Did anyone else get an invitation from Getty/iStock to participate in a brief for their area?  I don't see it on the website, but it popped up when I was on the app.  A friend of mine, who lives in the same area, said he didn't get one so I'm not sure how people are chosen for this type of thing.  I've never had it pop up before.

.

So, I haven't been paying much attention to microstock for awhile for a number of reasons, but a big one was because my house got robbed and all my camera equipment was stolen so that put me out of commission for awhile (and kept me busy on other things like moving, installing a security system, etc.). 

Anyway, I'm ready to get back to working on things and was wondering what everyone is currently using as their workflow for post-processing and uploading?  Several years back I was using a program called Cushystock for keeping track, but have since abandoned it.  Then I was just using FileZilla. 

Is FileZilla one of the better options still or is there something better?

For post-processing, I use Lightroom as my base starting point.  I keep all files under year>month>shoot and retain the original file name (although I read something about changing the file name to further help with searches on your photos).  I still need to figure out how to most effectively add key words to my photos in Lightroom.  After I do my Lightroom processing, I will do further edits with Nik Software and CS6 (just recently got that program so am very newbie to it). 

Also, do you do any noise reduction/sharpening for your images?  If so, what programs do you use for that?

Last time I asked about keeping track, I found most people just used folders to keep track of what they had uploaded (instead of using a commercial program).  Has that changed for any of you?  Do you still do most things manually rather than trust commercial programs?  Also, do any of you use any companies to process/keyword/upload your images?

Does anyone know anything about Photosource International?  I have an internet friend who is interested in getting into stock photography and she mentioned this site and that she was thinking of subscribing to it.  I went to the site and some dumb ad came on my screen so I closed the page.   Are they a legitimate place or just scammers?

For over 10 years, I have used Microstoft's image editing software.  Originally it was called PictureIt, but the last version that they've made is called Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006.  They will not be making any new versions so I know that I will eventually have to make the switch, most likely being to Adobe.
 
So, I'm trying to figure out what Adobe program I need.

I do not care about cataloging my pictures.  I already organize them the way I like and I don't need a program to change my system of doing this. 
I do not need a program to keyword my photos.  I already have a program for that.
I do not need a program that I can do "batches" with.  Each picture I edit gets individual attention.

What I DO want is a program that can:
Adjust contrast/brightness
Adjust color (temperature, saturation, etc)
Sharpen/blur
Dodge/burn
Paintbrush/airbrush
Rotate/crop/straighten/flip
Erase elements from the picture (my program lets me just outline something and it makes it disappear)
Clone tool to fix areas of my picture
Blending tool (like the clone tool, but has softer effects)
Make layers and blend them together using a transparency effect
Remove scratches, dust, or red eye
Convert to b&w
Apply various filter effects like diffuse glow, watercolor, canvas, etc.
Cut out parts, copy, skew, distort, etc.

Aside from doing stock, I also like to do some photomanipulation.  For instance, a favorite past time of mine is taking pictures of people at work and blending their faces onto animals.  I'm not a huge photo manipulator, but I like to be able to do it now and then.

SOOOOOO.....which program would best fit my needs?  I don't want to spend $700 on CS4, only to find out that Elements 7 would've worked just fine for me.

I currently use a Canon Xti 400D.  The noise on that camera is horrible, even at 100 ISO.  I really want to upgrade BADLY!
My plan has been to get the Canon 5D Mark II (which would keep me from feeling like I need to upgrade for awhile).  However, they seem to be backordered for who knows how long.  If I have to wait 6 months to a year to get it, I feel like perhaps I should upgrade to something else for now until availability and price are better.
So, I'm considering getting the 50D now (with my tax return $) and then upgrading to the 5D 2 next year.
As a side note, I am more a landscape photographer than a microstock photographer....I only do this to make a little money to support my photography/travel costs.
What do you guys think?
Also, where is the best place to buy a camera from?  Price/Quality/Returns, etc.
Oh, and if you want to know what lenses I already have.....
Canon 18-55mm EF-S f3/.5-5.6 kit lens
Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO Macro
Canon 50mm f/1.8
Canon 17-40mm f/4.0 L

Thanks,
Paula

I started doing microstock this past March.  I had several years worth of photos that I could upload that had not been taken with stock in mind, but felt they could still be used.  I am still going through all my photos, but have processed over 800 of them thus far.  After being accepted to my first site and doing pretty decent, I decided to try other sites.  I got a bit frustrated because each site has different uploading policies.  Some are unlimited, some are based on your acceptance percentange, etc.  I found that I couldn't get everything uploaded to each site in the same timely fashion, and the review times also varied.  So, I went back to just using the one site. 
Now I am back to trying to use the multiple sites, but was having a hard time figuring out how to keep track of which pictures have already been submitted/rejected/accepted so that I'm not duplicating or missing any pictures.   Most people seem to keep track with a spreadsheet, but that seemed time consuming.
With such a large database of pictures to work with already, I was overwhelmed.  Until yesterday.
I was on Yuri Acurs site reading about his keywording program and I saw someone had mentioned Cushy Stock.  Not knowing what it was, I looked it up.  It's a program that does it all!  Organizes, keywords, and does FTP!  There is a free version, but I chose to just buy the program and so far I am thrilled with it!  I put all 800+ pictures into one folder and let it scan the folder.  I entered all my login information for every microstock site I belong to, and then I tested out one photo.......first I added a title, description, and key words.  Then I marked it ready to upload for each site, and then told it to upload.  I sat and watched it log on to every site and upload the picture to each one.  Then I went back to each site and finished the process of adding categories and doing the final submit.  Now when I click on that picture, it shows that it's pending for each site.  And the pictures that I've already uploaded can be marked as either accepted, rejected, or pending. 
Why aren't more people using this program or talking about it?  It's going to save me a ton of time!  Granted, I still have lots of work to do, but I am just amazed at how much help this program is going to be to me.  For once, I can't wait to get home tonight and start working on my stock stuff.

Last month was my first full month on SS and I got one EL for what I consider one of my best photos.  Yesterday I got another EL for another photo.  I was kinda surprised that THAT photo got an EL, but hey, I'm not complaining! 

I was totally rejected by SX.  I received a message saying:

We regret to inform you that your artist application was rejected. We are very sorry but at the moment we are not looking for pictures like the ones you uploaded.

When I applied for SS, I had 9/10 accepted.  iS rejected 1 of my 3 and I uploaded another shot and was accepted.  I find this type of rejection odd.

Should I try again in a month or just forget that site?

I've been on Shutterstock for the past month and a half and have done quite well in the short amount of time.  I already have 179 pictures in my gallery.  I really enjoy their site and the generally quick response for reviews (usually 1 business day). 
So, I decided to try another site.  I picked iStock and was told it could take up to two weeks to be accepted!  Jeesh!  But at least they were up front about it.  I had two of three images accepted so now I am uploading a new third picture to be accepted.
Next, I decided to try Dreamstime.  No acceptance period...just upload pics.  So, I submitted 37 pictures and was told the ETR was 24 hours.  Well, the next day it was still 24 hours.  The next day it went up to 175 hours!  what?  Not too impressed with them at this point. 
Today I decided to get on the other three. 
Fotolia only had the option to upload one at a time....will have to see if I can do multiple files.
Stockxpert is a bit hard for me to navigate.
BigStockPhoto is slowwwww for uploading.  I uploaded 10 pictures and it says it could take up to 20 mintues for my thumbnails to show up. 

Basically, I find it interesting how some sites are more user friendly and have faster response times, whereas other sites are not so user friendly and slow as molasses.  If it weren't for the fact that I'm out to make money, I'd just stick with Shutterstock.  It was very easy to get signed up and I don't have any problems navigating the site.