I’ve been looking into selling art on iStockPhoto, the few opinions I could find on the forum seemed to be positive, but without many specifics. Anybody have experiences about them? Or other suggestions for where to sell?
I’d love to hear from somebody who’s used them… and if you don’t mind maybe hint at what a render can make in a month. Thanks!
i was wondering the same thing! i wanted to make some $$ so i decided to use istockphoto. i haven’t gotten a chance to take the application test. i wasn’t sure what it should be under, a photographer or illustrator? what did u do?
Someone on this forum said they had registered as photo. They said illustration is all vector formats, so there’s no way to upload. I know if you look through the photos on the site, there’s a lot of renders, so I’m guessing that’s right.
I haven’t registered yet, I was waiting to hear back from here first. I’ll probably do it soon though and I’ll post back here if nobody else answers first.
Only problem I see is the test they make you take would then be on photography-- I’ll have to summon forgotten knowledge from my high school photo class.
The test isn’t really the problem.
First you are presented with a series of dos and donts regarding the iStockphoto policy and quality standard. The test just makes sure you read and understood all these mini lessons.
The real problem nowadays seems to actually get accepted as contributor. You have to upload 3 representative images of your work. These will get reviewed by a jury and you get contacted if these are up to the standard iStockphoto expects.
As iStockphoto gets flooded with many new applications for some time now, they seem to have risen the hurdle to an extraordinary high level to get accepted.
Thats the message I got after trying
At this time we regret to inform you that we did not feel the overall composition of your photography or subject matter is at the minimum level of standard for iStockphoto. Please take some time to review training materials, resources and articles provided through iStockphoto. The photographs provided in your application should be your best work. Try and impress us, we want to see how you stand out from the crowd.
And these were the three images I submitted
http://www.loramel.net/images/stocks/gears.jpeg
http://www.loramel.net/images/stocks/swan.jpeg
http://www.loramel.net/images/stocks/rope.jpeg
Looking at some of the stock images already present or newly submitted ( and accepted) by already accepted contributors, I came to the conclusion that entry level images are measured quite differently.
After a rejected attempt you have to wait 72 hours before you are allowed to upload again.
I think I will try again nonetheless and see if I can get accepted eventually.
The most difficult thing about stock is understanding that it is a very particular style. Those images (@loramel) are very nice pics, but not stock. Stock images are not intended to be stand alone works, but rathher able to be used as components in larger designs. The strong contrasts and relatively large areas of black make such use almost impossible. Great for the wall, almost useless for stock. Light, bright, and undramatic makes good stock imagery. Think Pixar.
Some 3D portfolios it might be worth checking out are:
mevans
alexsl
I understand the type of stock photos you are referring quite well. What I was referring to was e.g.
All images which do not qualify as typical stock images, but are nonetheless submitted and accepted just in the last minutes.
If these get accepted, then there must be some need for these kind of images too.
The standards for getting accepted are a bit different from the standards for current contributors, it’s true. However, even though those images were accepted they are unlikely to sell well. Do a search for water (on istock), select the cold drink option, and then sort by downloads.
@loramel Thanks for sharing your images. I can’t believe those were rejected, I guess they do hold the standard for entry really high. That gives me a good idea though what I need to submit.
I registered last night. As stated above, the test wasn’t a big deal after reading their information. Now I’m nervous about the 3 images I submitted though. They were all really just snapshots, good snapshots, but snapshots. I convinced myself they were probably just checking that you know the basics: good exposure, focus, color, no noise/compression artifacts, etc. like they go over on the quiz. I guess they’re looking for more than that.
I’ll wait and see what they say though I guess. If they don’t take my photos I’ll send in a few renders probably, since that’s mostly what I plan to submit anyway. Thanks for the help everyone. I’ll let you know how it goes for me.
i havent sold stock images or pieces just by themselves, but i pretty much live off of doing architectural visualization, at least for now.
I’ve had a few sales on Turbo Squid. It’s no good for anything like a ‘regular income’ but it very much depends on what you sell.
The big problem with all these things is the exchange rate. On Turbo Squid the standard ‘fee’ for sales is 50-60%! So if you sell a model for $20, you are only making $10 at best.