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Messages - grsphoto

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 ... 19
1
General Stock Discussion / Re: convert earnings to credits
« on: October 20, 2014, 10:26 »
The problem with GL is..no sales for me....

I have a low earning portfolio which will take a long time to reach payout on some site.  I am thinking of taking my earnings in images from some of these sites.

2
General Stock Discussion / convert earnings to credits
« on: October 20, 2014, 08:37 »


Which sites have a way for you to convert your earnings to credits?

3
Nikon / Re: Spot on inside of lens
« on: August 23, 2014, 13:05 »
If a spot is inside the lens it should be easy to see.

take the lens off and look through the lens in a bright location, pointing the lens towards a solid colour.

I have just been through examining all my lenses for mold and fungus.... and finding it.   :(

Using a adjusting focus and zoom can help pinpoint which element the dirt is on.

4
Payoneer / Re: Payoneer-some question for users
« on: August 12, 2014, 18:02 »
the problem with asking questions of Payoneer, I have found, is they won't answer questions about rates until you have already signed up.   I am trying to find the best/ least expensive way to get the same services.

5
Payoneer / Payoneer-some question for users
« on: August 12, 2014, 15:06 »
I am thinking of signing up for a Payoneer account.

Is it best to do it through their site or through a supplier such as iStock?

Which has the smallest sign-up and usage fees or is it the same?

Is there anything I should watch out for?

Thanks

6
I have a high percentage of my image sold in South America... which isn't surprising since I shoot a lot of images of Ecuador

7

good read...thank you for the link

8


If this work of art is indeed under copyright protection, a property release signed by the copyright holder will need to be provided. Thank you."


They want to know that you have the rights to "sell" the image of the Art... yes you may have created it, but do you still own the copyright to it. iStock ( I have found) seems to be more about the paper trail and less about the image.

9
General Stock Discussion / Re: standards at IS
« on: July 19, 2014, 00:32 »
But I have a real tough time getting my images accepted.... all because of the model release.

I use the spanish language version of iStock's release, but some reviewers don't accept that because it isn't in English.  Some don't accept it, because the phone number "has to many digits".   Others because the address isn't right ( in the place I am in they do not number the buildings and postal codes are still a few years away from being widely used)

Then there are other reveiwers who accept the same release ( and images from the same session)

I also get rejections because of problems with the buttons on the jeans ( trademark, copywrite?)

I think that what has happened is the company is run by lawyers, not image makers

10
SS IS etc rely on "semi-talented" reviewers to act as gate keepers, but they really don't curate the images... the buyer stil has to look for images that fit their vision or need.
How could any curator or curating-group second guess which image would meet a particular buyer's vision or need?1 Puts me in mind of the old frustration of newspaper togs having their photo cropped or changed because a last minute ad was dropped in.
It's not always the 'best' photo which gets used, just the 'best one for the job'.


There are people who have the same vision or esthetic ... If I were ( for example) to create a collection of the best pasta dishes on shutter stock, my view of what is best would be different than yours ( though there may be overlap).  So if a buyer likes how i see things, and they want a pasta dish, they may prefer to look through my collection before they dive deeply into the entire collection.

If I created a "edgy pasta" collection, it would be different than your "romantic Pasta" collection....I know this is what keywording is for, but having a person decide would be different.

11
I have had an idea bouncing around in my head that might be time to talk about.

Crowd sourced curation.


One of the advantages of Stocksy is their are real, talented people deciding what images get in the collection. This is great if you shoot, or want to buy their "view"

SS IS etc rely on "semi-talented" reviewers to act as gate keepers, but they really don't curate the images... the buyer stil has to look for images that fit their vision or need.

If a site where to allow people to create their own collections, and then publish "their" list on the site ( and get paid if people down load from their list)   I think it could create a market for images that don't fit  the stock look, or the stocksy look.   

To see an example of this in practice just look at you Tube and all the different "channels".   

Comments?

12
General Stock Discussion / Re: Non-curated agency
« on: July 12, 2014, 11:33 »
It might work if you had a really kick-ass search engine/ algorithm.  Over time if the algorithm took into account views, sales history of the image, sales history of the submitter, number of times images is shown as thumb vs number of times viewed, vs number of times sold....

Basically turn your buyers into your curators.

13
to be successful it has to be based on providing something useful for buyers.... it doesn't matter how great it is for creators, if it doesn't sell it folds.

14
OK I'll go next.

As a 56 year old who has had many up and downs...mostly downs.... the one constant in my life has been a camera.

I am a good photographer, but not a good stock photographer.  I have been doing stock for about 1 1/2 year, and still am trying to find my vision.... find the ability to produce more "killer" saleable image

Why do I still work at it, even with the little returns ( I have a very underperforming portfolio of +700 images)?

I am not sure.... I guess my thought is, if I get a few more high performing images it will help me through my next "down" which is looming very large on the horizon ( Moving back to my home country and dealing with the health issue of a close family member)

15
OK so I did the math... and from this poll "we" control about 500,000 to 600,000 image.

16
Shutterstock.com / Re: Shutterstock, where to next ??
« on: June 22, 2014, 00:30 »
The whole problem with Unions or collectives or whatever you want to call the organization is you have to be able to control the source of production.  The people who read this forum represent 1%? of the total images in micro stock.

I don't know. We were able to remove almost 25% of DPC's images in a month, so I would say we control a lot more than 1%. Following the Pareto Principle, about 20% of microstock contributors should control about 80% of all microstock content. So a relatively small number of people should be able to wield a significant amount of power.

Is DPC active?  It has 75% of the images left ( how many is that? )

I really would like to see some way we could control more about our destiny.  Maybe if the big players... the 20%... could band together. 

17
Shutterstock.com / Re: Shutterstock, where to next ??
« on: June 21, 2014, 20:28 »
The whole problem with Unions or collectives or whatever you want to call the organization is you have to be able to control the source of production.  The people who read this forum represent 1%? of the total images in micro stock.

The Dollar Photo Club still exists.... even if "we" don't have images there it still part of the market place.

For a collective to work, I think it has to offer something of value to the agencies...and I don't have a clue as to what this might be.

18

Saw this today... interesting concept....  build a following for your photos then "sell" your following to advertisers...
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/smallbusiness/Digital+agency+helps+brands+snap+social+media/9933510/story.html

19
General Stock Discussion / Re: Who pays photogs twitter feed
« on: June 05, 2014, 23:31 »
thanks

20
I had a great month for my meagre and underperforming portfolio...BME...On Demand, and Single downloads pushed it higher.  Now I need to work on actually creating some content that sells consistently.

21
The easiest upload process in the business and 52% commissions are enough to keep them on the upload list for me...

Agreed. With so many companies doing wrong by contributors, it's pretty painless to keep supporting one that is doing right, even if sales there are dismal. We can at least hope that things eventually pick up.

Or we could help it pick up... if every submitter posted a tweet or facebook like it may help.  Let's support the good guys.

22
DPC and opt out shows about the only way we can get the attention of some agencies.

The problem is, as individuals most of us are too small to be able to make a difference.  As a group we "fight" too much to join together.... Can we put aside our fighting long enough to build something to be able to make a difference?

23
Whats "MGS".? And what is this outrage that our refer to?

sorry should be MSG ( this forum)  typing with one hand due to altercation with a monkey.... ::)

24
Great poll and I, myself have often wondered the same thing.  Just one question...do we count the total of all images on all agencies, even if they are the same on some?  I have a total port of around 1400....some images are on 6 different agencies and some are on only 1.  Would I count the one on all of them as one or six?  Sorry if this is a stupid question, I've only had one cup o' coffee this morning.  ;)

just individual images...if it is online in several places just count it once please.

25
Now this is a great poll. I've had lots of thoughts on agency that we contributors could run. This gives idea how many images people on here have. It would be so awesome to put our images together in fair trade agency. It should be run by many contributors, not by one dictator CEO. Symbiostock is great but I'm thinking more of an agency type here.

That is actually a great Idea. Sad thing is most of us do not know how to run a company nor code.

I don't think this is the answer..... Shutter Stock success is due to much more than just putting images on line...

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