iStock.com ???

ginger_55

I think that is what it is called. Does anyone have any opinions on this "place". Someone, last winter, on dPreview, said it is fun.

Any know anything? Don't get rich, but good people, that is what I heard.
I looked into doing stock photography way back when and the whole thing just looked like "work". I don't do that anymore than possible.

ginger

wxwax

Ginger, it's istockphoto.com. Best I can say is that I doesn't look like a ripoff.

PerezDesignGroup

I've been there for a while. There's also www.sxc.hu by they way for those of you that need free Stock Photography. Back to IstockPhoto...

Their image standards have risen dramatically. And they're very picky about who and what they will accept. No sunrises, sunsets, clouds or cliches of any type. I actually had 2 images rejected because they saw noise in it. And that was after I processed it through NeatImage. I was shocked.

Oh, and you need to be approved to submit photos. They're picky about that too. I guess they got tired of the amateurish photos and poor quality.

That aside, you earn points as people download your pics. You can then turn around and use those points to download other people's pics or cash them in for money later on.

You can also download art, vectors, etc. It's a cool community. Feedback is pretty good.

mercphoto

Stock Photos

PerezDesignGroup wrote:

Their image standards have risen dramatically. And they're very picky about who and what they will accept.... Oh, and you need to be approved to submit photos. They're picky about that too. I guess they got tired of the amateurish photos and poor quality.

I'm confused. They are very concerned about quality, and then practically give the stuff away? What is the benefit to the photographer?

PerezDesignGroup

mercphoto wrote:

I'm confused. They are very concerned about quality, and then practically give the stuff away? What is the benefit to the photographer?

One minor benefit is photographer's make 20% off each download. Granted this isn't a lot out of $1.50 or so, but if you take popular shots and they get downloaded several thousand times, it could easily pay a few bills and add up to a couple hundred dollars.

Then there's the issue of marketing and exposure. IStockPhoto has captured a niche market. No one else is doing anything like this. The community and designers I speak to all check IStockPhoto before they go to other stock photography sites. If you were designer with a limited budget, woudn't you also go there?

Now imagine this....I'm an illustrator that was just contracted to put together a specific image. As an Illustrator, my job is to look for the best pic at the best price so I can try to make a profit also. I check IStockPhoto and find your photo. You wake up a few months later and find your photo on a television ad/magazine/billboard or whatever. Now you can put this Ad on your resume. Had this photo sat on your hardrive or on a DVD somewhere, it never would have granted you this exposure. I believe this is called 'opportunity cost' in economics. Isn't the exposure and potential marketability benefit enough? I find it is for some.

I understand there are people highly opposed to these types of businesses. It isn't for everyone. As an Illustrator, I resented the fact Elance.com even came into existence. "Oh No!" I thought, "An eBay for Illustrators!" But I soon realized they are filling a void that I never would have bothered with anyways and there are Illustrators making several thousands of dollars a year competing there. I consider IStockPhoto the Washington Mutual Bank of Stock Photography. Their power lies in the raw traffic and exposure they receive.

Just my 2 cents. As for the community, I'm not very active so I can't really comment. Hope this presents some varying angles for ya, mercphoto.

mercphoto

istockphoto

PerezDesignGroup wrote:

Just my 2 cents. As for the community, I'm not very active so I can't really comment. Hope this presents some varying angles for ya, mercphoto.

The varying angles were exactly why I asked the question. Thanks.

Another quick question. Do you upload strictly an image? Do you put your company name on the image (I would imagine not)? Does the downloader know who took the image? Ok, that was three quick questions.

PerezDesignGroup

mercphoto wrote:

The varying angles were exactly why I asked the question. Thanks.

Another quick question. Do you upload strictly an image? Do you put your company name on the image (I would imagine not)? Does the downloader know who took the image? Ok, that was three quick questions.

lol...no problem. Sorry for the lengthy reply.

You can upload as many images as you like but they need to be humanly approved before they display. You cannot put your company name on the image, but IStockPhoto doesn't try to hide the photographer in any way. As a matter of fact, I find the amount of information they display to be extremely pro-artist. Check out one of my pictures for a reference. I found it by searching for 'massager'.

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=272242