Becoming an Independent Stock Photographer (pt 1)

On September 19, 2010 I clicked the link that would dramatically change my six year relationship with iStockphoto.com. I made the decision to end my exclusive status with iStockphoto and become an independent stock photographer/artist. Once you click the the "cancel exclusivity" button you still have to wait 30 days before it is actually effective - a 30-day "waiting" period.

So, let me back up a little. In March of 2004 I stumbled upon iStockphoto, "the designer's dirty little secret," while looking for some stock photos for a website I was creating for a client. I bought a few credits, got some photos and finished my design. But something about iStockphoto.com brought me back. As I had been looking for specific photos, I noticed that iStock's library did not have every image I had been looking for, and at the bottom of their main page was a small paragraph that read
"Becoming a Contributing Artist: iStockphoto members are a part of an international community of artists creating a huge database of royalty-free content. Our artists earn between 20 - 25% royalties on their image sales."

So I thought that maybe, just maybe I could shoot a few images myself. Afterall, I had this great little Canon EOS (35mm SLR - FILM!) camera that I had been playing around with and a digital Canon powershot that I had "borrowed" from my boyfriend. I sort of became a woman obsessed. Okay, not "sort of" - I was obsessed! Canon had recently come out with the "Digital Rebel" DSLR that was almost affordable for me (a single mom, so this would be a splurge on myself which I rarely do!) I couldn't get the idea out of my head. So, I got out a credit card and ordered myself a Canon Digital Rebel camera kit. It took me about a week after the camera arrived to actually tell anyone about it. I was actually embarassed about spending that much money on myself! (If you're a single parent living paycheck to paycheck, you can probably relate).

I became even more obsessed. I had no lighting equipment and just the kit lens that came with the camera, so I experimented with all sorts of Do-It-Yourself options. Once I felt I had some decent photos I applied to become an iStock contributor. To apply you have to read through the training manual and then take a test. I passed the test and uploaded my three sample images: a flower, a clarinet and a cactus bloom. They accepted me! I guess I wasn't too bad afterall.

Not surprisingly (at least now that I know better anyway), they rejected the flower image as an actual submission to my portfolio. I quickly learned that there's more to being a successful digital-stock-photographer than just taking good pictures. I had to not only understand the fundamentals of photography (f-stops, lighting, shutterspeed, etc) but also had to understand/learn digital processing - removing logos, avoiding JPG artifacts, reducing noise, etc. I was determined to learn everything I could to become successful and started reading (and sometimes even posting) the iStock community forums. I met a lot of new 'virtual' friends through iStock. One of them, emyerson, lived just an hour's drive south of me in Tucson, Arizona. He contacted me about setting up a small photoshoot in Phoenix and we soon began planning the first "DesertLypse" photoshoot event. it was great to be able to sit around with other iStockers and talk non-stop about photography, lighting, what sells, what doesn't, how to avoid rejects, etc.

After that I was actively involved in other iStock "minilypse" events including RedRockalypse (one and two) and DesertLypse (two, three and four). I've also helped out with smaller one-day and half-day events in the Phoenix, Arizona area and in Reno, Nevada. It's been a "labor of love" for me. I look back at those early days with my Canon Digital Rebel and see how far I've progressed as a photographer and a contributor to the microstock industry. Yeah, I'm still, by all accounts, a very small fish in a big sea, but I certainly would not have gotten where I am today if not for the assistance of the many friends I have made through my relationship with iStock.

I was living large and enjoying a nice income from my photography and vector illustrations sales at iStock. When they began the "Exclusive" program I had absolutely no qualms about signing up. I had recently crossed the threshold of 500 downloads and had never bothered joining any other microstock program (that was requirement to join). I was completely satisfied with my position at iStock and eagerly jumped at the chance to earn an even higher percentage of my sales. And, I now had even more incentive to reach the higher "canister" levels at istock: Silver, Gold and Diamond! The Exclusive Artist program offered higher percentages than being an independent photographer.

Then the Getty Images program was launched at the end of 2006. I remember Bruce Livingstone's (then CEO and one of the original iStock founders) announcement. It had a photo of a guy cutting off his neck tie with scissors and the caption read "Quit Your Day Job." After the initial launch, open only to Diamond-level contributors, they opened it up to Gold-level photographers. I had recently achieved that level so, again, I jumped at the opportunity. My first batch of photos were accepted there but once I started seeing commissions of just 68 cents I lost interest. I didn't bother to upload more since I was making good money on iStock and wanted to concentrate on building my portfolio there so that I could reach the top: Diamond level and 40% commission.

You have to remember that I still had (and still do) a full-time day job, two young teenage sons to support and a boyfriend who actually wanted to spend time with me once in a while. So my time spent on my photography and vector designs occured whenever I could squeeze in time. But I was making a nice, steady income from iStock which helped fill in the gaps to help cover my bills, pay for little extras around Birthdays and Christmas for my kids, and even allowed me to upgrade my photography and computer processing equipment. Overall I was happy at iStock and loved having it for my creative outlet.

…to be continued…