Not Good Enough for Stock Photography?

I submitted 10 sample images to a large stock photography website to see if I could "pass the test" and be accepted as a Stock photo contributor.

The good news is I had enough quality photos to "pass the test" and be accepted into the service as a contributor.  But the bad news is they rejected 3 photos that I happen to think are really good.

You can now be the judge. Do you agree with the assessment? I would love your feedback.

I can understand rejecting this photo as something that most "stock photo" customers would not really use.  The official reason was "Composition--Limited commercial value due to framing, cropping, and/or composition."

I happen to think this is a pretty good photo. Maybe you won't agree with me. Reason for rejection "Lighting Problems--Purple fringe, blown highlights or lenses flare."

This is one of my  most popular images on Flickr. In fact, an almost identical image from the same shoot, on the same day was published in a San Francisco Bay Area regional parks guidebook. Reason for rejection was "Lighting Problems--Purple fringe, blown highlights or lenses flare."

The stock photography site was Shutterstock.  My general feeling about the overall experience? I am not going to make contributions to the site.  I just don't have the time to submit 100's and 100's of images in hopes of making a few bucks on the side. Each photo you upload requires at least 7 tags, a clear name and then other category options selected. Then you have to wait for image approval.  This would turn into a full time job.

As a side note, today is a day for rejection. I tried to join the Flickr group "Flickr's Best Landscape Photographers". No luck. It is an exclusive group of about 300 people. Some of the images are pretty amazing. I will keep shooting until I can get my skills high enough to join. One of the contributors lives in my area and shoots in some of the same parks. His work is truly amazing.

Shooting the Unavailable

How many times have you been driving and seen what would the most perfect subject but you have no way to pull off the road safely?

Vasco Road in the Bay Area is the perfect example.  If you have been on Vasco, then you have seen the 2 big barns that are screaming for a really good photo to capture the texture and history of the crusty buildings.  Once again, no place safe or legal to stop.  They have an access road near by but still no way to back up off the turnout after taking the pics. A few shots exist on the web but they just don't capture the landscape the way I want to shoot it.  I might get my chance later this month on a planned and organized hiking trip. We will see.

On the Livermore side of Vasco is an amazing view on an old barn surrounded by perfect junk! This one can be shot safely, but stopping is still probably a risk on Vasco.

What does everyone else do in these situations?

I didn't take any pics today, but I do have 2 different barns on my list that are easy to reach.

Marsh Creek hillside

I took this HDR image a few days ago while driving through Brentwood. I have probably past this location 20 or 30 times and had never even noticed the rocks on the hill let alone the trees.  But I had pulled into a small side road to take a photo of the nearby ranch and saw the perfect hill for a picture.

This photo was featured this week by The Digital Visual.

HDR image shot from a tripod and a Marumi Circular Polarizer. Tamron Ultra Wide angle lens. Edited and in Aperture on the Mac.

Western Railway Museum

This picture is as good as any to post first. I took this on a weekend trip to the railroad museum and was by far my best photo that day.  If you are looking for a great place to shoot photos of trains or even just rust bolts and industrial equipment you should check them out.  Western Railway Museum - Solano County - California

Hello World

I guess this is my first post to this new blog.

About me. I work for an East Bay software company and in my free time I am a landscape photographer with a little urban exploration thrown in.  Most of my photos are taken in in East Bay parks or on the back roads.

I currently shoot with a Nikon D5100 and mostly use a Tamron Ultra Wide Angle lens.  Photos are usually edited with Aperture on the Mac.

I have been shooting photos since high school but only really got serious about a year go with I picked up the Nikon.  I am still learning and building my skills. I once read a quote that your first 10,000 photos are crap. I am just over 5000 on this camera at the time of this writing. I will let you be the judge.

Your feedback and comments are always appreciated.