Quote from: increasingdifficulty on October 16, 2017, 12:55

No, not in Canada. But what is the workaround?

I think the workaround can work only if you are from Canada and use Canadian banks. Sorry. The 2.9% forex rate from PayPal is nasty.

I am in Canada. What is the workaround?

I'm in Canada so I can't offer any specific advice about British tax rules but I have a couple of suggestions.

I use a tax expert to do my taxes. She's completely up to date on all our local laws and has given me lots of good advice about what I can claim and how to arrange things to make them deductible. It costs me $100 a year (that's deductible!) and I can call her anytime. Plus she's handled problems when Revenue Canada themselves made mistakes. She has saved me far more than I've ever had to pay her.

Get model releases for each member of your family, pay them a reasonable modelling fee (by cheque since that gives you proof and makes it deductible too), photograph them (especially in front of identifiable landmarks) and upload plenty of pictures to your stock agency(s).

Get a notebook and track all your travel, hotel, meal and other expenses with receipts. It's better to have the information and not be to claim it than to be able to claim it but not have the information.

I also do a lot of business type traveling and expense deductions are always a problem. Don't forget that you need those receipts!

Many of the topics are simple rehashes of older conversations that have occurred many times before. I don't write unless I have something NEW to say (or something irresistable tickles my funnybone like the 'knitting' comment!) Otherwise I just read the newsy stuff that affects me like the recent conversation about Veer shutting down. This is why there are so many lurkers on the forum.

Most Canadians also pronounce 'z' as 'zed' but many of us are comfortable using either pronunciation because of the strong influence of our American neighbors. Still, there are a lot of snobs who insist on correcting us when we say 'zee'.

I was taught in school (grade 4 or so in the 1950's) that the contraction for 'would have' is 'would've'. Unfortunately it sounds very much like 'would of' and since our school systems now feel it is more important to teach gender identity in that grade, our current students miss out on learning English so they didn't learn the difference.

This also explains why so few people - including most teachers - know the difference between arithmetic and mathematics.

does anyone here sign up with contributor of Adobe Stock?

You 'sign up to contribute to Adobe Stock' by signing up to contribute to Fotolia.

That video is incredible. I used to go to Niagara Falls a lot when I lived nearby. One of my buddies did a commercial flyover shoot for Niagara Falls Tourism and I went along as his assistant and second shooter. It was an incredible experience - hanging out of a Cessna with a Hasselblad. What a view!

There are special rules for flying over the area. If memory serves, we had to stay above 2000 feet. I'm surprised you would be allowed to fly a drone over those areas. Maybe it's simply a case of not getting caught! 

I would not be surprised to see them scrap the exclusivity program sooner or later - at least as it currently exists.

Everything they are doing seems to be about reducing complexity and building the business rules into the site. The exclusivity program ultimately increases complexity. And they could just as easy create different collections according to some algorithmic criteria.

I doubt they will discontinue exclusivity. That's the only thing they have that keeps those contributors from contributing to the competition.

Thanks all. Yes, I have reached $100 but I could not find the link. I was thinking maybe they might have removed it prematurely.

I have the Lowepro Pro Trekker 300 AW bag, the same one shown in your ad, and I love it. I do a lot of hiking, snowshoeing, and canoe tripping in remote areas and this bag really keeps my equipment protected - with a few reservations. I keep bodies, lenses and other 'not waterproof' items in waterproof stuff sacks inside the camera bag. I like the rolltop stuff sacks from Sea-To-Summit which come in a variety of sizes. You don't need compression-type stuff sacks.

The ad says it is lightweight but compared to what? If you really need something lightweight, this may not be the bag for you. It is an expedition bag that will keep your equipment safe. It is heavier than most similar sized bags.

The bag comes with all sorts of bells and whistles many of which I don't really use. I've never bothered with the 'hydration pack' feature although several local outdoor stores carry packs from various suppliers like Camelback that will fit. I simply use a Nalgene water bottle. The Nalgene bottle is very 'breakproof' and I don't trust the vinyl pouches and flimsy grocery store water bottles not to puncture or break inside my camera pack.

When you get your new bag, you will need to spend some time getting it properly adjusted to fit your back. I suggest taking it to someone knowledgeable (for example at an outdoor store) to get help with that. You will also need to readjust some things for summer versus winter use.

It's a fine bag. Good luck with it.

I don't understand what I might gain by putting my time and effort into trying to destroy an agency where I've already put my time and effort into building a portfolio. I may not like a lot of the things they've done but I still want to make money.

I use Canon L series lenses on my 5D2 and I've never had any issues using them for astrophotography. I've specifically used these:
16-35 f/2.8L
24-105 f/4L
70-200 f/4L Non-IS Version

As important as the lens is, you also need a good stable tripod, particularly one that won't sway in the breeze. And don't forget to turn IS off. You can also manually focus to infinity and turn off your autofocus.

@ Muskoka Imagery: I live in Barrie. You might want to check out Torrance Barrens for star photography. I like to go up there several times a year.

Forgot to mention : You need to upgrade to LR 5.4 which was released yesterday for the mobile app to work with your desktop version. It needs the new synch feature.

I had a 1 credit sale in September 2012 that netted me $0.07 royalty at 15%. That works out to a credit cost of $0.466666.