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If you’re thinking about going into stock photography, you probably have a lot of questions. Am I good enough? What does it take to sell my photos? Will I be able to compete with the thousands of other photographers out there? The good news is that with microstock, there is room for you to learn as you go. Most succesful microstock photographers started out with other careers, drawn into stock by a mix of curiosity and wanting to play around with their new digital camera.

Traditional photographers work their way up slowly through the business. They have years of training, from color theory and darkroom technique to knowledge about directing models and such mind boggling things as copyright law. If that is who you are comparing yourself to, it’s no wonder you have your doubts. However, the microstock community is much different from that of the traditional, professional photographers. In fact, many old-school pros frown upon the whole microstock idea. They say it’s undermining their business, which I personally see as a huge compliment to all of us ”semi-pros” out there. If they feel threatened, we must be doing something right. There are advantages of going the traditional route (knowing your color theory is not a bad idea), but it is certainly not the only route available, and becoming a microstock photographer means, that you can start doing commercial and earning work from day one.

Like I have already said, I had practically no experience with any kind of photography, when I first started uploading my images to iStockphoto, but I did it anyway, inspired by what I saw other photographers doing. By that, I don’t mean that I started out copying others (copying others is a very bad idea, because it will give you a bad reputation and possibly a whole lot of other problems), but I saw other people shoot things that made me think: I can take pictures at least as well some of these guys!

If at First You Don’t Succeed

There is a lot of trial and error involved, when you first start out, and a lot of my own first shots were not even half as good, as I had imagined they would be. Some of them got rejected when I tried submitting them to iStock, which I tought was extremely frustrating at the time. In the end however, it was from the rejections, I learned the most. Chessplayers say that you learn more from the games you lose, than the ones you win, and so it is with stock photography. The key is to remember that rejections are not personal. They are pointers to actual problems, some of which can be fixed with post-processing. Other times, you have to settle for learning from your mistake and avoid repeating it next time.

As an inspector, I have rejected thousands of images. It’s not fun to do. I would love nothing better than to get only brilliant images, that I could approve without thinking twice. But like any business, iStockphoto has quality standards, which I must observe and go by, when looking at other people’s pictures. Later on, I will go into more detail about some of the pitfalls and common mistakes, and give some tips on how to avoid them. In the meantime, I would suggest checking out the ever-growing library of articles on iStock. They are full of good advice.

Who is Behind the Camera?

The iStock-photographers I know personally, have all sorts of professional backgrounds. Some were designers, originally coming to the site to purchase images. I know a couple of freelance journalists/copywriters, who tried shooting stock out of curiosity and found a new calling. My better half has a background in the printing industry and started shooting food, because she once plated a dish so nicely, her guests told her to photograph it before it was devoured. Now she is a full-time food photographer and stylist. Finally, I know an endless amount of hobby photographers, who got into stock because they saw it as a great way to play with their new gear and make it pay for itself.

Perhaps this diversity in background combined with genuine interest is the very reason, the microstock community is so strong. It is always easy to get critique, inspiration and help from fellow shooters. All over the world photographers have started meeting up and doing photosessions, using each other as models, assistants and partners. Some are signing up for classes together, or renting professional studios for a day and taking it all much further, than they could have done on their own.

iStockphoto supports this culture by organizing so-called iStockalypses. These are huge social events and workshops combined, complete with models, props and afterparties. People network, learn and have tons of fun. It was at an iStockalypse in Seattle, that I met my better half, so naturally, I highly recommend these events.

The point of all this is, that the microstock world is very different from the traditional photography business. Not only in the way the business is conducted and the low prices per image, but also very much in the way the microstock world is a community. I have referred to the shooters as semi-professionals, which doesn’t mean that the work is half-assed (in truth the available images are all over the place, but in some cases very much on par with the work of world class commercial photographers). The reference is in regard to the place in business these photographers have, right between the non-commercial hobbyists and the full-time pros. Indeed, some stock photographers are full-time as well, but most of us do it for fun and pocketmoney, and once you sell your first image, you’ll discover just how addicting it can be. You will find yourself strangely excited about earning a quarter here and there, probably getting a few raised-eyebrow reactions from friends and family, as you babble on about the three bucks, you made yesterday. But trust me when I say that it does add up, and when you cash that first hundred dollar check, your friends will start asking how they too can sign up.

So, to answer the questions posed at the beginning of this post. Are you good enough? Well, if you pass the iStockphoto photographer’s application, the answer is yes. You may not be Dave LaChapelle, but you don’t have to be.

What does it take to sell? Tenacity and a willingness to learn. Don’t get discouraged by rejections, but learn from them and keep uploading new images. Soon you will see your work improve, your ratio of approved versus rejected images will improve with it, and finally, so will your sales.

Will you be able to compete? The thing is, that it’s not really a competition. The more photographers shooting good images, the more buyers will come looking for them. Instead of making a name for yourself on your own, your work will be part of an enormous collection, where your stuff is displayed side by side with everyone else’s. My advice would be to focus solely on making your stuff as imaginative, useful and technically good as you possibly can, because as soon as your images appear in buyers’s search results, there’s no telling which shots will best fit what they’re looking for.

This post is part 2 in a series about my experiences with stock photography, tips and pointers, meant to offer a little inspiration to those interested in such things. The next episode will be about who the buyers are and what the images are used for. For a complete and chronological list of articles, check out the Microstock Photographer’s Guide.

Related Posts

• Getting Started on iStockphoto
• Life as an Image Inspector
• I Want to See Your Photos
• Microstock Photographer’s Guide