Every day for four years, someone has posted about their “first 10 being rejected” by Shutterstock, StockXpert, or other agencies. When you are trying to start in microstock photography, that first batch is often the hardest. I’ve narrowed down a few reasons why it’s so hard to get started and some ideas for getting approved.
1) Submit a variety of images.
This seems simple but you should always ensure that your first batch is not 10 textures, 10 photos of your kids in mixed light, 10 photos of a piece of toast, etc. The more you mix it up, the more you’ve shown the agency that you are going to be a prolific shooter with a good mix of images, not a one-time submitter who will waste reviewer time with a bunch of rejected shots of your kids opening Christmas presents.
2) Stay within your abilities.
Your stock artist application is not the place to get fancy with things you’ve never done before. Avoid hard sidelighting, isolated images on white and textures. Isolations seem *so* easy but it’s *so* easy to mess up edges, leave them smoother or rougher than a particular agency wants, etc. Textures are almost ALWAYS blurry unless you’ve used a tripod, a small aperture (f/11?) and a remote. While readily available you’d rather get those rejected in your second batch, after you’ve been approved.
3) Avoid the common rejections.
Common rejection reasons are:
- poor lighting (purple fringe, harsh shadows, wrong white balance, backlit when it shouldn’t be)
- copyright/trademark violations – remove all logos, names, everything that identifies clothes, objects, etc.
- image out of focus – “Your image is not in focus or focus is not located where we feel it works best.“
- noise, grain or artifacts – the ability to “see” noise for microstock is an art form. When in doubt, give it a touch of blur/neat image but not too much. (This sky has noise – I can see it, can you?)
4) Include model releases.
Model releases are required for any image with a recognizable human. If you are submitting photos with people in it, use a release, especially for your first 10. After that you can distinguish between recognizable and not but for the first 10, if you have a human in it, include a model release. We are all about getting you accepted right?
Download a copy of the form I use for adults here
5) Submit new work.
Most photographers continually improve over time. Don’t submit work that is over 6-12 months old. Your images from 6 months ago do not represent your best work and if they do you should keep shooting before attempting microstock. Your newest work likely represents your best efforts. If you’ve recently been rejected on your applications you now have a month! Get out and shoot, create new images, and try to make 50 great stock photos. From that, choose the best 10.
6) Don’t leave notes for the reviewers.
Some peope may disagree but I think “This is my 3rd application PLEASE accept me!” or “Thanks for looking…again.” just scream “I’ve already been rejected by someone else, you should really look hard at my stuff because typically it hasn’t been good enough.
7) Shoot continuously.
Whether your batch was rejected this month or last month, next month or in three months, eventually with persistence and some talent you will get in. Once you are in an agency, the standards are typically a LOT easier than on those first 10 images. If you’ve been shooting continuously, you will have images to immediately submit for review.
8- Submit 10 NEW images when you resubmit your rejected application.
I admit – I have no idea why this works but nearly everyone suggests submitting 10 brand new images as the best way of getting accepted. This may refer back to #5 – don’t submit old images as you’ve gotten better. Just follow the time-tested advice of the pros and submit images you’ve never submitted before each time.
9) Avoid subjects stock agencies reject.
Although you *can* get images of flowers, eyeballs, dogs and sunsets approved on your first application reviewers are used to hitting “reject” on those once you’re actually in. Shooting those images for your first 10 does not tell a reviewer whether you can shoot stock as sunsets, dogs and flowers are NOT typically accepted unless the images are spectacular. Why give them a reason?
10) Edit clean, professional images.
- No black & white images – stick to color.
- Accurate white balance.
- Good histogram/levels – true white & black in the image.
- Sharp, noise free.
- Keep all cloning, healing, etc. to a minimum.
A good microstock photographer can submit a variety of well-lit, compositionally interesting images with good white balance, no noise and do it regularly. All agencies want to see that you can do the same. Whether you’re a new microstock photographer learning to do this for the first time or you’ve been on Bigstock and Dreamstime for a year and are trying to make the leap to IStock and Shutterstock, hopefully if you follow these 10 tips you’ll have a much easier time getting accepted!
Bonus tip: 11) Get professional help. Have someone else review your images, whether that’s in the Shutterstock Critique forum, another photography website, etc. A second pair of eyes, especially one trained in microstock, can sometimes catch mistakes before you submit. This will save you many 30-day cycles if you catch rejects before you bother submitting them. Good luck!
All in one place and organized by microstock agency, I present to you the canonical list of rejection reasons microstock agencies use to kick your photos (not vectors or videos) to the curb.
So far in 2009 I’ve done almost 8-10 hrs a day on some part of microstock or NiltoMil. Whether blogging, editing, keywording or submitting I’ve definitely put in the hours.
