Thank you for visiting Microstock Junction.  This is the first of hopefully many posts where I'll share my experiences shooting stock photography.  I also plan to interview other stock photographers, and offer tips on photographic technique.

I'm still relatively new to this industry myself.  In 2006 I joined Dreamstime.  I first submitted 3 or 4 photos and received rejection notices about chromatic aberrations and purple fringes.

Huh?  (I'll discuss how to avoid rejections in a future blog.)

But one of the photos stuck.  It was accepted and several months later it is still a regular seller.  See its sales numbers below, and it will be easy for you to determine which agencies have the most potential for earnings.

 
Two Elk
(Online Dreamstime 18 months = 23 sales)
(Online Fotolia 11 months = 4 sales)
(Online Shutterstock 6 months = 156 sales)
(Online IStock 4 months = 39 sales)


The Dreamstime agency is one of the "Big Six" - the highest income generating agencies for most Microstock photographers.  I next joined Fotolia.   Not a big, but still a steady earner.  At some point I discovered Leaf's forum, Microstock Group, where they discussed the microstock industry. 

In March 2007, I joined the top agencies.  It had taken a year to "casually" earn my first $100, and less than a month to earn my second.  Many shooters earn more than this every day.  I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it.  When it comes to stock photography, at some point, I stopped taking photos, and started shooting stock.  When I began to understand the difference, my earnings began to reflect it.

Like most other microstock photographers, my highest earnings are generated at Shutterstock (a subscription based agency), Istock and StockXpert.  In addition to the agencies mentioned, I also upload to 123rf, Bigstock Photo and Luckyoliver.

I hope you will visit again, and have the time to discuss any of the blogs here!