Author Topic: German stock agencies (Read 14050 times)

click_click · « **on:** June 14, 2011, 13:36 »

Hi everyone,
most of us know about Clipdealer and/or Panthermedia.

I wanted to know if any of you have experience with:

www.fotocent.de
www.bildunion.de
www.shotshop.com

Thanks.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 14, 2011, 14:07 »

nop, incredible, how many agencies exist?

Snufkin · « **Reply #2 on:** June 14, 2011, 14:17 »

Shotshop used to be pretty good in 2008, when I started. With a small portfolio I had regular sales, each sale was 15€ (50% of 30€). Later they introduced multiple price points, tiers, upgraded the software... and my sales tanked.

Bildunion: I get a sale from time to time, prices are higher than microstock, payout is twice a year. Relatively slow in terms of sales but they pay 50%.

Fotocent: I never heard of them.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 14, 2011, 14:50 »

Quote from: Snufkin on June 14, 2011, 14:17

Shotshop used to be pretty good in 2008, when I started. With a small portfolio I had regular sales, each sale was 15€ (50% of 30€). Later they introduced multiple price points, tiers, upgraded the software... and my sales tanked.

Bildunion: I get a sale from time to time, prices are higher than microstock, payout is twice a year. Relatively slow in terms of sales but they pay 50%.

Fotocent: I never heard of them.

how is the uploading?

Snufkin · « **Reply #4 on:** June 14, 2011, 15:03 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on June 14, 2011, 14:50

how is the uploading?

With the new software Shotshop simplified the upload process, FTP + a few clicks per image. Not very fast but it used to be worse.
Reviews tend to be slow.

Bildunion: rather complicated, you need to set up a folder, upload per FTP, then check if the keywords were imported correctly (sometimes special characters in place names get scrambled), then you save the folder and submit it. After approval you activate the folder and the rejected files are deleted.
Reviews used to be quite slow, at the moment it is about 1 day.

click_click · « **Reply #5 on:** June 14, 2011, 15:04 »

Yeah, I'd love to hear more from whoever submits to them like upload experience, review times, contributor support, sales volume depending on port size and/or their focus on what's most attractive there (btw. thanks for all the insider info).

I also would like to hear about other agencies in France, England, Switzerland, Spain etc.

I think there is still a lot of potential out there.

Snufkin · « **Reply #6 on:** June 14, 2011, 15:12 »

As far as I can tell Bildunion is in German only. Maybe it is better this way, after Panther and Shotshop opened to international contributors my earnings there dropped.
I translate keywords into German for Zoonar, Shotshop, Fotolia, Bildunion, Clipdealer, Bildmaschine.

lagereek · « **Reply #7 on:** June 14, 2011, 15:38 »

Quote from: Snufkin on June 14, 2011, 15:12

As far as I can tell Bildunion is in German only. Maybe it is better this way, after Panther and Shotshop opened to international contributors my earnings there dropped.
I translate keywords into German for Zoonar, Shotshop, Fotolia, Bildunion, Clipdealer, Bildmaschine.

So, do you mean its better to translate the keywording into German? Im thinking of Panther and Zonar.

click_click · « **Reply #8 on:** June 14, 2011, 15:44 »

I would keyword in German but at Panthermedia they don't want you to do that if your default language is set to English.

lagereek · « **Reply #9 on:** June 14, 2011, 15:52 »

Quote from: click_click on June 14, 2011, 15:44

I would keyword in German but at Panthermedia they don't want you to do that if your default language is set to English.

Yeah, its a bit confusing with these German agencis. Frankly I dont know if its worth the effort with them, like some of the British agencies, they seam to be lagging a bit behind the times.

Lucky were not with any French! they just simply hate the English language.

click_click · « **Reply #10 on:** June 14, 2011, 15:58 »

Quote from: lagereek on June 14, 2011, 15:52

...
Lucky were not with any French! they just simply hate the English language.

If worse comes to worse I would even keyword in French if I had to.

I'm just surprised that there are so many agencies and I can not even imagine how much money we're missing out...

microstockphoto.co.uk · « **Reply #11 on:** June 14, 2011, 16:05 »

From Bildunion:
"Ihre Festplatte ist voll mit Bildmaterial, das eigentlich viel zu schade dafür ist, ein solches Schattendasein zu fristen?"

Oh no! That dreadful hard disk full of images again... seems like I heard it before somewhere.

Seriously, I was thinking about semi-automated translation at IPTC level...
my idea is this:
- use exiftool to extract a list of English keywords from whole portfolio;
- sort list and delete duplicates;
- manually translate each word in the list to German; even if I can't speak German, I can probably translate each word better than machine translation, knowing the exact initial meaning of my own English keywords;
- reapply German keywords using exiftool;
Maybe one day when I'll have time to write a batch file...

The problem is caption and title translation.

lagereek · « **Reply #12 on:** June 14, 2011, 16:05 »

Quote from: click_click on June 14, 2011, 15:58

Quote from: lagereek on June 14, 2011, 15:52
...
Lucky were not with any French! they just simply hate the English language.

If worse comes to worse I would even keyword in French if I had to.

I'm just surprised that there are so many agencies and I can not even imagine how much money we're missing out...

Lots! there is supposed to be plenty in Italy, Spain and Australia as well.

microstockphoto.co.uk · « **Reply #13 on:** June 14, 2011, 16:13 »

Really? I am Italian but I never heard of Italian microstock agencies.

There is a number of news/fashion/art photography organisations in Italy representing a small number of photographers directly, but nothing like micro (or even macro) stock the way we know it - as far as I know.

Anyway - back when fotolia showed country of sales - I had a lot of German sales: it must be an interesting market.

Snufkin · « **Reply #14 on:** June 14, 2011, 16:32 »

Quote from: lagereek on June 14, 2011, 15:38

So, do you mean its better to translate the keywording into German? Im thinking of Panther and Zonar.

I create English and German versions of every image anyway.
I upload the German version to Zoonar and later paste the English keywords as well, because they also have international partners.
As far as I know, English + German keywords are recommended by the agency, when they send the photos to their partners the software filters the language.

As for Panther, long time ago I had some problems with finding my images keyworded in English. This may no longer be the case, but I don't have time to check it and I just got used to double keywording. Because I have relatively many cityscapes from Germany I think it is helpful, but for other people it may not be worthwile.

click_click · « **Reply #15 on:** June 14, 2011, 17:18 »

Quote from: Snufkin on June 14, 2011, 16:32

Quote from: lagereek on June 14, 2011, 15:38
So, do you mean its better to translate the keywording into German? Im thinking of Panther and Zonar.

I create English and German versions of every image anyway.
I upload the German version to Zoonar and later paste the English keywords as well, because they also have international partners.
As far as I know, English + German keywords are recommended by the agency, when they send the photos to their partners the software filters the language.

As for Panther, long time ago I had some problems with finding my images keyworded in English. This may no longer be the case, but I don't have time to check it and I just got used to double keywording. Because I have relatively many cityscapes from Germany I think it is helpful, but for other people it may not be worthwile.

Do NOT keyword bilingual at Panthermedia. I asked that question last week to their support. This is what they sent me:

Quote

... grundsätzlich ist es leider nicht erwünscht, Suchbegriffe in verschiedenen Sprachen einzugeben.
Bitte wählen Sie für die Suchbegriffe immer die Sprache aus, die Sie im Anbieterportal unter \"Einstellungen\" als Hauptsprache gewählt haben. Sollte dort \"Deutsch\" stehen, so geben Sie bitte NUR deutsche Keywords an.

Es ist wichtig, nur in einer Sprache zu verschlagworten, damit unser Übersetzungsprogramm die Suchbegriffe bei jedem Bild auch richtig übersetzen kann.

meaning:
only keyword in the language that is set to default in your profile. It is not recommended to enter keywords for each language as their translation software won't be able to translate the images properly.

lagereek · « **Reply #16 on:** June 15, 2011, 00:16 »

Quote from: Snufkin on June 14, 2011, 16:32

Quote from: lagereek on June 14, 2011, 15:38
So, do you mean its better to translate the keywording into German? Im thinking of Panther and Zonar.

I create English and German versions of every image anyway.
I upload the German version to Zoonar and later paste the English keywords as well, because they also have international partners.
As far as I know, English + German keywords are recommended by the agency, when they send the photos to their partners the software filters the language.

As for Panther, long time ago I had some problems with finding my images keyworded in English. This may no longer be the case, but I don't have time to check it and I just got used to double keywording. Because I have relatively many cityscapes from Germany I think it is helpful, but for other people it may not be worthwile.

Good!! I will send you some English keywords, technical glossary and then you can translate them into German for me. Nice of you!

best.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #17 on:** June 16, 2011, 05:35 »

REPLY FROM SHOTSHOP

Hello Luis Santos,

thanks for your interest in shotshop. We still took a closer look at your portfolio at shutterstock and we think that offering your pictures on our plattform doesn't make much sense. We're trying to seperate us from the several microstocks and we still have lots of this kind of stock images. I kindly ask for your understanding and wish you all the best.

best regards
Stephan Krömer

(others I have emailed still haven´t answered)

lagereek · « **Reply #18 on:** June 16, 2011, 07:06 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on June 16, 2011, 05:35

REPLY FROM SHOTSHOP

Hello Luis Santos,

thanks for your interest in shotshop. We still took a closer look at your portfolio at shutterstock and we think that offering your pictures on our plattform doesn't make much sense. We're trying to seperate us from the several microstocks and we still have lots of this kind of stock images. I kindly ask for your understanding and wish you all the best.

best regards
Stephan Krömer

(others I have emailed still haven´t answered)

There you go then Luis! youre not very popular in Germany? you better start eating some more sauerkraut mate.

AridOcean · « **Reply #19 on:** June 16, 2011, 08:45 »

If you understand german you can join this german forum:

http://www.foto-talk.relota.com

They have many discussions about the german stock agencies.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #20 on:** June 16, 2011, 08:47 »

Quote from: lagereek on June 16, 2011, 07:06

sauerkraut mate

looking at google pictures, hell no

AridOcean · « **Reply #21 on:** June 16, 2011, 08:50 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on June 16, 2011, 08:47

Quote from: lagereek on June 16, 2011, 07:06
sauerkraut mate

looking at google pictures, hell no

Don't say that :-). Combined with Kasseler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassler) it is very good...

luissantos84 · « **Reply #22 on:** June 16, 2011, 09:03 »

Quote from: AridOcean on June 16, 2011, 08:50

Quote from: luissantos84 on June 16, 2011, 08:47
Quote from: lagereek on June 16, 2011, 07:06
sauerkraut mate

looking at google pictures, hell no

Don't say that :-). Combined with Kasseler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassler) it is very good...

that look a little better, I am not a weird food guy, I don´t have anything that I don´t say I won´t eat

lagereek · « **Reply #23 on:** June 16, 2011, 09:14 »

Quote from: AridOcean on June 16, 2011, 08:50

Quote from: luissantos84 on June 16, 2011, 08:47
Quote from: lagereek on June 16, 2011, 07:06
sauerkraut mate

looking at google pictures, hell no

Don't say that :-). Combined with Kasseler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassler) it is very good...

Yep! its very nice actually. In London there used to be a worldfamous hamburger restaurant called Woolfes, specializing in German burgers with masses of sauerkraut , onions and mached potatoes, really nice.

gwhitton · « **Reply #24 on:** June 16, 2011, 18:47 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on June 16, 2011, 09:03

Quote from: AridOcean on June 16, 2011, 08:50
Quote from: luissantos84 on June 16, 2011, 08:47
Quote from: lagereek on June 16, 2011, 07:06
sauerkraut mate

looking at google pictures, hell no

Don't say that :-). Combined with Kasseler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassler) it is very good...

that look a little better, I am not a weird food guy, I don´t have anything that I don´t say I won´t eat

Throw a little Kimchi in there and life is good! ;o)

luissantos84 · « **Reply #25 on:** June 16, 2011, 18:49 »

Kimchi that does look good, love things with tomato

lagereek · « **Reply #26 on:** June 17, 2011, 00:41 »

I have carefully looked into this and spoken to a couple of people in Germany about their photo-agencies and frankly I think keywording, etc, in English is a waste of time, in fact the overall majority of buyers seems to be german speaking, so the rest of us have little chance there.

Could be a waste of time for us? dont know really.

grp_photo · « **Reply #27 on:** June 17, 2011, 03:12 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on June 16, 2011, 08:47

Quote from: lagereek on June 16, 2011, 07:06
sauerkraut mate

looking at google pictures, hell no

Good and well made Sauerkraut (not overcooked) is very delicious, you can mix it with pineapple or just eat it with a brown butter bread. But it isn't that common in Germany as many people think Pizza, Döner and Burgers are much more popular it is an old cliche.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #28 on:** June 22, 2011, 10:54 »

REPLY FROM FOTOCENT

Dear Luis,

thank you for your e-mail. Yes you are a good one. We would like to work with you too.

Photographer share is 60%. You can decide the price category for your photos yourself.

You can read more details below (Google translated).

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Ffotocent.de%2Ffotograf_anmeldung.php&sl=de&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

Our focus is German market. That’s why our website is only German and we don’t support English at the moment. But we are planning to support other languages, extend our market soon.

I can offer you, you send your photos in dvd’s and then we can open a photographer account, upload whole your photos and type German search words for you. After that you can login to your account and see your sales, manager your photos. You will be informed by detailed e-mail on every sale.

Our company address:
FotoCent.de
Olaf von Lieres
Kaltenweider Str 33
30900 Wedemark / Germany

I will be very happy to hear from you soon.

Olaf von Lieres

-------------------------------------
Telefon 05130 / 586 55 90
Fax 05130 / 3 69 24

www.Fotocent.de
http://www.facebook.com/Fotocent

[email protected]

click_click · « **Reply #29 on:** June 22, 2011, 11:05 »

I'd be careful with Fotocent.

If you check their library you will find many images with logos etc. No indication whether the image are RF or RM.
Even non-released model images are offered there.

Simply do a search for "Flugzeug" which is "planes" and you will see what I mean.

Friend of mine contacted them about this issue and they don't see any problems with that.

I do.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #30 on:** June 22, 2011, 11:17 »

it reminds me of mostphotos

I was looking at their collection etc this moment, thanks for the heads up

travelstock · « **Reply #31 on:** June 23, 2011, 08:49 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on June 16, 2011, 18:49

Kimchi that does look good, love things with tomato

And here I was thinking Kimchi was more like sauerkraut mixed with a big does of chilli....

luissantos84 · « **Reply #32 on:** June 23, 2011, 09:01 »

Quote from: holgs on June 23, 2011, 08:49

sauerkraut mixed with a big does of chilli....

thats the winner so far in this topic

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Author Topic: German stock agencies (Read 14050 times)

click_click

luissantos84

Snufkin

luissantos84

Snufkin

click_click

Snufkin

lagereek

click_click

lagereek

click_click

microstockphoto.co.uk

lagereek

microstockphoto.co.uk

Snufkin

click_click

lagereek

luissantos84

lagereek

AridOcean

luissantos84

AridOcean

luissantos84

lagereek

gwhitton

luissantos84

lagereek

grp_photo

luissantos84

click_click

luissantos84

travelstock

luissantos84

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