iStock not yet

So my application to become a photographer for iStock was rejected. To be honest, I wasn’t surprised. When I looked through my photos to pick something to submit, a good part had people on them that I couldn’t or wouldn’t ask to sign a model release, another part were of small fun situations that didn’t really constitute stock material, and the rest were just plain not very good. That’s not counting the private photos. So I struggled to find even 3 from the past 6 months worth submitting.

But I did get some constructive criticism, and I know I have tons to learn.

I want to try and shoot some photos that are targeted at iStock, rather than just submitting photos I’ve taken anyway.

I also want to go through my earlier archives and dig out the best shots.

One thing I did last week was get a decent photo printer and start printing photos and hang them at the wall. It was my friend, Anders Hviid who suggested this, saying how important it is to look at your own pictures.

And it turns out to be really awesome. It’s also humbling, because the shots that I thought were so great at the time turn out to be really boring sometimes. But there are also shots that turn out to have a surprising draw to them. Most of all, it’s fun to see your own stuff on the wall, it’s fun that it’s so cheap and easy you can make frequent changes, and you can have your pictures up on the wall just minutes after it happened.