I just put this in the other post, but I coudn't ftp, I sent through their webside and nothing arrived, then yesterday I tried 5 the flash-way - only 3 made it and it seemed to freeze up on the other 2.

Maybe try the flash button in smaller batches and you'll have better luck?

Update:  I tried 5 by flash, 3 arrived.  One was rejected literally within seconds, I completed one and left one to get back to.  The completed one is still yellow, 20 hours later.

Crap, I tried to ftp last night and couldn't connect so I uploaded 5 through their site last night.  It took forever and they are nowhere to be found.  Why didn't I listen to myself when I said I'd hold off until August or until there was at least positive feedback from others?

Yes, the orders have reversed for all the sites in speed haven't they?

I had a new rejection this week.  "Please submit keywords in English".  It is a photo of an Inukshuk.  (Stacks of rocks shaped like man that the Inuit used as a travel marker away up north in the permafrost.)   I looked it up on Wikipedia and sent a link... apparently that IS the English variation.  They did accept it in the end.

Okay.  Mine are still pending.  From the 25th and 26th.  What gives?

I stumbled across this site on the web today.  Cannot verify the legitimacy of it but some of the prize money looks pretty good.  I didn't investigate enough to find out how winners are paid, or if you pay to join or not.

http://www.sitepoint.com/contests/

Way to go, major kudos to you!  Boy, if you look at your most popular they are so spectacular.  What took Dreamstime so long to notice?   

I am completely weird....... hell, I'd rather spend three hours in a darkened room with Photoshop than enjoy a cold gin and tonic served on the shining deck of a yacht by three Swedish Dancing Girls..........

Hatman, gin and tonic is one of the great elixirs of life.... what are you doing to yourself?

Hey Freezing, my first too - in August also, so unfortunately I likely won't be able to ask you how yours went and beg for last minute tips as I will be in another province for a couple weeks for my neice's wedding.

I probably don't have much to say that you don't know, but I find myself taking more and more outside lately, so this much I know with outdoors experience - with broken/moving clouds the colour and strength of the light changes every few seconds so you have to meter every few seconds.  I usually try to search out shade outdoors and fill.  Sometimes I stick a Nikon flash on a light stand at 45 which fills nicely if the group isn't too large.  

Don't do just shade though, full sun can be nice too if you can get around the squinting.  I also read a tip recently to have the group close their eyes for a few seconds and tell them when to open so they don't have that "beady eye" (tiny pupil) look.  I've tried this one before - as they aren't squinting as much for a couple seconds.

For smaller groupings (i.e. bride and grooom), someone could hold a bounce reflector for you.  Also, I shot 3 kids under blossoming apple trees this spring, I used the scrim inside one of my reflectors like a soft box in front of a flash about 5 feet away and the light was really nice.   It took care of most of those stray bits of light that fall through the branches - but still some shots were ruined due to pockets of changing light that "weren't there a second ago".  

Tripod or monopod - a must.

For shots without shade and a lot of sun, you may want to bring along a polarizer.  If the subjects are blond or bald and there is strong sun overhead, they can be like mirrors and blow out very quickly.

Another neice last summer had a friend do the "wedding" photos, and they asked me to take several other situations... but I didn't want to be in the way when they went to the park so I stayed behind.  She loved the ones they took, so that's all that matters, but man - the photos she sent out had a white sky (it was a beautiful day) and the tops of their heads were totally blown out.  One of the groomsmen was black and you could barely make out his details!   Oh, I wish I was there.  A polarizer and fill would have really helped improve.  

I took the camera on a hike a couple weeks ago with the family.  Sun was overhead, and they look like a family of racoons.  They were just snapshots, I didn't use any fill, and everything is nicely lit except for the eye sockets which are full of shadow.   Evil, mean looking family!   (dumb dumb dumb)

A neighbor had a ton of children in the wedding party and a cute photo was of the bride/groom off to the side kissing with the kids surrounding and covering their eyes.  Maybe a little hokey, but I still got a laugh from it!

Another tip is to check background for different tones.  Anything lighter than your subjects can be distracting.   A fountain can be made part of your photo, but the group of yellow flowers in the distance will pull focus.

Oh, and try a few with the zoom.  (Note - just a few) I find the compressed backgrounds can be very interesting.

Also, if you are shooting in a park you may require a permit.  The bride should check this.. it would be a real bummer to get kicked out on her wedding day!

I have to take my neices photos at about 11:30.  The worst time of day!

Anyone else please add to this post.  I could really use the tips too!

Is this a new message (below)?  Maybe not, but I just spotted it today.  It does say that you have a new FTP login and password.  Is anyone submitting yet?

Dear Fotolia Contributors,

We are happy to inform you that after many days of delay, image upload is back online at Fotolia. Log on to your Fotolia account and click on the �My Files� section for more details.

You will see that we added a new upload option called Flash Upload which is very cool. In addition we now allow contributors to upload SVG files. Click here to learn more about SVG.

Please note that the login and password for FTP has changed. See details in your account.

It was just a hobby for me, but now at the end of the month I collect a few payouts I am thinking about doing more micro, less other.  I'm going into my 3rd year in biz and now the referrals are rolling in.   

I'm trying to work part-time while raising kids.  I do mostly team sports photography, small schools and the like, but it is becoming much more than a part-time job (more than full time even) and I'm sick of editing photos after the kids have gone to bed until 4 in the morning.   

I am also a licensed reseller of photobooks and dvds on my website which requires a bit of work, but makes a little extra $.   My husband has suggested that I'd perhaps be happier just shooting stock and promoting the photobooks a little more aggressively.   I do lack a certain amount of disipline though, and am afraid I would get too lazy if I only shot stock and had no deadlines.

Oh, happy day.  2 EL's.   Thank Goodness they were files that I had managed to change the EL price on when I was bumped up a level.   Now I can say to my husband "remember that day at the beach when you were being so cranky, and cursing me and my camera...."

(I'm beginning to not mind so much this V.2.)

the business account can accept payment from people who want to use a credit card.  They also charge a fee for the $$ you receive.  So you would only want to use this if you need to accept credit cards (like if you sold things on ebay)

I use a business account - albeit not very often - and this is how I understand it to work... you collect your agency payments in your Paypal account at no charge - you transfer to your bank account.  There is a small fee (is it $2?) if you transfer less than $150, but no fee if you transfer above, so I accumulate until I hit $150.  I am in Canada and I thought I read that there is no fee if you are in the U.S. transfering to a U.S. bank.

Not relevant here, but they do charge processing fees if you want to take credit cards.  It can add up, but it is definitely A LOT more cost effective for a small business like mine to take Paypal than to set up merchant account and shopping cart. 

I sell photobooks and dvd's on my website and the manufacturer processes all the payments - they charge me just a little less than Paypal for transactions.  The Paypal price seems pretty fair, I did a graduation in another province - they all paid by Paypal so I paid a ton in credit card fees.  I'll have to add it to the price next time.   And even if you have another true merchant account, you still pay the per-transaction %, so I'll stick with Paypal for now.