Quote from: Soumennath on October 19, 2013, 07:30
Hi
I am new to stock photography and right now trying to understand and gather information. I have also started uploading on some of the sites.
This is the first post that I have opened after registering. And what stuck me that the newest posts are at the end. I wish they were at the first page and the oldest posts were at the last page.
What say ?

Regards
Soumen

I think you can change this for yourself go under Profile > Modify Profile > Look and Layout >  Newest posts on top

6849.5 Woo!

Ah I'm not alone then,  I have images pending since Sept 13th as well.  -just sent an e-mail, hope to hear back soon-

Tater tot hot dish and spaghetti are two of my favorite meals growing up. 

One of my great grandma's made Lefse and Krumkake as a traditional Norwegian  food. Those were delicious. My other great grandma made homemade Chokecherry jelly and that stuff was to die for it was so good. 

I love looking at this guys work.  http://cetrobo.deviantart.com/ 

I love the colors he works with as well as the whimsical ideas. 


I also love following http://elenakalis.deviantart.com/gallery/

Her underwater work is pretty dang cool. 


And this last one http://cute-and-bright.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=/

Her photos may be a lot more kitschy and overfiltered but I think they're cute and again I love the colors.



The old masters are great but I like watching some new/er people the most.

Kind of a strange question for me because I don't fall squarely into these categories.    I have a degree saying I am qualified for Multimedia Design but I haven't got clients at this moment (I hope this changes in the near future) but I get them from time to time,  rarely though.  I mostly do the stock illustrations right now so I think I'll mark that box. 

I won't tell you if it's "too late" or not to be a vector designer as I've started uploading vectors last September/October and am just getting started myself.  Who knows if I'm fighting a losing battle or going to reap rewards further down the line?

As for designs currently in demand you can check all of the other micro sites and see what's been downloaded, & what's in the most popular sections. Also keep your eyes open to what's around you.  What kind of graphics do you notice in the magazines that you read? What do you see in marketing for shops?  Browse online and see all sorts of graphics being used.  Use these as things to mark as what might people want.  Also maybe keep an inspiration folder but be careful not to outright copy ideas. 

As for front page content... I don't know about fotolia as much but for most anyplace you need a popular design, great keywords and some luck.    Use the keyword research tool on this site in addition to the keywords you come up with in case you miss a word you never thought of.  Be careful not to spam your images with irrelevant keywords though.

You've gotta just try your designs,  see if they work, and change them up if they don't.   

You'll probably get more advice from illustrators more experienced than me as well. 

http://www.microstockgroup.com/shutterstock-com/do-i-have-to-worry 

This thread explains it all,  Sadly I wasn't part of this 'lottery' but it's understandable.  Great to hear so many others caught a nice break though!

Seoul is certainly one place I want to go to in my lifetime. 

"Seoul seems to be a fantastic city to photograph. I would love to go there.
But are you sure about the timing? It is very close to the border with the North. I hope there won't be a war and that they will eventually choose a path similar to Germany's reunification." -Snufkin


As for perspective on the N Korea thing I may suggest this video. 

http://www.eatyourkimchi.com/the-threat-of-north-korea/

It's from the perspective of two Canadians who are living in Korea for five years now.   Not that there isn't any risk,  just another viewpoint.


Good luck with your photoshoots fotoVoyager!

Since there are highlights on her left side kind of coming from behind her the shadow on the left side looks wrong to me.  Shadows that are split by lights on both sides are not as strong as they would be with just one direction of light.  It also does look like you missed a spot on the left side of her arm,  the light grey patch shouldn't really be there. 

Lessening the shadows a little may help the top part of her head blend into the picture a bit more and not look so cut and pasted in.

Her faces does look washed out as others have pointed out, it looks like you were going for a contrast-y look but don't over do it. 

As for makeup, especially on a young girl, a little can go a long way.  It's all about being naturally pretty these days,  smoky eyeshadow, stay away from unless it's for an evening look at maybe a bar or a lounge.   Watch some make-up tutorials online or look at magazines like Seventeen.  (it may be weird for a guy to do but girl trends change every season.)

Keep trying and pay extra special attention to your light sources.  You're not doing too terribly so far.

Quote from: toots on February 12, 2013, 20:51
I kept getting a flash error, but all is ok now 

I've uploaded and syncd my first 10 files to toonvector, so am just waiting for review and obviously acceptance to the site.

By the way, did you guys download and install the dropbox or are you using the web version to upload?. I haven't downloaded it 

Downloaded it,  The little icon at the bottom right (near the time but I'm a PC user) makes it super easy to open up quickly.  I prefer this method of uploading to a lot of other sites. 

I'll agree with liking the heart part of the first logo and the second typeface, however I am not crazy about either typeface.  The first one is almost too childish, the second one is at least more put together looking.  For weddings you'll want a more elegant look, be it script-y or not. 

A thin-ish sans-serif could work as well if you want to try to pull off the rings idea.  It could draw more attention to the rings without the typeface being too distracting. If it were me going for the rings idea I'd drop the heart/boxes part of the logo altogether.

Uploading seems to be a lot nicer too,  are the forums completely gone?  I can seem to find that either.  I also can't figure out how to view other images.

Saw this on Mythbusters.   Totally a trick.

A pretty well pulled off prank in any case.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/splash-and-crash.htm

Hi again,  I just wanted to do an update and maybe get feedback from others. 

I did decide to just go with illustrations and will do photography a more of a summer hobby thing.   
I'm slowly building up a portfolio and have been accepted and have been selling a few on SS  (whoo hoo!)
I'm only at 100 or so vector images and I do know that isn't enough to start making a living off of microstock,  but ya gotta start somewhere.

I wonder if anybody might have suggestions for me on things I might be too blind to see myself for being so close to my work or if I'm doing fine and should just keep doing what I'm doing.  (go ahead and hit me hard if you must,  I can take it) 

This place is probably the best place to view my illustrations at. http://www.toonvectors.com/artists/starsania/32

Thanks for taking the time to look!  =D

Quote from: vannphoto on January 24, 2013, 22:24
I recall the term "scrub" from a song a few years ago, but is that US slang? I'm not even sure what it means, though I can guess it's not a compliment.

Just a quick reply,  yeah it was a slang in the US awhile back and yes it was in a song.  I hardly hear it anymore though. 
TLC - No Scrubs ( Official )

Quote from: donding on January 15, 2013, 18:59
Even for those of us that have port elsewhere are effected by this, and even those that don't plan to leave because they think it is better for them that a bunch of you are leaving. Put simply, if you were a customer, and saw an image you liked, but then saw one on the Google Drive that might be as good but is free....wouldn't you go for the free one? It affects us all. Think about it.

I do not have a portfolio on I-stock at all after reading up on some of their previous injustices and deciding it was not a company for me. 

While I can't really do much to support this, it's fantastic contributors are banding together to fight for protecting our rights as contributors.  Free images would certainly hurt the small fries like myself and others because it's so very difficult to compete with free.  Why would they pay anything for my images at another place if they can find a similar image for free? 

I'm rooting for all of you that are taking a stand.  I do hope it sends a message not only to I-Stock but to other companies as well. 

Just recently discovered this band called Nell.  They do some beautiful music,

[MV]NELL'백야(White night_白夜)'

some haunting music videos, 

Nell 5th Album_그리고 남겨진 것들_The Day Before

and they also have a rock side to them.   (they also sound fantastic live)

NELL '믿어선 안될 말/Words you shouldn't believe' (Official Live Ver.)

Quote from: leaf on December 13, 2012, 13:03
I use the microstock keyword tool to help find keywords then individually add them to images in Adobe Bridge.  I also add the description and title in bridge (or sometimes Photoshop)

I do this pretty much except for me it's Illustrator instead of Photoshop.    I also don't produce enough to use an outside uploader.  I just do it myself.

My goals are still small as I'm just getting started.

As for me I'd like to get my goal of 100 Illustrations online by the end of December  I'm at about 75-80 at the moment.

For the new year  I'd like to get 500 or more illustrations online by 2014.

Another goal for me is to improve my illustration quality.

Getting out of the house a bit more often and staying healthy will also be part of my goals. 


I wish everyone luck with their goals!  Especially Veloci,  World domination seems to be expensive...  XD

I thought I'd start organizing using the folders for each agency method but I gave up on that quickly.  It was cumbersome and easily grew out of control.

I now use a spreadsheet with the file names along the side,  agencies along the top and a Y, N, or P for yes, no, and pending. Blank spots mean it hasn't been submitted yet and a / for "I'm not going to submit this image there".    If the file sells anywhere I place  * by it's name in the spreadsheet.   

And since I do vectors I keep them all in one folder with sub-folders for EPS8, EPS10, AI, and Jpeg. I use bridge to view all the files at once and do keywords there.   I'm sure you could do something similar with Raw Jpeg and re-sized.

I'm only at around 75-80 (vector) images now but I seem to have found my flow when it comes to organizing. 

You'll have to try a few methods and see what works best for you. 

It took me 2 tries,  but I used completely new images for the second submission.   
I do believe that is it not recommended to use the same images for your later tries. 

It might be a little weird,  but I myself listen to a lot of Korean music while I'm working.  I've been wanting to learn the language.  This one in particular is very pretty and relaxing.

http://youtu.be/Jw077fxesZs?hd=1

Probably not everyone's cup o tea though  XD

Try Gimp for a pixel based drawing.  The software is similar in ways to photoshop,  not the exact same  but not bad either.    It's free too.    A tablet might also be good with either photoshop or gimp,  but start cheaply with those to see if she's got a feel for it or not. 

I'm not really qualified to leave technical critiques, it looks like you're doing alright to me.

Is the 3+2 =7 picture meant to be that way?  Last I checked 3+2 = 5.