|
MicrostockGroup Sponsors
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
Messages - Morphart
Pages: 1 ... 11 12 13 14 15 [16] 17 18 19 20
376
« on: June 21, 2011, 07:35 »
That's a pretty small area for anything other than tabletop work. For people you need at least 3 feet but better with 6 between the background and person plus close to 10 more for you to work with. Light stand will take up 2 feet on the sides or more each so that only leaves a small area for your objects. Most people will say get alienbees if you are in the States or Elinchroms for international. The new alienbees einstein lights look good although I haven't used them. The smaller lastolite hilite (5x6) might be good for the size of space you have. Some easy to use reflectors (translucent, gold, white, silver) or a 5-1 will be useful. Radio slaves would be good too, I have the impact ones and they seem pretty good although I haven't had a chance to really test them out yet. The old alienbees ones miss fired occasionally but maybe that's fixed with the new ones. The 100mm 2.8 IS macro is a good choice too since it's very sharp.
Yes I definetly need a sharp quality to my images, will have a look at the 100mm 2.8 IS macro, will trust your experience as it's hard to gauge the quality of the picture by the small information we have on lens. Thanks!
377
« on: June 21, 2011, 07:33 »
If you buy a lastolite hilite, you can reduce the distance between subject and white background.
Look at : http://www.lastolite.com/hilite-backgrounds.php
I think if you buy a smaller one, you can use it with only 1 strobe in it.
Very interested indeed. Noted that down!
379
« on: June 20, 2011, 18:46 »
Wow thank everyone for the comments and heads up. Basically I can decide what space I need. I just have a full room of at least 16 or 18 x 18 feet, however I want to reserve a portion for storage and the rest for photography.
I do not want to start making people photography. So tabletop work or "larger tabletop" work is fine for me. Will take some time tonight to study all your recommendation, will definelty help me see clearer with all the things available,
Thanks again!
380
« on: June 20, 2011, 14:43 »
No for me!
381
« on: June 20, 2011, 13:29 »
So, in other words. I'm not missing anything other than a lot of time. I've only been "really" trying to do this since Dec. of last year. I've got a Canon T1i, 18-55, 75-300, and a 50mm, no flash (other than the built in one), a table top studio with 2 little lights, 1 tripod. But if I can't sell some stock don't know how I'm going to be able to afford to buy anything else.
You need to learn what sells and what don't. A lot of reading and researching needs to be done, then a lot of trial and error if you are not too familiar with different camera techniques, but in the hand it always pay off. However you will not be able to move up the first year unless you spend a decent ammount of time dedicated to this each week. There is no magical solution to earning money ;p
382
« on: June 20, 2011, 13:26 »
Hi! With all the accessories, gadgets and lighting equipment out there, I would like to have some professionnal or photographer's view of what equipment I should buy to do the following: - I want to shoot a lot of studio shoot of objects on white or creating a decor. I have a 8' x 8' x 9' in my house I can use for permanent studio area. Small and large object alikes. - General outdoor shooting of scene, city and nature shots. Later when I am familiar enough I will move on some model shooting. I have years of experience of professionnal Video shooting, am familiar with most of photography requirements but in regard to lighting and studio equipment I am a bit at a lost as to what I should use (cannot test before buying so better ask the Pros  ). I use a 5k budget as this is the minimum B&H wants to finance, and with the income Microstock is currently giving me I have more than enough to pay a decent "per month" solution. I want to increase my microstock portfolio while having fun . So. Budget is 5k -1k for new cam.. I already have a CANON REBEL XS with 18-55 and 55-250mm lens, but I will buy: Canon EOS Rebel T3i Digital Camera W/EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/758979-REG/Canon_5169B005_EOS_Rebel_T3i_Digital.htmlWhy not a Mark II? I feel that right now I might not use it to it's full potential, and I will want to wait for the next generation of this camera as it's bound to be replaced in a year or so. So 4k left for lighting and accessories... what would you buy for my need? Thanks for those who help me out on this, I appreciate in advance!
383
« on: June 15, 2011, 09:43 »
Paypal is well known for hijacking their clients money and refusing to payout for whatever reason. It always feels like gambling for me using them. I just hope we get a different payout system like payoneer soon on the Agencies which haven`t made the switch already.
Istock, Dreamstime, Veer are already offering payoneer. The biggest missing ones are Shutterstock and Fotolia.
Wow thanks for the information. I have been using Paypal for more than 5 years and never ran into any issue. Anyone else came to same conclusion as Velociarpo with Paypal "hijacking their money"? I was planning to keep some $ in there while US currency picks up...
384
« on: June 15, 2011, 09:36 »
On this forum there aren't so many illustrators. Can we try to get along enen if we don't have the same opinion?
A virtual handshake? 
Like Microbius said, don't discredit other people's work would be a good start. I didn't understand you were talking about raster illustration. Yes I think iStock is missing out on those, totally agree about this,
385
« on: June 14, 2011, 14:57 »
Ever since I started as a vector micostock artist, I've always heard that certain sites reward you in search results when you submit new content. I'm going to put that to the test.
I submit to 20 vector sites, from big ones to small ones, and have had steady growth in my sales over the past year. As for new content, I have been adding about 30-50 new vectors each month.
Here's my experiment: I am not going to submit any new content (vectors) for 6 weeks. I want to see if it negatively affects my sales. I haven't submitted any new content this past week, and I'm planning on not submitting any during March. I realize that it is risky... What if it DOES affect my sales? Well, than I'll start submitting again in April, and do another experiment to see if sales go up again.
I have been very lucky and very blessed with my microstock sales. I'm not trying to brag, but just give a little perspective for my experiment. I have between 1000 - 1500 vectors on each of the 20 sites I submit to, and in January, my monthly microstock income was my best yet. You can see my sales rankings on my site, at graphicgravy.com. The income is high enough that it won't sting too bad if my sales drop a bit from this experiment. I think it will be worth it, and hopefully the findings from my experiment will be a good source of traffic to my site.
Before I did this, I wanted to check and see if anyone has done this before? I don't want to risk my sales for no reason if a lot of people have already tried this, and shared their results.
Thanks!
~ Eli
www.graphicgravy.com
Maybe wait until summer past by before doing that experiment, I heard most microstocker experience less sales during summer, it might misconduct your expiriment :p
386
« on: June 14, 2011, 14:55 »
387
« on: June 14, 2011, 09:01 »
Maybe for a small site that niche might be enough to set them apart? But you're right it seems like eps8 has been left behind in a bigger way than I realized. Didn't know it was only IS and SF not taking eps10 now.
On iStock illustrator forum we still hear the same thing when contributor ask if we can expect EPS10 for 2011. They say that EPS8 is the only format that doesn't require Illustrator (it can be opened with other softwares). So they stick with the compatibility issue for this. However, they could make it EPS10 and Contributors who wants they file to be as flexible as possible could offer EPS8 as additionnal format so their file might get downloaded buy those few clients who are looking for EPS8 compatibility.
388
« on: June 13, 2011, 18:20 »
With PayPal I have had numerous occasions where they locked my account after I used PayPal when not at home and making a purchase (i.e. buying an e-book on the road), and that meant a few weeks before I could get home, make the required phone call and get my account restored. All that time they had my money and I couldn't access it.
Wow for this I agree this must suck bad. My experience so far with Paypal is good, but if I get my account locked once for sure I won't keep any money in there. For currency fees, I opened a US bank account (I am in Canada). This permits me to withdraw from Paypal without any currency conversion. Then, when US $ gets back on track I will withdraw from my US bank account to cash in CAN, so Paypal don't handle the currency transfer. Also, I don't remember but don'T paypal offer to convert the currency OR leave it to bank to convert it?
389
« on: June 10, 2011, 12:42 »
Sorry - read it wrong - you knew that. Payoneer's page says in small print * Currency conversion applies to local currency transfers - but can't find where they hide what today's exchange rate is.
Yeah with conversion fee you are "screwed" any ways. The currency that are shown is never the currency you get. Will it be payonneer, paypal or you bank that those the conversion, each keeps a few cents for themselves. The only disadvantage payoneer has that I see over paypal is direct transfer to you bank account, where paypal you wait a few days before having it in you bank account, but paypal transaction fees are way less. Also I like the advantage of paypal and it's "Virtual banking account", it's like an invisible swiss bank ;p If you don't want to get screwed by currency exchange you need to creat a US bank account and withdraw US money (or currency you get paid into).
390
« on: June 09, 2011, 20:28 »
"The price per transfer is $5.95 or $9.95 depending on the bank account country*." We have to pay that? 
I usually transfer in the hundreds or thousands. Even if I have to pay that fee I couldn`t care less.
I prefer to have a fast and reliable transaction rather than having to deal with anything like paypal or moneybookers in the middle which just cost time and patience....beyond that, with the conversion Paypal offers it is almost guaranteed that the transfer costs me more than just 6 or 10 bucks...
Currency conversion will apply same thing as paypal with this. If it's not paypal doing the conversion, it's your bank unless you own an account with that currency? In my case (Canada withdrawing US funds): If less that 150$ withdrawal: 50 cents. +150$ = Free or USD bank account = Free I prefer the Free method over the 6-10$ method. Paypal as a minimum ammount for all country for it to be free withdrawal, better check how you withdraw don't see how you can get those charges. See: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-withdrawal-fees-outside
391
« on: June 09, 2011, 20:22 »
You have to email them.
Didn't experience this. I registered at the beginning of this year and got reviewed under a week after. Definetly try to email them and see what they have to say.
393
« on: June 04, 2011, 06:27 »
EPS does not accept: - Usually radial gradient that is not in a perfect circle gets converted to raster. - Transparency - Blur - Drop shadows This should cover the major ones. Any effect such as blur and drop shadow won't work. No opacity mask either. Work with the basics
394
« on: June 03, 2011, 19:37 »
It may not be complete but: - Shutterstock - CanStockphoto - Fotolia - Dreamstime - 123rf - Veer - Bigtstock - Scanstock - Graphicleftovers - Depositphotos - Crestock - Cutcaster - Featurepics Stockfresh and iStock both requires EPS 8 PantherMedia is JPG only Should cover the most important ones and a few less important
395
« on: June 02, 2011, 13:11 »
Hi Duncan, you are very efficient! Image is now showing as EL instead of Unknown Good to see you are proactive. It shows in the devellopment and increasing sale in your site! Keep up the good work!
396
« on: June 02, 2011, 11:14 »
Im finding quite a lot of my shots there, from 1 Euro, upwards, when clicking on them up comes Fotolia or Dreamstime, so what the heck is it? refferal site or affiliate? or what?
Professional Stock Photos from $1 Those are our stock images being listing down in that category. All point to referral links so I guess it's a referral "harvesting" site ;p
397
« on: June 02, 2011, 11:11 »
Yes it does. Was just curious about it. Can't be less than happy to see those sales Thanks for the information!
398
« on: June 02, 2011, 07:57 »
Anyone one else got those type of sales: Sold Size: Unknown - Return: 25.00$ Just had this sale yesterday. I remember having some 19,80$ sales when first submitting to Canstock, but I'm curious to know what those 25.00$ sales are... maybe they changed their EL priced?
399
« on: May 28, 2011, 18:45 »
And Lobo...forever clueless about customer relations.
WOW... I didn't notice till you pointed it out that this was a forum moderator. That sorry, Good Luck clearly means I don't give a f$?" about what you think, and about what you need. Piss off!Crappy way to treat customer. I have to agree that myself as a client I will look for both price and quality. If the quality is unique... and my client want to pay the extra $ to buy the right to the image, then fine. But for most project, when I see a 50 credit priced XSmal image and 150 credits for XXLarge I just look elsewhere. Fotolia, Dreamstime, 123rf... Vectorstock for cheap (pricewise) Vectors. As a designer you are always looking for way to get some creative content in your designs without going over the quote and budget of the client. Stock is great for that. But like the client there, I am finding myself going more often then not looking elsewhere. Either because their search does not quite give me the result I am looking for (after 2-3 words they stop giving results), or that the image I find is "overpriced" for the project. I still buy from them, but if they start massively promoting Vetta and Agency files and give less results to other more fairly priced image then of course I will have to start looking elsewhere.
400
« on: May 23, 2011, 13:12 »
First sale for me for around 400 vector file there since February. It kind off suprised me with that sale :p
Pages: 1 ... 11 12 13 14 15 [16] 17 18 19 20
|
Sponsors
Microstock Poll Results
Sponsors
|
Show Posts
