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posted on 1st of february, 2010

I've been involved in photography as a hobbyist for 40 years and as a crime scene photographer for 25. My wife is my biggest fan and when I retired, she encouraged me to try to sell some of my photography. (I think she was just trying to get me out of the house) I didn't want my hobby to become like another job, so I got involved in stock photography with Dreamstime in December, 2009. I've been really impressed with this organization and with the DT Community. Everyone seems very friendly and helpful which is really important for a newbie trying to learn their way around.

I've been wondering how I'm doing compared to other new contributors. In my first 6 weeks on DT I now have 56 images on line and have a 64% acceptance ratio. I've even had 7 sales. (That's exciting) Is that fairly normal? I obviously want to improve that and have been reading the blogs and trying to learn more about what is wanted and how images should be processed. My current acceptance ratio allows me to upload 10 images per day, which at this point, is plenty.

I know I still have a lot to learn about what requires a property release (model releases are more obvious) but I'll keep reading and hopefully learning.

I love photographing bald eagles and this is one of my images that has 2 sales as of today.

Since I've just been lurking in the background I wanted to write this to introduce myself to fellow DT contributors and to thank you all for being a friendly and helpful group of folks.

Tags: acceptance community introduction newbie ratio

Comments (30)

	Posted by Joezachs on April 28, 2010 I understand what you mean, as I am a newbe now. But as you said, I found this site more userfriendly and has got some standard. Trying to find my way around and hope to gain some knowledge. I like that I thought I'd died and gone to heaven
	Posted by Tan510jomast on February 24, 2010 welcome to DT. take it one step at the time. be contented with what you have, and just enjoy being a contributor. i think that last bit is really important. if you enjoy your work, getting a dl is just icing to the cake. if you have time and want to get more sales, besides taking more photographs and being regularly submitting your work, i would say the next best investment would be to learn to keyword well, after all, you can have the best images in the world, but if your keywording skill is lacking, you could be cutting out a lot of sales. keep it up ! cheers!
	Posted by Alessandro0770 on February 19, 2010 Hi Richard! You have a very nice photograph portfolio. You had a good idea in joining Dreamtime! Cheers, Alex
	Posted by Mariaam on February 19, 2010 Hello! Very nice portfolio. You have many amazing images!
	Posted by Linqong on February 13, 2010 Great shot!!!!!!! Welcome to DT! Have fun here!
	Posted by Jacklouis on February 12, 2010 You're doing great! You're an experienced photographer so it's just a matter of time before your stock success rate soars.
	Posted by Iwikoz6 on February 04, 2010 What a great intro you've written there. Your photos are great, you've been behind a camera almost longer than I've been alive, yet you've stayed humble and keen to continue learning, even after a long career in crime photography, which would have taught you alot - and not just about photography. You've kicked off to a better start than I had and looking good to keep it going strong. All the best mate! iwikoz - kiwi (New Zealander) in Australia.
	Posted by Smitea on February 04, 2010 wonderful pbase gallery .......i think you have a lot more to offer judging by that :) have fun and keep on enjoying your photography its great! sherrie :)
	Posted by Maigi on February 04, 2010 Wow, what a wonderful bird! Welcome to the DT, Lowthian! You have a great start indeed. Best wishes for your success!
	Posted by Brianarbuthnot on February 04, 2010 Hi lowthian and welcome to DT.Great start,Ive never been above 45% acceptence,probably due to haste and over eagerness.Crimescene must have been gorey,so enjoy your retirement and wildlife photography,good luck and happy days.
	Posted by Destinyvispro on February 03, 2010 You have a great portfolio start. Welcome to DT. As a suggestion your moose image could use a few extra keywords.
	Posted by Gerrymphotos on February 03, 2010 You are off to a better start than I am. I have slowed down on submissions lately. I think your shots are amazing though. Best of luck to you. Gerry....
	Posted by Jungleoutthere on February 03, 2010 Love your "pair of bald eagles" shot!
	Posted by Lowthian on February 02, 2010 Thanks to everyone for all the kind comments. It sounds like my statistics are probably about where they should be for a newbie. As suggested, I'll keep uploading and try to learn from my rejections. I just noticed that my upload limit went from 10 a day to 20. I guess DT has increased the maximum to 100 images per day.
	Posted by Joe1971 on February 02, 2010 Welcome！
	Posted by Chucky on February 02, 2010 Welcome！
	Posted by Davulcu on February 02, 2010 Welcome to DT my friend. Yes , it is a great start I think I can say that DT has the best software , developing itself day by day and very friendly environment as you say. success to you ...
	Posted by Justmeyo on February 02, 2010 Welcome on DT!You got nice photos :)I wish you good luck and many sales !
	Posted by Creativei on February 02, 2010 Welcome on board, yeah you were right, this is one of the coolest community in stock photography, na I'm not a brand ambassador of DT, but its fact, its one of the best. Well friends have suggested you all the tips in the comments, I just wanna say, have fun and enjoy, sales will come, and you are doing great and wish you success in future.
	Posted by Keki on February 02, 2010 hi & welcome! you're off to a wonderful start! best of luck! :)
	Posted by smartview27 on February 02, 2010 welcome!
	Posted by Fultonsphoto on February 02, 2010 Firstly, welcome to DT. Secondly, I think you are off to a really good start, and above average in my opinion for a newbie. Congrats so far and continued success.
	Posted by Elimitchell on February 02, 2010 You've done much better than I did in my first few weeks. I have to wait MONTHS for my first sale. Expect your bald eagle shots to get a lot of downloads. I wouldn't be surprised if they were level 2 in a few months. I think your portfolio has a good deal of potential.
	Posted by Frantab01 on February 02, 2010 hi and welcome to DT, you're doing really well and have a great port - keep uploading and good luck :)
	Posted by Mani33 on February 01, 2010 Welcome to DT! You just made the right choice! It's pretty fun & professional at the same time! I advise you to have a look to some great portfolios & also to learn from your rejections... You're doing great as for now! Keep uploading & good luck :)
	Posted by Danee79 on February 01, 2010 Nice images and acceptance ratio is good.Keep uploading.
	Posted by Py2000 on February 01, 2010 Hi! Welcome to DT! You are on the right track and you have done much better than my first 6 weeks on DT. Just keep uploading! Best wishes, Paul
	Posted by Digitalreflections on February 01, 2010 Welcome. Great eagle shots.
	Posted by Dw75209 on February 01, 2010 Welcome to Dreamstime. I am new here as well still trying to learn to get more sales and get more images uploaded. Much continue success to you...
	Posted by Wildmac on February 01, 2010 Welcome to Dreamstime! You're doing great, I've only got 106 images on here and I've been here nearly a year. We all move at our own pace I guess. This started as a hobby for me too. Something to keep me busy for a couple of hours while my youngest was at kindy, but now she's at school I'd like to take this a bit further. There's lots of good information in the message boards and blogs. A lot of us are also on Facebook so we can learn from each other there too. Hope you like it here. Cheers Carol :) PS. I love your eagle shots!