Of course we can never guarantee sales of any particular picture or subject matter but we can guide you, somewhat, as you assemble submissions, and as you shoot new pictures. Here are some thoughts:


General format:
We need both horizontals and verticals of all subjects. Color still dominates the industry, so send color pictures.


SUBJECT MATTER

People doing things:
We need activities and scenarios. Mundane things, such as taking out garbage, as well as 'life matters' subjects, such as staged arguments or a photo of a child looking depressed or lonely, these are just random examples of the kinds of people pictures that might be requested. All ages – babies to seniors. Eating, drinking, cooking, driving, dating, changing diapers, raising family, playing with pets, listening to music, painting toenails, hobbies, religion, recreation (again, these are random ideas for general guidance, not requests for specific shots – think creatively).

Sports: All kinds of sports, individual and team, competitive and non-competitive. Also, photos depicting health, fitness, exercise, adventure.

Work Life:
People in any profession/occupation– the need for current photos is of special note in dealing with occupations where clothing style or technology changes quickly. Telephones, cars and clothes can be out of date in 2 to 5 years. Along the same lines... other subjects in which the technology changes rapidly: computers, laptops, portable phones, medical supplies, stereo equipment, exercise equipment etc. It is important that we have current pictures of these kinds of things, as well as pictures of people using them.

Ethnic/Racial Diversity: …is often requested in people pictures. This is a good thing to keep in mind when planning shoots and editing people pictures.

Agriculture: mostly specific crops, well identified and captioned. Likelihood of sales increase if you include scientific names.

Animals in the Wild: well identified and captioned. Likelihood of sales increase if you include scientific names.

Plants: well identified and captioned. Likelihood of sales increase if you include scientific names.
TIP: Keep an open mind. A wilted flower might not be picturesque but could have scientific (or even poetic) applications, if correctly identified and captioned.
TIP: botanical items that are not correctly identified and captioned will not be accepted. If you don't have a positive ID on an item, don't send it.

Travel and Location Pictures:
We always need updated pictures to make sure that city skylines in our files are current. When shooting any city, town, or state, make sure that flattering pictures of as many notable landmarks as possible are covered. We receive travel requests for specific destinations. Ideally, you should include location pictures with and without people in them – and model releases whenever possible. The date the photo was taken needs to be included in your metadata. We have received requests for unflattering location images too for editorial purposes so don't discount those subjects.

SUBMISSIONS
(scans and digital camera images)

If you wish to, you may, initially, send a direct link to a web photo gallery of your work. Or send CDs or DVDs. Discs will not be returned and will be considered our property. DO NOT SEND US YOUR ONLY COPY OF ANY DISC OR PICTURE. If we decide not to accept your photos, we will destroy the discs.

We no longer accept transparencies or prints. We accept JPEG or TIFF images on CD or DVD. Save your JPEG at maximum quality (In Photo Shop: 10-12, we prefer 12). We prefer that your TIFF images not be compressed at all.

All images must be free of dust & scratches and ready for the client.

No interpolations (enlargement).

No manipulations except color correction. (that is correction, not enhancement)

No sharpening.

Do not put non-standard characters in file names. For example: $ @ " ( # & * + / > ? %. File names with spaces are a big problem as well. The underscore "_" is a good alternative. Hyphens are not as problematic but whenever possible, the underscore is best. If you have lots of questionable file names, your photo software might have a batch renaming function; if not, there are free or cheap programs available that are designed to rename files.

Send current images that are clear and sharp. Pre-edit your photos. Include release information in the "Special Instructions" field of the File Info/metadata portion of the image.

Metadata must be thorough. Know your subjects well, and caption them meticulously. The keywords section of your file info should contain relevant keywords; do not spam your metadata fields.

Scientific names of plants and animals increase likelihood of sales.

SCANS

Scanning from film, your minimum scan should be an expanded image size of 25-50 megabytes with no interpolation. 50 or greater recommended for best circulation. No larger than 100 megabytes. Scan from original film only. Scan only from film sized 35mm or larger.

DIGITAL CAMERA IMAGES

We will accept photos of no less than 8.2 megapixels. That is – 8.2 megapixels in-camera, not interpolated (also make sure your camera is not tricking you by interpolating an image half that size).


CD OR DVD FORMAT ONLY

Send to:
SUBMISSION DEPARTMENT
Photri/Microstock, Inc.
3701 S. George Mason Dr.
Suite C2-N
Falls Church, VA 22041