mangiaphoto

Welcome to tutorial section. Here you can find lessons about quality standards on stock sites, images requirements, needed files, title and keywords, copyright, model and property releases, etc. Before you start submitting, please read carefully next lessons.
Every stock agency tries to find a good photographers and illustrators. On the beginning, it was not hard to get in, but right now, it is not easy task. These lessons will help you to see what you can sell, what do they need and much more. In addition, they reserve the right to decline files including reasons (focus problems, lightning, noise or color distortion, compression, over filtering, not enough quality isolation or cropping, up sampling or resizing, image composition, inappropriate title, description or keywords, copyright trademarks and adult content.

• Focus
• Lightning
• Noise, image compression, filtering and color problems
• Isolating and composition
• Needed files
• Keywords

Focus

Focus is very important for every image. Almost all stock agencies will reject blur abstract images, unless it is unique and big, and you still do not know will they accept it or nor. Unfocused images are acceptable only if you try to capture movement (panning technique – used on races, for fast moving objects etc.). Main object must be focused properly and background stays blurred. This is possible if you use lower shutter speed and attend to focus on object (moving camera together with object).

If you choose lower shutter speeds, your camera will be more sensitive to movement. You will get blurred image and you will not freeze action. Which shutter speed you will choose depends on light conditions, object speed etc. If you want to choose faster shutter speed, you should use lower “F” number (wider aperture). Also higher ISO number gives you the chance to use faster shutter speed. Wider aperture will cause more shallow DOF (depth of field), and higher ISO causes more noise on images. You should find a compromise and using tripod and remote trigger is good idea.

Lightning

Lightning is very important for good photo. Using built-in flash is not good idea in some cases. Problem with it is in his close location to the lens and it sometimes causes strong shadows, red eye effect, reflections on shiny surfaces, overexposing etc. Snapshot images are not welcome for submitting and you should think about external flash unit or some reflectors for better light conditions. Using built-in flash is acceptable only when you use it for light filling (using flash to avoid strong shadows caused with another light source like Sun for example…) and when it will not harm image quality.

For shiny objects is recommend to distance further and use natural or additional light sources. Also using a diffuser for flash unit is good idea. Light will be much better with diffuser.For strong shadows you should bounce the flash, (from a wall, white paper, or other white surface), to even out lighting, or place wax paper over the flash to soften shadows. Diffuser is a good idea.

Underexposed images are not good also. You need to decrease shutter speed or increase aperture size to let in more light and make image brighter (left image).

Overexposed images are opposite to underexposed. You should increase shutter speed or decrease aperture size to let in less light (right image).

Lens flare causes light refractions from direct light sources. Avoid pointing the camera directly at light sources, lower the aperture to reduce reflections or use objective ring. If you have lens flare on your images, you should use cloning tool for removal.

Purple fringing - a problem of digital cameras when shooting in low light settings against high contrast borders, causing a purple, (or other hue), glow around edges. To avoid this you should balance light with aperture settings (choose a higher level, f4 and above to balance light).

Noise, image compression, filtering and color problems

Noise and color distortion occurs most frequently in uniform color areas (i.e. skies and shadows) and it is caused by temperature and sensitivity (ISO settings). To avoid noise you should use more light and set ISO to lower number. Noise level depends from the manufacture of the sensor and used technology. Canon makes excellent CMOS sensors with very low noise level. Also long exposures can also produce a different category of noise called hot pixels. For correcting noise, you can use software products like Noise Ninja, Grain Surgery, Helicon filter etc. Be careful with noise correction because you should keep image details, as much is possible (left image).

Post processing is one of the most important steps in image creation. In order to make image smaller we use image compression but with compression we loose image details and ruin image quality (right image). Compromise is to use JPEG compression and set image quality to 100%. This will give optimum image quality. Also, over filtering are the most frequent problems that eventually disqualify an image. Photoshop had a huge filter collection and it is not recommend using it.

Re-sizing, re-sampling, and re-saving can all degrade the quality of a JPEG image, so one should be careful about re-saving JPEGs. It is recommended to start with clean image and do not save it until you are finished with your correction. Also, it is recommended to use high quality settings in your camera to avoid camera compression as much is possible. If RAW format is supported, you should use it.

Isolating and composition

Isolated objects can be very usable for designers. You can isolate object by shooting it on white backgrounds or manually remove background. Including clipping paths with image can be very useful to designers and image will be better for buyers if it contains clipping path. Do not submit images with jagged edges, extreme feathering or strong and distracting shadows. It is recommended to use “light tent”. (Coming soon in tutorial section).

Image composition is very important. Centralized or truncated objects are not usable for designers. Here is one good article about image composition. LINK

Needed files

Here are some of the files that stock agencies do and don’t need. Please note that this is not a definitive list, and it depends from agency to agency will it be accepted.

Need: Isolated objects (use white background), interacting in personal and business situations, people isolated against a white background, seasonal images, business, computers, portraits (with model release), sports, illustrations, holiday theme, food and beverages, intriguing textures, effects and treatments (not for the amateur of style).

Don’t need: Text, timestamp, watermark, copyrighted material, images of people without signed model releases, amaturish shots, upsized images, forest snapshots, pets, everyday objects, computer objects, generated backgrounds, abstract images, etc.
They (probably) have already too much images with clouds, sky shots, sunsets, landscapes, mountains, trees, flowers, insects and pets so I recommend to avoid submitting these categories.
This doesn’t mean that every image will be accepted or rejected. If you have good and unique image listed in “don’t need”, send it. If it is good they will probably accept it.