I don't know how contributors could afford to pay models in microstock these days with the lower pay rates on SS DT etc

It's a good question. But an amazing thing happened to me. I answered an add on the net looking for mature models with my photo & the studio putting out the add invited me down for a photoshoot so I went down to central London (over 2 hours travel by train) & it went very well and passed the shoot easily. The studios website said the photographers there even shoot for fashion week. They referred me to some agencies along with a portfolio. I talked to the owner of one on the phone after applying & they'd heard about me from the studio & it was positive etc. But it all came crashing down when same agency texted saying I need to pay a £180 fee to complete the application which I cannot afford because the photoshoot wasn't free either & I'm having to pay for. I'm in touch with another agency though which should be better.
PS. I've done body parts stock photos of myself (mentioned on another post) I don't think I'll gain national recognition for those though. 

I've never hired models but I shot photos of myself incl. a medical band left on my wrist after I went for a blood test at the hospital. Also shot my foot (not literally) when I sprained it after collapsing. I was ok but my foot was badly bruised. Both photos have sold a few times.
I just sold a photo of myself with the cat on my shoulder on adobe stock so at least someone likes it.

Quote from: PigsInSpace on August 12, 2016, 17:19
I'm amazed at the idea that you have successfully met someone on the street and convinced them you were a photographer and not an axe murderer.

I believe if he has a good camera with him no-one will think that

sorry wrong board

 :)Hee hee
I recovered my costs for equipment in the end but now my camera's playing up so I use my smartphone. Luckily a camera body for my system is inexpensive. 

I re-formatted the camera last november but luckily haven't used the camera much because I've used my iphone more when out & about.

Quote from: ThomasAmby on June 01, 2011, 13:49
I really need some opinions - is it okay to submit micro images to Alamy ? Can it be justified by the different (and possibly wider) licensing terms ?

I've always restrained myself from joining because I wouldn't want to be that buyer who found the image on a micro site the next day. On the other hand, maybe some buyers are staying with Alamy because they like their service and licensing terms - well aware of all the micro alternatives out there. Maybe they're seeing some professionalism / extra security there that they won't find on the micros - I have no idea.
What do you think, do you have any qualms submitting micro images to Alamy as RF?

It's probably not going to change my opinion on this, but I guess if everyone else is doing it and it's not against the Alamy contributor agreement, I might consider jumping on the bandwagon.

I wanted to make a poll for better "measurement" of opinions, but don't know how to.

ETA: There it was.

Yes because Alamy accepts anything and I understand that the buyers on there are very different from microstock buyers

Quote from: StockedMedia on March 07, 2024, 08:10
I'm new to the site and trying to find my way around this forum. I'm more of a buyer of microstock  than a contributer who sells content. Are there many on here like me? I've had a couple of projects where I've struggled to find the right content so will be posting a few things here soon to see if there are some agencies that I havent come across that might be better.

What kind of photos do you need?

Quote from: Uncle Pete on September 06, 2024, 18:41

Quote from: TonyD on September 06, 2024, 07:28

Quote from: Dantheman on January 04, 2013, 22:51

Quote from: elvinstar on January 04, 2013, 21:57

QuoteWhy would using a card reader be better than connecting directly to the pc? The reader in the pc is exactly the same as an external card reader?

I think they meant connecting the camera to the PC to transfer files.

ok that makes sense. But i really hardly know anyone who still does this!

I transfer images from the card to the PC & the cloud such as one drive & google drive but when my SD card was full & had to reformat it, it turned out that some of my photos were not backed up that I needed so I was able to DL some for free from my Depositphotos port. I DL'd some photos I have on 500px & even Gurushots by sharing them on pinterest & downloading them that way with no watermarks. although they didn't always save to the original 16MP photo size

Some free tools will recovery your images. Some are free to scan and don't recover until you pay, which is a waste of time. Recova is old and free. I have iTop recovery tools on my desktop. Even after format if you haven't used the card, many time, most of your files will still be there. Full size as original. Sandisk cards used to come with free recovery software. Just buy a card and the code for a year of use, is included.

But do it now and don't use the card. I mean, even a formatted card, will still have many images, unless you did deep level formatting instead of the fast.

Thank you, I used Recova & was able to recover lost photos including of my cat who sadly died a few months back

Quote from: Dantheman on January 04, 2013, 22:51

Quote from: elvinstar on January 04, 2013, 21:57

QuoteWhy would using a card reader be better than connecting directly to the pc? The reader in the pc is exactly the same as an external card reader?

I think they meant connecting the camera to the PC to transfer files.

ok that makes sense. But i really hardly know anyone who still does this!

I transfer images from the card to the PC & the cloud such as one drive & google drive but when my SD card was full & had to reformat it, it turned out that some of my photos were not backed up that I needed so I was able to DL some for free from my Depositphotos port. I DL'd some photos I have on 500px & even Gurushots by sharing them on pinterest & downloading them that way with no watermarks. although they didn't always save to the original 16MP photo size

Quote from: mike123 on September 01, 2024, 18:37
@cobalt:

Also microstock contributors are such a small minority of Photoshop users, that Adobe likely doesn't even care about making them angry.

Theres a whooping 23 million Photoshop users per month

I have the same problem tried all my browsers but can access the community on my iphone. I won't login though just incase I get blocked again but at least I can read the posts. Maybe I was banned

Quote from: blvdone on June 23, 2023, 23:23
I only sell photos on Shutterstock and Adobe Stock.  I have 2x more photos on Shutterstock because they accept editorials.  But my revenue is 1/3 of Adobe Stock.  Shutterstock definitely isn't for creators.  They are for their stockholders.  Squeeze squeeze squeeze!!

I would ditch SS if i could but they take editorial.Adobe is better for creators & Alamy is for editorial but sales there are very poor for me.

No, but their royalty rates are much better than the other main MS sites. I would submit to adobe only if I could but many of my photos are editorial. They have stricter reviews than others but that turned out fine in the end because it improved my work.

When SS ruthlessly cut the rates they paid in 2020, I wanted to leave as soon as I got to first payout as I'd not been submitting for long. It took longer to payout though due to so many low cent DLs but later I got much more for some sales & the average price per DL went up. My sales also went higher.
DT & DP worked out roughly the same price per DL as SS but with far less sales & didn't seem to increase even after adding more photos. Only adobe's average DL price is better & by quite a margain. Alamy also cut their royalty rate by half (for me anyway) but with no increase in sales making the other places (apart from adobe) worse than SS.

Quote from: puravida on July 27, 2009, 03:22
I just came home from my local gallery where a co-op of photographers run their own gallery. While I was there, I chatted with this week's exhibitor about her experience as an artist, and my own as a stock photographer. And the end of a long  and insightful exchange of our own experience, and our common aspiration ie. passion in photography, we were interrupted by a couple who asked the exhibitor if they could see her on one of her exhibits. As I was browsing around in the meantime, I overheard the couple arranging to buy one of her exhibits. Not the original one on the wall, but a copy . Priced - $400 .

As I left , I couldn't help asking the exhibitor why a buyer would pay her $400, while another buyer would pay us "stock photographer" 30 cents. Her insightful response was , "I suppose because they (the couple) know I won't be selling it for less than 400 dollars, and the buyer of your stock photos know that they can buy it for much less.".

This profound answer made me think about our "career" as stock photographers.
We have heard that during this recession, no one has the money to pay us the highest price of stock photography. Yet, someone just paid this lady $400 for her photograph. There is a recession here in my city as well, and the couple I am sure is not an alien who is immuned to the recession.
 
I suppose she is right. Why would anyone want NOT to pay $400 for our photograph? When they know we will sell it for 30 cents.

Something to think about, the next time we call ourselves proudly "stock photographers".

Quote from: Pacesetter on January 11, 2024, 18:07
Yes, and others just over $1.00 and $1.40 as you mentioned. Adobe Stock has started 2024 really great for me and way in the lead. So far I feel like Adobe is the ONLY site that is rewarding the work I put into microstock.

yes, about 99p a DL

Yes, DT is a real pain to upload with the auto keywords turned off. It also keeps saying you have less than 5 words in the description even when there are well over that & won't let you submit. I have to re-word the description. The number & rate of sales is very poor & hasn't improved in more than 3 years since my 1st download even with over 1000 more photos.
The last time I had more than 35c a Download was in May 2022 when I had a $2+ DL very poor. SS & Adobe have been much better.

I have photos on there for weeks if not over a month still in review.

Quote from: dakk on August 06, 2023, 07:46
by the way didn't they raise the sub download from 0.35 to 0.38 briefly? what was that about?
I kind of like how they adjust the royalty for credit download according to the popularity of images. I wish other agencies consider something like that too

Yes, 38c until Sept 2021 but I haven't had more than 35c per DL since then. For me, DLs have just stopped (the last DL was Oct 9th 23} even though I still submit photos & my keywords are good. The number of images in my port increases but sales don't rise in proportion at all. I don't think I will ever get to the $100 payment which is a shame because the agency ethos is good, SS on the other hand, my sale DLs are over 10x more for similar photos.
Why do the horrible (mean to contributor) agencies get more sales?
https://www.dreamstime.com/duns123_info

on DP I have well over 1000 photos. I joined DP 18 months ago & had about 27 DLs so far the first DLs happened almost straight away. Some photos (of buildings & places) sold several times within a month then just the odd DL here & there so not really worth it, especially as the payout is at $50.
It's been even worse on Dreamstime though (a supposedly better agency) with only 36 DLs in the last 3 years & it was 6 months before I got the first DL there.
I think both agencies were much better for sales in the past but I think SS has taken a lot of sales from these in the last 10 years

10,000,000 Isn't that Ten Million images? How can anyone get that? Dreamstime has been a disaster for me as I've no way of getting to the $100 threshold for payout.

https://www.picfair.com/account/picfair_plus/new/?coupon_code=UPGRADE50
I've never sold anything there but maybe you need more photos than the free account allows to sell there anyway. Any thoughts?

Quote from: KuriousKat on June 27, 2023, 21:01
You need to add the day. They changed the rules recently, I believe.

yes, I added the day & they've now all been accepted straight away so it's automated. Some other photos have even been accepted for 'data license'