I will start to say that I am not one of the top contributors or best selling photographers on this site. I am a stundent and photography is my hobby. I don't know much more than the basics and I constantly try to learn more. If there is one thing I have learned it is that you will never know all there is to know. I write this not trying to be better than anyone, but I do not understand the complaints that I have seen on the forum.
I have to admit that as a newbee on Crestock I also thought that they where very strick in their criticism and that the rejectionrate was too high. The thing I did not understand was something that the crew here on Crestock keeps saying; they do not want to accept anything, they want a certain standard in their portfolios. The rejections and the criticism of my photos have then taught me to look diffrently at my own images in a new, stricter way and with more self-criticism. I now do not even think that I will get my images accepted or sold on Crestock, I just upload and hope for the best! Mybe some of you would say that I have started to doubt my own abilities, but I disagree, I think I just have become more realistic. I think that it is wrong of the photographer to say something about the quality of the image in regards of approval or rejection, often one is “blind” when it comes to ones own images.
I currently have 38 images uploaded and approved, but I have the same amount of rejections. Today I uploaded 19 images for approval and I said to my self that I hoped I would at least get 2 – 3 of the images approved, and that 5 images would be very good. As it turn out I got 12 out of the 19 approved, which for methought me even more about what Crestock looks for in an image.
I also want to say something to the people that claims that Crestock is the stricktest site; I just got 10 images rejected at another site. (Those who wonder can contact me and will let you know what site not to try if the fear rejections!) This site requires a 10 image upload of what you see as your best images, which all have to be approved before you can become a contributor. As I said all got rejected based on poor quality or “wrong” composition as they called it. They said in some of the coments to several of the images that my focal point was wrong! Were they there when I took the photo or did they see and feel what I saw and felt at that time? All of these images have been approved here at Crestock and more than half of them have been sold here.
If your images of a certain subject do not sell or get approved, well try different subjects and ideas and try to upload again! This might help, personally I find taking stock photo very hard, so I try to focus on what I feel I have more controll over.
I want to finish of by saying that I do not doubt myself, I learn and evolve from the rejections and the criticism. Sure, I get mad or confused or something like that, but it most of all inspires me to go out and take some new good photos that I defenetly will get approved! Constructive criticism is probably the best way to learn, off course it might hurt when your image(s) gets rejected, but how sweet is not the feeling when you start to get more and more images approved? Maybe some of them will be sold too, that would just be great.
Remember, as I said in the beginning I am not an expert or anything like that I just try to motivate and help out in case some is stuck in some negative thought-spirals!
Food for thought.....
ThomGolf