Stock Photography Update

So I've been talking with a few friends again recently about stock photography, and have been asked a few questions about good sites, so here are the two top sites that I recommend to you and a few differences:

iStockPhoto

Firstly, iStockPhoto is more widely known by buyers and designers, so that is always a bonus. It is harder on iStockPhoto than on other sites to get your images accepted because they are tighter on quality, however the payouts per download are higher. Instead of about 25c per download, you get anywhere from 50c to $5, depending on file sizes and so forth.

Also, because of the setup where people pay per photo instead of on a subscription, less people will buy average images, but if you have a fantastic image then you will make a lot from it.


Shutterstock

Shutterstock has a payout of 25c per download, which becomes 30c after you have made $500. They are still very tight on quality, but once you understand their expectations it is easy to have all your images accepted without dramas, and they accept a lot more images than iStockPhoto. Because it is set up as a subscription, people often just want to fill up their download quota and so will often download images more, which means that even your not-so-brilliant images have a good chance. So the less cash for each downoad evens out because you generally get more downloads.


In comparison, I would recommend both these sites above any others that I have tried (which is almost all of them), but I think it is personal preference as to which one you use.

Since I have been using them, I have made double the money on Shutterstock, because iStockPhoto has only accepted 10 of my photos, while Shutterstock has accepted over 200. However, now that my skills are improving in photography and design, I am finding more images are accepted on both, and so iStockPhoto is starting to make more money for me.


And if all else fails... refer other people to the sites. Because even though it doesn't affect their money at all, you will get bonus for referring them too!

So definetly check out those two sites by clicking on the above links if you like photography or design and want to earn some extra cash!

I love laminating

As requested by my crazy friend Rachel.....

I Love Laminatingbysnez_4eva
Get this custom shirt at Zazzle

New novelty shirt

I've just started with some new t-shirt designs on Zazzle. Come check out my newest one!
Plus there will be more to come!

Ignore the avocadobysnez_4eva
Get this custom shirt at Zazzle

Underwater bubbles in Photoshop

Here's another one of my pieces I've created after learning from a tutorial I found on Worth 1000

I created the wrecked photo and depth by myself (you can find other tutorials to help you with this) but I created the bubbles and water using this tutorial:


Making Bubbles with your own custom Brush in Photoshop

Check it out!

I really like this one, because once you have done it one time, it is really easy to use again and again

If everything was made from chocolate....

Mmmmmm..... chocolate!

After finding a very delicious looking photoshop tutorial to chocolatize anything and everything you could ever imagine, I decided to give old Shepp the Dog here a makeover.

It was very time consuming (which is why I haven't tried it again since!) but the end result was worth it!

If you want to check out the tutorial I used to create this,
click HERE to visit the tutorial at WORTH 1000

Their picture they use isn't as cute as mine :) but its a great tutorial!

exploding planet tutorial

This is a very cool tutorial that is pretty simple to follow on how to make an exploding planet in Photoshop! Click here to check it out!

Adobe Illustrator spirograph effect

Next time you are in Adobe Illustrator, try holding down the little squiggly key on the left of the number 1 key on your keyboard while you use the shape tool. It makes really interesting spirograph patterns!

more swirly curls in Illustrator

Here is another Illustrator tutorial on creating decorative swirls or curls or whatever you want to call them. This one is incredibly simple (basically 3 steps!), and I still find it very effective.

Visit Veerle's blog to see this tutorial!

Decorative swirls in Illustrator

This was one of the first Adobe Illustrator tutorials I ever did, and so I would recommend it to beginners. It is a very interesting technique to get those decorative swirls that everyone seems to use. And like any tutorial... it's all about what you do with it that makes it a good tutorial!

Click HERE to visit this tutorial by bittbox!

Space Art Photoshop Tutorial

It's probably about time I posted some of the fantastic tutorials I have found all over the web, so I will start with one of my favourites:


GREG MARTIN has come up with an amazing tutorial to create realistic planets using Adobe Photoshop. It is the tutorial I used to help me create my space image:

You can find this tutorial here

I would also recommend checking out Greg's other work at his online gallery