Author Topic: Fotolia and lesson to be learnt. (Read 13753 times)

Sue Burton Photography · « **on:** December 23, 2013, 10:59 »

Well Fotolia seems to live up to its poor reports.

I thought I would upload a few images to see how they got on with Fotolia as some people on here seem to think they were ok.
Despite all these image already being accepted at numerous other ms sites and stock sites like Alamy they failed them all through totally unfounded and stupid reasons.

So glad I only bothered uploading a few images.

I will now be deleting my account and concentrate on the proper microstock sites where reviewers do know what their doing.

Mantis · « **Reply #1 on:** December 23, 2013, 12:48 »

Welcome to planet Fotolia.

Pilens · « **Reply #2 on:** December 23, 2013, 16:36 »

Quote from: Sue Burton Photography on December 23, 2013, 10:59

Well Fotolia seems to live up to its poor reports.

I thought I would upload a few images to see how they got on with Fotolia as some people on here seem to think they were ok.
Despite all these image already being accepted at numerous other ms sites and stock sites like Alamy they failed them all through totally unfounded and stupid reasons.

So glad I only bothered uploading a few images.

I will now be deleting my account and concentrate on the proper microstock sites where reviewers do know what their doing.

LOL - Which ones are those? I only know micros with reviewers and then some sites without reviewers

MatHayward · « **Reply #3 on:** December 23, 2013, 17:12 »

Hi Sue,

That's a bummer you are having a tough time. Would you mind sharing a couple of examples of the rejected images here so we could have a look. It's difficult to look at our own work through impartial eyes. Could be some of us might notice something that you hadn't.

-Mat

Ron · « **Reply #4 on:** December 23, 2013, 17:19 »

Come on Matt, you know the rejections at Fotolia are nonsense. The laundry rejection list makes no sense 90% of the time. Fotolia is notorious for its rejection madness.

Mactrunk · « **Reply #6 on:** December 23, 2013, 17:49 »

I agree with Mat here. I have no problem with Fotolia and submit from people to landscape images and I have about 95% acceptance. There is nothing wrong with taking a critical look at your portfolio. When I first started submitting at Fotolia about 50% got rejected. Looking back now I understand why. At that point I did not really agree but it did make me take a closer look at my work and that worked for me. My work is much better now than it was then.

Ron · « **Reply #7 on:** December 23, 2013, 17:56 »

There are the few odd ones out. Its got nothing to do with being humble and being critical towards ones self.

Many many photographers have the lowest acceptance rate on FT. My acceptance rate across the board is 90-98%. From Shutterstock to Alamy. Yet on FT its 60%. Got nothing to do with Fotolia according to you then.

Dont buy it. Sorry. Nothing towards you, you have to be loyal towards FT.

Ron · « **Reply #8 on:** December 23, 2013, 17:59 »

Actually Alamy is 100%

topol · « **Reply #9 on:** December 23, 2013, 18:23 »

I have a hard time remembering when was the last time I got a rejection from fotolia, unless a few denied from a long series with many similars. They are one of the easiest. Yes, I am implying: if you have a hard time with fotolia you need start thinking about gathering some skills. If you have an impossibly hard time there, I don't even know what to say, they are anything but picky.

Ron · « **Reply #10 on:** December 23, 2013, 18:29 »

Aaah the anonymous bragging. No way to check that story now... lol. Big mouth behind the PC. I remember. Ok, time for me to take a step back again.

Sedge · « **Reply #11 on:** December 23, 2013, 18:57 »

Quote from: topol on December 23, 2013, 18:23

Yes, I am implying: if you have a hard time with fotolia you need start thinking about gathering some skills.

And with that condescending statement, you can now lay claim to the dubious honor of being MSG's resident village idiot. Congratulations!

topol · « **Reply #12 on:** December 23, 2013, 19:08 »

Quote from: Ron on December 23, 2013, 17:56

My acceptance rate across the board is 90-98%. From Shutterstock to Alamy. Yet on FT its 60%. Got nothing to do with Fotolia according to you then.

You kept comlaining about SS reviewing in general, also clearly wrote you had whole batch(es) almost completely rejected, so I find that... a tad bit dishonest. Maybe a bit more emotion than logic?

topol · « **Reply #13 on:** December 23, 2013, 19:09 »

Quote from: Sedge on December 23, 2013, 18:57

Quote from: topol on December 23, 2013, 18:23
Yes, I am implying: if you have a hard time with fotolia you need start thinking about gathering some skills.

And with that condescending statement, you can now lay claim to the dubious honor of being MSG's resident village idiot. Congratulations!

Really? Explain why.

topol · « **Reply #14 on:** December 23, 2013, 19:14 »

Quote from: Ron on December 23, 2013, 18:29

Aaah the anonymous bragging. No way to check that story now... lol. Big mouth behind the PC. I remember. Ok, time for me to take a step back again.

Living up to the standards of a site like fotolia might seem so special to somkeone like you that it feels like bragging, but in reality it just means creating many pretty, but bland - boring and repetitous stuff conforming to simple but narrow standards 90% of the time.

Sedge · « **Reply #15 on:** December 23, 2013, 19:23 »

Quote from: topol on December 23, 2013, 19:09

Quote from: Sedge on December 23, 2013, 18:57
Quote from: topol on December 23, 2013, 18:23
Yes, I am implying: if you have a hard time with fotolia you need start thinking about gathering some skills.

And with that condescending statement, you can now lay claim to the dubious honor of being MSG's resident village idiot. Congratulations!

Really? Explain why.

Wow, you just proved my point. Such delicious irony...

topol · « **Reply #16 on:** December 23, 2013, 19:28 »

Quote from: Sedge on December 23, 2013, 19:23

Quote from: topol on December 23, 2013, 19:09
Quote from: Sedge on December 23, 2013, 18:57
Quote from: topol on December 23, 2013, 18:23
Yes, I am implying: if you have a hard time with fotolia you need start thinking about gathering some skills.

And with that condescending statement, you can now lay claim to the dubious honor of being MSG's resident village idiot. Congratulations!

Really? Explain why.

Wow, you just proved my point. Such delicious irony...

I get nostalgic about exchanges like this. They take me back to kindergarten.

Sedge · « **Reply #17 on:** December 23, 2013, 19:37 »

Quote from: topol on December 23, 2013, 19:28

Quote from: Sedge on December 23, 2013, 19:23
Quote from: topol on December 23, 2013, 19:09
Quote from: Sedge on December 23, 2013, 18:57
Quote from: topol on December 23, 2013, 18:23
Yes, I am implying: if you have a hard time with fotolia you need start thinking about gathering some skills.

And with that condescending statement, you can now lay claim to the dubious honor of being MSG's resident village idiot. Congratulations!

Really? Explain why.

Wow, you just proved my point. Such delicious irony...

I get nostalgic about exchanges like this. They take me back to kindergarten.

Okay, now be honest... How many times did your teacher make you sit in a corner?

lisafx · « **Reply #18 on:** December 23, 2013, 19:39 »

A lot may have changed since I signed up with FT in early 2006, so please take this with a grain of salt:

When I signed up with Fotolia I already had several hundred images on Istock and Shutterstock and they were doing very well. I submitted 20 or so of my best images and every single one was rejected. I submitted another 20 of my top sellers, and again, total blanket rejection of all images.

I was on a yahoo group at the time, and a prominent FT administrator was on the same group. I started a thread much like this one, asking what was the deal with all the rejections. And I got some of the same dismissive answers I see here.

Then, bless her heart, a member of the group who was/is also a very successful stock artist, and had established herself at Fotolia as someone who was talented and credible posted a defense of my work. She informed this Fotolia administrator that I was a top seller at both Istock and Shutterstock and that my photos "sell like hotcakes".

This administrator looked into it and decided all the rejections were unfounded. Every single image was reinspected and accepted and since then I have hardly had any rejections at all there, and have gone on to do very well at Fotolia, and accumulated many sales on those originally rejected files.

As I said, this is all old news, and maybe things have changed, but I wouldn't be so quick to assume that blanket rejections of images accepted elsewhere are the fault of the contributor and not an overzealous reviewer being hard on a newbie.

disorderly · « **Reply #19 on:** December 23, 2013, 20:30 »

My experience tracks with yours, Lisa. Nine of my first ten were rejected, and the exception was a composite I built from scanned elements. It was months before I tried again, assured that things were different. Then of course there were the repeated reductions in royalties and the shifting of the goalposts. Coupled with an agonizingly slow and overcomplicated submission process (three different pages to submit every single image? really?) and the stories about different payout amounts based on where in the world you signed up and you have an agency that doesn't even pretend to be supplier-friendly. I'm happy not to bother with them any more.

Curvabezier · « **Reply #20 on:** December 23, 2013, 20:59 »

I also had my share of rejections over fotolia. Granted you are right and those were unfounded, still your decision of leaving might be a bit rush. As you said, you submitted a small amount of images.
Rejections are always frustrating, but enduring some of them, might give you sales from the third site on the poll. If you don´t, you will also miss the chance to complain about some other issues!

Good luck whether you decide to try again or not.

DiscreetDuck · « **Reply #21 on:** December 24, 2013, 09:45 »

So, where are visible the pictures involved?

JPSDK · « **Reply #22 on:** December 24, 2013, 10:51 »

Quote from: Oligo on December 24, 2013, 09:45

So, where are visible the pictures involved?

There arent any, its just a whining thread.

pancaketom · « **Reply #23 on:** December 24, 2013, 11:50 »

Quote from: JPSDK on December 24, 2013, 10:51

Quote from: Oligo on December 24, 2013, 09:45
So, where are visible the pictures involved?

There arent any, its just a whining thread.

While I agree that we can't judge the pics w/o seeing them, it is also pretty obvious that from time to time a site will reject a whole batch that they probably shouldn't. Someday I want to whine about rejections and then when asked for pics I'll post my best sellers and watch them get ripped to pieces (and you know that at least some people would do that).

ComfortEagle2095 · « **Reply #24 on:** December 24, 2013, 12:18 »

In my experience, it isn't so much about quality with Fotolia. They clearly have specific types of images they are looking for and if yours isn't one of those, it'll get rejected more often than not.

It seems to me they don't like landscapes, concepts, objects or things like that. They tend to take all my people photos, especially white isolations.

That being said, the income from FT has dropped so much that it hardly matters if they take anything or not. I don't care about pleasing them anymore.

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Author Topic: Fotolia and lesson to be learnt. (Read 13753 times)

Sue Burton Photography

Mantis

Pilens

MatHayward

Ron

MatHayward

Mactrunk

Ron

Ron

topol

Ron

Sedge

topol

topol

topol

Sedge

topol

Sedge

lisafx

disorderly

Curvabezier

DiscreetDuck

JPSDK

pancaketom

ComfortEagle2095

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