Shutterstock Photographer Forum :: View topic - I was accepted

ansku · Joined: 07 Apr 2012 Posts: 147 Location: Finland

I was just accepted - many many thanks to all of you who gave comments and tips for my photos!! I really learned a lot, especially about focus. Now I take my tripod with me everywhere and I can't live without my cable release.

Now that I'm starting to build my portfolio, I'm wondering how I will know what will sell. I don't want to think of commercial value every waking minute (instead keep some room for creativity), but still selling my photos is the idea here, and I can't ignore it completely :-) I've been going through the top 100 images search list to get some idea what is popular, and that of course has been helpful. Is there any other way to do some research of what would sell? When I've been reading this forum I've heard comments like "this was done to death three years ago" etc - will knowledge like this only come with experience...?

semmickphoto · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 3:55 am

Congratulations. I love your photos and I think you will sell a lot.

What is popular for designers is people doing something, especially mixed races and such subjects. This seems to be wanted across all stock sites.

Also try to come up with unique concepts. I need to look up a link for you.

semmickphoto · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 4:05 am

Here we go http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/tips/boost-your-sales-with-tips-tricks

http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/tips/most-popular-images-tell-a-tale

http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/tips/k-i-s-s-keep-it-simple-submitter

Article from Dave http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/using-shutterstock/submission-tips-from-a-shutterstock-veteran

http://submit.shutterstock.com/top50.mhtml

And Kenny has a list of popular subjects, this is his list:

- Food and drink

Cooking
Meal preparation
Cuisine
Restaurant meals
Fruit
Vegetables
Markets.
Cheeses
Wines
Ethnic Meals

……..Things that people do every day

Waking up
Brushing teeth
Making Breakfast
Putting on makeup, combing hair
Shaving, man combing hair
Getting dressed, choosing clothes
Travelling to work, or school
Working or being at school
Having a business or school lunch
Making a phone call, cell phone, home or desk phone
Reading
Exercising, sports, after school activities
Doing homework
Preparing dinner
Having dinner
Leisure activities, hobbies
Friendship, family love
Activities with pets
Cleaning
Home improvement
Shopping
Getting in bed, tucking in the kids

Other people ideas

Teamwork
Musicians/singers
Feeling of freedom
Camping
Disabled people doing everyday activities
People writing
Homeless (sometimes difficult to get model releases)
Mum making school lunches
Crowds at events
Close-ups of hands doing something

- Products

Garden tools
Woodworking Tools
Kitchen utensils
Cell-phones
Books
Magazines

- Communications

Telephones
Cell-phones
Cables
Power poles
Telephone lines

- Technology

Computers
Circuits
I-pods
Stereo’s
DVD’s

- Transportation

Horse-drawn vehicles
Trucks
Hot air balloons

- People with Disabilities

Deaf
Mute
Blind
Wheelchair bound
Caregivers

- Industry

- Active seniors

- Concepts like:

Trust
Happiness
Sadness
Loneliness
Wealth
Health
Balance
Success
Fear
Pride
Joy
Sexuality
Surprise
Addiction
Stress
Commerce

- Casino, poker, dice, card games
- Fire extinguishers, firemen/police at work, fire engines
- People in a cultural/diversity setting
- Concepts (like: trust, happiness, sadness, loneliness
wealth, health, balance, success, fear, pride, joy,
sexuality, surprise, addiction, stress, commerce, etc.,)
- Seasonal pictures
- Christmas, Easter, Valentines, hallowe’en etc.,
- Healthcare and nursing
- Medical
- Fitness and sports

ansku · Joined: 07 Apr 2012 Posts: 147 Location: Finland

Wow, thank you so much semmickphoto! This will keep me busy for a while! :-)

semmickphoto · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 4:54 am

ruxpriencdiam · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 5:27 am

Congratulations and your welcome for any help i may have given you.

bsluijk · Joined: 08 Jul 2011 Posts: 123 Location: Netherlands

Congratulations, Anna-Mari! I really liked the images you posted for critique, and I'm sure you will do well.

Now the work of filling your portfolio starts. There is a thread for new submitters in which they share their learning experiences. It will give you insights about what to expect, worth to read:

http://submit.shutterstock.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=119164

ansku · Joined: 07 Apr 2012 Posts: 147 Location: Finland

ruxpriencdiam, your advice was really helpful. You don't say much - mostly "OOF" :-) - but it's all true. I went through all your comments very carefully, and it was really helpful when choosing the first 10.

bsluijk, thank you, your link will certainly be worth reading!

hhltdave5 · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 6:06 am

First, congratulations on being accepted. I had no doubts that you would get in.

What will sell the best?? Answer that question and you will put us all to shame and make more money than anyone :)

Making money in stock is not only putting good solid stock images out there but doing it at the proper time. Remember to shoot for seasons and special days and to get them uploaded in plenty of time for the buyers. Most shots are purchased several months before the actual date of the event or occasion. Ever notice how June's magazine gets delivered early in May? They also need time to prepare the shot for use. So, get the images in several months before the actual date.

I like starting about 5 months early with some images and build to the most submitted for a date around 3 months out, then ease up for the last couple of months.

Research with magazines, billboards, travel brochures etc. Look at those that deal with daily life and see what kind of things are selling. I subscribe to many magazines (they can be written off on your taxes) and study what sells. This gives me ideas on current trends.

Don't substitute quantity for quality. Give me 500 good solid quality shots over 10,000 poor shots any day.

Never forget to keyword properly. If the buyers can't find your images they will not sell.

Good luck and I wish you great success.

ansku · Joined: 07 Apr 2012 Posts: 147 Location: Finland

Thank you Dave! Yes, I've been thinking about Christmas already, might be shooting Xmas pics during my summer holiday...

jhuls · Joined: 02 Jan 2012 Posts: 1046

I think you should go out and shoot whatever you like and do it well. Don't worry about how many other people have done that shot or that subject if you do it really well then it will sell. Shoot things that you are interested in or that you have available around your house or community. One thing that I have learned is that if you are going to get your portfolio built up you have to start shooting anything and everything. Usually one idea builds on another or you will stumble on a photo that does well and you can do variations of that same idea and have a series of successful photos. As Dave said keywording is very important check this site out it is very helpful I use it for every photo, also put the keywords in your file info on photoshop and you will only have to keyword it once for all the sites you upload to.

here is the link and congrats:
http://www.mykeyworder.com/

ansku · Joined: 07 Apr 2012 Posts: 147 Location: Finland

Thanks jhuls! Great link! I found previously the following tool that I have been using, but I will certainly try your link, it looks promising!
http://www.arcurs.com/keywording/

I noticed that Shutterstock places the keywords in alphabetical order. Another stock site advised to list the keywords in order of importance, but this is probably not the case for SS? At least I couldn't find a way of placing them in any other order (than alphabetical). Also I read somewhere (else than SS) that the less keywords you have, the better placement you will have in the search...? Any truth to this regarding SS?

hhltdave5 · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 9:32 am

rinder99 · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 1:29 pm

There isin't one person here that knows what will sell well[More than a few] just be yourself and above all Unique.I knew you would get in.

semmickphoto · Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 1:31 pm

Everybody knew she would get accepted. :)