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Messages - steheap
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1376
« on: July 06, 2011, 15:34 »
The Dreamstime contract says the following:
"Sell the Rights (SR-EL):
This license represents a full ownership of the downloaded image. The buyer can use it exclusively (exclusivity applies from the moment that the file was downloaded using this license), and include it in any type of design with just a few restrictions: sensitive subjects may still apply and the buyer may not claim that the file was created by him nor resell it as a photo.
The agency will disable the image immediately after the buyer acquired this license. The photographer is required to disable the file permanently from all other places where he may sell it, as soon as possible after the sale occured, but no longer than 72 hours. The photographer acknowledge and agrees to provide the buyer with full ownership for the file retrieved using the SR-EL license"
I do agree that it would be impossible to remove from all sites (including all partner sites of the agencies that I am a contributor to) in 72 hours as it states. If you have put the image into the iStock Photo+ plan, you are further restricted in removing it from sale.
It seems almost impossible to fully carry out the terms of this agreement - and yet it is still there for non-exclusive images on Dreamstime, and so they must be selling images with the clear knowledge of the impracticality of the request. In my case, I have removed the image from all the sites that I have a relationship with and have documented when I did that. The image can obviously still be used by people who have already bought it, and so this is probably a case of "make best efforts?"
Steve
1378
« on: July 06, 2011, 11:29 »
When I first started uploading to Dreamstime, I recall that the default setting for "Sell the rights - SR-EL" was set to "yes" and the price was $250. I think it has changed now to "no." However, my early images were offered for sale under this agreement, and today I received an email that one had sold and that I had 72 hours to remove the image from sale on other sites, remove from any personal web site or exhibition. Of course, earlier sales cannot be withdrawn. My payment was $125. This particular image (a similar one is here: http://www.backyardsilver.com/2011/07/sale-of-rights-to-an-image-dreamstime/) was only on 7 sites, and had only earned $27, and so a sale for $125 is OK, but it certainly made me think about going back through the old images on Dreamstime and changing this setting to $1000, say. What do other contributors do with that SR-EL option? Along the way, I wrote a "how to guide" to deleting single images from the web sites, as I had to search for instructions on each one. You can find that list here for future reference. I'll keep it updated and add new sites on my blog: A key bit of information to search out before you start is when you uploaded the file to the stock sites! Shutterstock: Go to Stats: Status of Submitted Photos and click on Approved Photos tab. Find the batch that contains the original uploaded image (it helps if you know the approx. date of upload.) Click on the X at the right hand edge of the image details to delete. 123RF: In the menus at the foot of the page, choose History. View stats for the month you uploaded the image, and then click on View Images for the range of dates to find the specific upload batch containing your image. Check the box Delete this photo and click Save at the foot of the page to complete the deletion. Fotolia: Got to My Files and then the Upload Files tab. Find the image (sort by date to get to the approx. date of upload quickly.) Delete the file using the link at the far right of the row containing your image. iStockPhoto: Click My Account: Contributor Tools: My Uploads from the bottom toolbar. Search for the image in the Keywords box. Click on the appropriate image to open up the details page for that photo. Click Administration in bottom right and then enter a reason for deactivation in the Reason box. Finally click Deactivate File. Dreamstime: In Management Area, select Online Files and then filter the full list by entering keywords into the search box. On the particular image, click Edit and then Disable on the bottom row of the details page to delete the image. CanStockPhoto: Click on My Portfolio to list all the files. Order by Approved to find the date of upload. Click Edit and then Delete followed by Done. BigStockPhoto: You cant delete an image on BigStock from their website. Contact support using the Contact form on Contact Us and give them the image ID and reason for deletion. DepositPhotos: Click Files: Online Files from the contributors page, and find the image by moving to the appropriate upload date. You can enter a page number in the blank box to get there more quickly. Once the image has been found, click on Deactivate. YayMicro: Click on My Portfolio under Photographer in the account Profile. Filter the portfolio by entering keywords in the search box. Click on the image in question, and then click the small X in the bottom left under the image.
1379
« on: July 05, 2011, 15:22 »
David
Is Lightburner uploading to Fotolia using a direct web connection, or should I be setting it up as an FTP channel. I have just noticed that I haven't sent any new images to them since mid June, and the latest set are not showing any success in connecting to Fotolia.
I know you depend on the ability to electronically read their web pages and that breaks from time to time, but it would be really helpful if you kept an up to date summary of status on the Support page. It would immediately let us know if we should take some other action - such as upload direct.
Steve
1380
« on: July 03, 2011, 17:42 »
I'm sure you are all waiting to see how the sales have gone since I announced the book on 1 June  Well.... sixteen customers so far! It ended up being my third best stock income after Shutterstock and iStock this month. The reviews I have seen so far have been very nice - here is a verbatim set of reviews: http://www.backyardsilver.com/stock_photography_ebook/get-started-in-stock-user-reviews/. Thanks for any purchases from the Microstockgroup visitors! Steve
1381
« on: June 30, 2011, 12:40 »
Maybe they will give us all stock options prior to the IPO to thank us for our help in their success. I think I will buy a yacht with mine! Steve
1382
« on: June 29, 2011, 09:35 »
Thanks - "Exclude Pages" did exactly what you said it would. My stray "thank you" page no longer appears in the menu bar of the blog!
Steve
1383
« on: June 28, 2011, 21:45 »
I love it as well, although I focus more on travel and landscape images and I love being outside in interesting places! Go with what you enjoy - that is my motto!
The development of the images is good as well, but I slow up a bit with the keywording....
Steve
1384
« on: June 28, 2011, 21:43 »
Open browser -> Go to Google -> in search field type in "How to get started in Microstock Photography" -> Hit return
Spend hours researching cameras, lenses, software, agencies, techniques, workflows, forums, etc. like the rest of us did when we first started out.
Hang on - can I suggest a different search term? How about "Getting started in stock ebook". That should do the trick!  Steve
1385
« on: June 28, 2011, 16:17 »
Thanks for this extra bit of detail. I must investigate the "Exclude pages" plugin and that sounds as if it will solve a different problem I have. I have a "thank you" page that appears when someone has bought my book, but I could not find anyway of stopping it appear in the menu structure of my blog. Exclude pages sounds like it is just the plugin I need for that! Steve
1386
« on: June 28, 2011, 16:14 »
Thanks Duncan - that helps a lot. In my review of the various sites on my blog, I always praise CanStock for the easy uploading and very fair and fast reviewing - with no categories.
I'm glad that you have reinforced that opinion.
So the motto for any business is: Find out if there is a need to be met, then develop the solution...
Steve
1387
« on: June 28, 2011, 13:43 »
I didn't know that Canstock had categories!
I am sure the tool does what it says, but does the categorization make any difference to sales - ie do properly categorized images sell more often on Canstock? I like the site, and sometimes I get some pretty good sales from them, but am I missing out by not having categories?
Steve
1388
« on: June 28, 2011, 12:56 »
Your welcome to check out mine. It's in my signature. I see, thanks! Was the blog also created in Ktools, or is that a link to another site that is integrated together? In the meantime, I did find that the eCommerce software I have (eStore) has been integrated into the most popular photo gallery in Wordpress (NextGen) to make an online store to display and sell images. I found this link to it: http://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/wordpress-estore-and-nextgen-gallery-integration-create-photo-shop-1200I'll have to investigate some more as I see that ktools is $249. Steve
1389
« on: June 28, 2011, 12:18 »
Sorry - you have changed it, I see. The link in the original post is now magically back to its original form. Thanks.
Steve
1390
« on: June 28, 2011, 12:17 »
Yes, nice feature to save typing, but I think all Amazon books are in the "d" then "P" folder! Could make it tricky to properly refer to it. How often do we talk about DP these days?
Steve
1391
« on: June 28, 2011, 12:15 »
You could certainly run the ktools script in a subdirectory and make a link in the main blog header that point to it. You'd need to tweak the ktools design to look similar to the blog design, and put a link in the ktools store header back to the blog. Seen this done a bit before. I'll check into that - thanks. Are there any really nice examples of a Ktools driven site? I will check the bigger thread, but just wondered what good sites came to mind. Steve
1393
« on: June 28, 2011, 10:07 »
Congrats on getting the book on Amazon. About that Wordpress shopping cart. Are you doing your own site development/programming or having it done? Thanks for the kind comments on the Amazon bit - a "published" author at last!! I tried to post the link here but the forum software is changing the link before it inserts it. I'll write to Leaf about that. I have done all the wordpress stuff myself. Wordpress is a great system that has worked flawlessly for me. To add the shopping cart, I looked at the available plugins (some free, some paid) and was impressed by the WP eStore plugin ($49) as it seems to have a combination of very easy installation coupled with a lot of flexibility to sell physical as well as digital products, have discount coupons, sales etc. I'm only scratching the surface with my installation. Installing was a breeze - you just click "install" and it all works automatically. The integration will Paypal was already configured, although I had to create a new account with Paypal. I tested it by creating my book as a product sold at $0.05 (I know, that is what it is worth ), and bought a copy myself from my old Paypal account. It provides you with an automated email that includes a unique and time limited download link for the actual book. All in all, a very easy process. I have only had one problem - someone in China couldn't download the book, but he emailed me and I sent one successfully as an attachment via email. I suspect it was a problem in China rather than a flaw with the process. Steve
1394
« on: June 28, 2011, 09:04 »
Duane I've got the perfect answer - a "how to get started in Microstock" eBook, available on Amazon and via my website. http://www.backyardsilver.com/stock_photography_ebook/ It will tell you everything you want to know for only $4.99. I do have a chapter on both cameras and workflow (Raw workflow using Lightroom). Steve
1395
« on: June 28, 2011, 08:47 »
I've been concentrating on building up links and traffic to my existing blog that runs on Wordpress software, and, although I do have a SmugMug Pro site, it is under a different URL and does not get the same amount of visibility. I was thinking of adding my own stock images to a section of my blog so that I can ride on the back of the existing SEO work I have done for that URL.
Anyone know of ways to add a "store" for digital downloads of your own images to an existing Wordpress blog? I have bought the Wordpress eStore plugin and that will let me sell digital downloads in a secure fashion, but I still need to create a searchable store and get all my images installed, priced and made available for license. If there is some plugin that already handles that function, that would save a lot of time.
I see a lot of people are getting involved with Ktools - can that be integrated into an existing web site structure?
Steve
1396
« on: June 28, 2011, 08:38 »
Quote from: steheap on Yesterday at 20:16
At this rate, the book will become my third best selling site behind Shutterstock and iStock!
eheh are you kidding no? you sold 14 books for 5$ each? not saying it bad or good but they arent like pictures, I dont believe you will sell 14 every month Grin About one copy a day so far, and I have just managed to get it on Amazon as a Kindle book. I get a reasonable number of hits to the site from Google searches (rather than the restricted set of folks on a forum) and so it may continue - who knows! At least I have paid for the shopping cart functionality that I added to my Wordpress site and could start selling other things now for no incremental cost. Anyone want a Canon AE1 camera? Steve
1397
« on: June 27, 2011, 20:16 »
I've always taken the view that the techniques of stock may be relatively simple, but the effort and dedication required to actually make something from the images makes the difference between someone playing at it and someone who is going to be successful. I've always been pretty open on my blog about what I do and why I do it, and part of that is because I like writing and hopefully passing on my enthusiasm to others (even though they may theoretically take some sale from me in the future.) I finally decided to try to monetize that advice a little through writing a "how to get started in Stock" eBook and so far 14 happy people have been tempted to part with their cash!! At this rate, the book will become my third best selling site behind Shutterstock and iStock! Steve
1398
« on: June 20, 2011, 13:59 »
Very helpful and I really do appreciate the thoughts. The siituation is that my career (that I'm currently in) is kind of winding down, probably won't be able to continure in this field much longer. I'm approaching retirement age and amy looking to hopefully suppliment income with photography. Not looking for get rich quick or anything close to that, I don't mind putting in the work if I know what work needs to be put in. My problems stem from being basically clueless when it comes to the agencies and some of the phrases and terms that the "pros" throw around because they all understand them. Could I take some classes, yeah probably but again, that's cost which will be taking from the little I have for retirement so I'm trying to learn by reading, and using tools like lynda.com and the like, plus what you folks are willing to share. Hi - I'm in a similar position - finished full time employment last June and have been doing some consulting on a part time basis on the side. I got into microstock after the "golden age" that Lisa mentioned (about 3.5 years for me), and I started with the Canon 40D and built up from there as I got more income. I learned a lot about photography (get a lot of magazines, and they are tax deductible), I learned a lot from this forum, and I made a lot of mistakes. However, with perseverance and time, you can build a reasonable side income. Nothing that you can use to replace full time employment (at least not in the US), but easily enough to cover all your equipment and a reasonable amount besides. It is hard work though, although if you take images of things you like, and enjoy the process, then it is very worthwhile. I find I am always on the look out now for that stock shot as I travel my own area, and, from time to time, travel further afield. I know the group will expect this of me now, but you could always invest in a good eBook. Getting Started in Stock comes to mind, available from my web site!! Good luck! Steve
1399
« on: June 16, 2011, 10:21 »
Now this is crying! I think I had just seen the latest payment schedule from iStock...  Steve
1400
« on: June 08, 2011, 09:57 »
I think if Lightburner didn't exist, then it would be interesting, but given a choice between a free system that does 90% of what I want and a 100% system that costs $10 or $20 a month, I would vote for the free system. I've been trying to sell a great eBook to help beginners get started in stock for only $4.99 and that is a struggle!!
I'm still not convinced of the benefit of doing keywording on your system - what if I want to upload directly to Alamy, say, I would have to get the keyworded files back from your system onto my hard drive to use the Alamy upload process. I much prefer to have keyworded images on my own computer that I can later upload to a brand new site.
What is the real benefit over the competition that people would be willing to pay for?
Steve
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