I checked 123RF's FAQ, and it still says :

Sample Credit Download Calculation:
A customer downloads a Ultra High Res ($3) version of your photo.
You'll receive = $3 � 50% = $1.50 from that sale.

Nothing specific is said about EL's royalties in the FAQ.
So I guess we (should) get 50% of all credit sales, standard and EL's.

Today, I had 3 PEL sales (Print Only EL) which earned me $10 each. How can an PEL sold for 50 credits earn me $10 ?

Being in France, I can only see the credit package prices in euros, and they sell from 0.89�/credit for a 56 credits package down to 0.68�/credit for a 7400 credits package (I didn't consider the lower 2 packages, as a sensible buyer would by at least a 56 credit package for an EL). Based on today's rate, it converts to US$1.16/credit and US$0.89/credit. So a PEL price ranges from $44.5 to $58 depending on how many credits were bought.

So my cut for those EL's is somewhere btw 17% and 22%. Far from 50%.

As I said, I cannot see credit package prices in US$. But let's say they sell for the same amount in $ as in � (from $0.89/credit to $0.68/credit). It makes my cut btw 22% and 29%. Still far from 50%.

And some of my standard credit sales (not EL's) earnings, considering they represent 50% of the price paid, would correspond to $0.57/credit to $0.65/credit, which are below the cheapest credit price available.

Did I miss something or do some of you see the same discrepancies ?

After Gamma in 2009, it's Sygma (Corbis) agency's turn to go bankrupt :

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gxSLgz4m4974Xvzv4XyKrJebvC6w
(in french, sorry, didn't find an english article yet)

I'm not an iPhone or iTouch user myself, but thought this review could be interesting for some of you. It's an iPhone app that allows to fill and file different kinds of releases that can be "hand signed" by the model or property owner on the device's screen. A picture of the model taken with the device can be attached to the release.

Don't know if the releases would be accepted by the agencies, though. And the review doesn't say if it's available in other languages than english.

http://www.thedigitaltrekker.com/2010/03/mrelease-review/

I just found a link to a simple tool that will "help you learn how to read light conditions and learn exposure to the degree where you don't need a light meter".

All you need is a printer, some paper card, a craft-knife, a ruler and some glue.

And it even comes in two flavors : standard and mini !

http://expomat.tripod.com/

Funny video, but unfortunately becoming so common nowadays...

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/217341/february-02-2009/nailed--em---amtrak-photographer

An interesting animation showing the Nikon D3's shutter release, step by step. Wait until the complete loading of the pictures, then move your mouse over the picture (left / right) to go backwards / foreward :

http://regex.info/blog/2008-09-04/925

Also interesting to read how it was captured !

Hi,

I'm going to NYC at the end of the month. I try to plan my stay and find some nice photo vantage points, knowing that photography is the main goal of my trip.

I'd like to shoot twilight/night views of the statue of liberty from a location where I could frame lower Manhattan buildings in the background. I exclude shooting from a ferry as I expect very low shutterspeeds at that time of the day. Looking at the Google Earth screenshot below, it seems the best location should be somewhere on Jersey's east coast.

Does someone here know if this place on Jersey is accessible and open to the public (it seems to be some kind of industrial area) ? If it is, what is the easiest way to go there at twilight (and go back to midtown Manhattan afterwards) ? I won't have a rental car, I'll just use public transportations and taxis. Does this place have a name, so that a taxi could drive me there ?

The Google Earth measure tool indicates a distance of ~6.2 kms (3.85 miles) from this part of Jersey to lower Manhattan (the statue being approx. in the middle). I guestimate I'd need at least a 200 or 300mm on a canon crop body to get a decent framing of the scene. Am I completely wrong ?

Thanks for any information.
Erick

I just tried a search on FP, and found a strange behavior.

From the home page search box :
I typed "dollar" : only irrelevant results
I typed "red car" : the same irrelevant results

From the "advanced search" page :
I typed "dollar" : only the first page with relevant results. Next pages are all irrelevant images. Same behavior for other searches.

I don't know since when it's been like that, but I didn't have a single sale in the last month.

I contacted FP about it. Waiting for an answer.

Hi everyone,

I need some advice about exclusive image pricing and contract.

I have been contacted by a client after they have seen one of my images on several stock sites. This image would fit their needs, except that they need an exclusive one for the software packaging they are designing (the image has already been sold several times). So they asked me for a quote (proposal?) about creating one or more new images in the same style (it's an illustration, not a photograph) that would be exclusive to them.

I tried the Stock Photo Price Calculator at http://photographersindex.com/stockprice.htm and the average price for "Packaging / Major illustration / 10.000 or less" is $1350 (I still don't know their print run, but I will of course adjust for it when I have more infos).

These prices are assumed for non-exclusive reproduction rights, but I think that if I can sell one picture for such money, I'd be happy not to sell it elsewere, that's much more than my average sale on Alamy, and to be honest, creating this kind of image is not very time consuming. Do you think I should charge even more, considering it's for exclusive use ? I'd be bothered missing the sale for being too hungry...

Any advice on what terms I SHOULD include in the contract for such a sale, apart from clearly indicating that I remain the copyright holder and limiting the use of the image ? Any link to a standard contract would also be apreciated !

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts, advices and experiences as photographers or designers.

Erick

Hi,

My first post here.

While searching for my name on google, I found some of my pictures credited to someone else. By following the link, I arrived on Fotolia and found 18 of my pictures sold by another contributor there�

I've already sent a feedback to Fotolia's admins, but as I have also recognized some pictures of other photographers I know, I just wanted to pass the info so you can check if some of your pictures have been robbed too.

Here's the link to the robber's portfolio :
http://www.fotolia.fr/p/147558

All the best
Erick