Steve Bower

Wilm & Christina, For your info. I also got this e-mail. This is actually the second request to download more images. Like a lot of us, I quit downloading after the new pricing structure.

Adri, June was down approx. 40% from an average month. Worst month I've had in Years. July, however, was the best month I had in the last year thanks to 3 SOD, two of which were over $70.00. August at the current time will be an average month if things continue as they have so far. While this sounds encouraging, I recognize that one good month means nothing. I quit uploading in June and I haven't changed my mind yet.

David, I sold one in June for 11.63. It appears that the marketing experts got a little carried away with their "package deals". I'm sure that had nothing to do with the need to come up with a new pricing structure. Or did it?

I was just accepted at Alamy and I am in the process of uploading the majority of what I have here to their data base. Their Keyword process has both a mandatory and optional section. My question is: how important are the optional questions? I am considering not entering the optional stuff, will it's absence affect the buyers ability to locate my image? I've chosen to upload in batches of 20 to 30 until I find how stringent their review process is and I can imagine filling in all of the optional info will be very time consuming on 3,000 images. If the optional stuff is just "fluff" I may forget it. In addition, is some of the optional stuff more important than others? Does anyone have evidence (know) one way or the other? Thanks for your input!

Rupan, It's not my intention to be rude but I think you may have seen too many Shutterstock ads saying you can get rich by uploading the images on your hard drive. 500.00 a month is a reasonable goal for a highly qualified photographer with a very large portfolio (over 10,000) but I don't think it is something you should expect, even if you do it full time. It would also help if you are able to travel and or have a lot of attractive friends that are willing to model for free. You could (and should) upload to multiple stock sites and over time you might generate 500.00 a month from all these stock sites (I use to) but I think with the new fee structure at SS and the competition in the photo market you will be very disappointed with your earnings. Just my opinion.

Awana JF I haven't researched it completely, but I think one of the changes SS made just before they "adjusted" the pricing structure, was to make it possible for someone that viewed one of your photos to see similar photos in your portfolio based upon keywords. This enables buyers to search your portfolio for images from the same area or subject matter. If the quality is there, your portfolio can become a one stop shopping experience for the buyer. I've had multiple images downloaded from one city (buyer) but never six. Congratulations, good job!

Thanks, Mike. Let's see how the rest of the year pans out. I'm no longer uploading at SS but . . .

Like everyone else, last month was the worst month I had in years, however, thanks to two large S&O (79.50 & 27.60) and a large number of ODs, July is going to be a slightly above average month. July seems to be an anomaly, I have little expectation this will be the new norm going forward. Update: July is an obviously fluke. Just got another large S&O (over $70.00) which makes July's earning higher than any other month in 2020. I guess this shows that anything can happen.

Rose, I went to your website and overall I have to say, I was very impressed. However, a very high percentage of your photos do suffer from an unacceptable amount of noise (by stock standards). Without knowing your settings, I would guess a lot of this noise is the product of a high ISO setting (above 400 ISO). The ability to increase the ISO is a great advantage (especially when shooting moving wildlife) but without considerable post processing, the noise in the out of focus background (on high ISO Images) will be unacceptable to most stock sites. I also shoot wildlife and sometimes those great high ISO shots just won't make the cut in stock photography. If you can't reduce the noise in post processing, this is something you will just have to accept. I would suggest you reduce the ISO on future images you wish to submit to SS or any other stock site. Out of focus, first of all you need to know Shutterstock reviewers are notorious for claiming an image is out of focus. I'm sure most if not all of the people that have commented in your post, have fallen victim to an "out of focus rejection" on a "perfectly good photo". Make sure the focus is on the eye of the animal or the most important portion of the subject, then give it a few days and resubmit. It usually is accepted on the second submission. It's part of the game we have to play. We get use to it after a while, or we quit submitting. If you don't mind getting paid 10 cents per image, try these suggestions and those offered by previous posters. In my opinion, you have great potential as a photographer. We all experience some negative feedback or comments, don't quit, learn from it .

Rose, Welcome! Regrettably, you've chosen to begin submitting to Shutterstock at a bad time. As you may or may not know, SS recently chose to dramatically reduce the commission they pay to their contributors. This has generally given we contributors a "bad attitude" and you may have been a recipient of some of that. Secondly, you began your question with the declaration that neither your photos, skills or even your equipment could not possibly be the problem. Admittedly, SS's reviewers do have a poor reputation but to claim that the problem couldn't be yours is a red flag and is often perceived as an indication that the poster "knows it all" and will be unwilling to accept any reasonable suggestions or critique. Your ongoing post haven't done much to change that perception. Sorry! Stock Photography standards, were and still are at times much more demanding than what is acceptable on the the typical photo sharing site. You are often competing with long time professional photographers that had to meet the expectations of "paying clients". This is a very high standard, one that has to be learned and consistently applied to all your submissions. To admit that your photos may not meet that standard now (or consistently in the future) should not be considered an insult but an opportunity to learn. We've all had to learn what is acceptable here and at other stock sites but it takes a willingness to listen and accept the possibility that we need to improve. Any other attitude will be met with a "bit of resistance". There a number of people that are willing to help (even those that have already replied) but you might want to add a hint of humility to your responses and a willingness to discuss all possibilities, even those that might include an "adjustment" on your part.

I got the same email. Like everyone else, I no longer upload to Shutterstock! Not for .10, anyhow. In addition, I got another e-mail requesting my assistance on another matter. I chose not to respond to either one, although I wanted to tell them what I really thought, like the rest of you. Starsphinx, I too thought about giving up photography after SS's kick in the teeth but I get too much enjoyment out of it. Shutterstock won't take that away from me. If you derive satisfaction from photography, keep at it, just upload somewhere else. Who knows what will happen, some good might come out of all this.

This last Friday and again today I averaged more for my Sub sales than I would have made prior to the new restructured payment plan. However, my OD sales have all been below the previous payment amount (2.85) and in one case, it was far below (less than 1/3 the 2.85 amount). So far it looks like there is no way the average contributor will make more money. I'm at 30% and there is little chance I will make it to the next level before I start all over at 15% on Jan 1.

Milo, I started submitting to both SS & DT over 10 years. For a number of reasons, I have approximately 1/3 less images at DT than at SS. DT has not performed any where near as well as SS over the years but recently sales have increased substantially. Admittedly, my images have had a number of years to move up in the Algorithm, but I think it might be worth your while to upload there. While you never know what the results of a law suits will be, it appears that DT suit against Goggle has a lot of merit and if won, should help their sales, IMO.

I recognize this is a little tacky, but I haven't been able to determine what is meant by the words "premium access" as it applies to my IS account. As far as I can tell, it is some form of "royalty payment" or "rights usage". I spend little time at their site but I notice for the last few month that the "premium access" portion of my royalty payment has gone up substantially. Does anyone here know what IS means by the term, "Premium Access"? I am not exclusive there and I have made no changes in my account but this increase in the Premium Access payment has definitely peaked my interest. Thanks for any help you can give me!

Milo, Your, way is better, I'll admit, but that calculation, is a bit arduous, is it not. In my situation, I received multiple payments from all possible categories Subs, ODs, ELs, and SOs and knowing what I "should have paid" seems to be way above my "pay grade". I did however, do a calculation of the decline in the earnings from my subscription sales and those amounted to a decline of 45% in earnings. Admittedly, my long term RPD average has been quite consistent so for me a decline from an avg, RPD of .98 to .56 (a 43% decline) seems to be meaningful. Obviously, a calculation for one month proves very little but it seems an avg of your ongoing RPD for the next six months (or more) compared to your previous years RPD (or avg lifetime RPD) would have some value. It's obvious that each portfolio is different (your portfolio is an excellent example) but I'm not convinced an RPD comparison (as stated above) is "meaningless". Again, just another opinion.