iStockphoto - Stock Photographer Training Manual

5.0 - Needed Files

Take a quick look through the site. We get a lot of certain types of pictures. There is nothing wrong with these pictures - we just have a lot of them. Provide something more unusual - or sought after - and it might make the most downloaded page.

Do you need a particular image or video? Post your requirements in the Request Forum!

Here are some of the files that we do and don't need. Please note that this is not a definitive list, and our inspectors may reject photos at any time if they feel we have enough of a particular subject.

Images that iStock does need:
	Corporate shots Everyone looks a little more handsome when a suit's involved.
	Groups & Teams One person is great, two, three, four… just gets better and better.
	Concept Stock Leave it to others to shoot the obvious.
	Sports Cycling, ping pong, soccer, skateboarding, kung-fu, bocci ball, the list goes on.
	Rare Artifacts The more rare, the better.
	Illustrations Vector and not rasterized.
	Holiday & Seasonal Themes Christmas, Valentines, Easter: don’t wait until the last minute.
	Fashion Leave the jeans behind, unless they're couture...
	Analogue and Grunge Intriguing textures, effects, & treatments – not for the amateur of style.
	Food and Beverages Preferably with someone holding the edible item.
Images that iStock does not need:
	Your dog or cat He's adorable. Send a picture to your mom.
	Flowers iStock now possesses the definitive online collection of files called ‘flower’.
	Flags We can now proudly say we have every country covered.
	Photos of your feet, socks, etc. Try looking up with your camera instead.
	Your immediate environment Get up, move around a little. Keyboards, mice, cables, compact discs, floppy discs and monitors are covered.
	Light Blurs Great for fun and experimenting...
	Brick walls The Wall came down in 1989. Get over it.
	Close-ups of fire It's for your own safety.
	Close-ups of eyes They scare small children.
	Symbols (!$%@) You see it in every e-mail.
	Sunsets & clouds Very pretty, but...
	Forest Snap Shots We love nature, but...
	Airplane Wings (& out the window shots) In the end, they seem to all look the same.
	Your Shadow Try another route of dodging the model release.
	Overly simple 3-D & Bryce renderings & Photoshop backgrounds Challenge yourself a little.
	Photoshop Backgrounds Fun to experiment, but they're not quite stock.
	Overly simple text Let people pick out their own fonts.