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Messages - phildate
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151
« on: December 07, 2006, 12:21 »
Haha, I thought that would raise some eyebrows! Actually it's true, I've just uploaded five images to Fotolia and they are going to be exclusive there. I have set the max prices for sales and $1000 for exclusive buyout so we will have to see how the sales go.
I have had an amazingly busy November, with not much time to shoot or think about stock so apologies for the absence on the forum. Thanks to everyone who continues to compliment me in other threads!!
152
« on: December 03, 2006, 10:00 »
I get the feeling non-exclusives are being squeezed out at IS. From November's report card, most exclusives had BME (Best Month Ever) whilst many non-exclusives like me, reported quite drastic decreases (-21% sales).
Having my upload limit reduced to 35 a week (as a diamond) only lessens my ability to keep up with the other exclusive members. Given the time they want me to spend DSing my files, I feel quite unfairly treated I must say.
153
« on: November 08, 2006, 19:51 »
My sales are terrible in November and I think I will be down 40%. Just hoping the other sites are making more to compensate
154
« on: November 08, 2006, 19:48 »
I have had two requests for RAW files but to be honest, the $1 commission is not worth the time it will take me to find the RAW files on an external HDD. For $10 I might consider it.
155
« on: November 02, 2006, 04:47 »
I have decided to make a trip from Singapore to Sydney - will be there on November 11th and going to the U2 concert on Monday 13th before flying back on Tuesday. Would be cool to meet up with any fellow stockers on Sat or Sun. Not sure whether I will be bringing all the gear yet but I expect so, so if you want to go and shoot some of the sights of Sydney would appreciate a guide. Also, any advice on cheap but good hotels much appreciated.
156
« on: November 01, 2006, 19:30 »
My best selling picture which has over 1100 downloads on IS and many more across the other sites has earned me well over $500. And who says you can't make good money with $0.20 sales 
157
« on: October 24, 2006, 10:12 »
I recently used a Spyder 2 on my Apple 20" CD and was unhappy with the results. Used what was supposedly superior software than that which comes with it. There were too many user-defined variables to be set to allow me to trust the result.
I really need an expert to spend a day with me talking color management and profiles/gmauts etc... but can't find one in Singapore.
158
« on: October 24, 2006, 10:05 »
Congrats - you can go exclusive at IS now 
159
« on: October 16, 2006, 19:30 »
The current system is so flawed it's not funny. Try the same search on IS compared to SS or DT and see the difference in the returns. At the moment on IS, many contributors are trying to second guess the system by adding phrases but unless everyone does this, the system is going to be flawed. I have no idea how they are going to resolve this issue apart from by employing keyworders/taggers to sort this system out and not let contributors do their own keywords a la Getty.
My sales haven't suffered too much but I have been uploading my full quote of 50 images a week so I would be expecting my royalties to be climbing steadily. Oh well, we will wait for the official word from someone there, but it's been a week since anyone has communicated anything and I sense the troops are getting restless. Even Hidesy has been on the forums to say she is confused so hopefully admins will take note.
160
« on: October 16, 2006, 19:25 »
I tried a few searches, for example "Group Business" (my favourite!) and had some of my images from Fotolia appear on first page - then lots of crap and no useful photos from iStock unless you consider swans as a business group. I can't see how this will really help sales unless it gets support from the agencies to ensure great (and appropriate) photos appear in the searches. Otherwise people are just going to get confused/annoyed.
161
« on: October 09, 2006, 21:02 »
I've paid for microstockwatcher but I haven't received my activiation code yet  emailed Marc about it but no reply. The code that was sent with the payment receipt doesn't work but I haven't had any other emails...what am I looking for??
162
« on: October 06, 2006, 05:30 »
Nope - best this week. Wednesday was slowest day by quite a bit.
163
« on: October 02, 2006, 22:33 »
I have started using ImageManager to organise my portfolio, to categorise images before uploading. Once I got the hang of it, it has made life somewhat more bearable. Tags still have to be checked but I am employing a student now to go through my entire portfolio and organise tags for me. Categories seem like a waste of time now but it's easier with IM than doing it on IS.
164
« on: October 02, 2006, 22:29 »
I get email requests all the time, from designers/buyers who have seen my work on various microstock sites. It is not difficult to find email addresses via site profiles or by googling my name and finding my private website. Requests vary from designers asking for a particular model in a particular outfit, exclusive deals, super-big images upsized using Genuine Fractals etc...
I have no qualms about dealing with clients privately. Like Quevaal said, we are not married to any site and as long as the dialogue is not going on via sitemail, we are not infringing any T&Cs of any site.
165
« on: September 25, 2006, 19:03 »
BigStock recently recruited some 'temp' approvers to get through the Q hence the big jump in numbers
166
« on: September 25, 2006, 19:01 »
I got a lenspen before our trip to Sanibel and the beach and i did some snooping around and everyone seemed to say it was safe so i've used it with success on both lenses and my sensor. Wouldn't go anywhere without it now!
You use your lenspen on your sensor? Wow, rather you than me! I only use Sensor Swabs when I don't have time to take it back to Nikon to get it done properly. That's one of the advantages of living in Singapore, nothing is more than 45 minutes away and I appreciate that anyone probably living anywhere else doesn't have this luxury. Last time I was buying a lenspen (just for cleaning lenses and LCD screens) I was offered a "speckgrabber", a sort of sticky toothpick thing, for pulling individual dust grains from a sensor. However, I just can't come to put anything sticky on the sensor. Especially not Sticky tape!!
167
« on: September 24, 2006, 18:45 »
Maybe there was just something wrong with your connection yesterday. I normally have a super-fast connection but yesterday it was chugging along as well as the US Ryder Cup team!
168
« on: September 24, 2006, 18:40 »
Buy (and read) "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. It's a great book for helping you understand what all the numbers mean and are doing to the final image. His other book "Learning To See Creatively" is also very good.
169
« on: September 23, 2006, 20:18 »
I was inspired after reading your posts last night (not to mention you helped me to understand a little more about the processes) so I made my poor sons model while I took 20 million pictures of them in the same pose using a ton of different settings. (They got smart -- after about 20 minutes of this they substituted the dog for themselves while I was changing the setting on the camera)
Besides showing me ways to make the picture better, it also showed there is an almost mind-boggling amount of variables!
It always amazes me the number of people who don't do this basic experimentation when entering the world of SLR photography. It's even easier now with digital SLRs. Hope you got a couple of good pics of your boys and the dog!
170
« on: September 22, 2006, 18:36 »
Hey everyone, was busy shooting all day yesterday and didn't get a chance to get to the forums...thanks Prof for pointing out that I am not exclusive at IS...not am I ever likely to be.
Couldn't sleep last night so decided I would try uploading again to IS. Thankfully keywords are extracted from files now and actually, for me, I don't find the tagging system too bad. What bugs me now is the categories, since there is no way of selecting the same categories as one of the last five pics. And aren't categories redundant now? Aren't the tags the same thing? Hopefully IS will sort this out soon but I can just about live with the uploading as it is now. Gotta keep uploading my weekly amount and keep my market share as best I can!
Two days without reading the IS forum and I don't think I will make any sense of what has happened. Can anyone who's really been following developments fill me in?
171
« on: September 19, 2006, 22:39 »
On request I sold an image for $750 giving me $375 commission. On retrospect, given the image (a group of business people applauding) and the sales it had generated on other sites, I shoud've made the price at least $1500, giving me $750. I forgot I would only get half!
Anyway, plan to shoot a similar shot with different models soon. BigStock were fine with removing the image for me. Dawn is always very understanding and helpful in my experience.
172
« on: September 19, 2006, 02:59 »
I don't doubt that it will be good in the long term. It's just the way they go about it. All that bullsh*t Eff Kvin stuff, building up the anticipation only to find that it means 100hrs + work for me. Some warning of what is about to happen and some time to sort out files before it goes live to designers would have been the sensible thing. Now I have to cancel any weekend plans just to work on this.
How were everyone else's sales yesterday? Mine were only about 75% of a normal weekday. Today is really slow to start.
173
« on: September 19, 2006, 02:02 »
I can wait but what happens in the meantime. All my group business people shots have been tagged as "group - group of animals" and are not showing up in any group of people searches. Needless to say, those shots provide a lot of my income at IS and for me not to come up in searches is an absolute disaster. I rely on this income to survive each month and I cannot risk waiting too long. Even Lise's images are not coming up in that search.
My oh my...what has Istock done...
174
« on: September 19, 2006, 01:15 »
I had one of my best days on Dreamstime yesterday and a miserable day at Istock so I am sure they lost some business. If designers can't find what they are looking for they will try other sites. Thankfully I am not exclusive or I would be crying in my crown.
I am seriously thinking about employing someone to fix all my files...get a student or someone to do the whole lot. It is just not worth my time.
175
« on: September 19, 2006, 00:01 »
I've been busy all morning here and just checked iStock and the new keywording update. OMG I think I am going to cry. No really, there will be a grown man sobbing at his Mac here in a minute. I tried doing a search for Group Business and the most spurious random images come up. How are designers going to find my pictures?? Lise Gagne must be crying too. Maybe I can call her and we can sob together.
I have 2400 images at IS and I have to go back and edit all of them???!!! I reckon I can get this down to 2 min a file but that is still going to take me 80 hours+. I just don't have time to do that. I have a business to run and a wife who likes to see me occassionally. The categories were bad enough and now this.
I think desginers are going to try one search and go to another site...
***sob sob wail wail***
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