock images' and don't

submit anything that's too outlandish. " have always submitted a selection of images that in some respects looks

almost like 'stock clichs' but these seem to go down well for evaluation. "he times # thought that an agency was

loo!ing for 'edgy and trendy' and # su(mitted my grungy and artistic photos # had my fingers (urnt. Eou

should check every image thoroughly before you upload it, and in the case of your sample images make double even

triple sure that they are perfect. "f there is anything that you don't quite like about the photo, something that you would

change then that's not the photo you should be using as a sample.

=hoose between ( and $ 1this varies by agency2 of your very best images. 5ach should be of a different subect, "f

you can show each different style of photography you have mastered 1night time, portraitKpeople, scenicKlandscape

and tabletopKstill0lifeKstudio2 then that is also a bonus. The samples must be perfectly focused and e!posed, and here

again be conventional 0 a wide depth0of0field with some highlights and shadows is better than high key and narrow

depth effect.

6void including images ofeveloper takes the H$3 but

must do all the marketing needed to make their application work and they

are the front line for customer support. 6s we saw in the Shutterstock

e!ample above marketing was almost %$3 of revenue. The android

marketplace has the same H$3 split for the developer.
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4ut %lamy Can Pay , :I, Commission; on Photos?

They do for their standard priced images, but it's a ($0($ split for their

'novel use' images which " think is a better comparison to microstock8 and

*$3 commission is taken for syndicated 1partner2 sales. So far, 6lamys

primary business has not been a 'microstock' style marketplace. 6lamy

also have a track record of changing their commission structure as their

business changes, as " think any business should 0 it's not ust the

microstock agencies that are forced to change commission structures. "

don't think it's all that fair to make a direct comparison to microstock with

6lamy.

" don't know the full internal workings of micro or macro stock agencies, but

" think it's reasonable to say that where 6lamy might be able to afford to

purchase an advertisement in a maga+ine after making a handful of sales,

a microstock would probably have to sell well over $$$ images to be able

to afford the same advertising outlay, the cost of getting $$$ customers is a lot higher than getting one

customer. #I5ve ignored the fact that because prices are lo*er then bu'ers ma' purchase multiple microstock images6

also ignored is the fact that the cost of acquiring a macrostock bu'er might be significantl' higher than that of a

microstock bu'er.

Spend 9( via Aaypal or a credit card and about $3 of the payment is swallowed in payment processing, spend

several hundred dollars and that payment fee shrinks to a few per cent. This is why agencies offer discounts for credit

purchases. n a microstock site a small overhead like five minutes spent replying to an email, a few minutes of time

for "T support staff on a server problem can easily write off any revenue from an image sale.

History's Evidence

=lustershotwere a fine e!ample of a company that entered the market to perform transactions but not promote

photographer's work. Their commission was ust #3, leaving 3 for the photographer 1who also paid the Aaypal

processing fees2 0 let's call this (3. 6t this level they 'broke even' and by breaking even " mean, they went out of

(usiness. :Ireaking even: means no moneyKtimeKincentive to invest in the service. "t would seem that (3 is not

enough money to process download transactions and payments.

6lamy discontinued their 6lamy ?ed =ommission system that took #$3 commission, but also incurred a 9#

submission price and a monthly hosting fee.

($3 royalty may seem attractive but " feel the evidence is clear that microstock agencies who do offer a flat royalty of

($3 have broadly speaking stagnated. " suspect due to the agency not having resources to invest in growth. "n fact

looking at ourroyalty rate comparisonall the top selling agencies 1and my top earning agencies2 are offering much

less than ($3. That table is ordered 0 somewhat roughly in order of earnings for each of those sites, and broadly

speaking it correlates well with increasing royalty rate 0 put in other words< a high royalty rate is no good

whatsoever to the contri(utor, you are better off selling at an agency with a low royalty rate who are capable of

selling more volume 1and indeed do ust that2.

"t is common for start0up agencies to offer a larger royalty to attract sellers, wise business model or not, "t's definitely

not a signal to be read as :they can do it so why can't everyone:. 6t a bare minimum agencies need to be

sustainable, but they also need to be much more than that, they need to be profitable to self0invest 1bootstrap if you

like2 to grow their business, or attract venture capital to the same end.
http://microstockinsider.com/site_reviews/clustershotcomhttp://microstockinsider.com/site_reviews/clustershotcomhttp://microstockinsider.com/microstock_commission_rateshttp://microstockinsider.com/microstock_commission_rateshttp://microstockinsider.com/microstock_commission_rateshttp://microstockinsider.com/site_reviews/clustershotcomhttp://microstockinsider.com/microstock_commission_rates


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#t seems that a(out +, is a fairly standard commission to ta!e for hosting processing download and

collecting the revenue from a virtual goods transaction. Eou could argue that there are some other e!penses of

hosting images, search might be slightly more comple!.

Su(sidising Higher )ates

Some agencies offer much higher rates for e!clusive

images 1sold for the same price2 andKor higher rates tohigh volume sellers. While these sellers may have higher

quality images resulting in a reduced review overhead, it's

fairly obvious from a quick look at agency royalty rates

that those who offer tiering of royalties have much lower

rates for low volume sellers compared to those agencies

that offer a flat rate to all. While tiering offers an incentive

to upload good quality images and generate sales the

lower tiers are penalised by subsidising the increased

royalties of the volume sellers.

8easel 8ords9 "hings to loo! out for when

comparing royalty rates9

"t's easy to assume that if an agency pays #(3 royalty

then when a buyer purchases an image for 9( you will receive 9.#( in royalty payment. Eou might be wrong, read

the terms carefully and you might have left yourself open to receiving #(3 of :actual revenue: :sale income: etc.

Some agencies offer you a fi!ed 9 value for each download or image si+e sold, comparing that to an agency that

offers a 3 rate requires you to fully understand how their purchase system works. >o they offer discounts for bulk

credit purchases and does that 'saving' pass on to you as a seller in the form of a smaller royalty;

Conclusion

7ive years ago typical microstock royalties were %$0($3, since then they have been getting smaller and smaller as

the agencies keep more of the revenue to themselves.

Where has it all gone; )ore of it is being spent on marketing, but " suspect a large chunk of it has gone onto the

balance sheet to make agencies look more attractive to investors8 iStock all but openly announced :we aren't making

enough profit with our business: when they last changed their royalty structure.

While it might seem a good idea to 'vote with your feet' as a content creator and only upload to agencies that take

lower commissions< the 1perhaps sad2 truth is, the agencies that have been successful, like the record companies "'ve

mentioned in this post are the ones that invest the bulk of the revenue back into promotion and marketing.

($3 of a few or no sales is far less desirable than H3 of do+ens or more sales.

"he "en Commandments of 2icrostoc!Photography

7irst "'d like to go on record that " &6T5 blog posts about microstockwhich ust list a few banal and obvious facts of

microstock life :the more images you upload the more you will earn:. :Eou can get more sales if you take better

images: 1with of course no e!planation of what constitutes a better image2. " think "'ll scream if someone else writes
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:you can earn a good living shooting photos of the crap found at the back of the closet:... think of the career

opportunities that must bring

Ielow are what " think are the $ most important rules in microstock today, and unlike the biblical

commandments that were written in stone these rules change as the industry changes 1which it

somewhat annoying keeps doing2.

.)esearch it (efore the shoot. Eou have a great idea; Eou think it will sell well; &ave a lookonistockorfotoliato see if it's there already. "f a whole page of people have already beaten you to it then cross it off

your shoot list and do something else. "f there are only a couple of similar images and you can improve on the quality

then have a quick look at the sales levels, did they sell $ times since #$$H; Tools like picnicheare there to help so

use them.

#.Shoot it right first time. This means spotless subects and optimal camera settings every time. "t's easy to getla+y and think :"'ll photoshop it later: that usually ends up taking much longer than getting it right in the first place.

"solating things on white; 0 get a light tent or cyclorama instead of cleaning up every photo you take using makeshift

old bedsheets as a background. -eed more light; then buy more lights and stop struggling with an anglepoise in the

spare bedroom studio 0 that's fine for cutting your teeth and learning technique but not for 'work'. 6 lot of what is

needed for microstock is a routine of doing the same over and over, but that does -T mean making the same

compromises and work0arounds over and over.

%.0espite all the other stuff you have to do it's still a(out the photos0 without good photos you are screwed,that might sound obvious but it's easy to think that microstock is all about analysis of stats,choosing subectsand

good keywording etc. Iack in #$$( it really was possible to use research and technical skills to earn from microstock

with quite 'ordinary images' like cloudy skies because nobody else was doing it. While 'ordinary images' are still fine,

to really make it you need a strong portfolio. That might mean either superb generic stock images or a tight

specialism and some targeted marketing. The great thing is that microstock will 'grow' as you learn so long as you get

over those initial frustrations, you can earn at any level. What you can't earn from is ust uploading a few random

photos from your hard drive and waiting for some money to come in. "t's hard at first to see it, but with some

e!perience you will spot the difference between a great stock photo and one that will only make a pretty desktop

background.

/.6rganiDe li!e you have 6C00 something thatcomes easily to a lot of photographers 1"'d love to know

the stats of how many obsessive compulsives own vast

amounts of photography equipment all sealed away in

alphabetised pelicases... Ie ust as picky about your

work environment as the subtle details in your images

and their composition. Saving a minute here and there

over and over again soon ads up, and wasting that time

is so easy to do without noticing. This goes for investing
http://microstockinsider.com/redirect/istockphoto.comhttp://microstockinsider.com/redirect/istockphoto.comhttp://microstockinsider.com/redirect/istockphoto.comhttp://microstockinsider.com/redirect/fotolia.comhttp://microstockinsider.com/redirect/fotolia.comhttp://microstockinsider.com/redirect/fotolia.comhttp://microstockinsider.com/news/picnichecom-photo-demand-research-toolhttp://microstockinsider.com/guides/analysing-what-sells-microstockhttp://microstockinsider.com/guides/analysing-what-sells-microstockhttp://microstockinsider.com/guides/analysing-what-sells-microstockhttp://microstockinsider.com/guides/what-kind-images-sell-besthttp://microstockinsider.com/guides/what-kind-images-sell-besthttp://microstockinsider.com/redirect/istockphoto.comhttp://microstockinsider.com/redirect/fotolia.comhttp://microstockinsider.com/news/picnichecom-photo-demand-research-toolhttp://microstockinsider.com/guides/analysing-what-sells-microstockhttp://microstockinsider.com/guides/what-kind-images-sell-best


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in computer equipment too, if it's older than two years then there is probably something a lot faster available. Sitting

and waiting more than a second or two for things to open and save is not necessary, and allows your mind to wander

onto distractions.

(.)espect thine agencies. "t's unwise and more importantly somewhat fruitlessto spend time on message boardswriting negative comments about an agency you use. >on't bite the hand that feeds. )aking well thought criticisms is

another matter, as is trying to get answers from a support department if something is wrong. "n years of microstock

there is only one agency " have had to ask for help from support 0 and that agency is one that seems to have gonedown the pan 0 hence the payment problem " had. "t's probably more likely that you have not read all the instructions

or misunderstood a procedure. "f it's animage reection you disagree withthen ust move on and compare it to the

feedback you got from other sites 0 the time taken to chase image reections from one agency usually does not ustify

the e!pected income, but make your own decisions on that.

*."hou shalt not covert thy neigh(our's images0 copying other peoples work is bad for so many reasons, it'salso really un0fulfilling to spend your life trying to be ust like someone else. Eou don't win a race by following

someone else. Worse, it leads to microstock becoming trapped in the same 'rut' that macro once was churning out

the same subects over and over. Iuyers always say they are looking for original and creative content, and while

when push comes to shove they often err on the side of caution buying something quite dull and mainstream, trying

to compete in the most saturated and already fully covered subects is business suicide.

H.0iversify and even 'da((le' in interestingcreative things0 but do so intelligently and research

before you start. There is plenty of scope in a

photography career for creativity, somewhere likeflickr is

a great placeto try something new, find inspiration and

network with other great photographers. @nderstand you

are doing it for either the pleasure, education or money,

or perhaps a bit of all three. Iut< plan to be able to

measure the results by goals, image views, happiness or

some other metric. Without creativity you are left with a

treadmill of creating one drab and un0inspiring stock

image after another, the end of your microstock career

1boredom2 will be ust around the corner.

.8rite it down. ?asmus rasmussenhas hismoleskine notebooks, " have post0its0o0plenty, a nokia to0

do list, a google doc and folders of paper and electronic

clippings 1sounds messy doesn't it2 keep good notes of your ideas and you will -5B5? have a shortage of things to

shoot and do 0 in fact you might find yourself with a miserably endless list of things to shoot that hang over you like a

storm cloud.

4."hou shalt use the force Lu!e, umm well, at least 5understand 'our feelings 'ou *ill'. "f you dread doingsomething or it feels like a chore those feelings are pointing directly towards a problem that you need to fi!. &ate

keywording; Then there is something wrong with the way you are doing it 1can " hear a spoonful of sugar...;2 , or

you need to out0source it8 the same goes to everything else you do. "f you hate doing your accounts or want them

done properly then you would employ a professional accountant, the same is true for microstock. Must because you

can do it yourself does not mean that you must do it yourself.
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$./nderstand "ime is money.>oing microstock in spare time as

most contributors do it's easy to try

and do it on a shoestring, "'ve written

1ranted2 before on people balking at

the price of the various microstock

services available. "f you really thinkthat ten minutes of your time spent

mucking about with)TPor some

other process every day is better than

spending a one off 9($ on specialist

software then good luck " agree time

saving is a fairly nebulous thing to

write and it's clear that nobody wastes

time by choice, but the issue comes

up again and again and spreads like a

virus into every part of running your business either full or part0time. Workflow ideas for saving time.

6nyone think " have missed something important off my list;

"he + 8orst 8ays to /ndersell your PhotosEou could call this post the three 'best' ways to

undersell your work, either way here are three great

ideas that you > -T want to touch with a barge

pole...

; Photo Competitions that ta!e your rights.7irst off, it is good to enter competitions if you are starting

out, but take care, while they offer a lot of opportunity for

a beginning photographer to make a name or get

themselves known you should also be reading the

conditions of entry very carefully. 6re they ust taking your

photos and helping themselves to an unlimited license at

the same time; "t's popular to have statements like

:=ompetition winners license their work for promotional

use of the company following the competition: Look at

that statement one way and if you win 1wh0hooooo

applause2 you will get your name and photo printed in the

company maga+ine or website, look at it a little more

cynically and, if there is no clarification about what the

'winners' are, then the competition organisers can take

free reign over selecting all the professional looking useful

images they like, using where and when they like for time

infinitum. Travel companies are very 'good' at this practice

when it comes to sourcing media for their brochures. To

read more in competition rights then we recommendpro0imaging.org,they have a 'rights on' list of competitions that

fill their 'Iill of ?ights'
http://microstockinsider.com/glossary/term/29http://microstockinsider.com/glossary/term/29http://microstockinsider.com/glossary/term/29http://microstockinsider.com/guides/workflow_optimization_indexhttp://microstockinsider.com/guides/the-3-worst-ways-undersell-your-photoshttp://www.pro-imaging.org/http://www.pro-imaging.org/http://www.pro-imaging.org/http://microstockinsider.com/glossary/term/29http://microstockinsider.com/guides/workflow_optimization_indexhttp://microstockinsider.com/guides/the-3-worst-ways-undersell-your-photoshttp://www.pro-imaging.org/


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@; /ploading an exclusive image to a news site


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These details are e!tensible 0 meaning that can be used to store pretty much information structure you like.

EJ#3 data

Mapan 5lectronic "ndustries >evelopment 6ssociation1M5">62 created a :standard: 1it's not actually a standard but it

is one that almost all camera manufactures follow2 to store details about images. This data is more mechanical in

nature than "AT= data, typical data stored includesate and time information.

=amera settings. aperture, isospeed, focus and metering details etc.

6 thumbnail for previewing the picture without having to read the full image 1have you ever had a corrupted

file that you can preview in the browserKdesktop but can't fully open into photoshop; that's how you can see the

image when the rest of the file has been corrupted

>escriptions and copyright information 1added by the camera manufacturer2 or added later 0 as you see this

overlap with the data you can store as in the "AT= fields.

8hat's J2P

Without going into too much detail, G)A is fle!ible system for encoding "AT= data into various additional image

formats above MA5O and T"77, e.g, O"7, A-O etc. "n the world ofmicrostockit's not really important with all the large

microstock sites using MA5O images, you will ust see that in photoshop you can add your keywords to all sorts of

formats and let photoshop worry about how they are embedded.

8hat does all this technology mean to me?

"his is the good (it95ven if you only upload to one stock site embed your keywords, title and description into each

or your images and you will save yourself hours in either pasting or typing keywords into each stock site you upload

onto or in finding images in the future. 6ttaching thismetadatato your photos is not ust for microstock but allows you

to catalogue and find your images on your own computer. 1professional photographers already know how important

this is2, meta data stored in image is key to >6) 1digital asset management0 the art of finding the photo of a needle

that you took amongst the haystack of #$,$$$ other photos on your hard drive2. "f it doesn't sound that important now,

believe me if you are in any way serious about photography get keywording.

G Common )easons for 2icrostoc! )e


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"he )easons

These are the most popular reection culprits, some of which you can fi! easilyon't worry

too much about reections from sites that describe :reection

might be due to< and then list every possible reason under

the sun: see what the other sites say. "f there is even the

vaguest amount of consistency about it then try to make

corrections based on that. )any of the reasons will be easily

corrected ne!t time, like wrong categories or keywords etc, if

you take due care when submitting you should never get any

reections for these reasons, especially once you have

e!perience and know how to 'play the game'.
http://microstockinsider.com/guides/in-sharp-focus-reason-rejectionhttp://microstockinsider.com/glossary/term/11http://microstockinsider.com/glossary/term/11http://microstockinsider.com/glossary/term/62http://microstockinsider.com/glossary/term/62http://microstockinsider.com/guides/noise-and-artifacts-reason-rejectionhttp://microstockinsider.com/guides/noise-and-artifacts-reason-rejectionhttp://microstockinsider.com/guides/in-sharp-focus-reason-rejectionhttp://microstockinsider.com/glossary/term/11http://microstockinsider.com/glossary/term/62http://microstockinsider.com/guides/noise-and-artifacts-reason-rejectionhttp://microstockinsider.com/guides/noise-and-artifacts-reason-rejection


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"f you have a high number of reections for noise and artifcats thencheck to see if your camera has a dirty sensor.

8hat to 0o...

?eections tend to follow two patterns, consistent 1simple to fi!2 and reections for random or bi+arre reasons 1much

harder to understand2.

" guess " have been in the microstock game for too long, " rarely get images reected for consistent reasons, and

those that do " often suspected will be reected before " start, usually for grain or noise that " was hoping " could 'get

away with'. "f your images have been reected for consistent reasons on all or many sites, review then reasons and

act on them. )any sites suggest courses of action to take, "t should be clear where you are going wrong, the list

above will help with the main reasons beginners face.

)ost of my reections are for seemingly random unfathomable reasons and only from one or two sites, in many cases

it's ust best to accept it and move on.

" have come across my images being 'out of focus' on one site and 'over sharpened on another', go figure; #t usually

means that the image was not all that great in the first place, and the reviewer ust didn't really think it would sellas microstock so they clicked reect. n reflection these images often don't compare so well to those already online

covering a similar subect.

5very photographer will tell you stories about bi+arre laughable reections, " once had a shot of a Benus fly trap,

accepted at 6lamy and every other microstock site but one, their reection reason was that the photo was 'out of

focus' now as it was a fairly narrow depth of field image the foreground out of focus and the background out of focus

with ust the centre where the plant was in focus, it stands to reason that some part of the image 1in this case the

subect2 )@ST be in focus, so, well, laugh at the reviewers stupidity and upload some more.

"'m not suggesting going blindly on here, if you spot a pattern over many images then you can act on it, ust don't lose

sleep over image reections, life it too short.

#ntroduction to Licensing #magesTo those new to photography the terms in the sphere

of licensing images can be a little confusing to say the

least. #t's a common (eginner's mista!e to thin!

that when you sell or upload a stoc! image you are

selling or transferring your copyright.

The first important terms to separate and understand is the

difference between licensing and copyright, which some

people confuse and use interchangeably.

When microstockphotographers talk about 'selling images'

they are actually referring to licensing them. 5ach time an

image is 'downloaded' from a microstock site the person paying for the image is in effect licensing it for use.
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Copyright is what you automatically get and own forever 1or a long time at very least2 when you create a picture

1unless you sign that right away by working as an employee of a company or sign some other contracted agreement2.

6s a microstock photographer you always retain copyright to your images. Licensingis the way in which you allow

other people to use your work while still keeping control over the copyright yourself. 6s a microstock photographer

you allow the agencies to give out licenses for use of your images in return for them paying you your commissions.

Licensing 2odels

Ielow are the main licensing models you might come across while selling microstock imagesid ebay put an end to the Oarage Sale;

6 company spending a few hundred dollars 1in total2 on an advertising campaign is likely to source images from

microstock, they would not be able to budget an image from a premium source. 6 company spending several

thousand on an advertising campaign could choose a microstock image, but (uyers and designers are not so

naive as to always ta!e the cheapest option, microstock images lack e!clusivity and often the 'stand0alone' quality

needed in a high end application. Such premium business will inevitably end up on the doorstep of an e!perienced

professional or traditional 'macrostock'stock agency.

How has microstoc! affected the stoc! industry?

The change in the technology landscape has thrown

the stock industry into a state of flu!. Iut it's not ust

stock photography that has been affected, you can

easily draw a parallel with the music industry where

independent and signed artists are offering free

downloads as samples, earning their money throughmerchandise, concerts etc. and taking reduced

royalties from selling records.

8ith all this change comes great opportunity (ut

those unwilling or una(le to change will

inevita(ly suffersome are obviously quite vocal

about it. Must as the music industry has changed after

some delaying 1sites like itunes offer dollar

downloads of music while ardent fans and the technophobic can still purchase =>s2 the stock photography industry

has changed and will continue to change over the coming years.
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6 few years back microstock was greeted with first denial, then anger, depression etc. but it's now generally accepted

by all as an important part of the stock photography arena. While the industry has still not realigned itself with the

current changes taking place both of the industry leaders 1Oetty and=orbis2have their own microstock interests and

are watching closely the results. Oetty have ownedistockphotofrom a safe distance for several years and corbis

have recently taken a bold step in introducing a 'marketplace' which is essentially microstock into one of their premier

brands at veer.com.

#mage Style9 2icrostoc! v "raditional Stoc!

)icrostock images often have a 'microstock look'8 it's a style dictated by the users of microstock images,

users are buying these images so contributors are creating more like them. Traditionally stock photos were

not supplied ready to be dropped into a design, they were e!pected to be edited to the style dictated by a photo editor

1a person2. )icrostock images are more likely to be downloaded and dropped straight into a design with little editing

needed.

"n this post " e!plore the differences between images for micro andmacrostock1traditional full priced stock2. f

course you will find images of all types in both market segments, a key thing to remember is that the 'microstock style'

images are the big sellers on the microstock sites.

The style of images that sell is where some professional photographers come unstuc! when trying to sell on

microstoc! sites, while their images are technically flawless, well composed and indeed most fle!ible for the use in

designs of any type, they are often not what microstock buyers are looking for, the market demands something 'fast,

easy and cheap'

)icrostock sites rank your photos on the number of times that people click on them or hover0over for a preview, if

your image does not stand out in amongst %$ or so other images on the screen then < it will receive fewer views < it

will appear less frequently in the search results < it won't be a good seller.

Su(


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Neeping things simple is the rule, microstock images often ust have one subect and no 'layers' of subects i.e.

subects in the background and foreground. "tems cut out of white sell well. >esigners using microstock sites more

likely to be looking for an image to drop straight onto a page layout or web design than something that will make a

good maga+ine cover or sell a product on its own.

=ase Study< Ahotographer Oordon Iall's "stock Aortfolio. &is top * photos were taken inside his own home 1a

radiator valve, bathroom interior etc, he wrote about this on his blog2. The pretty winter landscapes and conceptual

wedding photos which you might e!pect to be bigger sellers, and which look like conventional stock photography, sell

much less often.

Cropping# personally li!e lots of space around images (ut

unfortunately on microstoc! sites people

really do (rowse with their eyes and not their

heads. "he (enefit of an image that is not too

tightly cropped and that has lots ofcopy

spacearound it seems to fly out of the

window when it comes

to microstock. The fact that there is no space around a

subect for a bleed when printing is probably a problem

for many designers, but from what " have seen the

sellers have a 'large central0ish subects' that loo! good as thum(nails.Traditional concepts like rule0of0thirds and

images which look great when printed on a large canvas may little effect when it comes to people clicking on the

download button. There might be an argument that images with lots of copy space 1that risk looking lost on the

search results page2 sell at higher prices and with e!tended licenses as they are more useful to print designers8 tight

cropped 'obvious' images that ump out of the search results may sell in larger volume but only at smaller, less

valuable si+es as they are used by bloggers and other digital media designers. Oiven the option e!periment with

both, certain subects lend themselves to close cropping better than others. "'ve seen e!amples of isolated0on0white

obects with variations of copy space on the left and right of the same subect, seemingly for la+y microstock buyers

who want cut0and0paste

Popping

"mage colours and contrast should stand out. This is an

area " sometimes find difficult, before microstock came

along " would strictly leave all images un colour0saturated

and un 'photoshopped' other than spotting and cleaning.

6ll of my images had very minimal pure black and pure

white so that the end user could choose how contrasty

they wanted the end image. &owever, take a look at the

results from a microstock search you you will see lots of

bright colours and strong contrast 1remember that the

images that appear first in the default search results are

the biggest sellers2. "mages often featuring somewhat

cheesy effects simulating fluorescent lighting, warm

lighting K sunsets etc. There are probably designers out

there who curse this, but the stats speak for themselves,

the big microstock sellers are bright and colourful andloo!
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good on screen. "t seems to not matter if such images don't print as well as they might if they were sold un 'tweaked'

and edited for the output format required.

Sharpening

Low levels of sharpening while processing in camera raw or sharpening which is already included into peg files by

default is acceptable 1and advisable2, %dditional sharpening to ma!e images loo! good on screen is not a good

idea. "mages are to be left unsharpened so that the end user can sharpen the image for their final output. )icrostock

or macrostock your agency not like you for sharpening images.

Conclusion

The amount of image editing you perform will very much depend on the subect. "mages which feature real life such

as office scenes, travel etc, require little in the way of Ahotoshop work. "mages which are more composite such as

montages or items cut out of a white background will likely sell better if their colours are vivid and pop out of the

screen. The most important thing to remember is that to some e!tent your image has to stand it for itself when viewed

as a tiny little thumbnail amongst lots of other images.

0irty Sensor9 )eason for )e. Strictly speaking it's not

actually the sensor 1=>> or =)S chip2 it's the cover over the top of the sensor, depending on the manufacturer it

might be called a hi0pass filter or anti alias screen.

Chec!ing for 0ust on your Sensor

Looking at your sensor with the naked eye 1all >SL?'S have a mirror lock up K maintenance mode which allows you

to look at the sensor2 will likely reveal nothing unless a relatively large piece of debris has stuck on there. )ost of the

dirt that causes problems on sensors is way too small to see with the naked eye.
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Eou can easily check if you have dirt on your sensor by taking a raw image of a clean white sheet of paper 1make the

image as out of focus as you can and stopped all the way down to smallest aperture2. pen the image in your raw

processor software at $$3, if grey or black specks are apparent then you have dirt that needs cleaning. 7or further

analysis you can also increase the contrast of the image in a raw processor by increasing the 'blacks' slider, then

after opening in photoshop 1or similar2 do an auto levels to make the specks of dirt stand out even more. The same is

possible with MA5O, but with raw you get more control over increasing the contrast of the image. The method is

similar to that you can use quantify the vignetting a lens creates2.

" find that the noise is easier to see with my longer lenses 1although " can still see dirt with a #$mm lens2. &ere is a

comparison between the same focal length but different e!tremes of aperture settinguster 1=ompressed 6ir2

"o (e used with caution read the method (elow , don't tilt the can while spraying. Typically the can will say

something like :used for cleaning camera lenses, electronics and art applications:. Eou can buy this from a camera

shop or electronics supplier but be careful with the 'gas' cans that you can get for artists air brushes unless they also


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say suitable for the above. )ake sure that you read the label on the can of air duster, some need shaking, some

don't, but more importantly place it on a flat surface and hold the camera up to the can or you risk squirting ice0cold

liquid propellant into the camera K sensor 1"'ve done that once and it was easy to clean off without damage but

perhaps " was ust lucky2.

#2 7ully charged and reliable batteries 1don't risk the battery running flat and dropping the shutter while you have a

swab in there2 some camera manufacturers require a power cable before allowing the camera into 'cleaning mode'.

%2 Some lint free lens cleaning wipes 1photography store or someone who deals in equipment for cleaning fibre optic

terminations2 and a # swabs on which to wrap these wipes 1one for dry application and one for wet2. The end profile

of the swabs should be as wide as the width of your sensor and a thin as possible. They will be used to sweep from

one edge of the sensor to the other, covering the full width in one pass.

/2 Lens cleaning fluid or :>ust 6id: or a more e!pensive specialist ==>KSensor cleaner if you are worried about using

lens cleaner, especially if your camera sensor has a special coating.

(2 "nstead of % and / " have also used Oreen =lean 1they are e!pensive but good2 they are packs of disposable

wipes, one dry and one wet, sealed in clean room conditions. nce used they must be disposed 1unless you plan to

recycle them with by covering the pads with fresh of lint free tissue2.

-I< Nitchen tissue or cotton buds will not substitute as cleaning swab material, these products will be covered in

particles of paper or cotton dust, and make your sensor dirtier not cleaner.

Some complain bitterly on forums about using air in a can to clean their sensor saying it may fire particles into the ccd

and damage it. "'ve had no problems 1yet2, and from what " understand these 'accidents' come down to one of #

things, tilting the can while spraying or stupidity, the latter probably being the most common.

2ethod

2 ?ead the cameras manual about mirror lock up K maintenance mode and make yourself happy with the process of

getting in and out of that mode so that you can access the sensor. Eou might not damage your sensor, but if the

shutter curtain closes while you have a cleaning swab inside the camera then the delicate shutter leaves are likely to

be damaged.

#2 7ind a good work surface, wipe it and everything you are going to use with a damp cloth trying to get rid of any

dust, also wash your hands 0 )ost people don't have a 'clean room conditions' at home so try your best to keep

everything spotless 1including the camera2

%2 Wet clean, either using freshly opened green clean wet swab or a home0made equivalent 1a plastic swab covered

with a lens tissue held on with an elastic band2. " once used a plastic lolly pop stick cut to shape but that was not

ideal. There is a balance on how much cleaning solution you drip the swab before you brush the sensor. Oo with one


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drip at first and see, if it's too little then the sensor will be dry before you do your dry sweep, too much and you risk

wetting more than ust the cameras' low pass filter.

Sweep across the sensor from one end to the other in one gentle stro!e. don't sweep (ac! and forth that will


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2

" wrote this article after reading a forum post from a photographer

who was having images reected for 'noiseor artifacts' after

looking at his image and reading how he used all sorts of noise

software. " could see the problem, there was not a bit of noise on

his images but all the edges in the image were distorted by

artifacts created by his noise reduction software in his quest to

reduce noise that was not there.

"less is definitely more when it comes to noise

reduction"

>epending on your equipment there is a point where you will need

to correct noise so much that the 'artifacts' left behind by the

software will cause the image to be reected anyway. 1no matter

how good the software2

-oise is not a bad thing, ust a little bit of noise is

acceptable,much (etter having a little noise than having all flat

areas in your image loo! li!e an oil painting. "mage inspectors

don't like to see images that look 'processed'

0efinitions

7irst a couple of definitions to help separate any confusion in images reected for 'noise or other artifacts'

Foise :=rain;

1$$3, >#$$ at "S $$2

%rtifacts

6riginal #mage1#$$32 taken at "S $$, suffering from the effects of noise

1note that the stepped effect is caused by scaling to #$$3 nearest neighbour2
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Mpeg %rtifacts 1#$$32 the ! macro cells are quite noticeable, at lower compression levels artifacts are seen

characteristically 'around the edges' and not on the edges themselves2

Processing %rtifacts, artifacts generated from over use of noise reduction software, note the subtle fringes on the

edges which look 'digital', also notice the loss of detail in the fine wire mesh, this noise reduction has been 'over

cooked' to set an e!ample

Aost process scaling, or sharpening generates '


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G 8ays to control Foise and %rtifacts

; Shoot in the lowest "S you can, and get the e!posure right in camera 0 your noise problems should be minimal.

@; vere!pose slightly, especially in ?6W 1start with #K% of a stop and see how things go2, the darker areas captured

by the Sensor are more noisy than the light areas, especially if you increase the brightness and e!posure later when

processing the raw file 1better to darken the file in Ahotoshop than to lighten it2.

+;?educe the amount of contrast correction you do by getting the light correct in the first place. "f you 'contrast

stretch the histogram' to add some 'pop' to an image then you will also add contrast to the noise and any artifacts will

become more noticeable

1consumer level camera, peg artifacts and sensor noise used for illustration here2

5!ample< Iefore '=ontrast =orrection', riginal "mageH$$ " have never needed to do any

noise processing. "f the images came from a point0and0shot and are peg then depending on the quality all of them

will benefit from a little use of the 'remove MA5O artifact'

function inside the Ahotoshop reduce noise filter under

'noise' on the 'filter' menu.

*our Photo Portfolio 5 4io8e(site

Eour portfolio website is a space online where you sell

yourself, gain credibility and allow others to view a

sample of your very best work 1not the latest photos

that you think are good right now, but creme0de0la0
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cremeU of your current image collection2 "t can be ust one siteKprofile where you focus all your work, or a

mini network of different sites and galleries aimed at different market segments. "t can consist of one or

more of the followingon't go 'madly snapping' everything you see in the world, take some time over choosing the subect of each

photo or you will end up spending way too much time sorting through rubbish images afterwards8 only 'snap' if you

have only a limited time at a location or with a model etc. or while the light is fading and there is no choice but to work

fast or you will miss it. Aractice will allow you to work faster with your camera and mean that you can get great shots

even when pressured by time.

,;>on't try to upload to every site, focus your efforts on thebest performing sitesthat you are accepted by. "f your

photography and subects are good, then there should be no problem being accepted by any microstock agency. "f

you are still learning the art then part of your microstock ourney and personal goals might be getting accepted by

each of the top ( agencies.

;?emove the clutter from all your photos, preferably

before you shoot, but if you can't then do it afterwards in

photoshop. )icrostock is a place for bright, clean, almost

'too perfect' looking subects. @se your cameras

lowestIOsetting 1or $$ "S2 to guaranteelow noiseimages.?ead more about noise and "S.

@;Ahoto what's around you Stop musing at all those

e!otic locations and e!pensive model set0ups. Since "

moved to 6ustralia, Aaris has become and e!otic

location, when " lived in )anchester it was a weekend

5uro break The things you own and locations on your

doorstep can be ust as evocative to someone from overseas as those overseas images are to you. Shoot local

landmarks in new ways and capture local community life in your home town.

+;"f your images are getting reected because they are not 'in sharp focus' then read everything you can about

photography technique. "f you shoot in program mode then the camera will help you by selecting an 7 stop in the

lens's sweet spot for best sharpness unless it's too dark, then it will try to use 7(.* or lower. This will not produce the

best results. Try taking a few photos at 7 or 7 and compare them to those taken at other apertures. 7ull article on

f0stops for sharp images.

I;>on't get upset if a photo is reected, and don't hours trying to prove '"'m right, you are wrong'. )any years

ago " had what " thought was a nice image of some fo!gloves 1flowers2 and " noticed that one of the maor

agencies had no portrait format images of fo!gloves so " submitted mine, it was reected on grounds of 'we have

enough of this type of image already' 1" assume they ust reect all images of flowers for that reason2 so " sent emails
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and resubmitted and it was all basically a waste of time. Take good photos, keyword them and submit. ?ead and act

upon any technical reections and don't get into a 'if they accepted this image then why not mine'. )ore on common

reection reasons and how to deal with them

G;=oncentrate on what you enoy photographing, "t's fine if you don't have any food, people or landscape photos in

your collection, if you are not interested in those subects then leave them to other people who enoy that. 6 great way

to motivate yourself is to take images related to your hobby or create a niche style for yourself. 6nother motivator is

creating a series or 'a proect' and setting yourself the goal of taking say ($ photos related to a specific subect. "deas

might be ($ images that represent summer, autumn and winter etc, and in each collection have ( te!tures, ( images

which represent oy or fun, ( that represent something unpleasant about the season etc.

;>on't get obsessive about microstock. "t's too easy to turn what was an enoyable hobby into, :-o " can't shoot

any more flowers they don't sell well:. ?emember what you enoyed doing when you started out in microstock, and

continue doing if you still enoy it. 5very photo you take does not have to be one that has potential for earning money.

Taking a photo not intended to sell can spawn new ideas that do sell, allows you to practice your skills so that your

stock photos are better, or might ust bring you personal enoyment while taking it or looking at a print you made.

%n Education in 2icrostoc!

(icrostockis a great way to learn photography skills, business, personal and technical skills 0 all with the

fle!ibility of investing as much or as little time as you have available.)icrostock is not an easy way to make

money, depending on your current skill0set it can be hard work with a lot of learning to do. Eou may earn a good

income with hard work, or you might earn very little and give up, but it's guaranteed you will take away new skills,

knowledge and e!perience from whatever you do.

8hat 2icrostoc! "eaches

>epending on whether you start as an e!perienced photographer or a photography hopeful there are a series of core

skills that are needed to be a microstock photographer, get any of these skills wrong and you'll know right away 0 the

feedback is loud and clear, your images will be reected

Technically good photography, good focus, where to focus, lens selection, choice of aperture etc.

"mage processing, camera settings for lownoiseand highest quality.

Iasic lighting for acceptable contrast and correct subect highlightingKillumination.

>igital image technology, memory cards, computer skills, internet, research and analysis skills.
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