maybe they all joined the PPA and finally figured out that running a microstock image factory has the highest expenses and bottom of the barrel profits compared to all the "non-celebrity-status" fields of professional photography. So now they are going to focus on the general public and make irregular uploads to micro simply for the fact that it allows a portrait studio the opportunity to generate and justify an insane amount of tax deductions on things that normally could not be classified as an expense for a portrait business.  ... That would be the smart thing to do from a financial viewpoint.

Deduct what exactly?

Anything appearing in a stock photo 

the best deductions that you can add to your studio from micro are travel related expenses that would not normally be associated with your regular business practice like hotels, extended mileage and all the stuff on the way like food, drinks, etc. Simply running the studio you will also have mileage, etc. but it will for the most part be localized. Now add in the micro accounts and you can now count that as an extension to your studio.
So let's say my wife and I just dropped the kids off to spend the weekend at the grandparents .. we're driving in the car and I say "hey we don't have any appointments this weekend let's head out to the rockies" ... we stop by the house, grab some clothes .. and the camera bags of course (it's a business trip after all) . 10 hours later we're in Denver and ready for a weekend of fun shooting. Come home upload a few shots and now we have another 3,000 miles to throw in the books .. plus hotels receipts, restaurant receipts and a few souvenirs that we will use for props in something or other. The deduction for mileage is rated pretty high in the US .. so in a few days we could easily make the total deductions for that expedition come up to 5 times the actual cost of the trip.
Now you have tons of additional deductions that can offset the fact that you are making 2000-5000% profits per client with the portrait end .. lower your income (on paper) and the best part is you put little work into a huge return vs. a ton of work into a small return.
Basically micro could fall completely in the crapper but I'd still upload here and there simply because I profited so much in the long run by claiming it as a loss.

Corporations do this all the time. It's not uncommon for a manufacturer to keep a crap factory in operation simply so they can claim it as a loss every year to offset the primary plant ... same principle .. microstock is the crap factory you keep in operation.

Quote from: rene on April 14, 2010, 20:43

Strange thing, this month big "guns" (Yuri, Iofoto, Monkeybusiness) have not any uploads at Dreamstime. Usually they upload hundreds/thousands files. Are they preparing something? (boycotting new uploads limits or going exclusive)

Interesting, good observation

Yes, it looks like the what-will-yuri-do six month clock has started ticking ... September will be an interesting month. That he has cohorts will make it doubly so - heads up all you lifestyle shooters!

He's uploaded to istock on April 5th. And he's been uploading video there.

.

Andresr is still uploading but I think he is not very concentrated on this task. Take a look on titles and keywords of his last images (especially the reading man)

Hey Rene, thanks for pointing out. I just fixed some will fix the others later because there were too many mistakes. It was in the actual uploads the mistake rather than the embedded keywords ..... one uploader less at the company and  thanks to your remark as I found tons of mistakes everywhere made by him.

this is all really interesting and thanx for the tax tips on tax day. 

but, er, have you ever been audited? as an individual or company? 

I agree with Randy that most countries have a 'base rate' that you can claim for vehicle expenses if you don't want (or can't)  log actual expenses.  Sometimes there is stipulations weather you have to log actual expenses and miles used for private / work or when you can just claim the fixed rate.

That said, your vehicle expenses are a lot more than just gas.  You are also racking up more miles on your vehicle which is lowering the resale value, using the engine which will require repair, tires, oil, insurance, etc.etc.  I don't actually think the fixed rate is so far off what it really costs - of course it depends on what vehicle you are driving and I agree with Randy that if you are driving a very cheap vehicle you will probably end up on the plus side.

Confused... rene starts the thread talking about uploads by the �big guns� and soon everyone is talking about tax! 

Also called getting off topic. And I for one lose interest in the entire thread. The TAX posts should be cut and pasted into a new thread. That way the original post could be commented on.

My 2 cents.

-Larry

Quote from: rene on April 15, 2010, 03:33

Andresr is still uploading but I think he is not very concentrated on this task. Take a look on titles and keywords of his last images (especially the reading man)

Hey Rene, thanks for pointing out. I just fixed some will fix the others later because there were too many mistakes. It was in the actual uploads the mistake rather than the embedded keywords ..... one uploader less at the company and  thanks to your remark as I found tons of mistakes everywhere made by him.

You are lucky, I was tempted by 0.02$ prime but I was in a good mood. 
Funny that after all this "flagging campaign" DT's reviewers still don't do their work correctly.

This can't be good for DT.  Would be nice to know the reasons why these people are no longer uploading and if DT care?  Surely not having those people on board is going to lose them business?  Other contributors might give up on them and buyers might look elsewhere for all those missing images.  

I sometimes get annoyed that they reject images that sell on other sites, they seem to want higher quality to sell as subs and that wont work, see what has happened to crestock.  Their similars rejections can also get tedious, letting the buyers decide what they want is sensible, not leaving it to the reviewers.

I might consider giving them higher quality images for higher commissions and if I could opt them out of subs but they are not offering us that.  Something is going to have to change or I don't like the future for DT.

May is almost finished. Still zero uploads for many of best microstockers: ... PhilDate

Phildate froze his port as "Phildate" but he is still happily uploading on DT under his other account, eastwestimaging.

Hi Rene,
there we go again
Dreamstime 'not - professional'?
Would you like to hear the whole story?
Not hard to find it, I remember reading it right here, on this forum.
Seeing how much interest you show to anything related to Dreamstime, I'm surprised you missed it.

Yuri's people were trying to upload previously rejected images. I would say that's not very professional either. And they were told to stop.
Then Yuri himself asked Achilles for some kind of 'special treatment'. I don't know the details but I know the outcome. Achilles refused.
He might have been a bit harsh, I don't know.
Yuri didn't like it and the 'not professional' story was born.
Voila!
But I agree. Yuri is a problem and I wish he would start uploading again.

Meanwhile you're fixed on Dreamstime, you're wasting a lot of energy chasing contributors' stats on DT and seem unable to let it go. That's a burden you don't need.
You're a professional, working with a professional agency, you're wearing a crown, plenty of precious gems and your life is good.
Let the less fortunate go on their merry way.
You're all set.

Ah, and by the way. After so many threads and so many months, you have failed to show me a single, valid reason to stop uploading to Dreamstime.
Can you think of one?
'Cause I can't.

I've heard the Yuri story before, and there is no way any of us knows exactly what transpired, but I am finding this to be kind of unprofessional...

I have been having a heck of a time this morning with searchs and looking at peoples portfolios on DT. I enter search terms and come up with 0 results...I searched the word "man". That can't be right. And when I go to someone's profile page and click their portfolio button, sometimes it goes to their port, sometimes it says 0 images found. That's not right, either. It happens on my portfolio too sometimes. Sometimes it does go to my portfolio, but when I click to page 2, it says no images found.

Something is definitely wrong. That doesn't seem like it would be an issue on my end, so I have to presume the search engine at DT is hosed.

Everything at DT seems OK, I checked and didn't come across any problems. Maybe these search problems were just a temporary glitch.

I have the same picture, cclapper. Your portfolio won't show (I can see my own, but not always), and the search for "man" yields no results. "man business" still gives a skillion though, and so does "woman".

Has any one contacted Dreamstime about this? That "glitch" can be very costly to us as well as Dreamstime. I wouldn't keep hitting the search button if it didn't work the first two times....I'd go somewhere else.

Quote from: fotografer on May 30, 2010, 12:05

I just went in and tried "man",  first click on search provided nothing, second time nothing, third time over 6000, forth and fifth nothing, seventh and eigth got results.  Very strange and random.

Exactly. Random and intermittent. Unreliable. Yes, Donding, BIG problem for buyers. I'll go see if anyone has reported on DT forum and if admin has acknowledged.

I clicked on your port and it went to your main page but "no images found" under your port, same thing with mine. I sent customer service a note about it, hopefully they are already aware of the problem and working on it.

CClapper,
I'm sorry, I haven't spoken with either of men ever. Achilles or Yuri.
But if it comes to unprofessionalism I think Yuri should talk to his people again. It might be that they know more.

Dreamstime seems to have a problem with the site right now.
I'm sure they'll fix it soon, but does this have anything to do with the agency
being 'unprofessional'?
Because I'll have to disagree.
Of such glitches I know a lot worse.

Yuri has uploaded 3 images this month. The war is over?

Were they similar?   

Quote from: rene on June 29, 2010, 19:13

Yuri has uploaded 3 images this month. The war is over?

Were they similar?   

ahahah

Unless he really uploaded 50 images and only 3 got through because of similars in which case the war is back on

Yuri has uploaded 3 images this month. The war is over?

Now it's official, Yuri is uploading to DT. And yes, they are similar. Yuri seems to be a winner of this conflict. Upload's rules were changed and series are accepted again.
Yuri 2:0 Achilles 

Rules were changed for Yuri and Yuri's series' are accepted again, or everybody's series are accepted again?

Now it's official, Yuri is uploading to DT. And yes, they are similar. Yuri seems to be a winner of this conflict. Upload's rules were changed and series are accepted again.

Where did you here this?  I am still getting "similar" rejections.  I echo Cathy's question - Is this a change for Yuri only, or for everyone? 

Did he hire a new intern or something?  All those "girl isolated on white doing random things" images.

Perhaps Yuri just got lucky with a lenient reviewer?  I don't upload much to DT any more, I just can't see the sense in them rejecting images that would probably sell well.  Lots of other sites accept them and if DT don't change this policy, I think they will fall out of the big 4 and become a second rate site.  Its a real shame because they do so many things better than the other sites.

Did he hire a new intern or something?  All those "girl isolated on white doing random things" images.

I noticed this, too. He is probably researching new markets or doing macro. By uploading not so good pictures of his second or third shooter he's sending us a message that micro is more about quantity than quality.

I doubt very seriously that the financial department gives two craps about putting man hours into puckering up for 100K over a 12 month span. They probably net more than that every 30 days off interest on their holdings alone. I'm sure there's plenty of eye rolling and laughing behind the scenes going on there right now LOL.
[/quote]

Their "holdings"? Dreamstime is not some multi-national conglomerate. My guess is that, excluding reviewers, Dreamstime has less than 10 employees.

Quote from: zimmytws on July 15, 2010, 17:47

I doubt very seriously that the financial department gives two craps about putting man hours into puckering up for 100K over a 12 month span. They probably net more than that every 30 days off interest on their holdings alone. I'm sure there's plenty of eye rolling and laughing behind the scenes going on there right now LOL.

Their "holdings"? Dreamstime is not some multi-national conglomerate. My guess is that, excluding reviewers, Dreamstime has less than 10 employees.

I wasn't referring to stock holdings I was referring to contributor holdings. All the money that is being held by the agencies until payout balance is reached .. you think the CEO stuffs your money in a bed mattress for safe keeping? Nope I'm sure it sits in an bank account drawing interest turning a profit ... for them .. it's not your bank account.
[/quote]

I think they may be multi-national.  I know they have offices in Nashville, Tennessee.  And, probably a LOT more than ten employees.  Dreamstime is pretty well heeled ... I think. 

Yuri pumped 500 images online this month - and I don't agree that the rules don't apply to him but everyone else.

He has major financial leverage there - a rough estimate would be that DT earns about $100,000 a year just because of him if not more.

DT would be stupid to drop someone of that caliber but now it appears that he makes the rules. Obviously not fair to other contributors.

IMO, he should be selling his stuff on the Macros anyway.

He is a major financial leverage everywhere, so why wouldn't  he deserve special status?
Why wouldn't it be fair?
What would you do if DT is your private company?

Now it's official, Yuri is uploading to DT. And yes, they are similar. Yuri seems to be a winner of this conflict. Upload's rules were changed and series are accepted again.
Yuri 2:0 Achilles 

Ah, another keen observer. 

The scene is enchanted Dublin, early June. All wizards were there, defying the volcano ashes of Mordor. In a dimly lit beer cavern full of Guinness fumes and candles smoking, they couldn't escape each other. Ellen of Oz, Jonathan Gandalf and Yuri Legolas conspired over their new "free" business model, the model to control them all. One Greek god noticing them brooding in a dark corner got scared, and so they made the deal and sealed the pact with the sweat of all too rough feathered rejects. And that's it. 

There are more things between Getty Macrostock and Thinkstock Nanostock, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Try to bring it up in the DT forum.  Make sure you mention a BME too.

I think DT have made the right decision to accept similars from Yuri, if that is the case.  The rest of us combined are far more important than Yuri.  If a lot of us have lost confidence in DT because of their current review policy and have stopped uploading, they are going to lose lots of money.  They need to change the review policy for all of us.

Quote from: Kone on July 15, 2010, 19:54

He is a major financial leverage everywhere, so why wouldn't  he deserve special status?
Why wouldn't it be fair?
What would you do if DT is your private company?

Well there's fair, and then there's logical. Is it fair Yuri might have a special deal at DT?  No.  Is it logical?  Yes. 

I can't blame Dreamstime for wanting to accommodate it's top selling artist.  And fair or not, how many of us would turn down a special deal if it was offered?   

I would. 

As you point out, Cathy, the "similars" were only similar in that they were the same models and subject matter but the action and emotions in each one were totally different.   I understand what DT is trying to do here, but they are painting with way to broad a brush...

I totally agree.  

Since approval ratio affects image placement at DT this may ultimately affect my uploading there too.   Not that it matters.  I'm not a big-fish like Yuri...

Maybe not as big a fish as Yuri, but I would definitely call you a big fish.

This policy might work if

1.  Contributors always know the right ones from a series to upload.
2.  Reviewers are perfect and never reject the most appropriate image from a series.
3.  Buyers are happy with any image they find and don't want variations to choose from.

As none of those are true, this policy is flawed and is going to damage DT.

No more thought's for today it's fish and chips on a Friday here in England!

Yum! All the talk of big fish must have made you hungry! 

Actually I thought it had some mileage. Submit 5 from series, all pass QC, only keep two, no damage to accpetance ratio. I take your point though, maybe too much discretian left to the reviewer.

I really mean the idea for when I send in a brilliant illustration, technically perfect and not my fault the reviewer didn't understand the concept and rejected it. Harm done to my accceptance ratio and put's me off uploading certain pictures..

No more thought's for today it's fish and chips on a Friday here in England!

Olldhand the traditionalist

I was referring to the current DT policy of rejecting anything that is slightly similar in a series or anything that is similar to images they already have.  Your idea might help but is only patching up the problem.  I still think they should be far more lenient with reviews and give the buyers more choice.

Eirann, thank you!  You have made my day, my week, and probably my month!  It's reassuring to know that sometimes my snaggle-toothed, bed-headed "real people" can sometimes carry the day

And if people know my background it's probably because I never shut the he11 up!  LOL.

You and I are definitely on the same page RE: Dreamstime.  They are a great agency.  Hopefully the more flexible reviewing policy we are seeing in Yuri's portfolio will eventually apply to the rest of us

But again, are we sure Yuri 'won' this battle? For all we know he just could have bumped into a lenient reviewer; search results show definitely not all similars are rejected (also from other submitters), some reviewers seem to be a lot more strict on this one than others.

I agree. It must depend on the reviewers. Many small fish still have endless series of the same subject. Someone linked a search result with about 50 images of the same pizza here recently (that was nowhere near showing various expressions ) . The DT reviewers do seem to actually look into portfolios - I've had quite a few rejects for "too similar" images that were several batches apart from eachother. It does p me off quite a bit, because I am responsible with similars, as cclapper put it, and I never submit more than 3 of one subject, mostly one horizontal, one vertical, and often one tilted (I shoot food).

I have said it before: If I a map of Kentucky is rejected just because I also have maps of 20 other US states in my portfolio, it is not only stupid, it is downright moronic, and I don't have any patience for such unprofessional nonsense.

I guess it depends on the type of map you are submitting. If they are photos of maps from a Rand McNally or similar type of map book, they ALL should have been rejected because that material is copyrighted. If the map is an out-of-focus part of your photo and some other object is the main focus, then you would be right and it would be moronic.

it's amazing with the type of double standard "same photo rejection" applied to us and to people like yuri

I still think it should be fair.

Nothing is fair in life and death. Some people die young, some old. All contributors were created equal, but some are more equal than others. It's like that in every business. 
Somebody that buys 10 generators in China will perhaps get 5$ of the price per unit and he will have to deal with a sales lady in a small back office and go by bus.
Somebody that orders a full container with the monthly production of the plant will be fetched by limo, received by the bowing CEO, dined and wined, and he can virtually name his price. It's unfair! It's... like that. 

Reason for rejecting Yuri's images, quote, mot a mot - 'Beautiful photos but the people don't look real and their teeth are too white'  
In the end your classroom series was the winner, congratulations!

Well said ! There is 2 ways to see stock photography IMO. The designer way that want simple, real looking, not over edited, not cropped and not necessarily smiling people. And the stock photographer side that often think more the model look plastic, better it will sell.

Which was true sometimes, a couple of years ago. Things changed from what I see lately, because of the overabundance of plastic designs the last couple of years...

This can't be good for DT.  Would be nice to know the reasons why these people are no longer uploading and if DT care?  Surely not having those people on board is going to lose them business?  Other contributors might give up on them and buyers might look elsewhere for all those missing images.  

I sometimes get annoyed that they reject images that sell on other sites, they seem to want higher quality to sell as subs and that wont work, see what has happened to crestock.  Their similars rejections can also get tedious, letting the buyers decide what they want is sensible, not leaving it to the reviewers.

I might consider giving them higher quality images for higher commissions and if I could opt them out of subs but they are not offering us that.  Something is going to have to change or I don't like the future for DT.

What?  It's Dreamstime that's why they stopped uploading.