And what an outstanding Nature study to reach it with, simply Beautiful!

Quote from: Allsa on February 11, 2010, 22:46

Quote from: sjlocke on February 11, 2010, 21:10
Using free or purchased models with a simple sphere wrapped with a texture does not show a level of work high enough for iStock acceptance (thank goodness).  This is the kind of thing that is great for SS, but not for IS.

Had I received a 'not suitable as stock' rejection, your reply might make sense. As it is, it's merely a pointless insult that doesn't address my original question. Frankly, I'm offended by the rudeness of your response.
I wanted to know how to go about submitting images that contain NASA content. I didn't ask for a critique of my work, and if iStock rejected it for quality issues, then they should have stated the real reason for the rejection.

Quote from sjocke: If I were concerned about submitting to SS and an unasked for critique, your post would be very useful.  Thanks for the tips!

lol no problem, have to say though talk about giving it but cant take it!

Quote from: Artemis on February 17, 2010, 21:38

Quote from: cclapper on February 17, 2010, 21:03

QuoteIn my view they "just work": I don't have troubles logging in or uploading to, I can't remember an alien octopus, their stats are up to date within an hour, they pay promptly around the 7th or 8th each month, they are very easy to upload to, they have a decent concept of "editorial", they don't move the goalposts during the game, they handled the tax-withholding-thing decently - have I missed anything? I'm not trying to sound like a fanboy here, but these days I'm already content if I'm not "cared about" but if I'm at least not being f*cked around with - like at some other agencies I could name...

+1

Agree very much so! (well, apart from the tax thing which they blew up nicely at first). Another nice detail about them is they absorb refund costs, and the recent EL action where they payed EL's to the contributors after they found a license infringement. They also don't get rich on "sleeping" accounts which makes them come across as less greedy than some of the other big players out there.
It's a relief getting treated correct, nothing more nothing less, some of the other biggies ought to take an exemple.
Just another reason for me not to go for Getty's TS crumbles, SS is doing it in a far more "fair-trade" manner.

Yes I agree with the above two posts sums up why I chose not to support Gettys  latest sibling TS, why assist in attempting to bring something this good down with something that offers so little in return

Quote from: sjlocke on February 11, 2010, 21:10
Using free or purchased models with a simple sphere wrapped with a texture does not show a level of work high enough for iStock acceptance (thank goodness).  This is the kind of thing that is great for SS, but not for IS.

hmm the samples of yours here look rather simplistic and in view of what is already available at SS I very much doubt they would be original enough to make the grade I'm afraid to say, so not sure about the inferred theory that the level of istock work always needs to be higher!

Quote from: ichiro17 on February 02, 2010, 23:20
sorry to hear fotolia is screwing you guys ....again

its the same thing with the agency every time and they will continue to do it

its one of the main reasons i went exclusive - bc having to deal with the issues of bad companies sucks

i hope you guys sort it out soon and you get your monies

And you regard Getty as the Good Guys with our best interests at heart ? sorry do not mean to be flippant but surly is because of the their latest move driving the pricing of Subs down that other Agencies like Fotolia think they can get away with strokes like this, it all has a knock on effect

ETA In the event that you are Exclusive at Dreamstime point taken   

Quote from: FD-amateur on February 03, 2010, 08:12

Quote from: leaf on February 03, 2010, 07:32Non-exclusives will earn $0.25 per download.

No pasaran! (well at least not for me).
DT is 0.35$ for level 1-2 images, and SS is 0.36$. Even a new site like DP gives 0.30$. Getty can stick its stinkstock where the sun doesn't shine.  

LOL Exactly you and me both will remain opted out here, not very impressive and think SS HQ will still sleep well at nights.

What strikes me however is with this and the constant dilution of the Exclusive content at istock surly it is now about 'Image Exclusivity' you can argue all you like about 'Yes but out latest or best content is not there' and so forth however the fact remain that Artists bearing Crowns are no longer Exclusive to iStockphoto which in the past has been an attraction and the IS sales pitch for their customer base?

Oh and someone asked about The Name  

"About Our Name.

Hemera stands for clarity - literally.

And what better label for a provider of digital image content? We chose to name ourselves after the Greek goddess of Light (or Day), because light is the primal ingredient of photography, and dictates the quality, and resolution, of each image.

Because our image collection meets every standard of photographic and digital quality, we believe we deserve to name ourselves after the essence of light. And besides, H-E-M-E-R-A really isn't that hard to remember, is it?"

My sales have been pretty steady there in fact since the price increase towards the later part of the month downloads have increased significantly even though I had no new uploads so think for some independents the price hike could be advantageous, it will be interesting to see how February performs. That said the same trend was also seen at SS, Fotolia and Dreamstime for me with increases towards the end of the month and well up on last year

Actually Shutterstock sales have taken off for me of late along with Dreamstime and Fotolia even though I have not been uploading, did wonder if it was anything to do with the iStock price increase and more shopping around

Actually real healthy I am pleased to report ....

lots of older Files I have forgotten about getting DLs

You bettya I'm disabling them 

Alas I have heaps more Images on other Sites and not on istock due to the rejections there  never do take up my full uploade slots even as an independant.

True the leap is not great I guess, still it would get to me If it ever made sense to go Exclusive

Wow so many really really good points here !

Ahhhh decisions decisions, being at Gold level with around 40% of my income from IS the temptation is there for sure esp with recent developments. As already well pointed out in prev posts and something I also have to weigh up is the 'being pushed further back in the search V the possibility of clients choosing to search deeper for cheaper independants files    have to ask myself if I do nothing will a big chunk of my income drop drastically, with the other side of the coin being the fact that I have a much larger Portfolio at SS plus Fotolia's performance strengthening  for me right now. Dreamstime is not an issue as I stopped uploading there way back as I did not like the six month tie'in and shift to pushing subs. 

One thing not mentioned so much in this thread is the recent 'Go Exclusive' by Feb deadline to ensure that IS honor our natural progression to the next Canister level, for me Diamond. Does this not bother you Guys who are going to wait and see how things develope?  doubt I could ever bring myself to go Exclusive after the deadline and have another 25k target added

Yes indeed the message and pressure seems to be once again 'Go Exclusive' or give up all hope here 

Anyone any idea why they have selected February as the cut off for going Exclusive and securring a natural progression to the next cannister level ? just wondered what was on the cards after Feb 

Quote from: lisafx on December 14, 2009, 17:46

Quote from: sjlocke on December 14, 2009, 17:43
Boy, all that stuff is confusing.  Upload this here, or there, or what...

Yeah, very confusing.  For one thing they don't mention a category of people who are opted in to the StockXpert partner program but opted out of partner subs on istock. 

you nailed it Lisa.... hmm I am opted out at istock on moral grounds (as usual appalling treatment of independents, reduction in royalties)  guess I am going to have to opt out at StockXpert also 

Quote from: cidepix on December 12, 2009, 22:47
I will stay independent because I am sure other sites will have something to say about this.

Also istock is not going to win me over by burrying my files further down everytime they give exclusives better exposure.

Had they not changed their search behaviour last year to boost exclusives, I would have been exclusive long ago. But they showed me they can not be trusted.

Exactly how I feel....  any business should be about mutual respect and trust, nuff said! 

btw I say I have deleted old non selling Images, this was some time back after a couple of emails more or less saying that if I did nothing they (specified images) would go to the free section. Seem to remember I deleted a few oldies and since then have not received any further such emails

Just wondered is there any way of checking to see if any of my Images have been transferred to the free section unknowingly due to any possible mail issues? thanks 

^ Sorry cannot help you there as I have stopped uploading because of the increase in free Images and a couple of other reasons, just to much for me considering the six month tie in of Images

Can say that my Sales are way down which I guess is not surprising with no new uploads. Old non sellers have been disabled

Okay what I like about istockphoto is that my Downloads are healthy and consistent regardless of the occasional curv ball which is thrown usually with non Exclusives taking the hit. I do wish IS was more supportive of ALL Contributers

Congratulations, pleased it worked for you

I have never bought into the 'free Image to promote Portfolio' route simply because looking at the bigger picture the more this is taken up of course in the long term the worse it is for contributors collectively. Sure the Agencies love to promote this to bring traffic to their sites and would rub their hands in glee at your post  however having spoken to and read responses from buyers many just grab the freebies without any interest of who the contributer is. Guess the possible advantage of the free Image being downloaded on mass is that it may get a better position in the search which would explain your 10 paid Downloads.

I personally would rather delete a struggling Image  for the greater good   

Quote from: Tom on November 07, 2009, 01:33

Quote from: lisafx on November 06, 2009, 23:51
Meanwhile, to Tom, I agree with you they appear to be dead, but they weren't when I started there and until Sept. I was getting my payouts regularly.  So I see no hypocrisy in having uploaded there for over two years and now complaining when they don't pay me.

Lisa, complaining about not being paid is fine and perfectly understandable, but it is also important to draw the conclusions.

Yes very understandable, also just would like to add that I also agree that as said earlier high quality standards are all well and good as long as the agency pays reasonable prices for said quality   Anyway not sure that the Quality really is that exceptional over there

I have been waiting forever to actually reach a pay out there so that I could close my account, and now it would seem I have to wait further to receive payment ?

Only have a dozen or so Images there the reason being I stopped bothering as they were rejecting my best sellers from IS and SS Their inspection process seemed suspect to say the least so perhaps that is what they are addressing. Not worth the effort IMO

Quote from: melastmohican on October 30, 2009, 22:09
I have been thinking for a while about my next laptop. Is there any advantage of having Mac instead of PC?

Style and street cred for one 

Really though the apple software such as iworks, ilife, and Aperture simply just works, and with the screens I find my Imagery is leaping off the screens and I pick up so much more quality issues which I missed when with Windows 

My only regret is that I did not switch years ago and when my Sony Viao Laptop packs in I will be purchasing a MacBook!

Quote from: stockastic on October 30, 2009, 17:33
I'm coming to the conclusion that I should contribute to only a couple of microstocks and dump the rest, because I can't trust them and can't spend time monitoring all the changes they announce.   They're rewriting contributor "agreements" every other week, whenever they come up with a new marketing gimmick or sign up a new partner site.   My images are on God knows how many of these snaky "partner" sites already.  I assume the partners don't actually get the image files, just the right to display thumbnails and resell them - but who knows.    My images might even be offered free, if I overlook an email announcing the new rules.   

Yes my views also.... the latest developments there could contribute as to why my Downloads have grinded to a halt there with DT now being my bottom earner, considering the six months tie-in of Images and now this suspect I willl not be in a hurry to uploade further and will concentrate on IS SS and Fotolia which are performing excellently for me

Well done good for you 

Lets not forget that at times the customer base gets as fed up with the big boys as much as us contributers, so who knows they may start to turn back to the small independent providers for value and the personal touch

Wishing you well