Microstock photography

My wife and I have rather different photography skill levels. Em can typically visualise a photograph and get the composition just right, I generally take the shot gun approach of clicking away like there is no tomorrow (thank goodness for digital cameras) and hoping there is the occasional good one amongst the dross. Though that said, I am pretty happy with the ‘controlled’ type of photography and am satisfied with some of the visual assets I have created for various websites.

I’m really excited by the rise of the potential available to the ‘amateur’ of today, and for some time I have been encouraging Em to try selling some of her photographs… with that end in mind I intend to explore the world of microstock photography. Hopefully it will turn out to be feasible, even for me to make a sale, and to hence encourage Em and the talented members of our family to follow suit.

My goal: see if I can make a single sale of one of my images.

My findings will be recorded here:

[update1] iStockPhoto : initial investigations indicates it is not as simple as I had hoped. There appear to be pretty strict guidelines about the types of images they want, the image formats, and there is an exam to sit along with portfolio submission in order to be considered suitable to be a ‘contributor’. I guess it is a good thing, and will keep the quality high, and make their marketplace much more high-end.