Too many subs at DT. RPD went from .86 (May) to .66

% earnings and change vs May.

SS   39%   17%
IS   13%   -7%
DT   11%   -31%
FL   10%   29%
StockXpert   10%   16%
BS   7%   23%
123RF   9%   -53%

I can't believe the complaining about paparazzi.  It makes me sick when people who "earn" 20 mio for 2-6 weeks "work" complain about paparazzi.

The paps are part of the reason why they can demand these sums. If the paps break the law, let the law deal with it. My advise, stop complaining. If you can't handle it, take your millions and move somewhere else ...

I guess it depends what you shoot. If you want to set certain lighting ratios you will need a flash meter. If you trust the settings on your strobes you could calculate manually via inverse square law. But as soon as your equipment ages this won't be accurate anymore.

I use a Sekonic flash meter.

Quote from: bittersweet on June 20, 2008, 03:41

Quote from: stock_fan on June 20, 2008, 03:14
well, english is not my native language, but I got a rejection for the keyword "tall" of a "tall office building" 

Which box did you check when you disambiguated your keywords: Tall (physical description) or Tall (human height)? You did disambiguate your keywords, I assume?

yes I disambiguate all my keywords since the system was implemented. Also disambiguated all images with 1 or more sales from before the time of implementation.

I selected Tall (physical description) . i don't care too much about the rejection. It's just funny that I got the rejection and the IS exclusive keywork statement mail pretty much at the same time ...

well, english is not my native language, but I got a rejection for the keyword "tall" of a "tall office building" 

DT subs are killing me. Have about the same amount of downloads as last month ... and my RPD went from 0.84 $ to 0.57 $ ...

I sold 6 pics yesterday ... and 5 have been subs 

can't you take screenshots (crtl + prtscrn) and paste them into word/ ppt to have a back-up copy? well, on +100 pages that might be a bit of work?!

Uploaded +80 images in May
Total $ down 6%
Got 2 EL at 123RF otherwise it would have been worse
IS was really bad for me this month

   % $    Change to last mo
SS    31         -7
IS    14          -42
DT    16         13
FL    7           4
StockXpert    8        -36
BS    5         -8
123RF    19      86

SS sub model + their search algorithm means

more approved photos = more money for SS
more new photographers = more money for SS (especially if they stay under payout)

the fact that the "dilution effect" is rewarding for SS is not really good for long time earning potential of the contributors.

From what I read SS is not the no1 earner for the big players (anymore). For me it's equal no1 in earning. However SS does not grow anymore. I have stable earning ... and I upload about 5-10 photos a week.

Just my 2ct

SS wants to make money!!!

More new images means more downloads at SS

Acceptance ratios, number of contributers and accepted images per week went up big time! -> more money for SS

Contributors growth & image growth larger than customer growth -> even more money for SS because fewer payout as sales spread over more contributors.

bittersweet,

are you the 'user' "bitter" from IS or is the choice of name just a coincidence? 

http://www.istockphoto.com/bitter


Just curious ...

Things have improved big time since I started. I am surte you will work out quickly what works for you and what not.

I found it hard to get photos approved that i did not shoot specifically for microstock. Mainly for the technical requirements. Might could have fixed it with postprocessing, but that takes a lot of time.

However, if you have lots of professional / commercial shots, I am sure you will find a way.


Good luck.

Quote from: paulacobleigh on May 01, 2008, 22:14

Quote from: stock_fan on May 01, 2008, 04:09
Welcome to the exciting world of microstock. When I started in Dec 05, I felt the same excitement.  I couldn't wait to get my pics online. Btw, was not happy about the 1 month review time of  my Shutterstock  application ... only to find out that I have been rejected and needed to wait an other 3 months. Just to put things in perspective ;-))

In the long run the review times do not really matter. They are all reasonable fast. Just keep uploading and try to improve your acceptance ratio. At DT it impacts the results of the search engine and therefore your income!

SS is very nice at the beginning. But in the long run the other sites are well worth it. Second what was said before.  Big6 is the go.

I guess I've been spoiled at SS because my application was reviewed and accepted the same day I uploaded my 10 pics.  And they pretty much always review my pictures within 1 business day.
I disagree about the review times not being important....at least not in the beginning.  Most of the pictures I'm processing right now are from when I was using my old camera, which had a smaller sensor and produced quite a bit of noise even at ISO 100.  I am having to use noise reduction software and it's been quite a learning process to figure out what is too little/too much.  The faster they review my pictures, the sooner I know how to process the next batch.  I've been trying to upload 50 pictures every other day and if I don't know how the last batch did by the time I'm processing the next batch, I could be totally wasting my time.

Welcome to the exciting world of microstock. When I started in Dec 05, I felt the same excitement.  I couldn't wait to get my pics online. Btw, was not happy about the 1 month review time of  my Shutterstock  application ... only to find out that I have been rejected and needed to wait an other 3 months. Just to put things in perspective ;-))

In the long run the review times do not really matter. They are all reasonable fast. Just keep uploading and try to improve your acceptance ratio. At DT it impacts the results of the search engine and therefore your income!

SS is very nice at the beginning. But in the long run the other sites are well worth it. Second what was said before.  Big6 is the go.

did reviews slow down during the last 2 weeks as well?
also I do not get the "review results eMails" anymore. Do You?

Regards

People with the skill the replicate a Top50 image will find other ways to identify "the originals". Some sites allow "sort by download" and would do ...

It is sad, but it seems that for artists who do not won't to be copied/ be an inspiration to others, this is the wrong business.

Congratulations on the 20D. I am still using mine and it is a great tool!

it depends all on what you want to shoot. Ok you want:

• a good all around lens
  
• that gets wide but
• also has a bit of a zoom to it
• Something I can shoot architecture and landscapes with,
• as well as the occasional portraits.

I would not buy one lens for that. Wide (on a 1.6 crop body) + portrait does not work very well. You will need 17-85 or a even larger range. These lenses are not necessarily the best (optical) quality.

The best option might be a Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO. Check the reviews. I like the 24-105 F4L, but it is not very wide on a 20D and also costs 1,000$.


Below are a few of my personal (!) preferences/ thoughts on lens selection.
Cheers.


1) Nowadays I would not buy a lens anymore, which does not work on a full frame (FF) body.  Like the Canon EF-S lenses. A good lens you can keep a long time. And sooner or later you might want to upgrade to FF.

People say good things about the 17-50 2.8 Tamron. But AFAIK this one does not work on FF?!

1000$ for a 17-55 EF-S? Not for me, thanks.


2) In general it depends all on what you want to shoot and your preferences: zoom (=convenience) vs. prime (=better image quality/ better low light performance, lower price).

With three Canon primes you can get excellent optical quality: 35mm F2, 50mm 1.8 and a 85mm 1.8. Built quality is similar to the 50mm you have. But hey, these are between 80$ and 330$.

However, if you do microstock (MS) "semi-serious". You will be able to afford pretty much "any gear" from the earnings.

3) Also I would not buy "medium or low quality" lenses. Sooner or later you are going to sell them to get something better. And if you do MS you will need good quality lenses.

I am not a fan of the Canon 17-85. I used it and was not very happy. I did not have/ use the Tamron 17-50 2.8 or the Sigma 17-70, but from what I read, these are better lenses. Again, all not FF.


4) For shooting MS I would recommend a macro lens (for objects etc) eg Tamron 90mm 2.8. Can be used for portraits too. Check the reviews and compare with the sigma 105mm and Canon 100mm macro.

And a 24-105 F4L. I find this lens very convenient. For MS most of the stuff I shoot is >F8. However, if you want to shoot sports (espec. indoors), wedding, kids at home etc., this lens would not be your best choice.

I am waiting too ;-) Release specualtion on DPR range from April 22 to Oct 08.

I believe the two points below will not be seen, cos they would cut into 1 series sales ... but who knows.

Quote from: domencolja on March 27, 2008, 17:54
Weather sealing same as 1Ds Mark III
Dual Digic III with all-new "CXR" NR system reported to best 3rd party NR

DT down for you? I get the below?



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Thx! Got it ... me blind ... must the the "unique" design / font / colours 

I registered at MP. Can't find any info re FTP upload.

Any info / help how to upload via FTP would be much appreciated.


Thanks!
T

thanks for the infos.

Did the review time go up at SS this week?
Have some in the queue since Thu (?) last week or so.
Just would like to know if it just me 

Thanks.

you have some good ideas. i would not go with the kit lens. better get the 50mm 1.8 for about 100$. also I do not like EF-S lenses. If you succeed you might want to upgrade to a full-frame camera later on. EF-S does not work on full-frame.

100mm macro sounds good. you can also check out the Tamron 90mm 2.8 and sigma 105mm macro lenses. afaik they all get good reviews.

Quote from: rustyphil on February 17, 2008, 23:28
i click refresh and see

latest approved 3 images
latest downloads 3 images
waiting for review 3 images

sometimes I'm lucky and find that the middle three match and I get excited but I dont seem to have won anything.  Is there a list of prizes somewhere?  do I have take some pictures of cherries or lemons or playing cards? are three backgrounds / scenics etc not a winner??

You only win if all nine images displayed are the same 

Quote from: leaf on February 08, 2008, 11:23

Quote from: nicemonkey on February 08, 2008, 11:05
123RF and bigstock are about the same for me (both in the top 6) but they outsell Fotolia by a long way...quite often 3x

wow, that is bizarre how the different sites are so different for everyone.  I think it is phildate, which has fotolia as his #1 site.

FL is #1 for andresr in Jan with 27% of income: http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php/topic,3497.0.html


for me it's pretty steady: FL = 1.5*BS = 3* 123RF