I noticed in preparing for my talk about stock photography on October 16 that some of the contributor links in the older articles are out of date, so I’ve included all current contributor links below, with my biggest sellers in bold:
The Shutterstock include a referral code, which means that if you get in I get a small fee for the first few photos you sell. It doesn’t come out of your money, it’s an extra thank you to me for having referred you. I appreciate the support!
The posting is up for my upcoming Stock Photography talk at the Ann Arbor District Library!
Getting Started in Stock Photography
Wednesday October 16, 2019: 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room
Description: Have you ever wondered if you could make money from your photography? Are you ready for a new challenge, or just want to experience the thrill of seeing your photograph in national publications? Local photographer Susan Montgomery will explain what stock photography is, share her journey with photography, and walk you through the steps to help you get started in stock photography using examples from her own work. Susan Montgomery is a stock, nature and travel photographer. Susan has ten years of experience in stock photography and has had an article on stock photography published by Digital Photography School. You can see her stock photos at http://www.shutterstock.com/g/smontgom and many other stock photo sites. Check out her blog about stock photography at SusanMontgomeryPhotos.com! https://aadl.org/node/396049
I listed the draft of what my talk will include here.
The Ann Arbor District Library accepted my proposal to give a presentation on “Getting started in stock photography” ! It’ll be on Wednesday October 16, 7:30 – 9 pm in the downtown library. So excited to share what I have learned with others… :) The current outline is below. I’d appreciate any questions you might ask at such a presentation or anything obvious you see missing so I can make sure I’m covering all the bases. Submit them and any other suggestions in the comments section, thanks!
Introduction
What is stock photography? With visual examples
General definition
Editorial vs. non-editorial
Royalty-free vs. Rights managed
Examples e.g. Shutterstock, Alamy, Dreamstime
Equipment needed
DLSR camera (or really good smartphone)
Tripod
Access to editing software – Photoshop, Lightroom
Requirements for good stock photography – would show examples, walk-through
Perfect focus at full size (100%)
No noise
No watermarks
Good composition
Cleaned up photo
Right size
No logos or copyrights if not editorial
Credentials if needed for events
Title, caption, keywords, categories
Model and property releases
But first have to be accepted by a stock photo website – requirements
Use Shutterstock as example
Exclusive or non-exclusive?
Branding – optional
Photogallery
Website
Business cards
Artist statement
Tearsheet
Legal considerations
“Doing business as” license
Protecting your own photographs
Event and travel photography suggestions
Suggestions to get started
Determine your goal
Become a better photographer (Shutter speed, apertures, ISO)
In the spirit of “can’t hurt to give it a shot,” I submitted my story to Shutterstock Presents, cross your fingers that they decide to feature me… Here’s what I submitted:
My professional photography career started when my kids insisted I get a “real” camera before a 2004 trip to the Grand Canyon. Since then I have enjoyed a growing photography career, learning through workshops and online courses, and sharing what I am learning with others. I focus on nature, travel, and editorial stock photography.
A side fun project has been my editorial logo series, which makes for an scavenger hunt-type of experience in searching for company logos in signs and store fronts (https://www.shutterstock.com/g/smontgom?searchterm=logo )
I would be an interesting photographer to feature because not only do I use stock photography to support growth in my area and for social justice, I also educate others to give photography, specifically stock photography, a shot. I share my story and giving aspiring photographers step by step recommendations on how to get started through my blog at SusanMontgomeryPhotos.com . I am also unique in that in my day job during the school year I am a Chemical Engineering faculty member, a lecturer at the University of Michigan. Through sharing my photography story I aim to encourage others who might not think of themselves as “artists” to explore that side of their lives.
So I decided to explore the use of Instagram, with a goal to publicize my more editorial photos and make connections with other like-minded photographers, so I started an Instagram account and posted some of the editorial photos I’m most proud of. Check it out at https://www.instagram.com/susanmontgomeryphotos/.
This made me think some more about what my mission is as a photographer. My current version is “I am a stock, travel and editorial photographer, with a goal to use my photography for social justice and to spotlight the best of Michigan and places I visit.” Needs work, but making progress.
I’m curious how others use Instagram… Any suggestions?
In the meantime, best wishes on your photography adventures,
Susan
Update – Now I’m at “I’m a stock, travel and editorial photographer with a passion for social justice, the state of Michigan, and new places.”
I recently learned of Pond5, a stock site that used to be videos but started accepting photos, so I thought I’d give them a shot. I submitted some sample photos, including my best photos from Shutterstock and my favorite Detroit photos, and I was delighted to learn that all the photos were accepted! You can find the portfolio at https://www.pond5.com/artist/smontgom65
We’ll see how they do, just excited to check out a new site…
As I’m posting the milestone article on having 2,000 photos on Shutterstock I noticed there is another milestone to mention, SusanMontgomeryPhotos.com has passed 10,000 hits! Reviewing other such milestones:
August 15, 2014, 1,000 hits, so 5 years after I started, or avg 200 hits a year.
August 24, 2015, 5,000 hits, so an average over 6 years of 833 hits per year – quick rise due to publication of an article I wrote for Digital Photography School.
So with 10,000 hits by July 19, 2018, the average over 9 years is 1,100 hits a year, hey, on the upswing! I’d like to think some of those readers got some tips that improved their stock photography, or were encouraged to continue on the path… Very satisfying.
(A special note for the folks I know through the University of Michigan: I’m a photographer in my other life and realized a few months ago that LinkedIn rules state you can only have one LinkedIn page, so I had to merge my UM and photography pages, so expect some photo related entries when I update my photography blog…)
I got my camera fixed in time to attend another Ann Arbor Derby Dimes bout last Friday, those wonderfully supportive women who give me free passes to their bouts and a nifty Media Pass… I got to try my new lens, a Nikon 24-70 mm f/2.8 that I’m proud to say I bought with my photography earnings. I got it at Camera Mall, a very nice relatively new camera shop in Ann Arbor. The folks there are super helpful and supportive. I also took along my “nifty fifty,” a Nikon 50 m f/1.8G that I got a few years ago then didn’t ever use as I got shy about street photography, sigh… But I’m learning to say “oh, well,” figure out the lesson to be learned and move on rather than linger on past mistakes, so, oh, well, at least I had it to use now.
The new lenses made such a difference! At a larger aperture more light came in, so I could have a faster shutter speed, thus able to capture the action in much better focus, yey! Remember, the aperture is the fraction of the lens that is open, e.g. f/8 on a 50 mm lens means a 6.25 mm diameter opening, so the smaller the f-stop the larger the lens opening when you click the shutter, thus “larger aperture” means “smaller f-stop.”
I also brought my monopod, made me look a bit dorky but at my age I don’t really care much what people think of me anymore, and it added another level of steadiness so the photos came out sharper.
You can see the photos I submitted to them at the Derby Dimes facebook page. Some of my favorites are:
50 mm lens, ISO 800, 1/400 sec, f/2.0
50 mm lens, ISO 800, 1/640 sec, f/2.2
50 mm lens, ISO 1000, 1/1000 sec, f/1.8
24-70 mm lens at 42 mm, ISO 1600, 1/500 sec, f/2.8
What I’m pleased about:
With the new lenses I had much more light coming in, could go with faster (shorter) shutter speeds, so captured the action better.
Taking the time to learn about the sport so I better understand what is going on. Still have much to learn, but I’m getting there, and it helps me anticipate and frame the shots better.
How wonderfully supportive the team is of everyone, of each other and of the other teams, and making me feel very welcome.
The opportunity to show strong women in action, and never sharing any photos that might embarrass anyone.
Including the refs in the photos, for a full shot of the action and to show appreciation for their work.
As for backgrounds I like the first photo because the back wall makes for a much nicer background compared to the trees.
I notice that 3 of my 4 favorite photos are with the “nifty fifty”, the 50 mm lens, which let much more light in than the 24-70 mm (f/1.8 vs f/2.8). Notice that the aperture it selected for the shutter speed I set is larger than I could have gotten with the 24-70 mm lens.
Having the 24-70 mm lens, however, allowed me to also get wider shots than I couldn’t have gotten with the 50 mm, sometimes the 50 mm was too constraining. Notice the last photo is at 42 mm, which allows me to include the refs.
Altogether a very fun evening of roller derby and photography, learning every day.
It really is about getting out there and trying things, messing up, learning from your mistakes, trying again. I got my first “real” DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera in 2004, shot mostly my kids activities and family trips for a short time, took an online photography class at the local community college in 2010, have taken Lynda.com photography and photoshop courses most summers, took two Great Courses video courses by Joel Sartore of National Geographic in 2014, started this blog in 2014…
Just keep chugging away, keep learning and trying, and next thing you know you’ll feel comfortable with aperture, ISO, shutter speed, etc.
The ladies at Ann Arbor Derby Dimes, the local roller derby team, which I took photos off a few summers ago, were nice enough to contact me about photographing their bouts this summer. When I showed up last week they had actual media passes for us, cool! I’ll write separately about why I didn’t end up having photos I was happy with, but that’s another story, the big thing here is that someone liked my photos enough to consider me worthy of a media pass… I so appreciate their support!
Drove to Columbus, OH for my day job, and had fun shooting stock photos while I was out of town, here are some reflections on the trip… What I did right:
Planned ahead by checking out popular locations and marking them on Googlemaps, which helped tremendously with planning – Once I was at one location I could quickly scan the map and find other nearby locations, so I could see those that were near each other and prepare my photo taking.
Looked up headquarters of companies that might be nearby, to get some idea of what was there.
Took my time getting there, so I could pull out as I desired, like a stop at Bowling Green State University. I’d often wanted to check out the campus:
and having my camera on me at all times so when I’m moved to take a photo I can catch it before the opportunity disappears:
Went around Ohio Stadium to get a wide variety of shots:
COLUMBUS, OH – JUNE 25: Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio is shown on June 25, 2017. It is the home of the Ohio State University Buckeyes.
COLUMBUS, OH – JUNE 25: The sign for Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio is shown on June 25, 2017. It is the home of the Ohio State University Buckeyes.
COLUMBUS, OH – JUNE 25: Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio is shown on June 25, 2017. It is the home of the Ohio State University Buckeyes.
COLUMBUS, OH – JUNE 25: Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio is shown on June 25, 2017. It is the home of the Ohio State University Buckeyes.
Took my time downtown, and waiting for enough people to walk into the shot to make for a more interesting photograph:
Looked for those random opportunities that present themselves:
COLUMBUS, OH – JUNE 27: A sign for the Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival in Columbus, Ohio is shown on June 27, 2017. It is the second largest LGBTQ Pride festival in the Midwes.
COLUMBUS, OH – JUNE 27: An electrician works on an electrical pole near the Convention Center on June 27, 2017.
Enjoyed photography for its sake, not thinking only of stock photography
Let a little kid take a photograph with my camera, sharing the joy of photography with others.
Processed the photos fairly quickly, just finished just two weeks after the trip.
What I would do differently:
Print out a map with the popular locations, so I didn’t have to refer to the phone every time. I hadn’t realized that the saved locations don’t show when in directions mode…
You can see the photos Shutterstock accepted from Columbus here. Hope these reflections help you, and best wishes on YOUR photography adventures!
I was thrilled that “Paris Locks” was recently accepted to the Ann Arbor Women Artists‘ Summer 2017 juried show:
… and for the first time part of my photo was even included in the advertising postcard:
We were told that they received 120 entries, of which 64 were accepted.The AAWA selections are particularly meaningful to me because the judge is a working artist, so to have one of my photographs recognized by a working artist sure helps with the Impostor Syndrome concerns.
… and with that I think I’m all caught up on what has been happening with my photography, whew, nice to not have that backlog!
In my day job I often do workshops on Impostor Syndrome, where you don’t think you are good enough, you’re a fraud, and you are going to be found out. I recently had something happen with my photography that I will be able to use as an example in future workshops, thought I’d share it as it might have happened to some of you as well.
So when I first started doing stock photos I had a relatively decent acceptance rate, maybe 75 %, with a number of photos getting denied because of quality issues – Out of focus, poor composition, etc. And it took me FOREVER to get into iStockphoto, trying year after year until they finally let me in…. When I was catching up on those France photos recently I was submitting lots of photos at a time and I would invariably have sets of a dozen or more photos all get accepted. My first response? “Wow, their standards must have gone down.” Seriously, THAT was my response. Luckily I was familiar with Impostor Syndrome, so I could stop and tell myself “Wait! Is there maybe another reason all your photos were accepted? Is there any chance you are actually a better photographer now?” I had to laugh. Even knowing all about Impostor Syndrome to the point of doing workshops about it, I still fall for it… Yes, I have to admit, I have worked hard at it, taken classes in person and online, many things that I would forget about now come naturally, I am indeed a better photographer now, thank you very much…
So lesson for all of us, yes, we always have more to learn and we must remain humble, but let’s take credit for the progress we are making to become better photographers every day and not be so hard on ourselves…
Finally processed the photos I took on a trip to France last summer, yey…
I had a few days on my own first, where I visited Giverny and Monet’s house and garden, then had a bit more than a week with my boyfriend, mostly in Paris but also a day trip to Normandy and Omaha Beach area. I was very conscious that this was not a photography trip that he was coming along for, it was a couples trip that I happened to be taking advantage of to take some photographs.
Things I did right:
Balanced tourist time with photography time, so as not to burden him.
Took photos of every day scenes, like people walking on the streets, and pastry shops:
Lined up a shot I wanted then waited for the right combination of people to come into it to make it more interesting:
Took the time to get just the right shot – when my boyfriend was busy doing other things so I wasn’t making him wait forever. I spent over 10 minutes taking more than a dozen shots of this lovely musician while he shopped in the market:
Tried for unusual shots of the Eiffel Tower, with tourists in it:
Patiently waited for the wind to be just right to get the cool shot of the weathervane at a train station while waiting for the train to return from Giverny. The weathervane never again lined up before the train arrived, good thing I caught it when I did:
Made a note of the names of the streets and tourist signs at photo locations to make it easier to write captions later.
Had fun trying to recreate some of Monet’s paintings:
Things I could have done better:
Many little technical details and probably missed many shots, but I really enjoyed the trip for itself, the photos were a side thing.
Again, process them sooner, it took me months to get back to them. I realized I was overwhelmed by the number of photos I had to get through. Once I realized that the only way to get through them was to… get through them, I was able to break the task up into little pieces: Select favorites, copy them from iPhoto and name them, break them up into little sets that didn’t seem too overwhelming to work on, clean them up on Photoshop, then caption and keyword them. Some days I was all for cleaning up, other days I was more interested in captioning and keywording, I played it by ear until they all got done.
Yesterday I finished the last batch, and submitted the last photos, ended up having over 100 photos approved, yey. You can see the photos that were accepted by Shutterstock here (last few aren’t up just yet, patience..)
Still catching up on old shooting adventures. In January I participated in and took photos at the Women’s March in Ann Arbor, MI. I learned from past such occasions to get both long, medium and short range shots:
I also have more confidence now to get in front with the other photographers and get close up shots of the speakers, such as our representative Debbie Dingell:
So things I did right:
Took short, medium, and long range shots
Was more confident getting in there with the other photographers to get the close-ups and crowd shots.
Took notes as to who the speakers were for the less famous ones, saved me lots of time later on when adding captions to the photos.
I took photos of everyone who asked me to, I am getting much more comfortable interacting with people in that mode.
Mistake I made:
Took way too long to process them, should be better about processing them right away, where they can be more useful, and get more downloads… I find I get such a kick out of taking the photos, but I have to be in just the right mood to process them, both clean up the photos themselves and putting in a caption, keywords, etc. I am mindful that for me this is a hobby and I want to have it stay fun. If this were my day job I would be a lot more diligent about this…
You can see all the photos that I sent to Shutterstock and got accepted here.
So today it’s been two years since I started this blog. Happy anniversary :)
Glad I’ve been able to keep it up for a couple years, have tried to give back for all I have learned by sharing some ideas with others. Let’s see the stats for those two years:
130 posts
2,966 visitors
7,361 views
Hey, it adds up… Thanks to those of you who have visited the site over the years, hope you have found it useful… If you have any suggestions or questions, please don’t hesitate…
Had a good day trip with my sister to Lansing Michigan back in March, it was good to get away from the day job for a while. Some reflections:
I googled “things to do in Lansing” for some ideas of places to go
Went with the flow when I ran into unexpected things like this river rat:
Tried a wide range of different angles at some of the locations, and preferred the ones that included another site in the background, so you could get more of a sense of place, such as this shot of the Vietnam memorial with the capitol in the background:
At the Lansing Lugnuts’ stadium also tried different angles until I found the one that I thought captured the feeling of the place best:Loved the sense of humor with Who’s on First… :)
Other than the news of photos accepted to Blueprint, not much to report for January. I’ve made some time for photography, most of it photographing some logos between running errands and also submitting photos to other stock websites, trying to catch up there… I’ve been so successful with Shutterstock that it feels like a lot of work submitting to the other sites, though iStockphoto is respectable, and how do I expect to make money off the others if I stop submitting photos? Good question, that’s why I’m doing it now.
So, speaking of Shutterstock – no new photos, so the chronological view is the same as December:
As for the popular view, Planned Parenthood continues to be in the news, Tesla moves up, the new Veterans Hospital photo makes an appearance at the top, and the Detroit photos from the December trip are doing well. Even one of the photos from the peace protest made it near the top, great! Logos still the big winners:
Working for better work-life balance at my day job to allow more time for stock photography, making some progress…
Over the holidays I finally found/made the time to process photos from this summer and fall and submit them to Shutterstock, so I’m up to 1435 photos. I even took some time during a visit to Detroit to sneak in some photos as well… So the new photos at Shutterstock included those Detroit photos, many many logos, some photos from around town, some from the trip through Flint, MI:
As for most popular photos, the logos as always have it beat, nice to see the puffin photo still hanging in there. Hoping to get a Tesla supercharger zone with an actual car being charged, one of these days…
Good time to reflect on stock photo taking this year:
It was time for a final goodbye to those photos where I accidentally had the size set to small, which won’t work for my most profitable stock sites. I realized that that was one reason I was putting off processing them, it was going to be too depressing to face all those “lost” photos… Moving on…
A number of the logo photos I took while with family and friends were done too hurriedly and the composition or focus was off. Have to decide to either take the time to do it right, which would get in others’ way, or just let it go and not bother with such photos when I’m on vacation.
Some of the logo photos I took when I had tons of time and was dedicated to stock photos were also out of focus – for the picky 100% focus demands of Shutterstock, I mean, the normal person would not notice. I have to swallow my pride and use the monopod when I am in professional mode, no use taking stock photos that are not going to make it.
Feels great to be caught up on submitting photos to Shutterstock, now have to get those photos submitted to the other stock sites and of course… take more photos!
Best wishes on your photography adventures in 2016,
I didn’t write a blog entry at the time because I hadn’t submitted photos yet, but I had a really fun time in early Fall taking photos of fans outside the University of Michigan football stadium. Here are a few:
Things that went well:
Found a great spot in the path of people walking to the stadium, behind a divider that split the crowd so they had to walk past me, and I could stand behind the divider and prop my arms on it, making for steadier photos.
Fans were posing for me as soon as they saw my camera, didn’t have to ask anyone to pose or anything, everyone was friendly, enjoying a great day. The advantages of the social media age…
I ran into a number of people I know, so I was able to take their photo and send it to them – I don’t submit photos of people I know to stock sites, don’t want to blur that line…
To keep in mind next time:
Submit the photos ASAP, shouldn’t have waited this long…
Watch for distractions such as porta-potty in background of some photos, distracting…
Fun crowd, fun time! You can see these and other photos I’ve taken outside the stadium here.
October had lots of excitement, including the publication of the travel stock photos article in Digital Photography School, now with over 900 shares! Also had the two photos I submitted accepted at the Ann Arbor Women Artists Fall 2015 Juried Show at our local district library. I was told at the opening reception that there were 175 submissions and 75 accepted, so I’m pretty pleased getting accepted the first time.
I submitted some of the photos from the one day of large enough England photos so the Shutterstock site is up to 1366 images, some progress:
Logos still the overwhelming winners in popularity, though you can see some of the Holland, MI shots among the top, and the flu shot and time change reminders made an appearance:
As for what is coming up, yesterday I submitted some of the Iceland photos to our College’s literary magazine, so fingers crossed on that one!
Susan Montgomery Photos 