Beginner Rejected stock images

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Name
Pete
Edit My Images
Yes
I wonder if anyone has any comments/suggestions regarding the following. I’ve just got a camera decent enough to consider submitting some photos to a stock site, namely Adobe Stock. But .... I have a photo taken some years ago which I know is saleable, but is not of a sufficient quality to be accepted.
I was in the mountains near Montenvers when the Bonatti Pillar on the Dru collapsed. Whilst being of no interest at all to 90% of the population it was a huge event in rock climbing - the destruction of a historic feature which destroyed numerous famous climbs. I only had an Olympus CZ Wide-Zoom (I think it was called) and no time at all to check the camera settings - I just shot it. How do I know it’s a saleable image? When it was on the UK Climbing website I was approached by the British Mountaineering Council, who used it in their “Summit” magazine, and by a Swedish outdoor magazine who used it in an article on climate change in the Alps.
Adobe Stock won’t touch it due to image quality. Is there any way I could get it into the marketplace? I bet nobody said to Robert Capa, “Sorry, Bob. They’re a bit fuzzy!”
I’ll try to upload it a bit later.
 
Was it a single image or part of a larger submission? Handy if you could post it or them
 
You could try a different agency, I find Dreamstime are less fussy especially with smaller file sizes from older cameras, their starting payment is a bit higher too but don't regard it as anything more than a bit of fun or at best pocket money.
However you do sometimes get a shot or two which sells over and over and it adds up, unfortunately I only have two like that ...

Something worth trying to get them accepted is to effectively use the title or description to indicate the importance and why they are less than perfect.
e.g. I deliberately soft focused roses for a dreamy valentines day image, and added 'soft focus' in the title or it would surely have been rejected.
Editorial newsworthy images are also given a good deal more leeway, use terms along these lines.
 
Some agencies also have a reportage route that will sometimes accept images of a lower quality if they're of something newsworthy or of historic importance. I know Alamy do but its only open to certain regular contributors by prior arrangement (it might be worth an email).
 
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Hi. Thanks for your comments. This is the photo in question. I know it's really rough, but as I said above, it has been used commercially already. You tend to misjudge distance easily in the mountains, and I stood there thinking, "I wonder how far those rocks are going to bounce?!" They were miles away. Miraculously, despite it's reputation and popularity, nobody was climbing on the Bonatti Pillar that day!


Dru 2.jpg
 
Just a final word. I submitted the photo to Shutterstock as editorial content and had enough room in the description to mention that it had already sold twice. Accepted!!
 
Well done. Shutterstock seems to be the winners in a lot of these stock photo questions. I think they are going to be my first choice once I manage to create some decent images.
 
Thanks. I must try to remember that not every photo needs to be a masterpiece as long as it's properly exposed and in focus. Somewhere out there is a canteen manager looking for a photo of a plate of fish and chips!
 
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