I am repeating myself here, I've grown tired of saying this over at the MP forums.  I do not want my image placements in the match algorithims being influenced by what my "peers" think.  The search placement is influenced by the MPI, the MPI is influenced by the votes received, and even worse..the more voting someone does, be that voting good, bad or indifferent, the higher their profile rating goes and the more weight their vote counts when it comes to my images. therefore all the ratings and comments, although "hidden" from the buyer directly affect whether or not my images will even be seen amid the rest.
No matter how you try to justify it, the rating system is a very poor design and should not figure into the search engines at all.

Quote from: stokfoto on February 19, 2008, 14:53

Quote from: araminta on February 19, 2008, 14:41
It is still a joke here as Alamy will accept 4Mp pictures upscaled to 16Mp

nope! they would not accept upscaled 4mp files  they require at least 6mp files original size and it is obvious it needs to be DSLR too otherwise an upscaled image  from a P&S camera would fail the quality standards.
it was announced by Alamy they'd enhance their  QC test  and review every single images like in micro agencies  very soon.it is also expected to fasten review process too.in my opinion it would make them more strict too

Actually about half the images I have on Alamy were taken with a Canon A630, sharpening and contrast set to zero in the camera, then upsized.

The double spread ad, IMO, works very well and has a clear message.  today's designers are for the most part in their twenties to early thirties.  The jumble of images reminds me of the video games they played with when they were younger and represent an older "generation" of technology.  The other image represents a figure from one of today's games that require a player to reach a higher skill level in order to combat to win the game. He is holding an older generation computor mouse in his hand in to show that he is stronger, faster, better than the older games (read that as being the images on the other page) and that in order to reach that level of skill (in the ad's case, read that image quality) the buyer needs to use SS for their images.  That is why the tagline is over him, not the jumbled images.  the reference to being able to "afford" playing at a higher level with SS is a double meaning.  On a practical level SS is less expensive per image than most other agencies and on a gaming level it usually costs a player many lives to get to a higher level.
The images in the jumble represent the old and obsolete. They do not represent what SS is tyrying to sell to their customers, designers who are also young enough to be "hip" to the gaming generation.
With those points in mind, I think the ad is great.
rosta

All the old rules may not still apply but, the two "hand" models I work with will not sign an RF release if it involves showing their faces. One models frequently for mask and costume makers (with her face showing) and they are both involved in theatre. Now that I am submitting to Alamy and PSC they are considering letting me shoot RM images with "recognizable" body parts.
Just my .79 cents (taking into account the dropping USD)
rosta

I have been following, threads regarding the microstock model, reading the links and started to do some google searches to see how my images may be found when I saw something that some folks here may want to try.


While doing this I spotted a website listed as "The Poison Ivy Store".  I followed the link and saw that they took images of posion ivy and sold them as laminated cards so people could carry the images while on nature walks to help them identify the poisonous plants.

Just thought I'd put the idea out for anyone who does nature photos and might want to try and sell laminated versions through their websites or Ebay. 

BTW, I did a google search using some of my key words connected by "and" followed by image (ie Bodhran and whistle image) and saw my images pop up with links to the sites they are on, in one case the first four search results were my images with links to two on BigStock followed by two on Zymetrical.
rosta

i must admit to not thinking when I began uploading images.  I have since noted that images I uploaded without keywords have keywords that are incorrect for that image.  An example is poison ivy being called a tree without reference to poison ivy and a dulcimer being called a guitar.  I know that I need to go back and correct these errors, BUt, should I delete my pending images and reupload tyhem with the keywords embedded?
rosta

Quote from: moori on January 18, 2008, 21:25

Quote from: anonymous on January 18, 2008, 19:53

Quote from: moori on January 18, 2008, 19:37
The voting doesn't really count for much  in the end either.

Then what purpose does the voting serve?

One bad vote out of ten or twenty woun't make a difference. A large majority of low votes on an image will however surely make the image end up later in searches. There is no reviews so the voting is one part of the rating.

But, I don't want my images being reviewed by other contributors, either mp has reviewers or it doesn't, don't let the opinions of the others affect my search ratings.
rosta

The use of a watermark shows your contributors that you are serious about protecting their interests.  Giving away even a low res photos is caving in to buyers who want "something for nothing". 
I agree that the presence of a watermark should not prevent the use the buyers are claiming they want the low res image for. If they insist on a clean one, make them pay for a small image, then offer them a percentage off if they download the full size after that.
rosta

Quote from: UberLens on January 16, 2008, 22:29
ISome might find this hard to believe but I have a bunch of 6 megapixels shots on Alamy.

I do as well
rosta

I typed in poison ivy and  four of the images that were on the first page were mine.  Two was from IS, one from FT and one that I had removed from LO and when I clicked on it the link went to the LO front page. (it was a duplicate image of the IS one).  I went to the second page and six images of mine came up, with two duplicates. 
This may be the start of some good things :-)
rosta

It was a Sarnac Ale and I offered it to the spirits of the earth and spread it on the ground over my well head.  figured it wouldn't hurt the water any.
r

I needed to use a stein of beer for some images.  In order for the light to work I had to do them during the day, well before the sun was "over the yard arm", thus I didn't feel right in drinking it, so I poured it out when I was done.  Now I am wondering.  Was that alcohol abuse?

rosta

"I agree, but there is also Photoshelter which pays 70% on pictures sold for a minimum of 50$..."

I have images on there as well, but I am trying to build a portfolio there that is different from those on the microsites.  Granted I do have some overlap right now but hope to change that in 2008.

I don't understand how my pricing between $2.00 and $10.00 is pricing below the usual prices.  at IS i have never gotten above $1.50 commmision on an image.  My usual is .60, at 20% that means my average IS image sold went for $3.00 of which I was paid 60 cents.  Now I have had an image sell for $5.00 of which I received $3.50. 
On the other sites my  $2.00 images have never sold beyond small sizes or have sold only at 123RF. on the other sites.
As things progress I may be raising the prices higher.
r

After following the threads on Featurepics I spent some time on there and cleaned out my portfolio of some of my earlier, poorer images.  I then did some sweeping price changes.  Images that have sold poorly or only at subscription sites I have left at $2.00, images that have sold fair at IS,Dt or StockXpert I set at $5.00 and my best sellers are now priced at $10.00.  I then started pushing FP with a link from my website.
Today I sold a $5.00 image and earned $3.50 from it.  If this becomes a trend I'll be uploading more there
rosta

I use the A630 and have had images taken with it accepted everywhere, even upsized some into Alamy.  One thing to remember is to go into the menu and change your sharpness and saturation settings, then use a manual iso setting to keep it as noise free as possible.  I haven't done the hack yet, but have been tempted now that it is out of warrenty.

I finally got a confirmation email about the thumbnails being removed

I love this site too, even if my user name is Swedish for toast 
rosta

Hi all, I had decided to cancel my account at LO.  Rather than go through and delete each image I emailed support and asked if they could just cancel my account and delete my images.  I never received an answer back from them.  Today I went searching around LO and found my account was cancelled but when I did an image search as an outsider my images (by keyword) still showed up.  If I clicked on one I got a banner saying image is not avalaible  for sale, BUT, I can right click the thumbnails and save them all I wanted. 
rosta

Sorry, but I have to agree with is on this one.  Although the socks themselves do not show a name on them, their particular design probably is protected, the specific combination of colors and stripes, etc. 
Rosta

I have been playing around with a trial sub scription to PSA trying to see if it would be worth it for me to archive my images there (private, not public galleries) and use them to upload via FTP to various agencies.  I like the idea because then I can set the uploads and do not need to have my computor connected to the internet or even turned on while the uploads are being sent.
Problem is, I cannot get it to work.  Any hints out there on setting it up? I keep getting either server rejections or unable to connect with StockXpert, fotolia and Albumo.
If I can get it to work I think it might be a worthwhile investment ($10.00/month for basic).
Anyone out there using it? 
Rosta

Can you please tell us exactly which site you found this one? 
Rosta

The thread still lives, at least right this moment.
Rosta
http://images.stockxpert.com/pic/m/r/ro/rosta/6148851_10118347.jpg

Not that I'm giving hints out here or anything since I don't do it, BUT, you cannot have two different email address with one paypal account.  I tried (for other reasons).  That's why my different personalites each have their own email, bank , ebay and paypal account.  One for the photos and one for everything else in life.

The biggest problem I can forsee if you are trying to be two people at the same agency is that when receiving payout from the agency.  Then whichever one you are trying to be exclusive at will see the same personal ID and tax information twice.

Now for the real reason not to.  Exclusivity is a CONTRACT.  Once you accept it you are legally, morally and ethically bound to it.  Your question about how to try and game the system may have already put the agency people who cruise these boards looking into your account.
Remember, if you are planning to commit a crime, tell no one, not even your best friend.  Then when you change your mind no one will think less of you for having even considered it.

I tell you, some weeks differ so much from others.  These past few weeks I have had 100% rejection from IS and almost 85% acceptance at DT.  A few weeks ago it was the opposite.  I've given up trying to figure it out.
On the other hand, the two images that StockXpert rejected after I uploaded updated files of already accepted images:  one was reversed and accepted again, the other is still rejected for "artistic reasons".
rosta