Second time is the charm! I just got an email this morning confirming that iStockphoto has accepted my application to begin uploading and selling my images on their site! Web designers, writers, and publications are always in need of professional quality images to accompany their websites and stories and often turn to sites such as iStockphoto to purchase photos. I have included the accepted images in this blog entry.
"Welcome to iStockphoto.com, the designer's dirty little secret. Congratulations,
the iStockphoto administrators have determined that your files are commercially
and technically ready for iStockphoto.com. Please begin uploading at your
convenience. There is currently a limit of 15 uploads per 168 hour period."
Last October, I submitted three photos during the application process to become an iStock contributing photographer, but only one of the images was accepted. The other two were declined because of compression artifacting, a common noise and color distortion problem with photo submissions. It probably happened then because I used to keep saving and re saving JPEGs, a process that degrades the image quality every time I save.
I learned a new digital work flow a couple of months ago when I took a Photoshop class with Nat Coalson through Illuminate Photography Workshops. Coalson's suggestions are to shoot in RAW and save original edits as TIFF files (saving the last copy as a JPEG to avoid compression.) I really think this work flow change made the difference in my images.
The first rejection was a tough pill to swallow, and it was a definite blow to my confidence. But I think having that in the back of mind and being aware of all the reasons why iStock won't accept nothing less than quality work made me try harder to become a more competent and technically correct photographer.
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