$0.25 commission on an 8x10 print

A marketing effort on the part of their new partner FreeArt to gain a customer base - offer free prints. However, offering contributors 25 cents per print is, in essence, forcing contributors to partake in their marketing efforts as partners, not a legitimate third party.

It's like offering free prints to customers and expecting the ink company to take a pay cut in an effort to assist your marketing effort - makes no sense. And 8x10 is huge. That isn't a postcard.

Edit: Then again, since contributors get paid 25 cents for full sized RF images from most other agencies anyways, I guess it doesn't really matter. The only difference here is we know it is being translated into a print.

If the file you are uploading via the web does not show up in the /public_html/ss_media/new/ directory, yet Symbiostock is processing that media, then the only conclusion is that for some reason when you log in via ftp you are navigating to the wrong directory.

Go to the Symbiostock forums and PM me your login information as well as FTP information and I'll check it out for you.

Are you 100% sure you are uploading to the correct directory? The web uploader literally is a surrogate for the FTP, and dumps files in the exact same directory. If files are working via web, the only possible error is that you are not uploading the files to the correct directory.

It has to be ss_media/new

Another less likely possibility is somehow your web-host has something misconfigured where when something is uploaded via FTP it has the wrong permissions which is not permitting Symbiostock to process the file, but that is very unlikely.

An easy way to test is upload something via the web and make sure that you see it in the directory when you FTP as well.

Hi there - have you set up the image processor to run?

http://www.symbiostock.org/docs/setting-up-the-schedulerimage-processor/

If it doesn't make you feel good, it's probably not good news.

If you want a free online solution, Symbiostock works a treat:

1) Batch keywording
2) Automatically removes duplicates
3) Writes titles, descriptions, keywords to files

However you would have to upload all your media to your hosted Symbiostock site and manage it from there. If you also want to submit this media to agencies, you could optionally get the Symbiostock Submitter plugin and do everything through it. It's basically a web based solution for keywording and submitting images to stock agencies.

Always be open to technical criticism (but still filter it through your own logic), but when it comes to 'commercial value', I would ignore just about everything anyone else has to say. Many of my top selling images were ones deemed both irreparable and of low commercial value by other contributors. So just try to get the technical merits down, and you're good to go.

I don't mind the angle of your shot because it is a close-up. I think the movement of the camera is the biggest distraction.

Good that you're getting more comfortable - no, Symbiostock is first and foremost an image system. Videos are an optional add on. You can see here for example:

http://www.symzio.com/stock-photos/flower.html

Symzio, which is the agency arm of the Symbiostock project, a majority of the contributors that participate only do images.

Again, good luck!

Very sharp, nicely exposed, good framing - the motion of the camera is distracting. I don't know if the motion is a deal breaker, but it would have been better on a tripod. Overall, I would say it is definitely a professional shot and I have no real critique.

Hey Dan:

1) Not really - as far as I can tell, there are no agencies that provide sufficient volume to compensate for being non-exclusive and putting your stuff everywhere.

2) Yes.

3) I don't know

4) Food will, travel may be somewhat saturated, but then again, this is something i'm not entirely sure about. It can be hit and miss as you may find certain images that stick out compared to the rest, or of rare locations.

5) With agencies you do set it and forget it for the most part. They do the marketing for you.

Another good idea is to consider, as you launch, getting your stuff for sale independently and joining the Symbiostock project as a lot of veterans are moving in that direction due to the low revenue share contributors earn with agencies. You can follow the link to the forum in my signature and ask me any questions directly if you want.

Good luck, and welcome!

Don't feel bad at all. You are discounting the large amount of work you put into being a legitimate contributor, and you did the right thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCNGaafnAGk

Edit: BTW, I don't know why MSG does this, but people can see your original username in the latest topic list. It may be prudent to create a whole new account if you really want to remain anonymous.

Just so there's no confusion, this relates to the old platform and has nothing to do with the current Symbiostock plugin.

Once you have your site running you don't have to update anything unless you're trying to get upgrades. Code doesn't change - if your system runs, it runs. As I said, we have systems that have not been upgraded for about 8 months running strong.

However - I think the one thing that is a problem by default in WordPress is the auto-updating core. In my opinion, this is not a desirable effect, and causes precisely the issues you mentioned.

On live machines, you should NOT be auto-updating the WP core, yet they don't make it obvious how to disable it:

http://www.symbiostock.org/forums/topic/wordpress-4-4-and-woocommerce-2-4-11/

This is the first thing I do when I create a new install. That way, once I get a system that works, I don't do anything else.

Quote from: Micro4 on January 08, 2016, 20:59
I'm getting disillusioned with Wordpress.

I think WP is a good CMS for certain things - the interface makes it good for Symbiostock. But I think people get into serious trouble when they install too many plugins, and as mentioned above, let WP auto-update. Lots of things break when that happens. IMO it should be disabled by default.

Good luck though - you do seem genuinely interested in finding a good place for your videos, and I hope you find it.

Hey Cider,

If hosting it is not an issue for you, I suggest you go with Symbiostock + Symbiostock Video. Symbiostock is free while the video plugin is $49. However once that's purchased, you can upload an unlimited number of videos as long as your host supports it.

And the added bonus is you'll be able to syndicate your stuff in Symzio if you become a contributor. I wouldn't worry much about updates - although you will want to update Symbiostock every now and then, once installed, nothing else needs to be updated.

We haven't updated most of our main sites in either WooCommerce or WordPress for nearly six months.

I suggest you install and give Symbiostock a try with a few images - that's pretty much the same workflow for videos and it doesn't cost anything to try out.

While the player itself is indeed responsive, what you are talking about is making the video dimensions hug the aspect ratio of the video. Not many players do this, but I've now implemented the fix to Symzio, which will be released shortly with the Symbiostock Video plugin as well:

http://www.symzio.com/stock-video-footage/extreme-closeup-beautiful-pigeon-with-feathers

Thanks for bringing that to my attention!

The Symbiostock video player is based on the most popular open source video player available:

http://videojs.com/

Based in HTML5, it fully supports responsive designs.

We may improve the skin on the video player in the future, but are limited by the amount of resources we have for development.

The same player is used on Symzio:

http://www.symzio.com/stock-video-footage/gorgeous-seascape-view-indian-ocean-waves-crashing-upon-rocks

Which looks great on both desktop and mobile devices, and is fully responsive.

Therefore, the only option available to you with regards to Symbiostock would be to get your own host and go from there. However, I personally would prefer that sort of a setup because it gives me a lot more control. However, if you don't want to manage your system at all, the PLUS solution would have been ideal, but is not available. We are not accepting any new PLUS customers right now as we don't want to over-saturate our PLUS system, and are not adding new servers right now.

I can't think of another solution that provides what you're looking for.

Thanks Kenny

I understand your desire to acquire statistics upon which to base your plans on, but the thing is, the industry is changing at a rapid pace. Lots of new images are flooding the market, but how that will affect the bottom line, or whether these are good images or not is still to be determined.

Because of the changes that are happening almost every half year, no one can confidently answer your question. And anyone doing well may not want to share those details simple for the fact that they would want to protect their 'niche'.

Other than technical advice, you're basically going to have to join the ranks of people who are still unsure about how much their images are going to generate next month - that is, in and of itself, as much a part of the business right now as lighting technique is.

Some of us are trying to change that, but nothing certain can be predicted yet.

Purchasing a camera is a good investment which has nothing to do with stock photography - if I were just starting out and didn't have much experience, I would consider the Panasonic FZ1000.

The FZ1000 is extremely versatile; it permits you to carry a non-interchangeable lens system that is also a zoom, and you can also dabble in 4K video with it for under $1000.

When you buy a larger DSLR, your costs will skyrocket as soon as you start investing in lenses. This way you get to feel it out while investing in a very solid piece of hardware that can be used for personal use as well.

The key things you should start off with are:

1) Ensuring that your photos are 100% in focus - that means when you zoom in, there is no motion blur and it is pretty much as sharp as the lens can get. This is achieved through lots of light and a good shutter speed, and of course, making sure your focus is right.

2) Ensure that you get the widest dynamic range - if your camera supports zebra stripes, go as bright as possible without overexposing.

3) Practice framing, unless you are doing stuff isolated on white.

So, what I would suggest is, get a camera, then take a few pictures and explore the process of converting the raw in post, removing any impurities, and time yourself. It is extremely important to time yourself. You must realistically determine how long each photo takes you because in order to be successful, in any capacity, you need to build your portfolio. And this means 500+. Even at a thousand, you're not likely to bring in a significant amount of revenue each month. So we're talking a lot of work.

If, after testing a few shots (or ten) and seeing how you fare with the amount of effort and time involved, then you can determine how best to approach your workflow.

IMO, the advice I've given is a safe, low cost way to open up as many avenues of opportunity for yourself while not digging in so deep that you can't move on.

It's a proprietary search system, as is pretty much everything in Symzio except for some front-end libraries. But I can't agree that this makes or breaks any agency. As long as results are relevant, customers prop the most usable images to the top through their purchases.

But minimizing the gaming of the engine is a huge priority and as with Google, the algorithm will keep being tweaked as we progress.

Thanks for that find Pixart - we're looking into it. If you find anything else, please use the 'Report this product' button available on every product page. We don't check forums every day so that is the quickest way to flag any material on Symzio that may be problematic, and we want to address any possible infringement issues as soon as possible.

As Redneck has clearly stated, one of our biggest goals is ensuring that the quality control in this open system is above par. We strongly encourage all contributors to flag any questionable media with regards to infringement.

I don't see anything particularly wrong with it, though there is quite a bit of noise in the black sky. I don't take night shots often so I have little experience with that, but overall I would say it is definitely acceptable as an editorial.

Be weary of resubmitting too much - SS hates that. I would tend to just let it go and move on despite the idea that I am right about it being a good image.

Quote from: Mantis on January 03, 2016, 23:04
I just believe that the character of the owner is a strong indication of how the site will be managed. I'm out for that reason alone. Sounds like he works for FOTOLIA.

Not some, but all of the characterization of me has been derived from increasing aggression due to the fact that I don't interact with unprofessional or destructive individuals. I have a great deal of experience with public forums and can spot a troll a mile away. I have also learned that there is no specific way to deal with individuals looking to troll you except to ignore them.

For example - without exception, these destructive individuals have repeatedly attempted to coerce responses out of me while simultaneously attacking both the project and myself with incorrect claims - some are wound up in somewhat factual details, but most are fabricated or entirely misrepresented. The end result of me trying to correct such efforts would be for them to then reply with more incorrect characterizations of either myself or the project. This is called a 'black hole', and serves to digress any conversation away from the central purpose it plays. This is the central definition of 'trolling'.

Most importantly, the loudest, most seemingly offended individuals here, have not once constructively pursued attaining untainted information from me via PM or otherwise, while many others have. This denotes, with certainty, that they are here to entertain themselves - not assist other contributors in determining if Symbiostock is something that would benefit or harm them. Early on, I actually PMed one of them, asking for their assistance in examining the project, and they ignored my request, yet continue to critique the project publicly.

Therefore - if you are new to the forum, then you will probably gather that the hate posts have all the same upvotes because angry people generally upvote one another. You will also gather that throughout MSG, the hate posts for pretty much anything generally gather the most upvotes. This is an angry environment that has no one specific cause.

All that being said, I don't form specific opinions as to why these individuals choose to do what they do - obviously they are contributors and are looking to maximize their revenue. But for some reason or another that has taken a backseat to the social satisfaction they derive from lambasting whatever they can on MSG.

Our goal - mine and any contributor eager to see Symzio succeed - has nothing to do with personal vendetta. These individuals only become relevant when they interfere with our ability to progress towards independent success. Thus far, it hasn't posed an issue - however, if you, who I do not know, actually believe I have demonstrated anything but the utmost level of professionalism and consistency towards every single action I have taken and done with regards to Symbiostock since my involvement, you are welcome to privately critique me, and if you are correct, I will publicly clear that up.

Finally, I have a great deal of faith in the silent majority here - a great deal of contributors, with certainty, hesitate to interact on the forums but rather just meander around because they are generally avoiding these few loud, aggressive types. So, I do what I can do - post factual information, avoid the irrational, and answer what legitimate questions I can while sharing our intentions and plans with those interested.

MSG is just one avenue of promotion, and my dedication to the success of independent contributors is asserted by the fact that I continue to, and will continue to, use it as a means of informing professionals on the merits of our efforts irrespective of the attempts of these loud, angry, unwieldy individuals to coerce submission out of others for personal satisfaction.

And now, I can't speak further on the issue, because that would result in a 'black hole'. You are welcome to PM me for clarification.

-----

Quote from: Redneck on January 03, 2016, 18:22However, waiting until many others have joined and pushed it, and have reported frequent sales is basically the laziest and most cowardly attitude anyone can have toward a new enterprise.

I think I share similar sentiments to Pilens - I am actually pissed off, and being pissed off is what has amalgamated in all the work I have done to get this project going. I think what pushed me over the edge was a 4K sale - I got $50, which is a big payout. Then I realize that the agency kept $250. And the poor customer paid $300! I get $50 for my video, 100% my work, while the agency gets $250 - and all that extra money is being paid as a premium by the customer.

It then occurred to me that we could charge far less than agencies ($100), the customer would love it, and we would effectively make nearly twice the amount of money. Even now, when I think about the $250 I almost don't want more sales until Symzio takes off because it will piss me off even more.

All you have to ask yourself is - does that piss you off enough to want to step up to try to make a change? In the end, no one else can answer that for you. All I can do is create an infrastructure that makes it extremely easy for you to pursue that, and encourage you to consider it.

The Symzio network, the Symzio agency, and Symbiostock are three very different things. The Symbiostock plugin user base is growing on a daily basis, increasingly so:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/symbiostock/

The previous Symzio network has been retired and replaced entirely by the agency (as was planned), which was launched very recently, and is still in beta:

http://www.symbiostock.org/forums/topic/symzio-launch/

Our numbers in that are also increasing, in fact faster than anticipated. Hence the creation of this thread, to encourage even more contributors to join up - which has been pretty successful so far!

The numbers we have with Symzio and the images contained within form a pretty solid base, and everyone is actively marketing it, especially the entire Symbiostock team. So if you do join up, your images will be promoted pretty much everywhere we can, from the Symbiostock Facebook and Twitter to the Symzio social media spots, as well as through other promotions we're working on. However, be aware, that you are not included in Symzio just by using Symbiostock. It is a different system altogether that you have to apply to once your Symbiostock site is up and running.

But - we're always looking for positive new contributors to join the effort. We love seeing hugely eclectic media in Symzio's results.

Case in point: Ana, who, since the inception of this thread decided to go independent, successfully launched her Symbiostock site and joined Symzio:

http://www.symzio.com/contributor-16320.html

And now her beautiful illustrations are already being promoted by every other Symzio member:

http://picturebreeze.com/stock/photos/image/young-woman-riding-boat/

The system has been designed to use every member's site as an extension of every other member's media. This way, we, in essence, all share in the cumulative traffic and media that the entire system is connected to. As soon as you join Symzio, your stuff is immediately seen by any customer that is looking for it on any other member's site.

Multiply this effect by a thousand, and you see what I mean when I say "cumulatively, our organic footprint would effectively dwarf the agencies".