LOL, you posted that most would tell Sean to take a hike while I was making my post.

This is just silly because that simply isn't true.  If you don't make it a big deal, it won't be a big deal. 

Mat

Photos of my kids sell pretty darn good and I am thrilled about it.  So are they actually.  We have some Russian neighbors that subscribe to a Russian Magazine.  The month before last they received their copy of the magazine.  My wife and youngest daughter were on the cover.  The neighbor kids couldn't get over here fast enough.  My youngest (the cover model) was beaming with pride, my oldest was green with envy. 

They are both in Microsoft Clip Art and both showed up in projects they were working on in school at different times as a complete coincidence.  They felt pretty cool about that too.  Countless other stories where their image is used online and in public area.  They love it! 

I don't get the fuss.  Some posts implied a concern that something deviant would happen with the images.  I think there is a better chance of that happening with unprotected images being taken from Facebook. 

I break out the seamless white paper, set up a couple of lights and tell the kids it's time for them to earn their share of the house payment for this month.  If you have children and don't feel good about shooting them for stock then more power to you.  If you don't have kids and feel compelled to judge me for shooting mine for stock then you can stick it where the sun don't shine. 

One more point to make:  If I didn't do formal shoots of my kids for stock it's safe to say I wouldn't have nearly enough photos of my girls.  It's tough to break out the gear if there isn't a direct purpose.

Mat

Very slick!  I haven't been using Yuri's or any other keywording tool for that matter.  That is about to change!  Thanks so much for putting this together!

Mat

She said she would make sure I was seated up front...so I don't think length of the lens will be a big factor.

Seated?  You should consider calling wedding photographers local to you and asking them if you can haul their gear around during their coverage of a wedding.  Basically be a fly on the wall and learn as much as you can as fast as you can.  

If you intend to provide good coverage you will need to be moving around.  Find good angles, get the Brides face and the Grooms face in different shots.  If you stay seated you will have one angle for the entire ceremony.  If that's the case then you had darn well better make sure it is a great angle.

Rent fast lenses.  Lensprotogo.com  Rent fast lenses.

Good luck, my fingers are crossed on your behalf.

Mat

Yeah, I'm not too fond of the change myself.  It's had a significant (negative) impact on my sales unfortunately.  Hopefully it will be like it's been in the past when the change to the search impacts negatively, then the next shift is positive.  My fingers are crossed.

Not sure about the $2.50 subs.  I'll ask Chad next time I talk to him.

Mat

What lens should you use for a wedding?  That is like asking "what channel should I watch on TV tonight?"  The answer of course is whatever you prefer. 

Asking that question however implies to me that you are not quite ready to be shooting somebodies wedding.  It is a massive responsibility and a tremendous amount of work.  If you are doing it as a favor for a friend that wouldn't have a photographer otherwise then that's cool.  If not, be very careful because you can get in pretty serious trouble.  Be sure to have them sign a contract limiting your liability. 

To answer your question, you should have at least one wide lens and one long lens.  I use a 15mm f/2.8 fisheye, 16-35 f/2.8L IS, a 70-200 f/2.8L IS and a 100mm f/2.8 L IS macro. 

A cardinal sin is to shoot a wedding with just one camera.  If it goes down, the Bride and Groom don't get wedding pictures.  Bring at least 2. 

Good luck.

Mat

I've been uploading concert photography for the editorial collection the past couple of months.  I have yet to see a sale.

Mat

There are a number of photographers that are "celebrities" in the wedding world.  He is one of them.  They aren't mainstream photographer celebrities but they do very well.  Many people try to jump into the world of wedding photographers without really having a clue what it's about.  These guys (Yervant, Huy, Jesh and many others) used to be good mentors.  Now there are so many that they realized they can make money off of their experience.  Not a bad idea really.  16.5K?  Funny.

Mat

Isn't their maximum images allowed per week rate based on your average % of accepted images?  In other words, the higher the % of your images they approve, the more you can submit each week.

Mat

Sadly, exclusive images get no boost in the search engine.  I've been asking for that for obvious reasons for as long as I can remember but that isn't in the works any time soon. 

Mat

Quote from: gostwyck on March 09, 2011, 13:36

Sales at Fotolia are reasonably steady for me. Last month might just have been a BME if they had not cut my commissions. Not so good this month though. I've barely had a rejection for the last couple of years. My problem is that new images appear so far down in the default sort order that they have very little time to be noticed before they sink backwards and into obscurity.

Out of curiosity, do have any idea why yours start out low down in the default order? Or put another way, do you know who gets to be up front in searches or what kinds/ages/prices of images get to be up front? I assume they give some sort of push to exclusive contributors and exclusive images - I think you said in the past you'd given Fotolia some exclusive images; have they done any better in initial placement?

I am really curious about IS and how much $ people are making there.  I am assuming these tiny sales represent the minority of overall sales there right?

What's the most common size and price for a sale there? 

Mat

I didn't see any of my images in there.  What makes you think it's a Fotolia affiliate if you didn't find your own images?

Mat