First up in this chapter is Figure 3.1, “The Business Team,” an image I downloaded from Fotolia. All models will need to sign separate versions of the models (see Chapter 11 and Appendix 2); these publications should then FIGURE 3.1 “The Business Team”. Although this is a picture of just one person, many of the elements that made The Business Team a success are present here:. it's simple, straightforward and isolated on a white background, with lots of positive vibes.
Both “The Business Team” and the receptionist photo are well taken, professional quality photos taken with studio lighting. Good landscape photography – the kind sold through microstock sites – has an immediate impact (Figure 3.10). You also get the same exposure if you “close” the aperture to f/16 and reduce the shutter speed to 1/60 second, and so on.
So it's a balancing act to "maximize" the exposure without burning out image highlights. With film, you are stuck with the speed rating of the film you have loaded, unless you "press process" the entire film. Now we're talking - the big daddy of the digital world is the dSLR (Figure 6.6).
BUY THE BEST EQUIPMENT YOU CAN AFFORD
Does it make sense to save $100 on a camera but spend hours of extra time working on poor quality files. It makes sense to give yourself the best possible tools you can afford for the job. Remember that you don't have to buy new; there are some good second-hand bargains to be had.
Make sure you budget to buy not only the camera body, but lenses to match the photos you want to take. For example, if you plan to shoot product photos, food or other studio work, it makes sense to buy a decent macro lens and not just make do with the standard kit lens that comes with most dSLRs.
DECIDE IF ARTIST EXCLUSIVITY IS FOR YOU
Good used bargains include the likes of the Kodak 760 Nikon-mounted dSLR, with a 6-MP output, which cost around $8,000 new a few years ago and has superb image quality with a free-to-download raw file -converter; the Canon D60; the Olympus E-1 professional 5-MP Four Thirds camera, and many others too numerous to mention. I don't dispute that iStockphoto is an excellent microstock library, possibly the best of the lot for sales for many photographers, but my personal take on exclusivity is this: since exclusivity was first made an option at iStockphoto, a number of new libraries have emerged offering real competition. This should be obvious from a quick look through the appendices to this book, which list most of the major libraries.).
In the rapidly evolving world of microstock photography, you need to ask yourself if artist exclusivity is the best option for you and your work. With those in the bag, and if you accept your work meets their acceptance criteria, add a few more if you like from the other microstock libraries.
BUY DECENT FTP UPLOAD SOFTWARE I personally think it is a good idea to keep the uploading process as
BUY AND USE ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
BUY A MACRO LENS IF YOU OWN A dSLR
BUY A TRIPOD TO GO WITH THAT NEW MACRO LENS
For outdoor use, you need to consider how sturdy the tripod will be in windy conditions and how heavy it is to transport. I use a carbon fiber tripod because it is lightweight, but it is more expensive to buy than an aluminum one. I recommend a ball head to go with the tripod for ease and speed, along with a quick release plate.
JOIN THE FORUMS
GET AN INDEPENDENT VIEW BY JOINING INDEPENDENT FORUMS
SET UP REFERRAL LINKS
A member is referred to Fotolia by a member when [he or she] creates an account after clicking the affiliate link. An Affiliate Link is an Internet hyperlink or web link that points to the Fotolia website with a member's referral ID. Clicking on the “Affiliation” tab in your member area on Fotolia will describe the different ways you can set up an affiliate link.
However, it is worth considering as an additional, if often small, source of income, especially if you have a website where you can place referral links. Earn money by allowing visitors to your website to search for and buy images from Fotolia.
CHECK WHAT IS SELLING—AND WHAT IS NOT
ENLIST FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES Given that people shots are big sellers but professional models
If you follow Tip 10, it will already be clear that people shots feature a lot among the most popular images, so if you can enlist the help of those you know as models, then you are off to a flying start in your microstock career.
UPLOAD NEW WORK REGULARLY BUT IN SMALL BATCHES
SET KEY WORDS ACCURATELY
The problem is that different libraries use different search engines, so you may need to vary your keywords to suit each site. Don't spam keywords (i.e. add irrelevant but popular keywords) to pick up hits; Instead, use accurate keywords relevant to your image. Shutterstock has a cool feature that lets you check the 100 most popular keywords used in searches.
The sites allow you to enter keywords online, but it is better to add them before uploading. You may need to adjust your keywords later (especially for iStockphoto and its keyword system), but you will save a lot of time this way, especially if you use FTP software to bulk upload to multiple sites at once.
USE SELECTIVE FOCUS
Bad keywords not only mean your images can't be found, but can also lead to your images being rejected; Therefore, set your keywords accurately. If you sign up with iStockphoto, you will learn more about their new keyword system, which relies on key phrases. This is completely different from the standard keyword system and is an adaptation of a system developed by new owners Getty.
You enter five to 50 tags (words or phrases) separated by commas and click to add them, and the system interprets the words or phrases. For other subjects, you have to choose the point of sharp focus very carefully.
CHALLENGE YOUR CREATIVITY
Good prime lenses work well when using selective focus because they have a larger maximum aperture, essential for the shallow depth of field effects seen in 'Allium Flowers' (Figure 8.5). It's now probably impossible to take a concept or other shot of a sunflower without sending the microstock reviewers into a frenzy of rejection.
USE sRGB COLOR SPACE FOR SUBMISSION
Think of Adobe RGB as the color equivalent of a 16-bit TIFF, and sRGB as the equivalent of an 8-bit TIFF. Adobe RGB images in particular look a bit washed out and undersaturated when viewed on the web or in some web browsers. Your camera may have a setting that allows you to switch from sRGB to Adobe RGB and back again.
If your camera supports the raw file format, use it; convert from raw, save as 16-bit TIFF, Adobe RGB color space, and then open and manipulate as needed internally. If your camera does not support the raw file format but allows you to choose between Adobe RGB and sRGB, choose Adobe RGB; then convert the JPEG to a 16-bit TIFF file in Photoshop.
READ THE MANUAL!
When you're done and ready to send the file to microstocks, convert to sRGB color space and then save as an 8-bit JPEG file. After you're done with any corrections, noise removal, and so on, convert to sRGB; then convert to 8 bit and save as a JPEG ready for submission. However, still follow the conversion to 16-bit manipulation routine before saving as a JPEG for submission.
Although the sRGB color space is smaller than Adobe RGB, it is large enough for most purposes.
DON’T CROP TOO TIGHTLY
SHOOT THE LIGHT
Similarly, the light you use to illuminate your subject plays a crucial role in the success of the image. If you're using studio lights to illuminate your subject, play around with the placement of your lights, the balance between them, and their output. Here is a simple example; If you're taking a photo of a prominent local building, it will look better at midday in full sun or in the evening with more gentle side lighting.
If you're using a shallow focus effect (tip 14), reducing the strength of your studio lights will enable you to use a wider lens aperture, reducing the depth of field for a nice shallow focus image - great for trendy food and product photography. Interesting lighting is one way to make sure your photos stand out from the crowd.
GET NETWORKING!
You may know of the big guns like Getty or Corbis, but there are hundreds of others. Recently, Alamy has borrowed some of the microstocks' clothes by introducing a zero-tolerance image inspection regime, image uploading (but still not FTP) and a user forum. This should make Alamy a very comfortable choice for microstock photographers looking to enter the world of traditional libraries.
Yay!” culture of some of the microstocks, you may find the smaller libraries a bit more serious. Nevertheless, they provide an interesting snapshot of the micro-equity market as it matures and expands.
Most Important Site Features Chart
Section 4(1) (2) of the Act defines "photograph" in a way that does cover film and digital capture. The position will be very different if you take a photo of copyright plans of the building. It should be in the interest of the micro-stocks themselves to sell a wider range of work and not succumb to every claim of copyright or trademark infringement directed at them.
Even if you do not provide information to any library, you as a photographer may be subject to the requirements of the law. In Appendix 2, I've included some sample model releases for Dreamstime, Shutterstock, and Fotolia, with the kind permission of the copyright owners.
