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When I decided to sign up for Istockphoto I also signed up for an account on Shuttertock. Shutterstock is a stock photography provider much like Istockphoto and the point of signing up there was to have a control group for this little experiment of mine to see which experience is better.

Signing up to Shutterstock was simple and fast but the acceptance process seems to be a little harsher than on Istockphoto. After signing up for an account on Shutterstock, a contributor must submit 10 images for review. The images have to be properly keyworded and i assume that like on Istock there are restrictions as to what these keywords may be. If at least 7 of these images are ok’d by the Shutterstock crew the contributor can then begin submiting images for sale. Otherwise there is a waiting period of a month (a month??) before a new batch of 10 photos can be submitted for review.

What i did notice however is that Shutterstock doesn’t really compete with Istockphoto when it comes to training new contributors. Istockphoto has a very comprehensive series of illustrated articles describing what they are looking for. They state specific things and give examples of images that would and would not be approved. They have also started a new series of articles entitled ”Istock Photography Standards” that gives tips on techniques and camera setting as well as what makes a photograph suitable for stock.
Shutterstock does not have all of this – or at least i haven’t been able to find it yet. All they provide is a list of do’s and dont’s which mostly list obvious things such as ” don’t submit 10 pictures of your family pet”. It just seems like Istock is a more tightly knit community and apart from the constant stream of rejection emails a contributor feels pretty welcome.

There is a point to stock agencies making contributors jump through hoops to get accepted and sell images. They have to be able to make money off those images. In a way it’s really frustrating to not have an image accepted, but it has made me more selective, more aware of what is ”stock” and ultimately way pickier when it comes to what I shoot.

My Istock portfolio is now up to 9 images so as soon as i get one more accepted i’ll submit the same set with the same keywords to Shutterstock to see how they perform there.

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