A quick review on www.depositphotos.com

Hello again,


Last month i joined depositphotos, i was a bit unsire about it from what i have read on the internet and also i was a bit unclear about some aspects of it. I thought i would write a quick review for you guys so you can have it from an amateur's perspective like myself.


So if i am honest the only reason I uploaded to depositphotos was because of the promotion programme that they have been running for the last year. The program was that for every image you had accepted they would give you $0.20 for up to 500 images. That means that if you upload 250 then you have $50.00 just like that and so you can cash out... marvellous.


I took that opportunity as i though that it was free money to be made. So as of late I have uploaded 148 images and so earned a total of $29.60, that is without a sale. FANTASTIC!!


Here is a link to my depositphotos portfolio 


However don't be fooled into joining for that reason now, because the promotion programme will be finishing soon and no new people can take part. It is such a shame it is finishing as i have not reached enough to cash-out yet
. 
Acceptance Ratio


The acceptance ratio is fair in my opinion and i have got more accepted there than anywhere else. That is for definite. I have only been uploading photographs and it is already my largest portfolio. It is nice to have "not so good" photographs accepted, especially just their acceptance has earned me some money
.
Submit Procedure


The submit procedure is great actually, there are far fewer fields to fill in than other stock sites and so it is much quicker. BUT more importantly there is a brilliant auto-fill feature if you want to upload similar images. You can upload using the web, flash or FTP- standard really.
They respond within about 2 days which i am happy with.


Sales


Ha! sales, oh sales, i have had, in 2 months a grand total of...wait for it...zero sales. It is a little disappointing but hey it is early and i am hopeful!


Commission


It is between 40% and 60%, which is much better that fotolia's 25%


End Notes


Now that the promotion programme is over i would not recommend it as a stock site as i think the time uploading would not be worth it in terms of actual sales. So if you are new to this as i am then keep uploading to other stock sites.

First stock photography "set"

Hello again,

Thanks to those who have visited this blog and continue to do so. I apreciate the views. Ok so i have been having exams recently so i have not submitted too many photos recently however i would like to tell you of a trick. As stock is a numbers game as so many people have previously told me, i have discovered sets of images.

A set is a group of images which are similar but have significant differences in their concept.


So i will show you my first set, oh and on fotolia the first image in the set/series has had a sale. It is a simple set with a hand writing various things, a tick, a cross, a mind map, equations etc. Simple but hopefully successful. We shall see...

Image	Full size Link
	Image
	Image
	Image

This is just three of the ten image series that was accepted at fotolia. But, just by some simple editing i have made ten sellable images out of one and a bit of PS. 

Enjoy,

Oh and please follow me. I am yet to have followers. Thanks

Quick Note on Forums

Hi All

As I woke up this morning and checked my stock sites (as i do daily) i realised exactly how important forums are in this game. The forum on fotolia is particularly good. Here you can get advice, have rejected images critiqued, and just chat. People seem so friendly also.

I will give you an example. When i first signed up to fotolia i had no idea and i would still have no images accepted if it was not for the forum and the members continually helping me out. Members such as:

• Princess Zelda
• Michael Spring
• Warren Miller

Have helped me so much, as have many more (too many to name).

So i will advise you all; dont take the forums for granted, they are invaluable especially if you are just starting off.

Jonny

The beginning

Hi guys

My name is Jonny. I am a student in the university of birmingham and i am beginning to write this blog on my progress in the world of photography. I have recently (within the last year) become interested in photography and graphic design. It has been an interesting learning curve and i am now interested in stock photography and selling products on the internet.
I use the stock site:

Fotolia --------------> My portfolio

I will be posting regular information about my stock career, including review, revenues and portfolio progress.

So far i have a CLEAR BEST SELLER:

I know it isnt technically perfect, but as you can see a simple idea and a decent isolation can be sold. It has been sold 4 times and is therefore my best seller.

My next post will be on the beginning of depositphotos.com

Jonny