I wonder how many of you are like me. I started submitting photos and illustrations to Dreamstime in October 2009 with no camera fine tuning nor illustration making experience whatsoever. To give you an idea, my first 200 photos were all rejected at once because of distorted pixels. Not quite a successful debut. Statistics were already in the red. Then started a long and painful search for a 'user friendly' definition of 'distorted pixels' on the Web and elsewhere. I finally tried taking pictures in 'raw' mode and that made it. I was so happy! Joy and frustration were part of my learning journey and still are...
In the meantime, I had fun doing illustration with 'paintbrush' but soon felt the need for a more complete tool. ******** Illustrator came to my rescue, but fear was part of the package! What a wonderful but scary thing it is! You have to know that being a grandma I am probably older than most of you! I was not born with a computer in my crib. That said, I learned how to use it slowly but surely--thanks to some tutorials available on the Web and a good book on the subject--and the 'alien' is now giving me some results. Patience is the key word here! I know that I will never master the 'beast' like some of you who have been working with it for many years, but I am happy with what I have accompished so far.
Creating is a part of me and will always be. It keeps me going. Frustration is always part of the game, especially when an image is rejected (and God knows how many of them are) but I try to understand why. I try not taking it personally and shut off my ego... I know for sure that a huge amount of effort is necessary in the process of illustrating properly something I have in mind. That said, I learn new things every day and that is what matters to me. Each sale is a small victory and a proof that my effort is worth something. Imagine, someone feels my image is the best one for his/her project... Wow!
Lastly, I would be thrilled to read your comments, and feel free to give me some tips...
Happy creative journey to all of you and long life to Dreamstime.
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Inspirationgame
Thank you all so much for your great feedback. It's nice to know that our rather 'isolated' environment can become more lively!
Some of you have the chance to take pictures of kids, which is really great. I would love to take pictures of my grandchildren for Dreamstime but the parents do not like the idea of having photos of their kids published on the Internet. I understand that and respect their choice.
Looking at everyone's portfolios makes me travel around the world for free! Australia, Italy, India... Some superb photos of wildlife. It's just fascinating! Great illustration material and really cute bunnies!
Thank you for sharing your experience with me.
Sobek85
Nice article and some great photos
Rosedarc
It's good to persevere and you can be very proud of your achievements :-)
Joezachs
A good word of encouragement for the newbies.
You have said it all in one sentence ....Patience is the key word here!
Mariaam
very nice pics
lzf
nice pics
Vilaimages
After reading your post, browsed your portfolio and found your photos/illustrations beautiful. You are extremely talented.
I am new at this too and have the same attitude towards rejected images, each one teaches you how to become a little better.
Congratulations on your success!
Arim44
Very impressive, good luck!
Davidwatmough
Car-side mirror and Black Beauty are two lovely images in your portfolio. Please tell a non illustrator how much you paid for the software you are using so successfully. I started 'green' with Dreamstime two or three months before you and am still suffering rejection syndrome. David.