Minimum Caemera Spec for taking photos for Stock Photography

Hi,

I'm very much an amatuer photgrapher, but having recently framed some of my photos at home I've had a large number of people say I should try and sell them.

Having skimmed through some of the messages in the forums the opinion would seem to be that a Fujifilm FinePix 2800 Zoom would not be of sufficient quality to submit to agencies (it creates 350k-700MB jpgs at 1600x1200) although the picture do seem to look sufficiently good when printed.

What camera types would you recommend to a new amatuer stock photographer?

Regards

Jo

Different agencies have different submission requirements. Some won't take digital at all. Some new ones are all digital. Some require at least 100MB uninterpolated files, which pretty much limits them to drum scans of 35mm film or desktop scans of medium-format film. Some require at least an 11MP digital capture, which means either a Canon 1Ds or a high-rez back on a medium-format camera. The absolute minimum for many is a 6MP capture, which means you need at least a D100/D60/10D/S2 or other equivalent. I suggest you talk with some agencies first, maybe send them some samples to see if they're interested in your work, and find out what your prospective client requires. In all likelihood, though, you're going to need at least a 6MP DSLR and a couple of good lenses. This goes for magazines as well. A prosumer digicam will not cut it.

You might try approaching publishers of postcards, calendars and other paper products. There's a book called The Photographer's Market that's published annually. It lists thousands of publishers and other photo buyers.

Note that many stock agencies require large-volume and frequent submissions. You may be asked to submit several hundred images initially, and every one of them has to be top-notch. Agencies also generally want frequent submissions. If you don't constantly keep them supplied with new images, they'll lose interest in selling your work. The standards in the stock world are pretty high these days, requiring real commitment and professionalism. The days when photogs could dump their 2nd-rate images into stock agencies and make some easy cash are long gone. I don't mean to discourage you. I just want you to realize that it's something you'll have to take seriously and work hard at, like any professional work.

Good luck.

Jolyon Fahy said:

Hi,

I'm very much an amatuer photgrapher, but having recently framed
some of my photos at home I've had a large number of people say I
should try and sell them.

Having skimmed through some of the messages in the forums the
opinion would seem to be that a Fujifilm FinePix 2800 Zoom would
not be of sufficient quality to submit to agencies (it creates
350k-700MB jpgs at 1600x1200) although the picture do seem to look
sufficiently good when printed.

What camera types would you recommend to a new amatuer stock
photographer?

Regards

Jo

Click to expand...

--
'May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.' -
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Thanks Majik,

Any idea where I can get the latest copy of the Photographers Market?

Its a shame about the pictures I have as I think the content is pretty good.

Ho hum time to start saving for a better camera.

Jo

Majikthize said:

You might try approaching publishers of postcards, calendars and
other paper products. There's a book called The Photographer's
Market that's published annually. It lists thousands of publishers
and other photo buyers.

Note that many stock agencies require large-volume and frequent
submissions. You may be asked to submit several hundred images
initially, and every one of them has to be top-notch. Agencies also
generally want frequent submissions. If you don't constantly keep
them supplied with new images, they'll lose interest in selling
your work. The standards in the stock world are pretty high these
days, requiring real commitment and professionalism. The days when
photogs could dump their 2nd-rate images into stock agencies and
make some easy cash are long gone. I don't mean to discourage you.
I just want you to realize that it's something you'll have to take
seriously and work hard at, like any professional work.

Good luck.

Jolyon Fahy said:

Hi,

I'm very much an amatuer photgrapher, but having recently framed
some of my photos at home I've had a large number of people say I
should try and sell them.

Having skimmed through some of the messages in the forums the
opinion would seem to be that a Fujifilm FinePix 2800 Zoom would
not be of sufficient quality to submit to agencies (it creates
350k-700MB jpgs at 1600x1200) although the picture do seem to look
sufficiently good when printed.

What camera types would you recommend to a new amatuer stock
photographer?

Regards

Jo

Click to expand...

--
'May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.' -
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Click to expand...

Jolyon Fahy said:

Thanks Majik,

Any idea where I can get the latest copy of the Photographers Market?

Click to expand...

If you're in the U.S., you can get it from Amazon.com if your local bookstores don't have it. Heck, you might even find it at a library. But, I think you'll want to keep it on your shelf. Another good book is "Sell & Resell Your Photos" by Ron Engh. It's all about how to market your images and become your own stock agency.

Jolyon Fahy said:

Its a shame about the pictures I have as I think the content is
pretty good.

Click to expand...

Make the most of what you've got. Print your best pics, make a portfolio, and show it around. Your relatively low-rez files might be good enough for postcards, calendars, and other paper products. There are lots of markets out there, and not all of them require high-rez quality.

Jolyon Fahy said:

Ho hum time to start saving for a better camera.

Click to expand...

If you want to sell through major stock agencies, I'm afraid you don't have much choice. But stock agencies aren't the only way to go. The books I mentioned will help you explore other possibilities.

Jolyon Fahy said:

Jo

Majikthize said:

You might try approaching publishers of postcards, calendars and
other paper products. There's a book called The Photographer's
Market that's published annually. It lists thousands of publishers
and other photo buyers.

Note that many stock agencies require large-volume and frequent
submissions. You may be asked to submit several hundred images
initially, and every one of them has to be top-notch. Agencies also
generally want frequent submissions. If you don't constantly keep
them supplied with new images, they'll lose interest in selling
your work. The standards in the stock world are pretty high these
days, requiring real commitment and professionalism. The days when
photogs could dump their 2nd-rate images into stock agencies and
make some easy cash are long gone. I don't mean to discourage you.
I just want you to realize that it's something you'll have to take
seriously and work hard at, like any professional work.

Good luck.

Jolyon Fahy said:

Hi,

I'm very much an amatuer photgrapher, but having recently framed
some of my photos at home I've had a large number of people say I
should try and sell them.

Having skimmed through some of the messages in the forums the
opinion would seem to be that a Fujifilm FinePix 2800 Zoom would
not be of sufficient quality to submit to agencies (it creates
350k-700MB jpgs at 1600x1200) although the picture do seem to look
sufficiently good when printed.

What camera types would you recommend to a new amatuer stock
photographer?

Regards

Jo

Click to expand...

--
'May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.' -
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
'May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.' -
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Thanks again Majik, Ive found what looks to be a UK version of the book.

It'll give me some good reading over the weekend.

Next silly question are there any recommended printers for this as going to the local print shop could get quite expensive.

Jo

Majikthize said:

Jacques Cornell said:

Its a shame about the pictures I have as I think the content is
pretty good.

Click to expand...

Make the most of what you've got. Print your best pics, make a
portfolio, and show it around. Your relatively low-rez files might
be good enough for postcards, calendars, and other paper products.
There are lots of markets out there, and not all of them require
high-rez quality.

Click to expand...

Well, you could buy an inkjet or have prints made at a minilab. Here in New York, I can get decent digital minilab prints made for $3 for an 8x10. For inkjet printing, I like the quality of the 6-color Epson printers, but I've seen some excellent prints from the new Canon printers as well. I'm not as keen on inkjets as I used to be because I've had a lot of problems with them breaking down and the heads clogging irrecoverably.

Jolyon Fahy said:

Jo

Majikthize said:

Jolyon Fahy said:

Its a shame about the pictures I have as I think the content is
pretty good.

Click to expand...

Make the most of what you've got. Print your best pics, make a
portfolio, and show it around. Your relatively low-rez files might
be good enough for postcards, calendars, and other paper products.
There are lots of markets out there, and not all of them require
high-rez quality.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
'May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.' -
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Jolyon Fahy said:

Its a shame about the pictures I have as I think the content is
pretty good.

Ho hum time to start saving for a better camera.

Click to expand...

Don't give up on any quality work done to date. I ran across a stock agency that accepts digital files as small as 0.1 megs (yes, 1/10th meg).

Thinking about it, companies probably do purchase images for less than full screen use.

--
bob
Latest offering - 'Two Hours in Delhi'
http://www.pbase.com/bobtrips
Shots from a bunch of places (esp. SEA and Nepal).
Pictures for friends, not necessarily my best.

http://www.trekearth.com/members/BobTrips/photos/
My better 'attempts'.

Thanks Bob,

Any chance you could let me know the agency?

I was thinking about the less than full screen usage of images myself as well, but being new to the area, I am new to all this and didnt want to assume anything.

Jo

BobTrips said:

Don't give up on any quality work done to date. I ran across a
stock agency that accepts digital files as small as 0.1 megs (yes,
1/10th meg).

Thinking about it, companies probably do purchase images for less
than full screen use.

--
bob
Latest offering - 'Two Hours in Delhi'
http://www.pbase.com/bobtrips
Shots from a bunch of places (esp. SEA and Nepal).
Pictures for friends, not necessarily my best.

http://www.trekearth.com/members/BobTrips/photos/
My better 'attempts'.

Click to expand...

Jolyon Fahy said:

Thanks Bob,

Any chance you could let me know the agency?

I was thinking about the less than full screen usage of images
myself as well, but being new to the area, I am new to all this and
didnt want to assume anything.

Click to expand...

Sure,

First, I know nothing about this agency. (I know almost nothing about stock agencies in general.) I was interested in the transition from film to digital, had seen people argue that they couldn't shoot digital because stock agencies wouldn't accept them. I did a 'Google'.

This agency - http://www.superstock.com - popped out, among others. I was very surprised when I checked to see what their requirements were for digital submissions. I've copied it for you ....

"Digital images may be submitted on a floppy, CD, or zip disk. (Please do not e-mail your submissions.) Image size should be at least 4x5 at 72 dpi, saved as a medium quality JPEG."

4" at 72 dpi requires only 288 pixels, 6" at 72 dpi requires only 432. That's a total of 124,416 pixels, or about 0.1 megs. (Think BarbiCam.)

If you're interested in selling your pics I would recommend a good Google session.

--
bob
Latest offering - 'Two Hours in Delhi'
http://www.pbase.com/bobtrips
Shots from a bunch of places (esp. SEA and Nepal).
Pictures for friends, not necessarily my best.

http://www.trekearth.com/members/BobTrips/photos/
My better 'attempts'.

HI,

If you are venturing into stock, please visit this http://www.squiver.com/photographer_signup.asp

Jolyon Fahy said:

Hi,

I'm very much an amatuer photgrapher, but having recently framed
some of my photos at home I've had a large number of people say I
should try and sell them.

Having skimmed through some of the messages in the forums the
opinion would seem to be that a Fujifilm FinePix 2800 Zoom would
not be of sufficient quality to submit to agencies (it creates
350k-700MB jpgs at 1600x1200) although the picture do seem to look
sufficiently good when printed.

What camera types would you recommend to a new amatuer stock
photographer?

Regards

Jo

Click to expand...