Stock Photos of China - Stock Exposures

When we first decided to start our stock photo business, the priority was always set on obtaining and selling the highest quality images possible. It's really tempting in the beginning to just try and get as many people to upload as many photos as possible in order to build up a database as quickly as possible, and start getting noticed by people. I think that's where a lot of sites have gone wrong in the past. They all boast about how many images they have in their database, but I wonder if they would could say, hand on heart, that every single image in their entire database is the absolute best it could be? I doubt it, but then again, I can imagine with the very large microsites, there are always going to be a few inferior images that get through the net just because of the sheer volume they receive on a day to day basis.

As I write this, we have zero images in our database and it is quite scary to be launching a site, claiming to be a stock photo site, and offering nothing! Well, I say nothing, there are a few images on the site already, which are mine. The path we decided to take instead was to take the slow but steady path and really focus on high quality, in regards to both the technical specifications and content.

For all our photographers, both Chinese and the ones from the rest of the world, we have established "standard" high quality guidelines for them to follow, and right from the start, we are going to be strict when it comes to implementing them. It will take us a lot longer to build up a 'serious' sized database, but in the long run it will be much better for customers and better for the photographers, especially when every single image they have in their portfolio is selling, because every single image in their portfolio is excellent!

The photographer owns the copyright to the images they are selling
Minimum size for images is 3,000 pixels on the longest side at 300dpi
JPEG compressed at the highest setting
No dust spots, scratches or excessive noise
Well exposed with no blown highlights or shadows
Images taken at the lowest ISO possible for maximum quality
Subject matter is razor-sharp unless intentionally blurred to infer movement
Images have the correct white balance with no colour casts
Property and Model (both adult and minor) Releases to accompany images where necessary
No shadows cast from the onboard flash
No frames, signatures, copyrights notices or narratives on images

We believe that by our photographers following these guidelines, among others, and by us implementing these guidelines and rejecting any images that don't come up to standard, then in the long-term we will be able to offer you an incredible online library of the very best images of China available today.