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Messages - bobkeenan
26
« on: February 15, 2012, 13:53 »
I am looking to see if there is a better way to upload than what I do. Here is my workflow.
1. Process images on Aperture.
2. Use Arcurs keyword site for keywording right into meta data on Aperture
3. export 10-12 images to desktop folder. (10-12 seems to minimize pain if I get a picky reviewer)
4. upload using Fetch (Mac FTP program) to each site. I upload to individually to 10 sites. I can do about 5 at a time. More than that the upload rates get too slow.
5. Then go into each site to put in categories and approve and submit images.
The exceptions are that I use DeepMeta for Istock and ALAMY has to be done on their http pages.
Anybody have something more efficient... or let tedious?
Thanks
27
« on: February 03, 2012, 23:09 »
I have been doing microstock for about 3 years making .25 to 4/ image. I have had a few images sell for $28 and now on Alamy I am getting a few images that sell for > $300.
I was just contacted by a Hotel decoration consultant company, who saw my online portfolio, and liked what they saw. They want to put some of my stuff in their portfolio. If they sell my stuff I get 50%.
But.... they want to know what kind of price I would consider typical for a print assuming a particular size and media. Anybody have a suggestion for someone like me? I have a smugmug pro account so I can pick some sizes and media for prices but I am not sure what profit to put on a single print.
28
« on: January 22, 2012, 15:08 »
I go back and forth between loving and hating this site. Right now I love it. I just had a photo sell for over $300 and I get 60%!!!!
The upload process is weird. If they find one image in your batch that does not pass QC they fail all of them. My meta imbedded keywords have to be re-distributed. And sales are very sporadic. The other thing is that I find following my earnings difficult to understand. ( and I do have a MBA). It looks like you have to wait for the sale to clear before it is yours. So there is a balance and a cleared balance. In addition, there have been a couple of refunds so they take the commission back on those. And they have a high threshold before payment and then as much as a month delay before payment.
But.... You gotta love the fact that 60% of the sales is yours and the higher prices for RF images.
29
« on: December 04, 2011, 00:44 »
Took me close to 3 years but I saw that I now have 1001 images on line. I consider that a milestone especially with the tighter acceptance rate over the past year.
30
« on: September 23, 2011, 19:18 »
I normally complain about the rejections I get or lack of sales or low commissions. But I got blown away on this one. Someone bought this for $228?? The image is ok but...... I rate my images on my computer from 1-5 stars. Everything below 3 stars gets trashed. This is a 3 star image the corner of an enclosed parking lot with an elevator shaft in one corner?  ? Its been my highest single sale since I started about 3 years ago. So while I am not complaining.....its just hard to believe.
31
« on: September 14, 2011, 14:42 »
I could have posted this in the rejections posts, but at 195 entries I thought it might get lost. I have been suffering from massive rejection since about March (after being with SS for 2 years). The last couple of months I have been getting close to 50% average acceptance. But to get a 90% acceptance. That one blew me away. Same photographer, same style, same camera, same lenses. Two things I did change..... I try to keep my f stop higher than 6.3 on close shots for a better dof and I now use topaz for noise reduction. Maybe that is all it takes? ? Or maybe they are changing their policies or reviewers???
32
« on: August 03, 2011, 19:29 »
Almost had a heart attack. After months of mass rejections ( <20% acceptance)...... I submitted 10 images, same camera, same kind of subject, same lenses.....100% accepted. I used to get that every now and then a year or two ago.
I hope this is a change in policy!!
33
« on: July 02, 2011, 21:22 »
Are you sure it is a fellow photographer? Could it be a buyer hitting the "report this image" button? Anyone can flag, not only contributors. Do you really think someone would do that for .02 cents? Hitting that button is fast and easy and doesn't require sending a message, which takes time. If the reporter is registered they are automatically awarded the .02 cents, they have no say in if they want it or not and probably don't even know that they are getting a monetary amount as it is not common knowledge unless you read the forums on a regular basis. If the report is bogus, just leave a message, it is reviewed before any changes are made. Not a big deal.
Yea they are Dreamstime photographers. I looked at each of their portfolios. I know keywords abuse is a little rampant and must be a pain for customers. I use Acur's keyword page using the top selling shutterstock images. For similar images I always have to remove 10-20 keywords that have very little to with the image. But it just rubs me the wrong way for a fellow microstocker to force me to go back to the image to pull a keyword or two so that I can keep my image on Dreamstime. It makes me want to inspect all of their images to see if I can find some bad keywords....maybe start a keyword war!!!!
34
« on: July 02, 2011, 18:02 »
I have about 3 flagged images out of my portfolio of 1000. It really annoys me that someone would do this to a fellow photography for the gratification of .02. I think differently about those people!!
35
« on: June 28, 2011, 09:37 »
For the past couple of years my acceptance rate has been about 30-100% .....maybe an average of 60%. Since March its been about 10% with lots of 100% rejections. They are mostly for LCV. Its really kind of sad for me as SS is my main earner. Almost all of the stuff that is rejected gets accepted at BS. Most of the stuff sells on the other sites. Because I think this will reduce my overall sales, eventually, I have added 4 lower tier sites ( I am already on the big 4and the middle tier). They are starting to make up what I am losing on SS. I am not sure if that is what SS intended.
So I will keep uploading to SS....but with no expectations of acceptance.
36
« on: May 23, 2011, 16:29 »
I know that this was a couple of months ago....but it truly made me laugh out loud. You are right on with you comments! Race:
Laughing my **S off; take a "chill pill", sip a beer or something 
I agree, it's like talking to a wall. One excuse after another why the site is wrong because someone didn't read the rules and can't follow them. 
"The procedure of decline one, decline all robs me of the opportunity to establish which type of images the site prefers."
Hint: Alamy does not judge content, only image quality. Someone new to any agency should read the instructions and help files.
Alamy is pretty basic and upfront; you can send in a picture of a rock; not an interesting rock, just an everyday "by the side of the road" rock. If it is lite correctly, proper contrast, good white balance and position well in the frame; it will be accepted by Alamy. Shutterstock would deny it based on focus; IS would deny based on lack of punch or color, Dreamstime would deny it based on similars, Fotolia would deny it based on "to many of the same", etc.
37
« on: May 10, 2011, 10:17 »
I just got accepted at PM and have been loading a bunch (several hundreds) of images. But for the past few days there have been no reviews yet? I was curious about how fast these guys are?
38
« on: May 09, 2011, 10:42 »
Thanks for the suggestions. Several of you suggested, basically, to take better shots. I know how to do that. And I may work some on that. But I never want to make this feel like work. For instance, I know that I can get great shots around dawn... but that takes some effort that is borderline...not fun. Even though I love some of the images that I get. I know that I can take my 5 in 1 reflector with me to backlight, shade, diffuse, or color a shot.... but that means bringing my wife....who just LOVES to do that. Or an extra stand to lug around. I could research what is selling, think of a message, go to a place where I might find an image that would represent that theme... and shoot. Too much work. I like going to a fun place and letting the environment stimulate me to take shots as I casually walk around. I think I am probably doomed to mediocrity. But it is pretty easy to upload to more sites
39
« on: May 07, 2011, 23:10 »
My main earner, Shutterstock, is accepting only 0- 20% (used to be 30-100%) of my images and sales have dropped to 1/2 of what they used to be. I am not sure what is going on but I want to see if I can compensate for that. So I am thinking of adding a few more sites. Right now I use:
IS (2nd best)
Shutterstock (best but going downhill)
Dreamstime (3rd best)
Fotolia (slow earner)
BigStock (slow earner)
Veer (starting to pay off pretty well)
123RF (4th best)
Canstock (slow)
Alamy (very slow)
I do not do model work but pretty much anything else. Can I get some recommendations of other sites that would be good to add.
40
« on: May 06, 2011, 11:46 »
The upload limits are a pain in the butt. I think that I read something about how this was a temporary solution to a problem that they were having.
But its been a few months now?
41
« on: May 04, 2011, 13:01 »
Anyone using iPad as part of their workflow?
I am sort of imagining being able to download images to the iPAD and doing a 1st cut removal of un-needed images. And maybe doing so metadata work. And then transferring those images to my Computer and using my Aperture for raw and other post processing. Then maybe also use the final category and approval on the ipad after they are uploaded to the sites from my computer.
Thoughts?
42
« on: May 04, 2011, 11:16 »
It almost feels like their search engine has a rotating priority. Or maybe its because it just not have the large customer base as the big guys.
I will go several weeks with no (zero) sales and then I will have a $35 sale and the next day a $5.00 sale and then a couple of $3.50 sales. I expect nothing for the next few weeks.
Whenever I check the site its like a micro-lottery. I never expect any sales but every month or two I get a little surprise!!
Bottom line is that it was definitely worth putting my stuff there and it feels good to get $3-35/ image instead of $.25/ image.
43
« on: April 23, 2011, 09:10 »
I have about a thousand images at SS that I have added over the past 2 years. My acceptance rate has averaged about 60% It used to be rare that I get a 100% rejection on my images. OTOH at IS my acceptance rate is about 20%.
But... the last few months I have been getting whole 10 image submittals rejected at 100%. I am now at about 3 in row (30 images). I took those same images and submitted them to BS and about 25 were accepted. 30-90% were accepted at most of the other Top and Middle tier sites.
My IS rate is still almost a constant 30%
I just wonder what in the heck is going on at SS. Its my best sales site. But they are behaving like they are Getty or something. Maybe they don't want my style of images anymore?? Most of my stuff is nature, buildings, abstract.
Its getting really depressing.
Does anyone know what is going on?
44
« on: April 21, 2011, 15:21 »
Does anyone know how many reviewers they have? I swear that there is one reviewer who just does not like my style pics. Just got another 100% rejection. Those used to be rare for me.
45
« on: April 13, 2011, 20:19 »
I see this happen intermittently. At first I thought it was the weekend people. But now it happens any time of the week. The last batch was 1 accepted out of 10. The batch before that all 10 rejected.
One funny thing. I have been taking the rejects and submitting them to Bigstock. Most are being accepted. But they do not sell nearly as well as SS....but it makes me feel better. Most of the other sites except IS take these recent rejects as well.
46
« on: April 13, 2011, 20:15 »
I used it for colored Easter egg photo.
Oh NO You Didn't!!! I have seen this on other sites as well. But there are lots of images using that keyword on SS. I use the Acurs keyword tool and they use the popular images keywords from SS..... and it shows up there a lot. I think making this word a no no is ridiculous. But like others have posted there are alternatives.
47
« on: April 07, 2011, 12:45 »
I have a Canon 5DmkII. Most of the time I have a 24-70mm on it but I also use my 70-200mm f2.8. I like to walk around and take shots. Sometimes I will carry 1-2 other lenses in a shoulder bag. Other times I will carry a tripod as well (not that often). I discovered Black rapid straps about 1 1/2 years ago. And I love them. Wrote a blog post about it here. http://www.bobkeenanphoto.com/black-rapid-strap-love/BUT...... I do not like the freedom of movement that it has....which is also a plus when you are taking photos. If I lean over the trunk of my car....clunk... goes the camera on the car. If I want to climb some boulders to get out on a jetty...crash.... goes the camera on the rocks. Other that that I love it.....but it does restrict some things. I know that the Cotton Carrier system that is mounted on the chest is a good solution. But I don't think that I can take the attention that wearing that system would create. I also know that there are bags that can go on belts or small backpacks but that defeats the really easy accessibility that I want. I am leaning towards getting the spider holster and then putting it on a think tank belt as the leg guard on the spider holster looks restrictive in a crouched or sitting position. But I would love to hear your thoughts on the Spider and Cotton systems? -- Bob Keenan http://www.bobkeenanphoto.com/
48
« on: April 07, 2011, 12:43 »
Got a Gitzo GT2541. Just came in the mail. Its a lot bigger and heavier than the benro....but its still pretty carryable. And it is rock solid steady. I think I am going to like it.
49
« on: April 06, 2011, 13:53 »
I did not think to compare with last year or previous months. I usually just look at my weekly sales but I keep all my stats. OMG! March was my best month in over 2 years AND it was 5 times last year March. So is it the economy.... more images in my portfolios.... could I be getting better??? Here is my split for March:  Shutterstock is my be big earner.
50
« on: April 05, 2011, 13:24 »
I have my images on the big 4 and most of the middle tier. I was curious as to what my total sales are for each image. That data is there for Shutterstock and Istock, but most of the others do not do that..... I think.
Does anyone have a similar situation and if you do keep track of each image sales....how do you do it?
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