Sell your Photos - Quick Start Guide

First of all this page is addressed to anyone amateur or professional, passionate with photography or vector illustration, who wants to sell his/her work and make good money out of it.

*Please read the entire guide before you start applying for acceptance.

Let's get started.

Step 1

First of all any new photographer/vector artist must pass the acceptance barrier of micro stock agencies. Any agency is strict, they do not want bad pictures on their website so in order to become a member you will have to pass an "exam". You will have to answer some easy but mandatory questions and submit 10 of your best photos/illustration to be reviewed by the agency staff. Don’t be scarred already, i will give you some quick tips to improve your photos:

- be patient, the acceptance process can take a while.

- do not extrapolate your photos

- try not to use framed or cropped images

- remove the noise from your photos, with professional software like Dfine® 2.0

- do not use photos with fringing (chromatic aberration) in them.

- do not compress or over-sharpen. Save your images at the highest quality possible.

- do not submit blurred or unsharp pictures

- no trademarks or logos must be present in your picture.

- if you have people in your photos, YOU MUST HAVE A MODEL RELEASE attached to it.

The rest of the acceptance tips will be discussed later in more detail.



Step 2

Another important thing in this business is producing content. You need to have creative ideas that will sell. You just have to go out and shoot, try to find good locations and good subjects, try to shoot as much as possible. If you ask yourself "What's sells best?", the answer is ALMOST EVERYTHING.

The buyers usually search for pictures related to the major industries, like medical, travel, heavy industry, business area... etc., so try to target your shooting in some of this directions.

Again this is a big topic to cover so in future articles i will discuss them in more detail.



Step 3

Every agency offers you various options to upload your file. There are some things I suggest you do before uploading your file, in order to make the upload process on various agencies websites more easy.

All agencies have standards and here are some of them:

- uploaded photos must be save at maximum quality (no extrapolation)

- photos with identifiable humans must a model release attached

- all photos must be uploaded with maximum 50 keywords

- the title of the photo must have a maximum of 50 characters

- description of the photo must be at least 5 words and different from the title. Ex: Vector illustration. All element are editable.

In order to get your photo ready for upload here is what you have to do:

- open your picture in Photoshop (or any other IPCT software) and open the “File Info Menu”

- type a tittle, your name and a description at your choice

- for keyword-ing I suggest a very useful tool that u can find here: http://www.arcurs.com/keywording/

- after you are finished save your photo, and you are ready for upload.

The agency websites automatically recognize your IPCT information from your photo and you don’t have to write the title, description and keywords again, and again an all the sites where you apply. In this way your upload time is least than half, and you save a lot of time.



Step 4

After you have uploaded your photos, it will be a good idea to keep track of your photos. All agency websites have statistics tool that help you to see what sells and what not. This is useful to see for yourself witch is the good direction to follow and start to focus on what really sells. As an advice, do not spent too much time on this, spend more time in shooting photos and post-processing them if they need that.



Step 5

We have arrived at the most important part of this quick guide: The Agencies.

First advice it would be to tell you NOT to submit with only one or two agencies. Even if some agencies work better than others, once you have submitted your photos to several agencies you will earn from all of them (various profits, but profits). These are the most important agencies to submit to:



1. Istockphoto

The most popular agency, and by far the best it is Istockphoto. Click here to register

The good thing about this agency is that it is a good income generator. The bad thing is that is very strict, the upload process is time-cunsuming and have an upload limitof 15-30 files per week.



2. Shutterstock

Shutterstock is second big stock photo agency.Click here to register.
It is a subscription based stock agency. This agency is very good for beginners because you will get sales constantly and the uploading system is simple and intuitive.



3. Fotolia

Another popular agency is Fotolia. Click here to register.

The upload process is medium as time-consuming regards, there are no upload limits and u do not have any limits regarding upload. The approval time it is short, 1-2 days.
4. Dreamstime

Dreamstime rank as number four. Click here to register.
Provides stable sales, the upload process is easy, and the commission for the photographer is high. The approval time is a little bit longer, 3-5 days.



5. 123RF

123RF is another good option for beginners. Click here to register.

has an easy upload system, the photographer commission is good and make it worthwhile. It is relative low income website but good for long run.



6. BigStock

Click here to register.
The photo inspections and acceptance on this site are ok, and the photographer commission also. There are no upload limits. This is also a low income website but good for long run.



7. Crestock

Click here to register.

This site is worth uploading because has a very easy upload system. Good photo management and intuitive process. photo approval takes a little longer.



8. Can Stock PHOTO

Click here to register.

It has a extremely easy upload process, very good approval rate and can give you relatively good income because good commissions.



9. Cutcaster

Click here to register.

It is a very organized website, with an easy upload process, very intuitive for beginners. The earnings from this website are not that good but it compensates with the little time u have to spend to upload a photo on their website.



10. Deposit Photos

Click here to register.

It is a nice website, good content, good photo management, quick approval rate and easy upload system.



Follow all the steps and you will start to earn some money, and in a 1-2 years this will be your main income source, or maybe faster, it all depends on how good you are.



This was a quick start guide. For more and detailed information on each section, please check the rest of the articles.

For more reviews please check http://www.canoncameramodels.com/ and http://www.extrafine.ro/

Canon EOS 7D Review

Technical Details:

- 18.0-megapixel CMOS Sensor and Dual DIGIC 4 Image Processors for high image quality and speed
- Body only; lenses sold separately
- Advanced HD movie mode with manual exposure control and selectable frame rates
- Intelligent Viewfinder with 100 percent field of view; 19-point, all cross-type AF system equipped with dual diagonal cross-type sensors
- Capture images to CF Card Type I and II, UDMA-compliant CF cards ( witch are not included)

With a host of brand new features designed to enhance every facet of the photographic process, from still images to video, the new Canon EOS 7D represents a whole new class of camera. Made to be the tool of choice for serious photographers and semi-professionals, the Canon EOS 7D features an all-new 18.0-megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor and Dual DIGIC 4 image processors, capturing tremendous images at up to ISO 12800 and speeds of up to 8 fps. The Canon EOS 7D has a new all cross-type 19-point AF system with improved AI Servo AF subject tracking and user-selectable AF area selection modes for sharp focus no matter the situation. The Canon EOS 7D's Intelligent Viewfinder, an entirely newly designed technology, provides 100% coverage and displays user-selected AF modes as well as a spot metering circle and on demand grid lines.



Starting with the headline specification, the Canon EOS 7D is equipped with a brand new 18 Megapixel CMOS sensor, compared to 12.3 on the D300 and 15.1 on the EOS 50D. This makes it the highest pixel density of any Canon DSLR to date, because even though the 5D Mark II has a slightly higher pixel-count, it’s more than compensated by its physically larger full-frame sensor. As such there’s understandably concerns over noise levels on the Canon EOS 7D, and you can see for yourself how it compares directly against the EOS 50D, 5D Mark II and Nikon D300s in our results pages.



Canon Canon EOS 7D Features

18.0-megapixel CMOS sensor and Dual DIGIC 4 image processors
The EOS 7D features a Canon-designed 18.0-megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor that captures such a high level of resolution it's easy to crop images for enlargement without concern of losing detail. A major factor in reducing noise, the CMOS sensor assures that images shot at highest sensitivity will be remarkably smooth. Dual DIGIC 4 Image Processors ensure that images are captured, processed and saved with remarkable speed. The Canon EOS 7D's ability to capture and process data of images shot at 18.0 Megapixels at 8 fps, as well as Face Detection Live Mode, Full HD video recording, Auto Lighting Optimizer and Lens Peripheral optimization are all possible thanks to the Dual DIGIC 4 Image Processors.

ISO 100-6400 (expandable to 12,800) for shooting from bright to dim light
With a broad range of ISO settings, the Canon EOS 7D enables shooting from dawn through dusk and ensures capture of the finest detail. With enhanced, low-noise high-sensitivity optimization, shooting in situations previously possible only with flash becomes as simple as point and shoot.

8.0fps continuous shooting up to 126 Large/JPEGs with UDMA CF card and 15 RAW
Capable of shooting up to 126 Large/JPEGs with a UDMA CF card and 15 RAW at 8 fps, the Canon EOS 7D is a perfect camera for action. Canon's remarkable shutter, combined with speedy, sophisticated electronics, ensures instant response and performance. A rapidly-occurring scene can be captured moment by moment, second by second, so that even the briefest of opportunities are captured in perfect clarity.

Advanced movie mode with manual exposure control and selectable frame rates
Boasting the most advanced EOS movie capturing features to date, the Canon EOS 7D does not just shoot video clips, it offers the enhanced image quality, smooth frame rates and adaptive exposure compensation necessary in a professional movie-making tool. By shooting video with a large sensor camera, it's simple to take advantage of the image characteristics intrinsic to SLR photography and not necessarily to video cameras. In addition to a number of different recording size and frame rate modes, the Canon EOS 7D enables easy manual control of exposure, focus and Live View features and even allows for in-camera editing. The large CMOS sensor and compatibility with over 60 lenses provide a wealth of depth-of-field options. And it's all as easy as the press of a button--the Canon EOS 7Dhas a dedicated Live View/Movie Recording lever with a start/stop button that gets the shooting started fast.

Three recording sizes for video Full HD Video is captured at 1920 x 1080 resolution at 30p (29.97), 24p (23.976) or 25p frames per second, for up to 4GB per clip. Movies are saved as .MOV files and can be viewed in Full HD with HDMI output. Other recording sizes include HD at 1280 x 720 (50p / 60p (59.94) fps) or SD/VGA at 640 x 480 (50p / 60p (59.94) fps).

Intelligent Viewfinder with 100% field of view and wide viewing angle
The Canon EOS 7D features a phenomenal redesigned viewfinder that not only offers 100 percent coverage, 1x magnification, a 29.4-degree angle of view and user-controlled dioptric adjustment, it also features a newly-designed transparent LCD display which enables a number of viewfinder displays to be overlaid at the touch of a button. Whereas with other cameras the representation of AF points and metering areas are static, with the Canon EOS 7D, they can be displayed, adjusted and hidden, in camera, with ease. This means less distraction and more clarity to view the image in its entirety. Display options include: grid, spot metering, AF points display, hide all, zone AF, spot (single-point) AF, AF point expansion and Dual Axis Electronic Level display.

The Canon EOS 7D even features a brilliant new Dual Axis Electronic Level and tilt display that aids in achieving perfectly level shots, displaying both roll and pitch in 1-degree increments, either in the viewfinder or on the LCD

New 19-point, all cross-type AF system equipped with dual diagonal cross-type sensors
Canon packed its most advanced technologies into the Canon EOS 7D's AF system. With 19 high precision, cross-type AF sensors, any of which can be selected automatically or manually, the Canon EOS 7D is equipped to handle even the trickiest of focus situations with ease. The high-speed microcomputers in the Canon EOS 7D use advanced algorithms that help ensure the fastest, most accurate AF performance under the widest variety of conditions. In addition, Canon's Light Source detection AF automatically compensates the focus by taking into account artificial lighting sources and making appropriate adjustments and the Canon EOS 7D's new Intelligent Macro focusing tracks the object or the cameras movement when shooting close-up, to ensure focus is never lost. AF modes can be customized to suit the situation, ensuring reliable focus, every time.

iFCL Metering with 63 zone dual-layer metering sensor
The Canon EOS 7D features a new, 63 zone dual-layer sensor designed to complement the 19-point AF system. By taking into account the color and luminosity surrounding chosen AF points, this new system delivers an entirely new level of accuracy for better results even in difficult lighting situations. Since the metering sensor has a color measurement function, exposure errors and focus errors caused by different light sources are minimized; the Canon EOS 7D gives stable exposure from shot to shot in situations where light changes, such as in a theater or concert hall. This makes the Canon EOS 7D ideal for scenes with extreme difference in brightness such as brightly lit scenes or backlit scenes; the camera balances exposure of the main subject at the background, and exposures are not overly influenced by bright areas in the shot.

Magnesium body with shutter durability up to 150,000 cycles
The Canon EOS 7D is constructed of the highest quality materials, to exacting standards to ensure unfettered performance at all times. For example, the shutter can shoot at speeds up to 1/8000 sec for 150,000 cycles; the chassis is built of lightweight and rigid magnesium, and the camera's seals are built to resist water and dust. This combination makes the Canon EOS 7D will be ready for anything.

The Canon EOS 7D also represents a departure for Canon which at this level always slotted its models in-between those from Nikon. So in the past you’d have the EOS 50D fitting roughly between Nikon’s D90 and D300s for example. Canon also seemed happy to let Nikon have the very high-end cropped frame market to itself, and while models like the EOS 50D overtook Nikon on resolution, the D300 and D300s maintained a dignified lead in viewfinder, AF and drive performance.

Not any more though. The Canon EOS 7D is pitched directly against the D300s and clearly intends to become the new high-end cropped body of choice. As such it’s not surprising to find Canon equipping the 7D with a higher resolution sensor along with the addition of more movie modes, but the big shock in today’s often gradually-evolving market is just how much else has been improved – and revealingly much of the inspiration comes from existing Nikon models.
Canon’s also listened carefully to feedback on its movie mode, which now uniquely offers the choice of resolutions and frame rates, along with full manual control over exposure. And always one to play the numbers game, Canon’s significantly trumped Nikon on Megapixel-count with 18 to its rival’s 12.



As described above, this all adds-up to Canon’s quickest and most confident non-professional DSLR to date and one which we can Highly Recommend. In a market where we’re used to minor updates, Canon’s impressively enhanced almost every aspect of the 7D to deliver a powerful array of features which we hope will be deployed across many future models.

You can get your Canon 7D from Amazon at a good price. CLICK HERE!
For more reviews please check http://www.canoncameramodels.com/ and http://www.extrafine.ro/

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Review

This are the lens that any photographer can have. They have spectacular optics, they are ultra light weight, razor sharp and very, very cheap.

At a first look, you will see a plastic mount lens, with Canon multicoated glass, but when you look at the images that this little lens produce you will be impressed. Excellent in low light conditions, accurate focus and sharp images put this lens in the buyers top.

The Canon EF 50mmuses the same optics as the old 50mm f/1.8 EF of 1987.

Canon EF 50mm
lens--which offers a fast f/1.8 aperture--is an excellent lens for people who prefer a fixed focal length. Canon's lightest EF lens at a mere 4.6 ounces, the lens boasts a traditional Gauss-type optical design that delivers a sharp performance even when wide open. As a result, the lens provides an image that's extremely close to how your eye perceives a subject, making it excellent for portraits and images that require a natural depth of field. In addition, the lens focuses as close as 18 inches, helping you take extreme close-ups. Finally, the lens offers an excellent color balance. As with all Canon lenses, the lens carries a one-year warranty.



Product Features

- 50mm standard lens with f/1.8 maximum aperture
- Traditional Gauss-type optical design is extremely sharp
- Focuses as close as 18 inches for extreme close-ups
- Ideal for natural-looking shots; excellent color balance
- Measures 2.7 inches in diameter; 1-year warranty

PROS:
- Super-Sharp Images
- Fast Auto-focus
- Very good value
- Lightweight (130g)
- No lateral chromatic aberration
- Extremely cheap
- Great IQ

CONS:
- Poor construction
- Bokeh: "fair" to "good"
- Noisy



Picture made with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

I must specify that this lens uses a 5 non-rounded aperture blades witch gives a relatively poor bokeh. The colours produced by the 50mm f/1.8 II are very good. If you are an amateur this lens is the best place to start, you get great IQ for very little money. When you have this option do not spend 300$ more on 50mm f/1.4, it is not worth it to spend three time more money and get softer photos.
Overall this is the best lens you get for the price you pay.



Picture made withCanon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

User opinion:

"It is a jewelry with an excellent objective cost / quality. More problematic to focus on semi-dark conditions and you need very steady hands in low light (without Image Stabilizer is harder:). that has USM does not bother me at all. make a little noise when focusing but it's ok. However, for the price that sells super photo quality make them put a 5-star and direct."

By Ion Ghimbovschi






You can get this amazing lense from Amazon at a good price. Check it out!

For more reviews please check http://www.canoncameramodels.com/ and http://www.extrafine.ro/

Viveza 2 Review

Viveza 2 is one of my favorite plug-ins as a photographer and photo stock uploader. It is quick, fast, easy to use and has very useful features.
Viveza 2 it is a powerful tool that let modify your picture selectively, giving you great control.

Creating great photography involves mastery of color and light. Powered by Nik Software’s patented U Point® technology, new Viveza 2 allows photographers of any skill level to quickly enhance their images using innovative tools designed for speed and efficiency.

From precise selective enhancements using U Point powered control points, to adjustments that enhance the entire image, Viveza 2 helps you spend more time shooting photographs and will forever change the way you edit photos.

The most powerful tool to selectively control color and light in your photographs.

Viveza 2 brings a whole new time-saving dimension to your image editing. No complicated selections or layer masks to wear you down. Point, click, slide and voilá - fine-detail structure control, and shadow recovery. Viveza 2 will forever change the way you edit images. For Adobe® Photoshop®, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom®, and Apple® Aperture®

FEATURES

U Point Technology, Amazingly Precise – The most unique and powerful image editing technology available today, U Point powered controls allow you to precisely control where enhancements are applied without the need for complicated selections or layer masks.

Control Points – Easily control color, light, and structure with U Point powered control points. Simple-to-use sliders let you quickly adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, structure, shadows, red, green, blue, hue, and warmth, giving you ultimate control over your image. Now includes a new grouping feature for even more power.

NEW: Global Image Adjustments – Now go straight to Viveza 2 and apply any color, light, or structure enhancement image-wide with the ability to refine any global adjustment selectively using control points. Also includes levels & curves for even more control over contrast and tonality.



Viveza works by placing a U Point on your image rather than using time - consuming photoshop layer masks. This U Point affects the color and light values that are confined to the specific values that you want. With the U Point you can control the size of the area affected, you can modify the hue, saturation, brightness, contrast, briliance, etc. you can use multiple control points on your image, use them as individual or group them together so all your modifications stay sync.



Beside the control points, Viveza 2 offers you a global adjustments panel to globally modify hue, saturation, brightness, contrast, briliance, etc. of your picture.

All the things that Viveza 2 have can be made in Photoshop by en experienced Photoshop user, but there is some big differences like:

- Even an experienced user of Photoshop needs at least 5 or 6 times longer time to realize what could do with Viveza 2 in minutes.

- Not all the photographers are Photoshop Guru's, but Viveza can by used by anyone.



PROS

- Easy to install

- Intuitive interface

- Quick learning curve

- Save you a lot of time with post - producing.

- Huge control over the adjustments

- Amazing results

- Work as a plugin in Photoshop so you don't have to use it as a separate software



CONS

- a little bit pricey, but for me the time i saved with post-processing not only that i converted it in actual shooting time but my pictures looks much better, so is worth every penny.



User opinion

"Nik Software just released version 2.0 of Viveza, a very powerful tool that let you selectively modify and edit images using their exclusive UPoint control technology to select the areas you want to edit.

U Point control point technology is the reason I've been using the Viveza older version, because the easiness of use and ability to build "behind the scenes" layer masks by simply adding a point on the part of the image you want to edit, then adjust the size of the area by simply dragging a slider, beyond that Viveza will affect only the pixels in the area that are similar to the one you selected. This allow enhance the saturation, contrast and brightness of an image very quickly, selectively and without the pain of building complex masks.

The Viveza 2 is even greater, as incorporates more powerful controls and is even faster than the previous version, so what is new:

New, Interface with Global Image Adjustments: Now you can also globally apply any brightness, contrast, saturation and structure (more on this below) very quickly before start applying changes to specific areas, giving you an overall better starting point, it also incorporates a levels and curves window to have more control over contrast and tonality.

New, Structure Adjustment: I really love this one, as you can bring or reduce details between edges, this can be very used to reduce blemishes in skin, or to accentuate textures in skies, grass or any other textured part of the image.

New, Shadow Adjustment: This new feature comes very handy when you need to recover detail from shadow areas, it works pretty much like Highlights and Shadows in Photoshop or Lightroom, but you can easily use it selectively in specific areas by using a control point.

New, Warmth Adjustment: With this new feature you can cool or warm the overall look of the image, or you can also use the control points to adjust any part of it.

New, Grouping the Control Points: In my opinion this is one of the most nice improvements, as you can now group a series of control points through the image and make adjustments all at once, instead of one by one as before. This is really great for images with big variation of tones.

If you are a Photoshop user you'll like the smart filter support and selective brush tool. Layer masks are automatically created so you can use the selective brush tool to apply any filter or correction selectively.

Viveza works with Apple Aperture, Photoshop and Lightroom, and it's very easy to install. During the installation the software will look the applications that you have and will allow you to install it in all of them all once.

I just downloaded the upgrade today and I can tell you that, as with the previous version, this one will be in my list of preferred tools because it's very precise and easy to use."

by Daniel Korzeniewski

Get the Best Deal on Amazon. CLICK HERE! to check the price.
For more reviews please check http://www.canoncameramodels.com/ and http://www.extrafine.ro/