I thought it would still take a few days, but here it is.  My first image to reach 100 dlds at IS:

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=5040660

And I think it is also my 2000th sale at IS.  I have to check that, because this is updated in delay.

It's a plain prop that every microstocker has but the composition/cropping is very creative, and also the color tones. Well deserved. How many tried to copy it?  
(it's the kind of shot for which you bang yourself on the head: hey I could have done that too, but you didn't  )

Congrats madelaide...it is a very creative shot. Like FD said it's not your basic shot.

Congrats on that! Nice clean shot, its little wonder that it has sold well.

I'm still 13 DLs away form my first flame.
It would really be cool to finally get one of those suckers 

Congrats, mine keep selling after they reach 100, I used to worry that it would put buyers off, seeing it has been used so many times before but that doesn't seem to happen.

Woooo! Congrats Adelaide!

Well done Madelaide. Here's hoping you soon have more flames! 

..

Congrats on the achievement, and hope you have many more.

congratulations!

Thanks everyone, and it was indeed my 2000th dld (IS says 1999th because they don't count one print, but I count it as a dld too).

This took a bit over two years, so it's not any prodigy.  I have another with 94 dlds, so I may get a second flame sometime this year.

Well, double congrats then!
Reminds me of my stethoscope I still have to photograph tough 

Well done, and thanks for sharing.  I find it very encouraging.

Well done Maria!...great shot!!!

We have the stethoscope for our old sphygmomanometer (blood pressure measuring instrument).  If anyone needs, I can take your pressure.   

Curiously, I never easly find this image searching for obvious things like "stethoscope white background" or "stethoscope isolated", so it's really suprising that it sells well.

Quote from: madelaide on May 24, 2010, 15:54
...
Curiously, I never easly find this image searching for obvious things like "stethoscope white background" or "stethoscope isolated", so it's really suprising that it sells well.

Your image will never be found using the search "stethoscope white background" because you don't have it keyworded well enough for that. Yes, you have "stethoscope" and "white background", but you don't have "white" or "backgrounds", which you need because of the way iStock's search engine works. When multiple search words are used it breaks down the search into its individual terms, so that "stethoscope white background"  becomes a search for "stethoscope" and "white" and "background". Same thing holds true for "storm cloud full moon", which becomes "storm" and "cloud" and "full" and "moon". iStock sure could learn a thing or two from Google.

Congrats on the flame, madelaide, I hope you have many more.

Congrats Maria!! I'm 4 DL away from my first flame

Quote from: sharply_done on May 24, 2010, 16:27
Yes, you have "stethoscope" and "white background", but you don't have "white" or "backgrounds", which you need because of the way iStock's search engine works.

Actually I tried stethoscope "white background", but I'm sure very few people would use the quotation marks.  And I didn't add the separate keywords because background alone doesn't make much sense.  Should I add both anyway to any "white background"?

congrats, my parents are both doctors and I don't have any stethoscope picture

Quote from: madelaide on May 24, 2010, 16:54

Quote from: sharply_done on May 24, 2010, 16:27
Yes, you have "stethoscope" and "white background", but you don't have "white" or "backgrounds", which you need because of the way iStock's search engine works.

Actually I tried stethoscope "white background", but I'm sure very few people would use the quotation marks.  And I didn't add the separate keywords because background alone doesn't make much sense.  Should I add both anyway to any "white background"?

Your keywords have to take into account how the search engine works, so yes, you should. There's also one big huge caveat: You will incur a search penalty once you modify your keywords - I'm guessing they do this to discourage/counteract people trying to game the system.

Quote from: sharply_done on May 24, 2010, 18:55
There's also one big huge caveat: You will incur a search penalty once you modify your keywords - I'm guessing they do this to discourage/counteract people trying to game the system.

Is this written down somewhere? this is the first time for me to hear something like this and quite useful info for me to know if its true

Quote from: VB inc on May 24, 2010, 19:10

Quote from: sharply_done on May 24, 2010, 18:55
There's also one big huge caveat: You will incur a search penalty once you modify your keywords - I'm guessing they do this to discourage/counteract people trying to game the system.

Is this written down somewhere? this is the first time for me to hear something like this and quite useful info for me to know if its true

Try it yourself: Note the best match placement of one of your images, modify the keywords, then check the best match placement after the changes take effect.

Quote from: sharply_done on May 24, 2010, 19:18
Try it yourself: Note the best match placement of one of your images, modify the keywords, then check the best match placement after the changes take effect.

Are there any instances in which changing keywords makes a photo show up with better best match placement? For instance, if one of my older photos has a ton of irrelevent (by today's standards) keywords and I edit those out, is there a chance my photo will now show up better placed? Just curious, have not tested myself. If you know for a fact that the answer is no, then that means that IS does punish you intentionally just for changing your keywords, even if you are changing them for the better!

An admin (emyerson) told people at a lypse recently to review keywords regularly. If an image has a not very relevant keyword listed first then it will be pushed back in search for other more relevant keywords. I think the suggestion was to delete irrelevant keywords that are at the top of the keyword list.

Quote from: averil on May 24, 2010, 20:19
An admin (emyerson) told people at a lypse recently to review keywords regularly. If an image has a not very relevant keyword listed first then it will be pushed back in search for other more relevant keywords. I think the suggestion was to delete irrelevant keywords that are at the top of the keyword list.

Makes sense, good advice.