First sale on Istock and thinking like a designer
My Istock portfolio currently contains 6 images, some of which I actually put a lot of effort in. My first sale though is the fruit of boredom combined with a very strong aversion to whatever I happened to be doing and about 20 minutes of free time. The coffee cup sold first after bout 30 views and about a week of sitting in my portfolio. I’m not surprised though, that’s what people use in articles. However uneventful the story of how I shot that image is it’s still a thrill to see that someone valued my work enough to purchase it.
More and more i’ve been realizing just what kind of photography Istock is looking for. It’s not gallery grade images, it’s not things that you would hang on a wall and never want to take down, it’s images used to illustrate articles, advertisements and product packaging. I’ve always photographed things that meant something to me, either for their aesthetic value or just to remember them. I’ve always edited images so that they’ll be appealing to me. Istock introduced a new way of thinking to my photography. To be successful at microstock photography you have to think primarily as a designer, then as a photographer. Browse through magazines, sunday newspapers, informational pamphlets, brochures, whatever piece of printed work you can find and analyze the images and remember the themes. Ask yourself what kind of image you’d use if you were writing a similar article. You’d probably go for a not too processed (but just enough to pop) image that can go well with your story. You wouldn’t be looking for a work of art, you’d be looking for an illustration. Now in no way do I mean to belittle the images contributors put up on Istock. I have seen stunning work there, and such a collection of knowledgeable, talented and creative people is hard to find.
It took me a while to understand the role of microstock photography, and  I think I’ve finally  done it. To be successful at it you have to broaden your way of thinking and understand it.
2 Responses to “First sale on Istock and thinking like a designer”
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Nice post. I just got on there and I’m always looking for more information from other contributors. I’m still waiting for my first uploads to be approved and to appear. I have been going through my archives and have had to alter my thoughts on my own photography. I think a lot of people confuse their istockphoto uploads with their “art.” All of my photos have been taken with “art” with a capital A in mind, and sometimes I have to shake my head and get over the fact that something that may be “art” to me may not sell at all on istock (or even be approved if not technically perfect). It’s a good lesson.
In my opinion the worst thing with Istockphoto is their inconsistency. If they like an image, they’ll accept it no matter how noisy it is. I’ve shot iso 800 images and got them acceptet without changing a thing on them and I’ve shot controlled condition images which in my eyes were pretty great that got turned down for a whole host of technical reasons. And you’re totally right. Art doesn’t sell on Istock, regardless of the fact that people have some really amazing work up there. What sells is simple pictures with simple messages that go along well with an article.
Thanks for your comment!