Thanks to iStockphoto, a microstock photography provider founded in 2000, your pictures are now worth money—or are they? We went through the process of submitting pictures to the online photography stock agency and all we can say is, it ain’t easy. You have to read through a tutorial that takes hours, pass a test, wait for days to get your first pictures inspected, and there’s a 95% chance your picture won’t even get accepted. And did our beautiful pictures of Thai food ever get downloaded, after weeks on the website? Nope.

iStockphoto is not the only micro stock photo agency, though. And with some patience, originality and yes, some hard work, micro stock photography can be a rewarding hobby. We spoke to Bangkok-based commercial and travel photographer Marc Schultz, 44 (www.marcshultz.com), who is exclusive with iStockphoto, and derives a substantial part of his income from microstock. Schultz also believes in helping his fellow photographer and founded Photographythailand.com, a forum to get advice on the best gear and the best places and tips to shoot in the kingdom. Here, he tells us how amateurs can hope to makes sales through microstock photography.

THIS PICTURE SUCKS: Why iStock Will Reject this photo

1. Chromatic Aberration: Red and blue fringing on the edges.
2. Over-sharpening. Crisp white lines on the contours of the building.
3. Sensor noise, over-compression. Grainy, blotchy colors.
4. Sensor dust. Dark specks, usually appearing on bright skies.
5. Copyright issues. This building is private property, and you may not have rights to its image.
6. Poor composition. The building is off to the side, with a cropped tree in the frame. Not a very strong image.

CAST A WIDE NET

“It’s very difficult to be exclusive with iStockphoto [and get the higher commission that comes with exclusivity]. You now need 500 downloads; it used to be 250. That could take you 2-3 years. So submit photos to at least 4-5 stock agencies at a time. A lot of these other sites don’t have serious inspection criteria like iStock. You’ll have a much better chance of getting your pics accepted. Try www.alamy.com, www.shutterstock.com, www.dreamstime.com, www.fotolia.com, www.bigstockphoto.com and www.123rf.com."

STEP UP YOUR GAME

“It’s not that tough to get a picture into iStock. They give tutorials and when they reject your image there will be some sort of wiki explaining the reasons. Sometimes you can fix it, sometimes you can’t, such as when it’s poorly lit, not sharply focused or if there is too much noisy (too grainy). But things like chromatic aberration and contrast can be improved. You do need some command of Photoshop, though. You can’t be so amateurish as to just dump your pics into the stock website.”

HEAD FOR THE OUTDOORS

“There is some demand for editorial stock: pictures that are not technically perfect or aesthetically beautiful but illustrate a thing or situation. Maybe somebody needs a picture of a crossing guard helping children across the street. Maybe you took that picture on an overcast day and it’s not perfect. The light isn’t great but it illustrates something and there aren’t a lot of pictures like that, so it has a chance of selling. Amateurs might have a better chance of selling those grab shots.”

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

“The bigger demand is for commercial-type images. One of the biggest best-selling image-genres is corporate groups of multi-ethnic people. You could shoot a mix of black, Asian and white men and woman all giving the thumbs up and giving big smiles, all in a row. These are in high demand. Medicine is another popular subject, as is food, senior citizens, lifestyle and boyfriend-girlfriend shots. But once you go into where the real demand is there’s a huge amount of competition of high quality work. Also, you will need model releases and people expect to be paid for this. So the more people you put into a shot, the more expensive it gets.”

BE DIFFERENT

“There are so many images out there; it’s difficult for your photos to stand out of the pack. Try to look for things that haven’t been done before. In the beginning I tried to copy what was successful. But if you do a beautiful picture of an apple, no one will find your new picture of an apple [out of the thousands available]. Now you don’t want to go for things that are too obscure either. If something is obscure, there is less demand, and you won’t get downloads. So shoot that apple in a way that hasn’t been done before. Go online and see how others have done it and come up with a new angle. With stock photography, you can really test your creativity.”

KEEP YOUR DAY JOB

“Every day there are new agencies. The pie will get sliced up thinner and thinner. But there will always be some opportunity as a hobby. It just depends on how much you want to make and what you consider worth your while. For an amateur, just getting a picture downloaded is a validation. For a hobby, you don’t have [high] expectations. When you want to start making some money, that’s when the pressure builds.” 

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