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Author Topic: Recent Conversations with MostPhotos  (Read 21080 times)

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« on: March 25, 2008, 13:29 »
0
All,
 
During recent email "conversations" with MostPhotos personnel I was told the following which I would like to share with you:
 
Mostphotos has during the past months worked extremely hard on attracting photo-buyers to the site in order to increase their sale numbers.
 
The number one request that is coming from potential buyers is that they want to see MostPhotos Image Library much larger.

According to MostPhotos, several large buyers have been registered and having made significant cash deposits purchasing credits and are ready to buy. Many of these buyers have commented on the fact that they find photos at MostPhotos that they do not find elsewhere.

I have heard that MostPhotos is selling photos daily and sales are growing rapidly. In order to capitalize on this growth spurt, MostPhotos needs more images and portfolios to further accelerate its growing buyer base.
 
If you find this information was helpful and are considering joining MostPhotos in the future here is my referral link: http://mostphotos.com/index.php?mwp1969=3065
 
 
Mark


RT


« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2008, 13:42 »
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Many of these buyers have commented on the fact that they find photos at MostPhotos that they do not find elsewhere.

They should employ reviewers then !!!!!!

suwanneeredhead

  • O.I.D. Sufferer (Obsessive Illustration Disorder)
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2008, 14:11 »
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Many of these buyers have commented on the fact that they find photos at MostPhotos that they do not find elsewhere.

They should employ reviewers then !!!!!!
NO... that's the point... reviewers tend to reject images that the buyers WANT... buyers are changing their paradigm to want shots that don't look too highly polished or overprocessed... reviewers are kind of stuck in that plastic-perfect "look" that the microstocks have long chased after.

This is the good thing about MostPhotos! Buyers want to be able to look at images that did not go through that narrow funnel we know as the approval/rejection process at the microstocks.

I am a graphic designer by trade and I know that my clients are wanting more edgy, realistic looking shots nowadays... and we have to give them what they want!

Personally I like the MostPhotos' business model and am thrilled to see the industry moving toward pricing the images higher and letting US decide that should and should not be in our portfolios. I know, you say that's opening up a huge can of worms with bad photography and storage issues... but its a peer-policing rating system that I appreciate... its always fun to see a nasty, icky photograph get a negative rating which keeps it out of the search completely.

Check it out before you make any kind of judgment about it.

« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2008, 14:16 »
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I just joined today and even had my first sale....every sale for USA is currently $19.48 according according to the Euro exchange rate.

It's a fun place to be.

http://mostphotos.com/index.php?referenceid=3797

The MIZ

« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2008, 14:48 »
0
Many of these buyers have commented on the fact that they find photos at MostPhotos that they do not find elsewhere.

They should employ reviewers then !!!!!!
NO... that's the point... reviewers tend to reject images that the buyers WANT... buyers are changing their paradigm to want shots that don't look too highly polished or overprocessed... reviewers are kind of stuck in that plastic-perfect "look" that the microstocks have long chased after.

This is the good thing about MostPhotos! Buyers want to be able to look at images that did not go through that narrow funnel we know as the approval/rejection process at the microstocks.

I am a graphic designer by trade and I know that my clients are wanting more edgy, realistic looking shots nowadays... and we have to give them what they want!

Personally I like the MostPhotos' business model and am thrilled to see the industry moving toward pricing the images higher and letting US decide that should and should not be in our portfolios. I know, you say that's opening up a huge can of worms with bad photography and storage issues... but its a peer-policing rating system that I appreciate... its always fun to see a nasty, icky photograph get a negative rating which keeps it out of the search completely.

Check it out before you make any kind of judgment about it.

As evidence to your point suwanneeredhead, I recieved my first sale there from a photo that was previously rejected at some of the microstock sites. Also being paid originally in Euros is a strong plus with a falling dollar here in the US.

Mark


RT


« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2008, 15:33 »
0
Many of these buyers have commented on the fact that they find photos at MostPhotos that they do not find elsewhere.

They should employ reviewers then !!!!!!
NO... that's the point... reviewers tend to reject images that the buyers WANT... buyers are changing their paradigm to want shots that don't look too highly polished or overprocessed... reviewers are kind of stuck in that plastic-perfect "look" that the microstocks have long chased after.

This is the good thing about MostPhotos! Buyers want to be able to look at images that did not go through that narrow funnel we know as the approval/rejection process at the microstocks.

I am a graphic designer by trade and I know that my clients are wanting more edgy, realistic looking shots nowadays... and we have to give them what they want!

Personally I like the MostPhotos' business model and am thrilled to see the industry moving toward pricing the images higher and letting US decide that should and should not be in our portfolios. I know, you say that's opening up a huge can of worms with bad photography and storage issues... but its a peer-policing rating system that I appreciate... its always fun to see a nasty, icky photograph get a negative rating which keeps it out of the search completely.

Check it out before you make any kind of judgment about it.

You are judging things based purely on a microstock point of view, there are many many traditional stock agencies that employ reviewers but they don't judge content they purely check for technical quality and that is what I am referring too, as a graphic designer you should be well aware of the possiblity of an image looking great at thumbnail size but being completely worthless when purchased at full size.

And the rating system is the part I hate most about the site, it is too open to corruption as has been mentioned before, why do they need a rating system anyway, surely the highest accolade an image can get is to be bought and to me that's the most important rating system there is.

I totally agree with your assessment of what clients and designers want, people are too hung up about backgrounds being pure glistening white and in doing so they lose detail and colour in the subject, I work with one of the biggest design companies here in the UK, they employ 24 designers and they all say the same thing - they would rather have a well lit subject on a grey background than a blown out one on a pure white background, sometimes trying to meet the demands of sites like iS in getting isolated shots accepted actually renders the image worthless if a buyer wants to use the subject in a background that does not look like it's ten feet from the sun!

Reviewers can be trained to review to what ever standards a site dictates, it doesn't have to be microstock standards.

And re your comment about checking it out before I make a judgement, if you check back you'll see I got involved with the site in the early days and as a result of comments I made on the forum the site owners designed and implemeted a better watermark for all our images.

« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2008, 15:50 »
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Hello Richard (RT)!

I don't know if you have seen my previous posts here regarding the rating system. The rating has a very low impact on the index. So just see the ratings and comments as fun thing.


* The MPI is partly built up around the votes, comments and views your picture has.
* The MPI also looks on the persons that voted, commented and viewed the photo.
* The clicks that a photo gets has a very big impact on the MPI.
* The way buyers act on the site has a very large effect on the MPI.



Regarding to the quality issue that you brought up:
We will try our best to keep an open community that is self-filtrating.
1) You can always zoom on all the photos to determine the quality.
2) If you find a photo with really poor quality you can always report it via the report button. Photos that get more than x number of reports from different users will automatically be set in quarantine.


Arian

« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2008, 15:53 »
0
All,
 
During recent email "conversations" with MostPhotos personnel I was told the following which I would like to share with you:
 
Mostphotos has during the past months worked extremely hard on attracting photo-buyers to the site in order to increase their sale numbers.
 
The number one request that is coming from potential buyers is that they want to see MostPhotos Image Library much larger.

According to MostPhotos, several large buyers have been registered and having made significant cash deposits purchasing credits and are ready to buy. Many of these buyers have commented on the fact that they find photos at MostPhotos that they do not find elsewhere.

I have heard that MostPhotos is selling photos daily and sales are growing rapidly. In order to capitalize on this growth spurt, MostPhotos needs more images and portfolios to further accelerate its growing buyer base.
 
If you find this information was helpful and are considering joining MostPhotos in the future here is my referral link: http://mostphotos.com/index.php?mwp1969=3065
 
 
Mark


My take on what I heard ... in an effort to get this thread back on track as there are other threads here on MSG for the entire "voting" issue ... is that they've landed a large group of buyers and they have their cash deposits in hand. Sales are increasing daily and they are growing rapidly ...

If this is true ... it sounds like they are turning on all wheels.

Mark


RT


« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2008, 17:56 »
0
Hello Richard (RT)!

I don't know if you have seen my previous posts here regarding the rating system. The rating has a very low impact on the index. So just see the ratings and comments as fun thing.


Hi Arian,

Firstly thanks for replying, but in response to your above comment:

Why have it then, what is the point in having a feature that serves no purpose other than being a 'fun' thing, do you want to be a stock imaging site or a photo club?

Whenever I look at a new site I try to view it as a buyer, what does it have to offer that the hundreds of other similar sites don't have, and where and how will it either save me time or money, having to spend extra time zooming in on each thumbnail that takes my fancy is a time consuming process, why would I do this when I could go to another site where I know the images are examined for technical quality.

I just went onto the site, on the first page of most popular images I clicked on a photo of a tree covered in white frost, great image and good sharp detail when I zoomed in, the second image (which I won't identify obviously) that I clicked on looked great as a thumbnail, when zoomed in the whole image was out of focus,no reviewer in the world would have accepted this image once they'd seen it at 100% and yet here it is on the front page of most popular images although it's not had any sales yet!!

This is my point, if you must have a voting/rating system make sure that people can only vote after having zoomed in on the image, people vote on anything in the hope the person will return the favour and as such the whole system is flawed.

Clicks/Views/Sales works for Getty, Corbis, Alamy, Jupiter etc

Mark has tried to get his original thread back on track, so in response to his initial comment of :

"The number one request that is coming from potential buyers is that they want to see MostPhotos Image Library much larger."

What is it do you think is putting people off uploading ?????




« Reply #9 on: March 25, 2008, 18:47 »
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"What is it do you think is putting people off uploading ??"

Actually its not :)

MostPhotos is experiencing phenomenal growth so I have no worries ...

For anyone that has previously show their interest in MP or continues to be curious about what is being said their, please refer to my original post in this thread at the top.


Mark


« Reply #10 on: March 25, 2008, 20:18 »
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* The way buyers act on the site has a very large effect on the MPI.

That doesn't seem to be the case. My points stays very low all the time around 25, even after I had two sales in a row. What's more, those two sales are not represented in my "most popular". Strange.

I guess therefore that "most popular" is driven not by sales but by the community thing (rating, commenting). Those observations contradict your claim that buying has the most impact on the funny number (MPI?). It doesn't seem to have any effect at all.

I got a number of very dumb comments write your comment here, obviously from players that are too lazy to write an actual comment but just want to collect points.

Since I don't have time for this totally useless commenting/rating game, my points only go up now with number of logins (0.5pt). How hilarious. Not even portfolio size is taken into account (658 images all accepted at at least 3 RF sites). I have only 18 logins till now, since I keep all my sites open day and night in several tabs.

So I figured what to do about my appalling community spirit. Write a small script to login/logout every 2hrs and let that run on one of my junk PCs in the corner. I'd even like to write a script to put silly comments like great shot, well done, marvelous shallow DOF, nice blurr, great noise at random shots  ;D

Sign ins (0.5p):   18 (36st)
Votes on images (0.25p):   3.5 (14st)
Forum posts (0.5p):   0 (0st)
Comments (0.5p):   3.5 (7st)
Total :   25
Current level:   New user

Hahaha, I'm on the site since September 2006 with soon 700 shots and I'm still a beginner.  :P

DanP68

« Reply #11 on: March 25, 2008, 23:02 »
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And re your comment about checking it out before I make a judgement, if you check back you'll see I got involved with the site in the early days and as a result of comments I made on the forum the site owners designed and implemeted a better watermark for all our images.


Yes this is true.  In fact I just finished rating RT's images as 1's and 2's.   ;D

Seriously though, I recognize a lot of names from this board on MostPhotos.  And I agree with Suwanneeredhead that there are a lot of interesting images available, that you won't find elsewhere because microstock sites tend to all shoot for a very similar "look."

But I also see RT's point, as I have found images which are clearly out of focus even viewed on the thumbnail view.  Stuff which is just flat out horrible, and possibly detracts from MostPhoto's image.  It is a fine line to walk.  I wonder most about images which are possibly crossing IP lines, but are being sold as non-ed. 

DanP68

« Reply #12 on: March 25, 2008, 23:05 »
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...surely the highest accolade an image can get is to be bought and to me that's the most important rating system there is.

I could not agree more, which is why I love the Shutterstock model.  "Most Popular" is defined by the number of sales per time on line, period.  No Best Match hocus pocus.  No exclusivity games to play.  If you create strong images on Shutterstock and keyword them properly, they will sell.  Why other sites feel a need to reinvent the wheel I have no idea.  The only thing which matters about an image is whether or not the customers are interested in purchasing it.

« Reply #13 on: March 26, 2008, 03:38 »
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Last day I logged in I found a mid-grey corrupted image in the list of images in the front page.
Not a very professional site I think...

« Reply #14 on: March 26, 2008, 04:10 »
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Can I say something and this I say from my own experience as a photo-buyer and also based on the material that I have seen being sold on MP:

It is not always the quality that matters. Often buyers want a specific photo and when they find the right one they often can live with some grains or out of focusness.

All the fun stuff like, ratings, comments, and points or even the index is not visible for the buyers so just dont worry about that. The points that you mention is a figure to keep track of how active the member are. It has nothing to do with you being a good or bad photographer.
Then there are always people that can cheat the system by making scripts that can fake logins and comments. But that actually wont make you sell more photos.

There are in fact a lot of members that dont sell on regular bases. But they surely enjoy the community, and that keeps them still on the site. So as a matter of fact some functionality it does have or else it would not bee there.
We are 8 dudes working on MP and all the functions that we build in and decisions that we take are carefully planned out and discussed on our forum on the site, we have no secrets.

I really don't want you guys to take me as a cocky fellow, that I am not. It is not my intentions to make personal-attacks. But sometime I just want to stand my ground when I see some points being misunderstood. I hope its ok.
 


« Reply #15 on: March 26, 2008, 04:55 »
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The site for me is quite refreshing and it does have a strong following amongst many of its members. For good reason. It doesnt feel as corporate and distant as some and it does try to include its members in decisions and asks instead of forcing policies through. They are trying to offer something different and to get a better deal for their photographers. In short its a nice place to be. A point that I also feel will be important to the buyers as well.

I too have had reservations about the rating system and have taken this up with Arian. He has gone through this in some detail both here and with myself. The site is quite new, for now I think we have to trust him.

But to get back to Marks point of buyers waiting to buy and increasing sales. Surely thats a good position to be in. The site is looking for more pictures to really get things moving. I hope more of you join now rather than waiting to see what happens, for its now that you can make a difference. MP is a democratic site but as in any democracy you need to take part for it to work.


« Reply #16 on: March 26, 2008, 05:04 »
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I really don't want you guys to take me as a cocky fellow, that I am not.

Not at all, and the fact there is critique on some marginal aspects of MP shouldn't obfuscate some great concepts that are very innovative.

A very good thing is that MP accepts all photos and lets the market decide what's commercial. By this Darwinian approach you will get totally different photos than the established MS sites, that regularly use a very subjective "non commercial" reason in rejects. The rediscovery of editorial is certainly a very important aspect because SS and DT reject much of my editorial for far-fetched reasons. I stopped uploading most editorial there because it brings my approval rate down. Sites like MP and YAY (your future competitor) will get a unique collection this way. And that's a very strong asset in a time where most MS sites offer almost the same content.

As to the technical aspect, there is the full-size preview which works well, so a buyer won't buy a cat in a bag like on sites without preview like SS and DT. Before spending 50 Euro, I as a buyer would certainly have a quick preview.

Another important difference with tradional MS is the absence of a subscription model. That makes that you will get full-resolution shots without hesitation. SS never gets my 10MP.

My only point was that the "sold" criterium should play a larger role in the popularity and in the search engine results. For instance, the sold pictures should enter the personal "most popular" group, because that's what a buyer sees when he clicks on a photogs profile.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2008, 05:09 by FlemishDreams »

« Reply #17 on: March 26, 2008, 05:18 »
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I must say I am quite impressed, I have joined just today and what they build up impresses me. But I really not sure if this site will be successful. Future will tell. The only thing I fear is that if I do not spent time in rating and commenting at other peoples images that I will receive less rating as well and in turn my images will be less popular.

DanP68

« Reply #18 on: March 26, 2008, 05:30 »
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I wonder this myself. 

I'll happen over to your images Freezing, and blast you with low ratings like I did RT.   8)  Just kidding.  So far I have not run into any "snipers" looking to drag other photographers down.  But the amount of discussion on this board regarding it suggests it is a real problem.


« Reply #19 on: March 26, 2008, 06:06 »
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The ratings has not such a big impact on the index.!!!
You can not lower the index by giving a photo 1 or 2 in rating.
The system is more intelligent than that.
For example if you behave bad on the site, like in this case, voting low on pictures that does not deserve it, it will affect your trustworthiness. So what I want to say is that if you in someway behave badly, the site will notice that and your reliability will automatically go down and next time your word will be less worth.

But as I have said earlier the way buyers react is the main variable for the index.

« Reply #20 on: March 26, 2008, 06:09 »
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MP is a democratic site but as in any democracy you need to take part for it to work.


Amen to that  ;D

« Reply #21 on: March 26, 2008, 09:57 »
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Hi All,

My first post .. I am pretty new at all this .. so take my comments in that context .. and also take in context that  being at MP for a few days on the whole I really like it.  The thing that scares and bothers me most about mostphotos is this lack of technical reviews.

I think I am the culprit behind the frosted tree that RT mentioned earlier (and with my luck probably the image he was trashing as well)  .. I have two frosted trees up in the top tier of the last three days at MP.  The one I am very comfortable with .. the other .. well .. it is a black and white of some hoar frosted trees along a river .. I love everything about the image .. except the amount of noise (Grain ; ) ...) in the river .. now .. that image has gotten by the review at a bunch of sites (including both DT and FT) .. the only place that rejected it for the grain was BigStock .. it has sold pretty well for me ..

Still rightly or wrongly with that image at DT, FT etc.  I feel like well it has a bit of noise but the reviewers at the site stamped it for approval so at least I am not alone in my culpability if a buyer is taken aback .. the site has put their stamp of approval on that product .. the site has taken an effort to be responsible for their product ..  I don't think I have every taken an image I consider perfect (at least for long) .. it always seems to be the degree of the faults.

MP scares me .. it feels like they are saying that I am responsible for the product at perhaps of .. their site .. and the buyer .. well they can zoom if they care .. and they should for 25 euros .. and my nightmare is that it seems if the buyer is taken aback after purchase MP would consider it is everybody's fault but their own ... This is really really amplified by the 25 euro price .... (I am not that brave at Featurepics).

btw ... thanks so much for all the wisdom I have gotten by lurking here for a while.

take care,

John

suwanneeredhead

  • O.I.D. Sufferer (Obsessive Illustration Disorder)
« Reply #22 on: March 26, 2008, 11:49 »
0
MP scares me .. it feels like they are saying that I am responsible for the product at perhaps of .. their site .. and the buyer .. well they can zoom if they care .. and they should for 25 euros .. and my nightmare is that it seems if the buyer is taken aback after purchase MP would consider it is everybody's fault but their own ... This is really really amplified by the 25 euro price .... (I am not that brave at Featurepics).
Well it might just be a matter of "buyer beware" because as discussed in a recent post that I put into the General discussion on the MP forum, they stated that they do not require model releases to be on file because the photographer is ultimately responsible for that, and they are right. Perhaps they are disengaging from the stranglehold that the other microstock agencies have on photographers with regard to taking responsibility for the quality of the image as well as the liability issues.

Yes that is scary if the buyer doesn't realize they must be diligent with their selection process... but I am a graphic/web designer and I am VERY careful when I purchase an image, to make sure it looks good at 100% (unless I am using it as a blog-size image, then it doesn't really matter). I also am going through my port and labeling the image "Model Released" in the description so the buyer understands that I hold the release and they are not going to run into any liability with the image.

This is just a new paradigm ... good or bad, but the industry always finds its own level and evens the playing field, so we'll see what happens...

Just my two cents...

Stacey

« Reply #23 on: March 26, 2008, 11:56 »
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I think I am the culprit behind the frosted tree that RT mentioned earlier (and with my luck probably the image he was trashing as well)
Out of sheer curiosity, I had a look at that tree at 100%. I don't know if it's the same tree but it looks gorgeous and no noise in the sky at all.

« Reply #24 on: March 26, 2008, 12:04 »
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Well it might just be a matter of "buyer beware" because as discussed in a recent post that I put into the General discussion on the MP forum, they stated that they do not require model releases to be on file because the photographer is ultimately responsible for that, and they are right.

I guess it has to do with the difference between the American and the European legal practices around indemnifications. In Belgium for instance, no model can sue you or in case of slander, they will get 1 symbolical Euro as heartache money. In a public place, a person can be shot freely unless he objects immediately after you took the shot.
If MP doesn't open an American office, also MP can't be sued: see Dan Heller's post.
That doesn't mean American customers are safe. A creative European model might sue the US customer in the US if his shot was published there.


 

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