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Messages - Talanis
126
« on: May 28, 2009, 13:42 »
I beat you to it kgtoh ;P
127
« on: May 28, 2009, 13:34 »
EDIT: original version posted lower on this page.
129
« on: May 28, 2009, 08:51 »
Very rude.
Quite rude indeed. It's funny though... the Title say Calm down and he doesn't sound like a calm guy at all while writing this PoS post. I can't believe a chairman of a big company like SS gives an obnoxiously rude answer like that to the very people who allows him to make money and tun his business. He needs a serious kick in the butt or a good slap on the face IMO. That's what my mom would have given me if I had answer someone like this.
130
« on: May 28, 2009, 05:57 »
Like many, my sales drop in SS in the last months (to about 50% of what it was) ao add all the hassle to that and it's not worth it. I am considering cancelling my account there. I am also considering more and more going exclusive eith all the crap we got from some sites lately.
131
« on: May 27, 2009, 15:55 »
Magnum, from what I understand, if you do the paperwork, you will have 0% witholding but if you don't do it, they will keep 30% and send it to the IRS. That is serioulsy pissing me off. The cost of a notarized copy of the passport I don't have would cost probably over 600$ up here in Canada. Combine that with the sales drop in the last couple of months and I'm seriously thinking about closing my account there.
132
« on: May 26, 2009, 19:26 »
Merci Alain,
Je vais tenter de le mettre jour plusieurs fois par semaine.
133
« on: May 23, 2009, 18:50 »
<...>Stocksites are like Ebay and do not own the goods only act as a merchant<...>
no, stocksites aren't like eBay:
* eBay is the tool, but every purchase is a transaction between the seller (not eBay) and the buyer. Yes, eBay takes commission from the seller, but there is no sale contract between eBay and the buyer
* stocksites do sell to the buyer, not the photographers. There is sale transaction between the buyer and stocksite, not between buyer and photographers.
This makes it fundamentally different - as stocksites do sell something, they are responsible for what they sell.
Exactely what I was about to reply, Thanks Miklav
134
« on: May 23, 2009, 18:48 »
Well, it's not a year yet sinte they are live and I saw some sales (only 7 so far) but since they are a startup, I'll give them another 2 years. If anyone has been in business before, you know it takes at least 3 years to build the business. This week, they blogged about some kind of partnership that already had some result with a small test group. Some people reported sales of 54 Euro for one sale on the forums.
Uploading is so easy and fast there, I don't know why I would stop doing it. I still hope to reach my first payout this year and I still hope they will stay in business.
135
« on: May 23, 2009, 13:24 »
Bonjour tout le monde, Je viens de commencer un nouveau blog sur la photographie au http://blog.ericcote.net. J'aimerais avoir votre avis sur le design du blog et du site SVP. _______________________________ Hi everyone, I just started a new photography blog and would like to have comments on the site design please (even though it's in french). Thank you everyone 
136
« on: May 22, 2009, 18:07 »
I have the 75-300 and you really want to avoid it at all cost. Very high purple fringe, very soft, very slow focusing and not precise. I hate this lens with all my heart and I paid 400$ 4 years ago for it. Check for the 70-300 but stay away from the 75-300 (the non-IS version at least). Even if it was 100$, it's a wasted 100$.
137
« on: April 09, 2009, 20:50 »
I think it's a great tool. Being able to zoom a photo full screen is great. I like it so far.
138
« on: April 08, 2009, 13:35 »
Microstock will amount for about 10% of my income and I'm getting around 20-25$/hour. I started more seriously in may 2008 but had a little portfolio before that since september 2007. I still consider myself a newbie. At the beginning, the pay was a LOT lower because I had to learn the tricks and tips: post-process, keywording (was a pain at first), uploading, etc. Now that I'm used to it, I'm slowly cruising. I could make a lot more money if I put the time into it. You get what you invest in (in terms of hours).
good luck!
139
« on: March 15, 2009, 11:54 »
That's a reflective plastic sheet that you can find in the bathroom department of your Home Depot or other store. It isn't a clear material, it's an opaque reflective white sheet of plastic.
Two reasons why I use reflective mats:
1- it reflect the light more so the "floor" is white and not just the background. So to answer your question: yes, it helps to remove the background. glass isn't the best thing to chose though, you have to be able to bend the material so your background is seamless and don't see a line where the wall interect the floor.
2- to get reflection under the objects that looks more appealing (to me) than standard isolation. I'm sure someone will say the complete opposite. I like my pictures to have a gradiant reflection on the floor because it looks like they are more alive. Besides, if the buyer don't want that reflection, it's really easy to remove with the Dodge tool but it is far harder job to start with an isolated object and make a good reflection that doesn't seem fake (for complex objects). On the example in my post, I would remove the reflection because I would also remove the metal bar and the stand holding the figurine. That's my personal preference and I know many people have opposite view on that topic.
140
« on: March 15, 2009, 10:20 »
Zack's tutorials are awesome. All my isolated shots are based on this technique and I setup a little studio that way in my basement. For product shots, I setup a mini-studio on a desk using the same technique. Here is my setup if you want to take a look and it's really cheap. Hope it helps!
141
« on: February 23, 2009, 18:45 »
Exposure, that's all.
142
« on: January 09, 2009, 07:25 »
I'm using Aperture but as for workflow, it could be the same in LR. When I first review my phtos, I tagged them as Potential (keyword) so they go directely in my smart album (smart collection in LR). I then go to my Potential album and select some for post-processing (done in Aperture and/or PS) and after that, put them in my Keywording album. When they are there, I removed the Potential keyword and keyword them for microstock. I export them from there and upload them to the sites. After the exporting, I taged them with the keyword Submitted. After they are reviewed by the different agencies, I go to my Submitted smart album and tagged them as Accepted or Rejected to the different agencies (ex: Dreamstime - Accepted). I have smart albums for each agencies showing me what photos are accepted and rejected there. When I sell a photo, I add the keyword Sold and, as you can guess by now, I have a smart album for the sold photo as well.
It is a bit complicated but it's usefull, I might change it a bit this year since I'm switching to LR so I'll see if I can reorganize or simplify this a bit.
143
« on: January 05, 2009, 07:47 »
To the opposite of Ironarrow, I think the Big-6 should be droped to the Big-5 since 123RF and BigStock can't come close to the other 5 except for maybe 2-3% of the contributors.
144
« on: December 08, 2008, 11:51 »
LOL, nice one... hehe
145
« on: December 07, 2008, 08:00 »
Hm, so what that means? Am I wrong then? But Jupiter Images are owner of estoskmusic.com and clipart.com for example. Are you suggesting that they didn't buy StockXpert?
After checking for more info, you were right in stating they had footage, music, etc. I found that on Jupitermedia page Jupiterimages is a leading worldwide provider of stock imagery, offering more than 10.0 million rights-managed and royalty-free images, along with images by subscription. Clients can search for and license single images or purchase entire collections on CD. In addition, Jupiterimages offers footage, Flash, music, clipart, animations and greeting e-cards to serve the needs of creative professionals. All of this makes Jupiterimages and its other offerings the complete solution for any creative project.
Click here to learn more.
Jupiterimages Properties:
AbleStock.com | AgenceImages | AnimationFactory.com | BananaStock | BBM.net | Beauty Archive |BigShot Media | Botanica | Brand X Pictures | Clipart.com | Comstock Images | Comstock Complete Subscription | CreatasFootage.com | FoodPix | Goodshoot.com | IFA Bilderteam | IT Stock International | Jupitergreetings | Jupiterimages Unlimited | Liquid Library | MediaBuilder | Nonstock | PictureQuest | PhotoObjects.net | Photos.com | Pixland | PRDirect | Polka Dot Images | (re)view collection | RoyaltyFreeMusic.com | eStockMusic.com | Stockxpert.com | Stock Image | StudioCutz | ThinkStockFootage | ThinkStockImages | Workbook Stock I don't think we'll see any change in the near future because Getty has a LOT to learn from the management of all those companies. If they try to change everything now, they'll miserably fail. Then again, who knows what Getty has in mind. They could have the old mentality of trying to strangle the competition, kill microstock as we know to get back to macro stock leading the market but that too would miserably fail. There is simply too much competition at the moment, they could not buy everyone. Maybe they want to offer a wider range of service? iStock would be for their exclusive members and StockXpert for the non-exclusive? So many questions but we can only speculate. The only reasonable thing we can do at the moment is laying back and watch. I don't think removing pictures at the moment would be a sound advice since we don't know what will happen. Heck, they might even sell the image part to keep only the sound/music/video, who knows? I'll keep my photos there but will keep informed and check what changes are to come.
146
« on: December 07, 2008, 07:44 »
Just send them a message asking them to bump them to 100$. I did this when I reached bronze and it was done in 2 days.
147
« on: December 06, 2008, 20:28 »
You don't have to worry about StockXpert it will be as it is now and probbably wont change for a few years. Getty buy all of this with Jupeter images:
* Royalty free animations, templates and videos at Animation Factory
* Share some laughs with a funny ecard from JupiterGreetings.com
* Get high quality stock photos, royalty free images, and stock photography with Jupiterimages Unlimited
* Photos.com the premiere stock photography website.
* Quality footage and stock video clips available at Creatas Footage.
* Download royalty-free pics at Comstock Images.
* 10 Million downloadable images by subscription at Clipart.com
* Web and Print resolution royalty-free photos by subscription from Comstock Images.
* Royalty-free illustrations and stock photos by Subscription at liquidlibrary.com
* Listing of royalty-free images available by subscription at SubscriptionImages.com
* Tips and tricks and royalty-free photos from StockPhotography.com
* High quality photos and graphics available at Stockxpert.
* Premium clipart and more at ClipartConnection.com
* Access royalty-free production music library tracks for background music and more at Studiocutz.com.
* High-quality royalty free stock music for TV, web, presentation music, and more available at estockmusic.com
and much more companies I didn't listed.
So their main interest is probably audio and music because Jupiter is main player at that field. So if you are not musician don't worry nothing changes for now. Maybe in 2010-2012.
Getty bought Jupiter Images, not Jupiter Media. Big difference!
148
« on: December 05, 2008, 18:55 »
Great news Keith, thank you!
149
« on: December 01, 2008, 10:54 »
iStock went from rank 3 to 5 for me this month with a mere 7% of my income. I stoped uploading there for now too since it's not viable for me. The upload process takes far too much time for the income it brings. I will see if things change in the future but for the moment, it is simply not worth the time investment.
150
« on: November 30, 2008, 23:12 »
November has been a great month for me. One of the reason is I grew my portfolio of 186 photos between mid-october and mid-november. The result was a 45% increase in my revenue. Like most non-exclusive, I had a drop at iStock but got a BME almost everywhere else. The raise at SS was good to me but the increase in portfolio size was even better since I sold 35% more photos than my best month (september). I didn't have any EL this month. The biggest surprise was Fotolia who took the 3rd rank and beat the crap out of iStock. It even beat the best month at iStock (september) by 50%. I produced a lot of white seamless photos and that seem to be what Fotolia wants.
Here's the breakdown:
1- Shutterstock = 47% (BME)
2- Dreamstime = 16% (BME)
3- Fotolia = 14% (BME)
4- StockXpert = 8% (BME)
5- iStockPhoto = 7% (Drop from rank 3 to 5)
6- 123RF = 6% (BME)
7- Yay Micro = 2% (BME)
8- Zymmetrical = 1%
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