Why I Just Love Dreamstime

posted on 28th of january, 2013

I'm new to stock photography and so far I haven't done photography seriously. It was just a hobby - snap whatever you like looking at or whatever looks beautiful. But since I decided to do it for some income (to buy more equipments, etc), I joined several stock photo sites. But things suddenly become hard as a newbie. You find yourself on the same site as the world's top stock photographer. I was quite discouraged after 4 rejections at first and left for some time.
Then after I came back to take a look, I saw that someone else who had started around the same time as me had 11 sales already. I wondered why he and why not me? Agreed I don't have the equipment he has, but I can do something about it, right? So I learned Photoshop.

After observing some new people on here, I found this site to suit me best. I deleted all other accounts and went exclusive. I'm still getting better - I feel it when I compare my oldest and latest uploads...and it's a good feeling. :)
The rejection list no longer tells me "You're a fool, stop wasting time uploading trash", it just tells me "This is trash because you did it the wrong way, do it another way". And then they get accepted - lesson learned!

Here is why I loved this site as someone newly starting out with serious photography:
- The feature I love MOST is the availability of the EXIF tag for me to take a look at. Whenever I see a photo I can't figure how it was shot, I look at the EXIF and it usually tells me the lighting condition/flash usage or focal lengths and DOF. Helps a lot. I don't have to experiment too long. Just see the EXIF of something similar and experiment closest to those values.
- The second best feature is the comments section. If they don't have an EXIF, I ask in a comment. People explain how they created the photos. If anyone new here thinks you shouldn't ask a big guy with 10,000+ sales because you're a mouse and he's a mammoth, you're wrong. Very nice people here and I have always got a response, a patient one even to foolish questions.
- The favorites list is another good feature. It helps me add someone there and take a look once in a while at their performance and study the stock concept.
- The photo requests section - you MUST look in there often even if you're a newbie. Nothing better than competing with others and selling something of your own even when others offer many variations.
- The message boards have some successful people too. Unlike most sites where there are either totally new people or very highly skilled ones. It creates a gap and sometimes hostile to new guys. Nothing like it here.

So my advice is, if you are new, stick to Dreamstime. The standards aren't ridiculously high and the rejection reasons are explained anyhow. If you have the will to survive here and get the taste of first sale, you're good to go and it becomes an addiction.
Just hang on!

Above are two uploads, one is quite stock oriented and another a really bad one. The lighthouse was one of my first stock type shots. I have no hope of its selling though.

Tags: best features site unique

Comments (18)

	Posted by Robinstockphotos on January 30, 2013 Thanks. Weill I'll never look like one. I'm allergic to body fat. ;)
	Posted by Pindiyath100 on January 30, 2013 Well said, Panda (though you don't look like one ;)!! Keep up the positive attitude and great work always. :)
	Posted by Thanatonautii on January 29, 2013 Great advices and great site indeed! DT is one of the best on the market and is making us happy :)
	Posted by Robinstockphotos on January 29, 2013 Haha! I'm not THAT hardworking. ;) No you can do that in GIMP too. Same thing. And don't buy Photoshop. CS2 is free. It's good anyway.
	Posted by Martingraf on January 29, 2013 that is very interesting - when looking at your latest works I thought it might take hours to do those illustrations - so thank you for perhaps getting me into Photoshop - somehow always tried to find excuses not to buy it ;)
	Posted by Robinstockphotos on January 29, 2013 I'm good at drawing on pencil and paper. Not on computer. And I don't even have the time. If you look through my port, ALL my illustrations took less than 15 minutes to make. Exploit the actions feature of Photoshop. Works wonders and is as good as having a free guy doing all your regular jobs - at at least 10 times higher speed than you possibly could. Try it. ;)
	Posted by Martingraf on January 29, 2013 I'm not good in drawing so I stick with photography :)
	Posted by Robinstockphotos on January 28, 2013 I appreciate that. But for me it applies to photography. Editing is more like art ....drawing. :)
	Posted by Martingraf on January 28, 2013 I might now sound very old fashion - but I still try to take my picture without manipulating it afterwards - RAW and some sharpening and saturating is ok - but everything else isn't really photography anymore - I want people to know that the result is more or less what I really had infront of me - what I did see and was able to capture on "Film". Probably a result of growing up with colour slides ;)
	Posted by Egomezta on January 28, 2013 There are many great things about this site, thaks for sharing this with us.
	Posted by Robinstockphotos on January 28, 2013 I'm good at Photoshop. The problem is I don't have time to spare as a student. A very, very busy science student. But Wisconsinart, thanks a lot for the idea. I hadn't thought of it...too busy processing a huge backlog of files and photos. I'll see what I can do with the lighthouse. Maybe some HDR clouds from another image... Or a negative night scene with moon and stars...
	Posted by Wisconsinart on January 28, 2013 It's virtually impossible for us part timers and amateurs to produce upscale stock where the demand is huge but we're not limited by imagination or the ability to produce high end quality. Your lighthouse image for example... not the greatest but there are simple photo editing tricks that can make it stunning. You can see a lot of tricks in the assignment submissions where people take the time to make them stand out. Most are easy to do and don't take much time.
	Posted by Robinstockphotos on January 28, 2013 Thank you everyone. :) If you feel like suggesting anything at all, however small, you should. Either here or on the photo as a comment. I'd appreciate every feedback.
	Posted by Rigsby8131 on January 28, 2013 Looking at your portfolio you are certainly heading in the right direction. Stay positive, keep uploading and i'm sure you will be very successful here. Good luck.
	Posted by Lenutaidi on January 28, 2013 Great blog,Pratik2440new!!Congratulations!
	Posted by Suyerry on January 28, 2013 Really good blog, especially for a newbie. I agree with you, there is much difference in your first uploads than your newest uploads. You can tell you are learning with every upload. Keep up the great work.
	Posted by Martingraf on January 28, 2013 I still like being with DT - but honestly there are, like in a marriage, the good times and the bad. I wish you to keep on going and hope you still are so positive in a few years time.
	Posted by BCritchley on January 28, 2013 You have the right attitude and plenty of enthusiasm this will help you succeed in stock as I'm sure you will. From your own examples you are now seeing the difference between a stock shot and a snap shot that may never sell, lots never get this and end up with hundreds of the latter images and wonder why they have no sales. Keep up the good work and keep learning, I know that none of us know it all, I certainly don't.