Raw vs Jpeg.

[RcSulz]

3 questions:
If you are going to sell images to stock agencies, is it best to shoot in Raw or JPeg?

Is there any stock agencies that would take general pics? Any recommendations?

Also, what types of Images are they generally after, ( I know that it varies from agency to agency)

[rjseeney]

You'll be submitting in JPEG. The Raw vs JPEG discussion is much like the Canon VS Nikon discussion, protective filters vs no filters at all, etc. That is there is no clear cut answer. If you submit in high volumes, and are careful with in camera settings, and can nail exposure, you'll be fine shooting in JPEG. If you can't do that, than you'll have a hard time getting images approved, so the question becomes which will you be comfortable with. I shoot alot of sports, and shoot only in JPEG. If I'm doing finer stuff, like portraits, or landscapes I'll shoot in raw. In reality, the more I shoot, the more I just stick to JPEG.

Most stock agencies will turn down snapshot type pictures. If your image doesn't have a clear theme, or message, or can be used to sell a product it either won't get accepted or if it does it won't sell. These sites have millions of flower, landscape, sunset images so forget even trying to get these in. People photo's can do well, but you'll need model releases (as well as models themselves). Over all, stock is a tough business. You'll need thousands of high quality images to make even ok money. there are only a handful of photographers making a living shooting stock through these sites, and not many more making enough to even call it a part time job.

The big sites are Shutterstock, Istockphoto, Dreamstime and fotolia.