MicrostockGroup Sponsors


Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - sharply_done

Pages: 1 ... 37 38 39 40 41 [42] 43 44 45 46 47 ... 73
1026
The keyword for the search, which may not be in the image purchased, will show up in the earnings column.
Yes, I read this before making my post. If ALL the shown search words aren't in the image's keywords, then they weren't used to directly find the image, and therefore should be listed differently or not at all.

1027
I don't think this new feature is working properly: one of my recent DLs an airplane image from the keywords "ski chalet"!

1028
Cameras / Lenses / Re: Canon 100mm Macro!
« on: January 07, 2008, 00:18 »
No, I had not.  What about hand held reflector material? ...
Maybe. In the long run you may find that it functions better as a wind blocker than as an adequate and reliable source of primary light. I guess you're going to find out ... good luck!

1029
Cameras / Lenses / Re: Canon 100mm Macro!
« on: January 06, 2008, 18:56 »
...
Cannot find a single remotely negative word about this lens. ...
Yes, it is a very sharp lens, but it has its flaws.

I sometimes found it underpowered, and often wished I had bought Canon's 180mm pro lens instead. Because it is a macro lens, most of the focusing range is used in the <2m range, which places limits on its use as a portrait and general use lens.

In order to shoot "nice" macro shots you will need a dedicated lens-mounted flash - I hope you've factored that into your budget.

1030
The simple answer may very well be that you've hit the saturation point for your niche. As profitable as your work has been, perhaps you should consider producing images that address a different market segment.

1031
IS typically uses the "focal point" rejection when the image is too blurry.

I agree with zorki and steve-oh: your images are lacking in both message and impact. I also find them too dark. Concentrate on making images that are strongly composed and have an obvious message. Powerful images are often accepted even when they contain many flaws. Weak images are often rejected even when they are technically perfect.

1032
Check out PDN. This is a commercial photography magazine, with very different articles than the run-of-the-mill amateur/fine art/hobby magazine.

The November 2007 issue, and this article in particular, may be of interest to members of this forum.

1033
Site Related / Re: Blown off the forums
« on: January 01, 2008, 15:45 »
And now for
something completely different
.

1034
SnapVillage.com / SnapVillage payments
« on: December 31, 2007, 08:18 »
I was supposed to receive my SnapVillage royalty by Dec. 21, but it has yet to show up at PayPal.

Anyone else having a SnapVillage payment problem?

1035
Shutterstock.com / Re: Beware of Shutterstock
« on: December 29, 2007, 19:16 »
A gobshite is typically one who exerts undue influence over a discussion ...

Actually, Editorial, a gobshite is Irish/British slang for
1. a mean and contemptible person, esp. a braggart.
2. a stupid and incompetent person. 

Oh, the irony ...

1036
Ellen Boughn at Dreamstime blogged about composition and the merits of using a square frame - read it by going here.

1037
General - Top Sites / Re: Use of Photoshop plug-ins?
« on: December 29, 2007, 13:12 »
...
I suppose that means :  no selling of pictures with their effects in it?  (sorry, English is not my mother language, but I do my best).
No, it means that you cannot sell or distribute their software in any form.

1038
He's not raising the bar - it was already that high.

1039
Shutterstock.com / Re: Beware of Shutterstock
« on: December 28, 2007, 17:06 »
I'll stick my nose in to say this: The icons as presented by helix7 are fairly compelling. That crashoran has not clearly stated he was ignorant of sodafish's work is moot - the fact that the icons are extremely similar is enough to warrant action. As it stands, I tend to agree with helix7. I think it would have been more equitable of SS to impound crashoran's icons and his earnings from them while issuing a warning - given what I've seen, banning seems overly harsh.

On a related note, I'm a little perplexed how an agency can, on one hand, accept similar work and then ban/discipline a contributor for submitting it, while on the other reject it for being overly common and then advise the contributor to use similar images for inspiration. (e.g. "This is a very well covered subject in our data base ... take a few minutes to browse through the best selling images online (on this subject) and go deeper, ...")


People may be interested to read this old thread as well as this recent article.

1040
I'll say this: unlike the traditional photography business, attracting too much attention can have a detrimental effect on income. If you plan on attacking the market in an unconventional way, it may be best to fly below the radar.

1041
Off Topic / Re: High Stress Model Shoot
« on: December 23, 2007, 13:23 »
So Leibovitz does celebrity cutout portraits ... who knew?

1042
My 2008 goal is to keep a lower profile than I did during 2007. I enjoy sharing my experiences and participating in this community, but I think I'd be further ahead if I bit my tongue more often.

1043
Adobe Stock / Re: EL prices?
« on: December 22, 2007, 11:13 »
I have all of mine set to $100. ELs on FT are fairly rare for me - I have a handful of $20 ELs and only 2 or 3 $100 ones.

1044
General Stock Discussion / Re: How does your profile affect sales?
« on: December 22, 2007, 11:07 »
I'd agree with that. I'd go so far to say that your bio doesn't even really matter in the 'real' photography world, where who you know is very important.

1045
Dreamstime.com / Re: Approval Frustrations over recent weeks at DT
« on: December 22, 2007, 11:04 »
Yep, you should have bought a used dSLR. Oh well, live and learn.

1046
Newbie Discussion / Re: New to stock photography
« on: December 21, 2007, 14:45 »
The most important thing you have to do is recognize your mindset.

In order to be successful in stock photography you will need to create images that have a very distinct purpose or idea behind them. That idea can be anything, and can take any form. Some people like to make specimen shots of single items in a studio-like environment, others prefer to make images of people in more natural environments. A lot of beginners think that their pretty nature shots will sell well, but few do: although they're nice to look at, very few of these pictures contain a clear message, and broadcasting a message is what commercial photography is all about.

By thinking of photographs in terms of idea/purpose/message you will have taken the most difficult first step. The next steps - content and creativity - are much easier.

... good luck!

1047
General - Top Sites / Re: Traffic rankings of Big 5
« on: December 21, 2007, 13:04 »
I began to earn more at IS than SS when my IS portfolio reached about 1/4 of my SS portfolio size. I make about 10% more on IS than SS these days - a number that's only slowly increasing despite my hard effort.

1048
StockXpert.com / Re: subscription impact on sales?
« on: December 21, 2007, 12:56 »
This month almost 50% of my sales have been subs.
50% ... Ouch!

13% of my sales are subscription so far this month, last month was 18%.
My $/DL has dropped, but my earnings have increased.

1049
General Stock Discussion / Re: Resizing for Microstock
« on: December 21, 2007, 12:45 »
I can't really see an industry-wide image price/size restructuring happening. Image resolution is directly tied to printed size and therefore end use - a 4MP image can be printed full page (6"x9" for 300 DPI hi res, 12"x18" for 150 DPI std res). There's no reason for printing resolution to change, and therefore no reason to charge less for an image that meets printing requirements: 4 or 5MP images aren't going to be devalued, eliminated, or deemed unacceptable.

What's more likely to happen is that agencies will become pickier about noise, artifacts and sharpness because they know everyone has higher resolution cameras and can downsize images to meet higher quality standards.

I can see agencies introducing an open-ended maximum size category - maybe something called "OS" or "Oversize" for images greater than 22MP.

1050
Off Topic / Re: Warning! - Check your keywords!!!
« on: December 21, 2007, 12:19 »
What I find amusing about this whole thing is that the "this is a worm/virus" whistle-blower steadfastly claims he didn't copy and paste keywords, "dale hogan" isn't in his metadata, and that he has been unjustly singled out for using inappropriate keywords. Yeah, right. Sure thing.

Pages: 1 ... 37 38 39 40 41 [42] 43 44 45 46 47 ... 73

Sponsors

Mega Bundle of 5,900+ Professional Lightroom Presets

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors