The advantages of your own stock photo site
We have been battered by the snow blizzard that hit the north eastern USA this weekend, and that gave me a chance to take photos both during and after the storm. As I quickly uploaded these to the various stock agencies, and got rejections, it made me think about the advantages of running my own site and being able to choose which images went into the Symzio agency with no reviewer acting as gatekeeper.
For instance, this image was taken in the middle of the snowstorm:
Tractor clearing snow in a blizzard
It was taken as the snow was falling, and hence there is a general fogginess to the image where the snow blurs out details. It is in focus though and overall it gives more of an impression of what clearing snow in a blizzard is like – much better than a clear shot of the same tractor when the snow has actually stopped. Now what happened when I uploaded it – rejected due to lack of focus, white balance etc.! Having my own site, I was able to get it online rapidly, get it picked up by Symzio and available for sale. Of course it is early days for Symzio, but that freedom to put realistic non-stocky images is very refreshing.
I took another series at sunrise when the snow had stopped – including one that I thought was quite artistic:
Rising sun illuminates snow covered trees
This looks pretty much how it seemed to me. The warm sunlight was illuminating the snow on the trees and I thought it was a pleasing image. Was it accepted by Shutterstock – no – incorrect white balance, poor composition rejection! Again, I could upload it to my own site and onto Symzio and it is now available for sale with little effort.
By the way, there is an interesting blog post about the 5 Reasons Symzio is Better on that site. Worth thinking about!
I have been loading to 3 stock agencies during the snowstorm. I am convinced that Shuterstock uses those excuses when they feel they have enough similar images. I too have had images in storms rejected. How do you take a photo in a driving snow that is totally crisp as a sunny day ? Perhaps the folks that approve images are not photographers. Good post.
I had almost all of my standard sunny snow shots accepted – it is just that they seem to hate anything that is not crisp and clear even though it shouldn’t be!
There is something like wrong white balance but right white balance may be subjective. Regardless, SS does not seem to like the various ways light behaves in nature. They also don’t like shades, which are a natural result of having a light source above in the sky at an angle with the camera.
However odd, I have a picture of an oak tree in the fog that they have, mysteriously, accepted. Not that it is a bad picture, but it is not a picture I thought they would take.
Hello Steve,
I’m reading your blog for a long time. Thanks for information you share !
I have a question. I always think that is difficult, if not impossible earn a resonable amount with the own photo stock site.
Are you happy with the earning ( if any ) with your own website http://www.backyardstockphotos.com ?
Thanks !!!
Stely
Hi Stely
I think it is really hard to make money on your own stock site unfortunately! I haven’t had any sales for a few months and the hosting bills are pretty large so it is just a “vanity” project for me, I’m afraid. I like having it, I keep it up to date with both commercial and editorial work, I’m enrolled in Symzio.com, but the sales don’t come. Illustrators do seem to do better than photographers it seems.
Steve