Another site, and some more sales

Sales #3 and #4 have gone through! #3 was another Dreamstime sale, while #4 was at a new site for me, Shutterstock.

#3:


#4:


I sent in my first batch of "application" photos to Shutterstock a month ago, but they had some problems. In addition to whatever problems there were with the images, the inspectors didn't feel the model releases had a sufficiently high resolution. When 7/10 of your batch isn't accepted, you are locked out of Shutterstock for 30 days.

When I first see a rejection, I still get the same feeling I got with that first iPhoto or Shutterstock rejection. It's pretty much: "Screw them, what do they know anyway." And so on...

And then I take a deep breath, and try to take an objective look at my submission in light of their critique. The inspectors are almost always right. Whether it's an ugly shadow I somehow didn't notice, or slight under- or overexposure, or even barely readable or incorrectly filled-out model releases.

I try to keep in mind that this whole process is a fantastic learning opportunity for me. Not only do I get free, professional feedback on my images, but I actually make a little money on the good ones!

I should emphasize little here. My earnings to date, on 4 sales, are a whopping: $3.87.

That's not a complaint. I am just starting out. Ask me in a year or two if I'm happy with the financials of this project. Then ask me if I am taking better pictures. (I can already answer that one with a big "hell yes!".)

First iStockphoto sale!

More good news today! I made my first sale at iPhoto.com. Another $1.14, can you say, "ca-ching"?

Meanwhile I'm working on figuring out my two new Alien Bees AB-400's. I didn't spring for wireless triggers, so I'm trying to trip them as slaves using my on-camera and/or off-camera SB-600 flashes. Had some issues getting them to fire 100% of the time until I put away the speedlights and just used the on-camera flash. Now that that's working I'm playing with the power settings to get lighting I like.

First Sale!

Since I last wrote, I rethought Dreamstime. I wasn't going to submit anything there, since they won't accept the iStock model release and I didn't want to have to deal with double the paperwork. Reading their forums though, I changed my mind. Someone else had posted an "I quit" message (due to rejections) but got so much support and encouragement from the DT community that he ended up staying. He got great advice, and changed his perspective on the whole process, and mine changed as well. So I filled out their releases, and uploaded a bunch of images. I've also kept up with iStock and Fotolia uploads, and even loaded a few up on crestock.

This morning, I had my first sale, at Dreamstime. I'm surprised how good $1.50 can feel...