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My latest stock photos on Dreamstime

My popular stock photos on Dreamstime

So, you can send (upload) your digital artwork to any of the agencies listed below, or better to all of them - it's totally allowed unless you have already signed an exclusive agreement with one (what I wouldn't recommend to do to a novice, anyway). First time you will get no more than 5 sales per week but eventually everything will be fine, especially if your portfolio contains at least twenty-fifty decent images (but if you want to have stable monthly income above USD1000 then your portfolio must contain at least 400 works) - designers all over the world need images continuously and this process seems endless so far. You can sell your photos, besides, from some of your photos you can make paintings (the best software would be the Corel Painter, I think) and other illustrations and sell them as well. If you are not a photographer but a painter or sculptor or other artist - you can be still in business: digitize (photograph or scan) your works with good light and artistic composition, high resolution (I advise minimum 4 megapixels but better 6 and above) and minimum noise, and submit as any other photo (all your proprietary rights will be preserved). Finally, if you are a graphics/animation guru or computer scientist: most of the agencies listed below also accept, or will accept soon, vector graphics, fractals, simulations, flash animations, footage, etc.

• your browser's cookies must be enabled/allowed to be able properly apply to the agencies (if you are not sure - go Settings/Preferences/Internet Properties/Privacy/Advanced and there deselect "override automatic cookie handling" button);
  to sign an agreement with agencies who will sell your images/footage on your behalf, register here: Shutterstock, Fotolia, Dreamstime, 123RF, Istockphoto and Bigstockphoto - these agencies are largest and best selling; an absolute leader here is Shutterstock but others are more tolerant to beginners;
  for security reasons (to protect your account from theft and also to prevent the creation of fake or twin accounts) some agencies may ask for scan of your passport/ID, if you have a digital camera then instead of scanning you can just photograph your identity document and upload it to them;
  the full validation of your account may take a while (up to a few weeks in some cases), therefore, it is better to register in advance if you are eager to begin;
  you may also need a PayPal account to collect together and cash your income from photostocks by linking to your banking card;
  
• the following advices mostly apply to people dealing with still images and raster graphics/design, for vectors and footage please consult each agency's website for details; anyway, submitting vectors and simulations is significantly easier due to a priori low level of digital noise;
• if you are only planning to buy your camera: you can use a minimum 2 megapixels digital camera (size = width times height in pixels, dpi does not matter) but beware that some agencies have pushed the lower limit for the image size to 4 MP;
  the more expensive camera is the better (now I wouldn't be buying anything below 500 USD);
  when buying pay attention not just to megapixels but rather to the characteristics of main sensor and capabilities of optical system; for instance, an ability to produce the RAW output is highly desirable, also a camera must support ISO speeds 100 and less - afterwards you will have less headache with reducing digital noise and grain;
  digital SLR cameras is normally a good choice with large "quality/price" ratio;
• once you get your precious camera, also buy and attach to it the additional neutral (colorless) ultra-violet filter;
  it's better to do this as soon as possible because the UV filter: (a) protects main lenses from scratches and dirt, (b) protects main sensor from ultraviolet radiation thus increasing its lifetime, (c) improves quality of outdoor shots because it cuts out the scattered ultraviolet coming from outside ambient;
  do not buy low-quality (cheap?) filters - they will reduce the quality of photos because of their non-absolute transparency and/or multiple reflections of light between the main lens system and the filter's glass;
  use a lens hood to reduce the image quality deterioration caused by side light;
  when shooting highly contrast scenes (such as "bright sky and dark ground" landscapes) or scenes with reflections of light you might use a circular polarizing or gradient filters;
  
• set your camera to the sRGB color - it is standard for compact digital cameras and required by all above-mentioned agencies ... but if you think of turning to super-pro then just beware that high-level photo agencies still prefer Adobe RGB 1998 because it can be loss-free converted to sRGB but not vice versa; conversions between color spaces can be easily done using software, such as Photoshop or Corel Paint Shop;
  
• set your camera to the highest quality and minimum in-camera processing (largest size, no or smallest compression, switch off any built-in corrections such as sharpening, set RAW or TIFF output if camera allows);
  
• shoot anything you like and be diverse in choosing an object for photographing but no rapid-fire snapshot crap: one image = one main object or one message;
  think of composition and main idea you want to capture (look into an at least one book on photography to learn basics);
  avoid harsh shadows from a built-in flash - reduce its power or shoot the light not directly into an object but into a ceiling/wall (you may need an advanced external flash or light for that) or even switch the flash off forever;
  shoot outdoor objects when sunny to improve colors unless you know what to do;
• the agencies accept photographs and bitmapped illustrations as JPEG files; in principle, you can submit JPEG as is but if your camera's output is not a JPEG but RAW file and/or you plan to further edit your JPEG image (improve color saturation, contrast and so on) then immediately after transferring an original file to computer save it in the quality loss-free format (such as PSD or TIFF) - every sequential re-saving of a JPEG file irreversibly destroys its quality, thus JPEG must be the very final output; the reliable editing workflows are: JPG-PSD-JPG or RAW-TIFF-PSD-JPG or RAW-PSD-JPG;
• preferably use standard cropping (3:2, 4:3, 1:1, etc) unless you have a really good excuse - photostock agencies do not like overbold amateurs, and often they are right;
• proper focus and sharpness (use tripod to reduce shaking) and exposition and color balance (shoot in RAW to get full control over);
• digital noise and grain is a cause of 80-90% of rejections of photos; try to reduce them as much as you can: use smallest ISO possible - forget about numbers larger than 200 (yeah, tripod) and do not allow large underexposure because noise gets amplified in shadows;
  if necessary, process your photos with the noise-reduction software, such as ninja noise or neat image, but do not allow blurring of necessary details;
  always check images at 100%-300% scale, especially dark places, before submit;
• be extremely careful when applying sharpening techniques - it may cause, for instance, appearance of strong halos around dark objects on bright background, jaggy edges or tiny artifacts all over the image, and your work will be cheerfully rejected;
• absolutely every photo with recognizable face, including your own, must be accompanied by a signed model release (the best form can be found here, just edit it for universal use with any agency); the model release must have three signatures: yours, model's or his/her parent, and witness's (any person above 18 years old);
  exception: some agencies, such as Shutterstock, accept non-released images to sell for editorials (if they are newsworthy), and some images sell well;
• all trademarks and logos must be removed from the image (for instance, in Photoshop use the clone stamp tool); moreover, the whole design can be copyrighted (like the Eiffel tower light show at night or the BMW radiator pattern) and thus cannot be used for stock;
  in general, if a photographed object is too famous or its design is highly authentic (level of art) you may be asked to submit the property release signed by an owner;
  exception: again, some agencies do accept the non-released images for editorials, and some sell well;
• do not hesitate to correct details and improve colors of your image with software - do not believe in stories about someone's superb photos went straight from a memory card to the cover of a magazine (you have to see those photos before the color correction, hehe!); great photographers of past were sweating the army of retoucher do-boys, modern adamses and newtons are cruelly exploiting Photoshop or Corel Paint Shop; do not exaggerate, though - extensive level adjustment may cause artifacts and noise;
• the keywords accompanying your image are extremely important - by means of them a designer or other customer will find your image among dozens of others; read carefully keywording guidelines of an agency for not being accused in spamdexing (using keywords which have nothing to do with the subject of an image, to increase traffic to it);
  type keywords and description directly in the Photoshop file (go to "File/File Info..." menu, "Description" field, and type 10-50 words in) - they'll be transferred to the final JPG file and then automatically read off by agency's post-upload processing software, this will save your time, especially if you work with few agencies; some photo manager software may be helpful as well;
  important tip: use for keywords not only physical descriptions of objects (like "man", "flower") but also the idea behind the whole image ("growth", "progress", "business") and feelings it arises ("leader", "success", "joy") ... be honest doing this and/or ask for other person's opinion; use the most simple and short keywords: say, "funny, car" instead of "ludicrous, automobile";
• some agencies (first of all, Shutterstock) have entrance exams, from 3 to 10 images, to assess your work;
  take those exams very seriously and send your clearest and noise-free images on different subjects; beware that, for instance, Shutterstock referees reject not only for noise and artifacts but also for redundant keywording and improper categorization, therefore, read their categories descriptions carefully; the reviewers also hate when noise-reduction software causes blurring of details (luckily, modern noise-reduction programs are becoming more and more smart to remove noise by clever means rather than by primitive blurring);
  do not desperate if you get rejected - it's normal for a first-time application, they want to weed out random people;
• submit images as JPG files with little or no compression (level "11"-"12" in Photoshop, "Baseline" format) - to avoid compression artifacts, but the size of your JPEG file shouldn't go above 10,000 kilobytes; if this nevertheless happened - carefully resize your image (this is also can be used to reduce noise);
• do not simultaneously submit series of shots which are almost the same just with different color adjustments or view angle - or you will be beaten up ;-) ;
  also avoid submitting monochromatic or almost-monochromatic images unless you have a good reason - photostock agencies do not like overbold amateurs, and often it makes sense - one can always make a monochrome from color but not other way around, right?
• when uploading many images at once, use FTP rather than a web upload form - this saves time and helps to avoid headache (also, some FTP servers allow to resume broken uploads); FileZilla or CuteFTP are best FTP clients (the former is a freeware, the latter allows uploading by parts);
  
• if you live on a planet with fiscal economy then you may have to pay tax from your photostock's income;
• always keep in mind the photostock's standards and demands but do not chase blindly after "best-selling" subjects - especially, if they bore you; instead, put your heart and soul into the whole process - only then you will get a real artist's and material satisfaction from your work.

Please, do not hesitate to contact me (by e-mail one or e-mail two) if any questions or problems.