If you think for one minute that becoming a professional stock photographer is a fantastic idea for a get-rich-quick scheme, allow me to give you one word of advice: Don't. Even with multiple photograph submission websites available, the chances of making money are one in one thousand - literally.
Take a visit to any one of these major agencies' websites and they'll boast about the hundreds of thousands of stock photographers currently submitting wonderful pics to their ever-growing portfolio. Merely glancing at the numbers can cause one's stomach to sink into a deep, dark pit. Perhaps I should explain why I'm so sore about the topic.
A few months ago, I signed myself into the rosters of over five different stock agencies. Most of them were mainline, high-traffic sites, so I figured my pictures had a pretty decent chance of purchase power. But 1/100th of the way through the signup process of the first site, (yes, it is grueling) I began to realize what I was getting myself into. Exclusive license. Nonexclusive license. License this, license that. Technicalities abounded, and they seemed so superfluous.
Eventually, I memorized the process and just repeated it for the consequent sites, all the while grumbling, sighing, and shaking my head. I'm convinced I have carpal tunnel now just from typing so much information into one signup form.
Trudging on, I upload the preliminary photos for approval. And then I twiddle my thumbs for the next five days or so. Twiddle. Twiddle. Twiddle. Finally, I receive a long-anticipated email in my inbox, entitled with a bold banner, “Your photos have been reviewed!” Fantastic! I open the email, my heart thumping. And what do I see?
“We at such-and-such an agency have a high standard of photographic quality.
Your photographs do not comply with these standards. Please scroll down and review the possible reasons why this might be the case...” Then they list EVERY SINGLE ONE of the possible issues, instead of pinpointing the one that might be the cause of the problem. Not incredibly helpful, but rather discouraging.
Eventually, I submitted photos that were up to par with a few of the sites. Pics accepted by some were pooh-poohed by others who were still pitching their “photographic quality does not comply” standards at my face. I am nonetheless planning on sticking it out until I make some cash - by the way, they refuse to pay you until you have accrued over $50.00 in funds, which takes an outrageously long period of time when you only get a few cents per download. Some experts are suggesting that I upload photos by the hundreds; unfortunately, I'm running out of things to snap pictures of.
I don't mean to be negative, but if any of you plan on signing on as stock photographers, I strongly encourage you to do your homework before you waste the kind of time I have by running into dead ends. Have an idea of stock promotion pumping through your head - some sites allow you to set up a gallery that you can link to from virtually anywhere. Make sure the site gets plenty of traffic; check Alexa.com
for traffic rankings. And never, never, never let anyone personally attack you or your photos. One agency even had the gall to tell me my company name was “a crazy name.” I no longer do business with them.
None of this is to say that you can't ever make a living through selling stock photographs; some people do. But it is becoming increasingly difficult in such an inundated field to break even in your efforts. Simply be prepared, do your homework, and be ready to stick it out for a long, long time.
