The monopod of totalawesomeness has finally been finalized and is for sale now. Back seven months ago, I teamed up with Custom Brackets to create the perfect tool for high demand shooting. Long shooting days, high requirement for sharpness and very high degree of ease of use. I took my cut out to lower the price, so don't complain. This is for the professional shooter.

http://www.steady-pod.com/scripts/prodViewnew.asp?idproduct=217

You like? I love it.

Y

Quote from: Whiz on October 13, 2010, 22:24
I decided to use Ktools to create my own microstock site just for curiosities sake. It was fairly easy to implement, but the mysql stuff did spook me a little. Anyway, I was just wondering what you all think of it. I have tested the payment system with Paypal Sandbox, and it seems that everything is working properly. Here is the link if you want to take a look: http://rfstocks.com/

Also, sometimes the site seems slow. Then again, maybe it's just me.

You Rock. Great work!

I am working on a similar idea.

I must admit that when reading this thread, it strikes me as quite absurd. What strikes me the most is that there are so many double agendas at play here. The most aggressive arguments are interestingly enough argued from the same group of shooters that are directly competitive to Daniel. Fact is, that Daniel is doing great, and by doing so good as he is, this will provoke. Especially when doing better than people that have started much earlier than him. What you don't know about Daniel is that he was an extremely successful shooter even before he entered microstock with some of the most prestigious companies in Denmark on his client list. Turning stock, was just a change of direction. He had the bankroll, the skills, the gear, the contacts and a good friend (me) that advised him to go exclusive to minimize cost's for distribution. Only 15% of my total income comes from Istock, so being able to share expenses on some shoots was a welcome opportunity, that would not jeopardize my overall income by means of competition. There is nothing new to this, many other exclusive and non-exclusive photographers are already sharing shoots, even models and sets which we have never done.
Shooting with Daniel is inspirational, and I wish to be able to do it more. In 2010 I only had the chance to shoot with him once and he was shooting a couple and I was shooting a teen-age group for Macrostock.
Personally, Daniels is one of the kindest and most humble people i know. He has a presence about him and is almost always smiling. I talked to him today about this post, and he was actually quite sad about what people where saying. Give him some respect for what he has achieved and be better than serving him the very same melody of jealous nonsense talk that I also had to endure when I became a success.
One thing that is completely forgotten in this thread is that he invested a ton of money in this and completely stopped his other commercial work to focus 100% on becoming an exclusive top contributor. He took the jump. No ties, no turning back. Did you do that? Did you actually do that? Perhaps he deserves where he is now.

We are not distributing through them. Their entire collection of Danish Images are "non-modelreleased" and they still sell them for commercial use. I find that very strange. Unlimited subscription.... I find that very strange too.

Got the mil. Did not get the pink diamond... Very weird. Wrote about it on the forum and post got banned. Crazy IS and their restrictions.

Quote from: oxman on November 23, 2010, 04:52
Yuri is a smart guy but his model is flawed. DNY59 at iS has it right.

Hey Oxman. Will you post a link. I would love to see this.

Hey Guys.
I am not fed up. Stock is as fun as it has always been. I love shooting and probably always will.
Earning-wise and success-wise (if my model is flawed etc.). I find that an interesting question. I have chosen a business-model, where I have a much lower profit margin than still-lifers or "shoot your neighbor" kind of photographers. In that sense it is flawed, that my choice of business-model does not adapt very well to allowing for 50% or even 80% profit margins. I aim for 10-15%, but here is the catch...of millions of USD.

My reasons for being quite are two things: 1) I find most conversation here and other places to be so interrupted with misconceptions that good sensible dialog is hard. Unfortunately. 2) I am building something big. That takes time.

About building another studio.
Yes I am building another studio. Pricetag: 300000USD. That is not a whole lot in my eyes for what I am getting. And when storm hits, or if it does, I can hide away in my studio and shot away at no cost

Y

Quote from: CydM on March 04, 2010, 07:50

Quote from: lisafx on February 28, 2010, 00:10
Maybe I am crazy, but I think the fact that Yuri's production model is ultimately proving to be unprofitable is both predictable and welcome news.  

The factory folks who have been flooding the micros the past couple of years with thousands upon thousands of cookie cutter images all shot on the same formula have virtually buried the offerings of the rest of us.  While at the same time they are running up production costs that are totally unsustainable at micro prices.

It seems inevitable their business model would cease to be profitable for them.  Maybe once they move on to greener pastures it will allow those of us with realistic production costs and thrifty business models to thrive.

With respect to the newbies being recruited, I think the barriers to entry are increasing to a point where only the very determined will stick it out.      

It would be nice to think his business model isn't panning out and he'll leave the game for the rest of us to play, but he seems to have something else up his sleeve.  He's stated that he might start giving his images away for free.  That doesn't seem to make sense, but it does if you're extremely ambitious and do extensive research like Yuri does.  

Blogging is now the bigger game, and he's done his homework.  Nothing beats the word "free" for SEO.  If he can bring traffic to his blog for free downloads, he could make a whole bunch more money off his blog than he ever made doing photography, and with much less overhead and physical work.  I stumbled on one blog that wasn't giving anything away for free, just her random writings about her fairly mundane life.  She had enough traffic to secure just one big name advertiser and now pulls in 120K a year.  Imagine what Yuri could make if he were giving away free photos and writing about business in general.  And what would that do to others shooting similar images and trying to sell them the traditional way?  I actually thought about pooling several photographers into a blog and giving away free photos a few years back.  Even that long ago blogging was generating enough advertising money that it made sense.  

Aside from learning illustration because it's lots of fun, I've also turned to blogging.  If you're on twitter you'll find there are hundreds of blogging gurus handing out advice because it is growing so rapidly and is so profitable.  Those turning to blogging do need a LOT of images, but they don't need good quality images, nor are they at all impressed with the snob factor of high end equipment.  In fact, they want photos that help break up blocks of text without overpowering the text.  If stock agencies are smart, they'll keep this in mind and adjust their reviewing standards accordingly.  IS made a brilliant move with Vetta to keep the price point high on quality work, while lowering the price on "good enough" photos to feed the blogging market.  It just doesn't make sense to me to pour thousands of dollars into camera equipment when I can blog for the same income with just my computer and a keyboard.  That's not even necessary now.  Sites like Helium are planning on selling their writing as stock to bloggers.  That's quite an indicator of where the next big market is.

As for Andres and some others in his league, there's been some posts made by him and others that they're so fed up with the games of microstock that they're thinking of going strictly RM.  That could be frustration speaking, but it's certainly social networking in action.  You can't just put up a portfolio and promote it on sites like this any longer.  You've got to twit and tweet and have a fan page on facebook, do the hokey-pokey, then turn yourself about. It's all very exhausting from my perspective, and the game plan will probably change all over again by this time next year!

You're very right in stating that it's an unhealthy practice encouraging hobbyists to enter the game.  It dilutes the market, lures them into buying more equipment than they need, and in general doesn't do anybody much good.  

There are some things that never change, like the more things change the more they stay the same :-)  If you're in it for the money, then the money has to be your focus at all costs.  If you're in it because you love photography, then don't sweat the changes and enjoy the ride.  You'll always come out on top, so long as you know why you're doing what you're doing and would do it for free if you had to.

Well there is a point to my plans and you are getting closer to it. You will see in 6-8 months from now. Your observations are more knowledgeable than I think most people here will realize. Free you say.... and yes... the concept of free is very interesting in my eyes.

Quote from: gostwyck on March 02, 2010, 12:20

Quote from: leaf on March 02, 2010, 07:46
The majority of microstock submitters still produce low-cost images, something that I think will be profitable for a long time.

Yes, but the point is that profitability will probably reduce markedly and personally I don't think that that point is necessarily so very far away. Growth in earnings, for those with sizeable portfolios, has been largely fuelled by increases in prices and when those slow down, as inevitably they must do, then earnings are likely to fall.

I've been uploading at a fairly steady rate for over 5 years. In 2008 my earnings were 57% up on 2007, in 2009 I was 22% up on 2008 and so far this year I'm about 11% up on the same period in 2009. On those figures it is not exactly  inconceivable that this could be my last year of growth before decline sets in.

Obviously as my portfolio has grown then the proportion of new images has a smaller effect but the real problem is that the % of the total libraries is always reducing. Unless you are able to substantially increase output and/or saleability then growth will eventually stop and then reverse.

I'm sure I'll remain profitable, in so far as the images will sell for more than they cost me to produce, but the question is for how long that profit will remain high enough to live off.

Great insight! Completely agree!

Excellent indeed! I once sat in a 3ton military jeep that flipped 6 times in the air including one double flip (twice) before it hit the ground. I had my seatbelt on. I am alive today!

If I make video.... Yes.

Check it out: http://www.facebook.com/yuriarcurs?ref=nf

Quote from: Digital66 on March 02, 2010, 00:53

Quote from: luissantos84 on March 02, 2010, 00:26
the funny thing about this topic, is that Yuri just stated a "thing" at Ellen's blog, it is true ok, but why all this fuss about his work?.. You are all saying this and that, just talking right?.. looks like a gossip magazine...

are you close friends of him? do you know him? ok some might know, but don't know that much to talk about himself, he isn't here to defend all the things said in this topic.. it is becoming ridiculous!.. if he spends too much or less his its own business, if his style is like a "factory" producing a product etc...! come on..

YEAH, I know I am nobody and I don't know crap about stock and so on, but please give a break to Yuri! (come on bully guys, show your claws and chat around )

What makes you think Yuri isn't here?  He knows this forum.

This forum is not  a gossip magazine.  If you don't like it, why do you keep coming?

Thank you Digital66. Yes I am here. I am here and have been reading most parts. (with a good laugh sometimes). My assistants have been screaming about this post for a three days now. Some post's are worth spending time on and some go out of hand and it is best that I just stay out. This post is one of them, but I will reply anyway.

Money, dropping RPI and profit.
Having profits in the range of 30-50% as some microstock photographers experience is only possible when you choose to stay small... (Shoot in your mothers garage kind of setting, Sean would know about this, he is an expert in staying small and making big profits). When you scale up, profits drop, but revenue increases. The two business models will give you about the same profit in the long run, but the one I have chosen also offers more opportunities, more potential profit when scaling down and more exposure.

Shooting style.
Yes. My style is getting extremely duplicated. I can count at least three or four photographers that have studied my video blog about my studio a little too much and their images simply look like they where taking in my studio. It is unfortunate, but this will always be the case. I shoot in many styles and some picture types you would never guess came from me. If you are a good photographer, you should be able to shoot everything. You may think my style is boring "Ikea looking", blank faces, too bright and you are probably right, but you are missing the point: "The images sell and that is what they where created for, not suiting your artistic fancy. I can shoot much more artistic and love doing so, but I can't make a living from it, not with the overhead and business model I have chosen. This is my choice and complaining about it says more about you, than me.

Spending, lot's of studios, lots of second shooters.
Guys. This is part of the scaling and needs to be in place if you want to produce as much as I do today. When you have bought a new studio, it is there and you can produce in it very cheaply. The lights, the backdrops, styling area, is an investment. The way I see it: I am stocking up for a storm, and perhaps you should too.

The time coming will be rough and just as we saw a lot of macro shooters not being able to "survive" when micro arrived, so we will see a lot of amateur micro shooters not being able to survive with the entry of professional micro shooters. (The yuri clones as they are sometimes called)

Another thing to consider is that the non-exclusive agencies have not really raised prices much, such as seen on IS. They are not really doing that across the boarder and that gives us the biggest contributor to the problems we are facing now.

Good luck to you all. Have a great week! Y

Report from "DT in trouble!"

I have had some bad experiences with DT lately. Beside being the only agency in the world that does not allow you to submit images on the Getty generic release, which results in massive extra paperwork, they also seem to be rejecting images based on similarity so much these days that it is almost not worth uploading to them. Having uploaded more than 6000 images over the last 6 months, my income is slightly dropping with them which is not a good sign either.
I addressed these issues with DT SEO and actually got a slightly unpleasant email back. I was very surprised by this.
We must remember that DT has an otherwise generous photographer commission and should be respected for that. Some tolerance seems in place because of this.

I have had some bad experiences with DT lately. Beside being the only agency in the world that does not allow you to submit images on the Getty generic release, which results in massive extra paperwork, they also seem to be rejecting images based on similarity so much these days that it is almost not worth uploading to them. Having uploaded more than 6000 images over the last 6 months, my income is slightly dropping with them which is not a good sign either.
I addressed these issues with DT SEO and actually got a slightly unpleasant email back. I was very surprised by this.
We must remember that DT has an otherwise generous photographer commission and should be respected for that. Some tolerance seems in place because of this.

Quote from: sjlocke on January 05, 2010, 12:31

Quote from: Yuri_Arcurs on January 05, 2010, 12:03
I used that one before. Laflors action script is much better. As in MUCH faster.

If you say so.  All it is doing is an imageSize:
    activeDocument.resizeImage( final_width, final_height, final_dpi, ResampleMethod.BICUBICSHARPER ); 

There's nothing else in the action.  Any benefit from resizing (apparent loss of noise, sharpening, etc.) comes from just sizing down.

Laflors let's you do it as an action in the sidebar. The resizeimage only works as a script under file/scripts/resizeimage.... That's 1 click versus 3 clicks. I prefer fast workflow and prefer Laflor's. Thank you again Laflor. Excellent work! (Excellent stock photography by the way, see you at the top!)

Read this. Hmmm. THinking

Quote from: sjlocke on January 05, 2010, 00:23
Here's a script from 2007 that does that:
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=59163

I'll just stick to imageSize .

I used that one before. Laflors action script is much better. As in MUCH faster.

Earned over 600 Euro at featurepix this year

OK. Site fixed. The keywording tool does not show results right now, but we will fix that too

By the way. The site is not infected or dangerous. We are waiting for Google to update their diagnostics and it keeps showing a warning.

A dodgy SEO guy that we have worked with "left" something behind on our server. We got full backup and is building the site from scratch on a new server today and tomorrow.

We are working on this. We are adding SSL and security certificates too. We are also moving to a dedicated server. Should be up and running tomorrow or the day after that.

Quote from: rene on August 30, 2009, 01:59
Crestock is not in the list. I knew it, Yuri is the owner and already has all the data

Hahaha.... That was a good laugh. You can add agencies on the last line when you type in an agency.

Quote from: lisafx on August 30, 2009, 01:11

Quote from: Jonathan Ross on August 30, 2009, 01:02
I would be concerned though sending another photographer my stats for his own data collecting. This is maybe the way some will perceive this, not so much as a gift but as a tool that helps them and you at the same time.

Is it possible to use the calculator anonymously, or is the contributor name required?  I can definitely see how people, including myself, would be hesitant to send their data to a fellow microstock contributor. 

Guys.... Type in someone else's name or do whatever... We are not storing the data anywhere and I can even see it.

Yuri