It takes me about five minutes to get from home to the studio. I used to work a lot from home but now we've expanded I seem to spend more and more time at the studio. It's pretty cool place to work so I don't mind at all. Surprised to see so many people working from home.

I recently upgraded my home entertainment system and I am very happy with my purchases:

Panasonic 50" Plasma TV 50PZ850
Panasonic Blu-ray player DMP-BD35K
Onkyo AV Receiver TX-SR606
JBL CS6100BG speakers

The sound quality of the Blu-ray/Receiver/speakers is just amazing. Watching Dave Matthews Live at Radio City Hall has to be seen/heard to be believed. It's like you are there.

Bought everything from Amazon except the TV which I got from Abe's of Maine. Had it all shipped to Singapore and it works perfectly. Saved a fortune on what it would've cost here. Saved 60% on the TV alone.

Also use an Xbox 360 and Apple TV to complete the experience!

We reinvest quite a considerable percentage of the earnings back into the business at the moment, maybe up to 60%. This goes to pay for studio rental, new equipment and overseas shoots with good models. We have also just hired a new full-time editor/assistant so even more money for now is going into the business. Hope it pays off in the long-term.

I would check out www.nextproof.com as they provide the perfect solution for selling stock images. You can set your own price and on payment, clients can download files straight away. I use Nextproof for my family portraiture business and have seen a massive increase in orders.

My next task is to get another site and put my entire stock portfolio on there. Luckily with the Pro account you get 250GB of storage so it's no problem to upload high-res files.

Thanks for all the replies and for everyone who stopped by the Flickr site to see the shots. The lens is the Nikon 400mm f2.8 VRII, the second most expensive lens in the line-up after the 600m f4. Weighing in at 4.6kpgs it's a beast to use and costly too at around US$10,000.

Bemused by the 'out of focus' comment - I can assure you that the images in full size are pin sharp. Yes the DOF is shallow but it's what you would expect shooting at 400mm on D3 at f2.8 or f4. If any Nikon users are impressed with the sharpness and quality of the legendary 70-200mm then this is just as good, if not better.

To me, the lens renders the out of focus areas as well as any lens but that can be individual preference of course.

I had to give the lens back today...there were tears in my eyes....

I was lucky enough to have Nikon Singapore lend me this monster for a few days. Can anyone guess what it is!?



To see some more images taken with it, check out www.flickr.com/photos/phildate

I'll be surprised if there is a swing towards non-exclusives but if there is, then I will take it after two years of having sales drop away. This month has been great though and would be happy for things to stay the way they are for a while.

Here's an interesting one...I shot a new model on Saturday from Mauritius who looks uncannily like a young Mr Obama. Would it be wrong to use "Obama" as a keyword? How about with "look-a-like"?

Would be interested to hear what you guys think.

I am getting a few a day and it's kept my Shutterstock earnings competitive in the last few months when I've failed to upload much. I've also noticed more ELs recently which might indicate a move to microstock from RM in these difficult economic times. Anyway, it's all good!

I am having an amazing month on iStock and this is the first time I have said that for at least two years. Whatever they have done to the Best Match search (weight it towards older files with high downloads I think), please don't change it!

In fact, this month is so good I've thought for the first time about the possibility of going exclusive. It's not going to happen but I did think about it for a microsecond. Haha, that's why it's called microstock!

I can't say I am thrilled with this latest announcement from Fotolia and it's fair to assume they won't be getting any free images from me, even if they are files that have not sold there in the past. Fact is, they could be on other sites selling quite nicely and the last thing you would want to do is throw them into the freebie pool.

I would prefer a price increase and no decrease in commissions but I don't think I can start jumping up and down in a violent rage when I still accept iStock's 20% commission for non-exclusives, as well as their obvious disdain for non-exclusive photographers.

I've always felt welcomed by Fotolia, have found Chad quick to respond to my personal queries. Some of the things they have done have been handled the wrong way but I can understand the need to cut costs in these difficult times. I guess we have to expect it too.

IS has completely tanked this month. Compared to my #1 site (Fotolia), IS is at about 30% of their earnings. It might even drop to 5th place this month.

Unless you use a Mac

After a week or so with the new best match I can see a 30-40% drop in income with IS and in terms of site position it will be fourth place this month for sure.

What frustrates me is the lack of communication by those in the know at iStock. I wish that they would have the balls to come out and say what their policy is rather than hiding behind things like tweaking the best match algorithm. If they want a site of exclusive contributors then come out and say so; don't just grind the non-exclusives out through 'temporary' upload limits and discrimination in the best match search.

But someone did write something funny on the latest 49 page thread. In response to 'I can upload to all the other 5 sites in the time it takes to upload to iStock' someone replied that they must be doing it wrong as it takes them 10 seconds a file!!! Hell, would love to know how they upload!

Thanks for the info Seren. Yes, if the quality is not great then all is not lost. It just converts the design to a pdf file which I can take to a better quality printer here. I will check out Asuka but since I am in Singapore, it might be an expensive option.

Hopefully the update to Aperture will have a big effect on the quality of the books. Just ten more days to wait and see!

Quote from: devon on October 22, 2008, 23:59
IS used to be my best saler, This month it will move back behind the SS, DT and FL. since they changed best match, My earn drop off 40%.

Same for me, IS will be fourth for me this month. If things carry on, it might actually go fifth! I can't see how this is good for IS. I don't think they will be shifting that many more photos due to the change in best match yet they are giving up all the extra money from us Excludeds.

I just bought Aperture 2, primarily for the photo book function. I love the ease at which you can create books, the styles are good and easily customisable. The current update says it fixes some print quality issues with Aperture 2 so I was wondering if anyone else had used it and what the results were like. I have ordered a couple of sample books and can't wait to see them. Makes it very easy to make stock portfolios to show prospective models/clients.

That is really funny - just what I needed to cheer me up with all the IS best match BS

Just email support and they will do it for you - normally takes a few days

Quote from: Zeus on October 17, 2008, 15:44
I think the interesting thing is there are different ways to form a successful business model in stock. I never hire much or get very big because every time I start making money I take a bunch of time off. Doesn't do much for the success thing but I sure like the lifestyle. It's hard to beat. I took a full year off a year ago and most summers for the previous 5 years.

Good point. For me, stock photography is what I do when I don't have any other photography work on my plate. As it is, those times are quite rare (phew!) so I don't pretend that I can compete with the big boys of Yuri, Andres etc etc. So success for me is measured by the fact that I can take a couple of weeks off here and there and I still have a pretty decent income. I know that the rent and car payments will be covered and for me, that is pretty cool. So like you Zeus, this is a lifestyle thing rather than pure business. I've never been that way inclined and never will be.

Quote from: lisafx on October 18, 2008, 19:27
Just did some random searches and non-exclusives are really, seriously handicapped in this current best match. 

For anyone who isn't exclusive, it seems kind of pointless to even be discussing what order our portfolios are in.  We aren't going to be getting any downloads there anyway....

I agree Lisa, the non-exclusives are now seriously f**cked. We now have two groups on IS, the 'Exclusives' and the 'Excluded'. I still don't get it though, they make 20% more money from everything that we sell. Aren't they cutting off their nose to spite their face? Maybe that thread congratulating Yuri pushed some buttons....

Anyway, I can't be bothered following the best match saga anymore. Sales are going to drop for us Excluded but what can we do. We have no voice, if we complain we'll just get the standard answer "You are non-exclusive, you can't have your cake and eat it". They still fail to recognise how we DO support IS. But anyway,  I am just grateful that IS is my fourth earner this month anyway.

Congrats to Yuri! He might have a team helping him now but he has set out to be the most successful microstock photographer and done what has needed to be done. No-one should gripe that he has a team behind him - he just raised the bar to a level that we can't match - would love to but I am just not that driven.

Don't think he's going to get a lot of love on the iStock thread so better give it out here! We love you Yuri!

I am all for this policy, as would any serious microstock photographer who doesn't resort to spam keywords to increase sales. However I have a few slight concerns...

1. I have thousands of files, which I cannot guarantee do not contain the odd inappropriate word. Things got so messed up with the disambiguation fiasco that I am sure some files have not been completely d'aed correctly. I am sure there are many others like me too.

2. Why don't they sort out the default setting so that they are either all on or all off, when there are multiple meanings for a search term. Everyone thinks this is a good idea and would prevent spam so I can't understand why IS won't do this. We are prepared to do our bit, why won't they?!

3. I hope this doesn't give IS a reason/excuse to pick on non-exclusives. I can imagine Sean coming in and slamming me for writing this but given the meagre non-exclusive uploads and the new best match, as a non-exclusive I am NOT feeling the love from iStock anymore.

I check the forums at IS, DT and FT but rarely post. At IS I don't feel welcome there now as a non-exclusive and keep my opinions to myself. DT I will openly ask questions on the forums and give some advice back - same for FT.

The SS forums have become truly annoying of late and I don't bother even checking them anymore - it's all pimping and political threads.

I hate editing logos off bikes