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Messages - willie
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301
« on: January 04, 2010, 15:32 »
Even more interesting that the ONLY one, of the top 6, green is Fotolia !!
How strange is that ! with all that's going on 
no, i don't think that's strange. i never stopped nor reduced uploading to FT, even though i have reduced my contributions to the other Big 5 , and stopped Veer,etc.. FT , as bad as many here make them, is consistent. i know what they like, and when i give them those images, they get approved really fast. in that sense, i feel FTL has a direction , and therefore, will in the long run sell my images better than the others. while the other Big 5 keep fudging and re-fudging to dethrone SS, or stifle their own arm (viz Getty, IS, with StockXpert), etc.. or maybe it's because more ppl hate FT, so it's... as someone once said... i think it was Gene.. "that's fine, go hate them, so much the better for me !!!"
302
« on: January 04, 2010, 15:22 »
The people that made StockXpert are currently working on a new site.
I'm surprised at this, I would have thought that after selling the company, they would have had to sign a no-compete clause for a period of time. If it's true, I will be happy though. StockXpert always did ok for me. (Off-topic)
As far as I understood, it's the developers and perhaps some reviewers. They were just employees near the end (as I suspect) and Getty fired them. A non-compete clause can't be forced when you are fired. That's why in some corporations, part of the staff (e.g. sales) is obsolete but kept anyways to keep them from competing, or more clearly said, to keep their mouth shut. Probably Getty has a clause like that when they hire, but the old StockXpert techies weren't hired by Getty.
This is all speculation. Wait and see.
Hopefully they downloaded the customer email list. Oh never mind, I'm SURE they did 
regardless of the semantics, what cannot be denied is the StockXpert was one heck of a performer before they were hijacked. for that , and that alone, i for one look for a new StockXpert ... and hopefully with all the brains that made StockXpert the great site to belong to.
303
« on: January 04, 2010, 15:19 »
and then there is "Assignment", some photographer from USA,
who i have been informed that is actually someone with inside connections to DT, perharps another CEO of DT like Achilles, or a reviewer, or a shareholder...
who gets priority in the exposure for DT.
Don't look too hard for conspiracies. "Assignment" is the portfolio wholly owned by Dreamstime of contributors that sold the rights of their assignment photos, included the copyright. You can choose that when you participate in the assignment: (1) escalate to level 5, (2) sell the rights.
Look here.
This portfolio lists photography created by contributors and wholly-owned by Dreamstime. For more wholly owned content you can visit the Studio portfolio.
"Assignment" has many referred members, none with a portfolio, probably buyers. Perhaps a way to keep referral earnings in house.
thx flemish, as always well-informed.
304
« on: January 04, 2010, 13:45 »
Six months isn't much of a commitment in the greater scheme of things. After all the agency does have to invest significant sums in the review process, etc and it is only natural for them to insist on a few months to recover those costs. As Jonathan has pointed out tie-ins of 5 years or more are common within the macro agencies.
But the lock in doesn't actually address the issue of costs - for a hypothetical portfolio that just doesn't sell, they might never get their costs covered. It's about leverage and when a contributor can't walk whenever they want to, it gives the agency a bit more power and the contributor a bit less. Even if IS weren't part of the picture, when DT can change any and all of its terms with no notice, but you can't pull your portfolio for 6 months even if you don't like the new terms, that seems highly unbalanced.
With all the agencies except DT and BigStock, if you don't like their new commission structure or license terms or whatever, you can pull your portfolio and be on your way (in general we don't, but we could). If DT or BigStock had some sort of reciprocity in delays before new terms went into effect so contributors who didn't like them wouldn't have to be bound by them, then it would seem more equitable.
When you consider how little work the agencies actually do in microstock - compared to traditional agencies which did all the keywording and other preparations for sale - I think comparing micro and macro isn't apples to apples in terms of who does what upfront anyway. The sites do have huge up front costs to get the site up and running and market themselves, but not getting the content ready for sale.
another interesting insight. as always jsnover , you open your mouth and pearls fall out  i always pay full attention to what you write. i think it should be that we, the copyright holder of our work, should have full say as what we want to do with our chattel, when we want to do. failing this, it smells of ransom or a bad case of divorce due to irreconciliable differences  prior to all these most recent upheaval and recurring curveballs by the Big 6, i never thought the 90 days of BigStock nor the 6 months of DT to be anything but. But now, it seems to be the proverbial last straw. at volatile times like these, one would think the agencies would try their best to work with the people who actually keep them afloat. no, not the buyers as we all seem to be brainwashed to think. .. but the dudes who supply the crop. you can have a frigging marketplace without farmers? ya!!!! can anyone tell me if this is true? the marketplace thrives, only because farmers are too afraid to lose their place in the marketplace. same thing is happening in the real world with fishery industry, and agriculture. we are hopeless because we let the blokes who when we were little elephant tied us up with a chain (metaphor derived from S.E. Asian fable). now that we are a gigantic elephant, the same blokes tie us up with a rope, and we still think we are helpless to break this bound, even though it is now a frigging rope.
305
« on: January 04, 2010, 13:27 »
i am confused here too. there is ASSIGNMENT... the monthly contest. and then there is "Assignment", some photographer from USA, who i have been informed that is actually someone with inside connections to DT, perharps another CEO of DT like Achilles, or a reviewer, or a shareholder... who gets priority in the exposure for DT. this is truly confusing to me. when i read Assignment has just commented on your photograph. which Assignment is this? but more importantly, is it true that "Assignment" the photographer gets favourite treatment by DT in the keyword search, etc.? if so, this sounds a bit skewed for the rest of us common earthlings. are the gods in DT really playing dice with us too, like many indies accuse IS of doing with their exclusives vs indies. sorry if this is a can of worms, but if i can't ask anyone here, who can i ask ? 
306
« on: January 04, 2010, 13:22 »
mind, if its only by DLs, well then I would say SS is in the lead since its a subscription agency only.
hmm, as an newbie without the faintest idea of micro stock history admittedly, i didn't know SS is a subs agy only. i only know from you all here that many, if not most, of you make the most money with SS. if the bottom line = more money, then perharps it's ok to get peanuts per dl. so long as each site that promises us peanuts also deliver the bucks like SS does for most of you. is this what the rest of the Big 6 are doing? ape SS since it's obvious they are not going to dethrone SS? thus, is this what we can expect from micro from hereone? anyone care to give this (viz Perseus or Persue-d in 2010) ...dull minded newbie to micro... a quick insight
307
« on: January 03, 2010, 21:41 »
Although sad on this fact, because few agencies aren't good. The power is much more concentrated and the contributors are less respected due to the high number of them. I'm a little bit afraid because this is how the bank, food, car, etc. industry started and voila today each industry is a superpower and tomorrow they will not care about nothing. Divide and conquer.
well, micro stock is a bit different from banks. well, at least from my own experience. banks make allowances to their most faithful and best clients. at least my banks do, with giving us special rates and offering us better than their competition. i don't see this happening with any of the micros . even the oldest and best sellers , at least here, complain about being treated like dirt. .. or at least, that's the impression i get. i'd sooner deal with the biggest banks , because at least in my country, banks are regulated and cannot play dirty with their own self interests, by pushing their own insiders ahead of the rest of the client. plus, any outsider who has been a long term clientele is given preference. i don't think too many micro contributors , even exclusives , can proudly attest to either of these factors with any stock agencies. can you?
308
« on: January 03, 2010, 19:09 »
309
« on: January 03, 2010, 18:48 »
Woo! Free images! Whose smart idea was that?
well said Mr. Locke (or Superman re your awesome IS avatar) i fear the idea of a co-op is redundant. a more practical and viable plan would be to simply support one of the sites that is already running well. one that gives you the higher commissions that we all look for, and one that does not plan to jump ship to suddenly force us to accept pennies once it becomes successful. which site would this be? ah, ...alas.. that is the question !!!
310
« on: January 03, 2010, 18:38 »
since BigStock is now part of the SS flagship,
i am wondering if any of you SS-er and SS/BigStock-er are getting some shift in the culture. meaning, are you getting the SS typical increase in dls, and / or , do you plan to give BigStock more of the types of images that SS prefers.
ie. more saturated (*over-processed) images .
meaning:
* over-processed: in the IS sense.
311
« on: January 03, 2010, 18:29 »
I had a quick look in the portfolio of the OP "modellocate", and he has great erotic and tasteful conceptual shots. In fact, it's a great photographer, imho. What I saw is very usable in microstock, but he is already on the main sites.
Models that agree to that kind of work shouldn't complain they are used on erotic sites. There is a (huge) market for this kind of content, and they fulfill a market need. They can't expect to be featured on a church site, don't they?
lol, you never know. some clergies do ... rofl.. no seriously, if porn or erotica is where the OP wants to concentrate, they would be better off starting their own erotica site, instead of settling for a few pennies per dl, doncha think?
312
« on: January 03, 2010, 18:24 »
The people that made StockXpert are currently working on a new site. Hopefully, they will have learned from their (mainly financial) mistakes, since technically, StockXpert was very sound. Wait and see what their pricing policy will be.
wow, that's awesome news. i for one has been a big fan of StockXpert , and lately, it does seem that they are getting conscientious about something, perharps, hired new reviewers,etc.. remember how they abruptly sort of forgot about my portfolio, like so many of you here, with nary a sight or sign of response from support? but in the past 3 months they have sort of resumed back to new life, with reviewers approving my work same day, like they used to do before. so, really, i am pitching for the old StockXpert to come back to life and take off where it was rudely f....ed - up when ...oh well, you all know the rest of the story.
313
« on: January 03, 2010, 17:46 »
Well Said, Perseus. However, it is difficult to make the necessary commitment. It could mean a long run without a payout. Maybe begin by uploading a few images "exclusively" to those sites?
already considered that. and actually putting at least 50% exclusively to Alamy ... beginning Jan 1 2010. cheers WarrenPrice,
314
« on: January 03, 2010, 17:36 »
I am surprised anyone is putting StockXpert over DT, they dropped off a cliff for me in December and I don't really see much hope for them now.
i agree pancaketom ... but in my case, StockXpert was my best performer, at least until Getty took over. but anything can happen here too for StockXpert... one way is for Getty to kill it, the other way, which i am hoping...for the good of contributors and employees of StockXpert esp the reviewers who are awesome , is for Getty to sell StockXpert , which could revive its potential. (not an absurd idea, as SS bought BigStock, didn't they?) so, for now, i am still fully active with StockXpert (hoping for the latter to happen), but opting out on both IS and StockXpert. does it make sense?
315
« on: January 03, 2010, 16:08 »
Shutterpoint unfortunately seems to attract a lot of buyers for nude, even porn in fact.
Unfortunately? Why? It's just another niche in the photography business. And... Porn? I've never seen porn in SS.
Because I don't like a site I am in to be a popular source for the porn buyers. Yes, they have a lot of porn that sells, even if porn is against the submission guidelines. They are very lenient to what is "acceptable". A closeup of genitals is not just "erotic".
so, you think SS will lose their integrity for a few porn bucks? scary !!! but aren't most micro sites all about profits with no regard for contributors? if not, you won't be seeing pennies for your dls
316
« on: January 03, 2010, 16:00 »
i don't do forecast. if i did, i would know which of the Big 6 to keep, lol. but yes, Veer is the greatest disappointment of 2009. i did better with snapdragon, um, i mean snap.. whatever
317
« on: January 03, 2010, 15:41 »
In their blog you can see a photographer that reports his 3000th image upload and his portfolio are countless series of similars each of 10-20 images.
Are they all metalic looking little shiny figures? 
lol, so i am not just being silly in this perception. yes, i do think there should be some kind of QC . the OP concern is fully justified. my initial reluctance to contribute was just that. too many little shiny figures flooding the bleeding page  and lots of snapshot family album type bad composition, poor exposure,etc. if contributors feel this way, surely potential buyers would do too.
318
« on: January 03, 2010, 12:35 »
Shutterpoint unfortunately seems to attract a lot of buyers for nude, even porn in fact.
i'm confused already. i thought in the Buyers' Agreement to all stock sites, there is a provision that stipulates the buyer cannot use the images for porn. if this is not so, then we are putting our models to risk, aren't we?
319
« on: January 03, 2010, 12:01 »
Hi All,
Yuri sells in Macro RF so he cannot go Exclusive at Istock as well as anyone that has Macro RF images. It takes some planning but you have very long term contracts in Macro so you can't pull your work. Some contracts run 7 years in Macro RF. I am in the same boat, at this time.
http://www.tetraimagesrf.com/SwishSearch?glo=1&max_res=200&Keywords=yuri+arcurs
Best,
Jonathan
if the world (non exclusive Macro RF)..is yours to cultivate, why would you want to restrict (IS exclusive) your agriculture??? can anyone explain? isn't this putting all your eggs in one basket? or have you all taken leave of your senses???
320
« on: January 03, 2010, 11:56 »
Are Fotolia actually trying to make us all go exclusive with Istock? They certainly appear to be acting as IS's Chief Recruiting Sergeant.
this is entertainment to my sunday breakfast. but then again, it may not be as ridiculous as it seems. after all, the CEOs came from IS.
321
« on: January 03, 2010, 11:36 »
Maybe it's because my images were borderline, but I've uploaded two images that were technically identical (different pose, same shoot) and have had one rejected for noise, the other accepted -- only difference is uploading a week apart. This happens a lot at IS for me (again, maybe it is because of my images) but the judgement call on noise, isolation, lighting, etc. can vary depending on when you upload.
well, i wouldn't go so far as to "accuse" IS of exclusive judges being ignoramus to fend off competition to reject your hot images if they happen to be threatening their own portfolio. i might say that perharps there are a handful of nasty exclusives who are committing this gross conflict of interest. but it certainly would not be commonplace. eg. i cannot see someone as established as Mr Locke, and other superstars of IS doing this if even Mr. Locke is a reviewer, which i think he is not. But, my point is, since i started with IS only 4-6 months ago.., i have been getting reviews on my glamour images from IS exclusives. i also have been getting exemplery support from other IS exclusives in the forum. so, maybe yes, there are a handful of rogue IS exclusives who are playing dirty as reviewers to new independents, but i wouldn't paint them with a broad brush to say all IS exclusives are anally suspicious. which i would attest that it is not so. there are some bad eggs, and i think IS support should investigate
322
« on: January 03, 2010, 11:27 »
personally, I feel most of you have too much vested interest to throw in the towel. but for newbies like myself (2 years old at the most), I think we can decide whether we really want to continue in an environment that thrive of reducing your commissions until it is non-existent, or move to lesser promising (and even riskier, as Zymmetrical , Photo Shelter,..has proven to be) sites. my point is, people like me have less to lose, and perharps we in 2010 should make a stand and say, "bastante!",, and give sites like Alamy, 3dstudio, Cutcaster,etc.. their moral support. i think someone said in the Zymm farewell thread, that contributors wait for the sites to get going before they make the exodus. well, if you wait for the exodus, the site, like Zymmetrical, may not last that long. you cannot expect salvation if you are not yourself willing to make that sacrifice. no one has ever moved mountains sitting on the fence. BUT, old habits die hard.
323
« on: January 03, 2010, 11:15 »
I am really quite surprised that DT is below StockXpert in the poll now. StockXpert was quite a bit worse than DT for me last month.
It wonder though if dreamstime is giving a lot more weight to new images in their best match searches, which would mean that those of us with older portfolios would see a decrease in our earnings.
no Tyler, this is not true, as my comment before you is evidence . in the past 4 months my upload (and approval ) have more than quadrupled. yet my dls have actually gone down, earning money only via my affliate commissions
324
« on: January 03, 2010, 11:09 »
initially DT and StockXpert were actually my best since in insertion into micro stock.
the others were more or less non-starters with not enough to make it worth my while to be consistently contriubuting.
but you are right, even though my approval rating has more or less been near 90% or even 100% in the past months, my downloads have not increased.
maybe DT is concentrating on their own favourites such as Assignments,etc.., and in turn neglecting those who are not directly associated with them.
i am not sure. this is not an accusation, but more so just a supposition.
i am not here to be at loggerheads with anyone... more so with DT.
they obviously like my work , or else they would not have approved all of it in the past months. so i am not one to find a quarrel with Achilles. my name is Perseus, not Paris or Hector, ha!ha!.
seriously,
to date, my rejected box contains only 4 images.
i would expect my dls to be better . perharps i am not one of DT's priorities in the keyword search.
whatever, i sure like to know as well, as i like DT and StockXpert equally and hopefully
i can stay a regular contributor with both.
325
« on: January 03, 2010, 10:59 »
oops, sorry...
didn't know this was blocked.
thx race.
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