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Messages - Zero Talent
Pages: 1 ... 14 15 16 17 18 [19] 20 21 22 23 24 ... 94
451
« on: May 10, 2022, 08:32 »
FYI, Alamy replied saying that these photos have been used for internal testing only.
452
« on: May 09, 2022, 12:48 »
"The middleman" is not a "parasite", but a critical component of the market, a component allowing the expertise to flourish, instead of being wasted with collateral activities.
The farmer can focus on farming, and the photographer on photography, while the middleman is bridging the gap between expertise and customers.
Obviously, there are always middlemen trying to push their luck, but the market has a natural tendency to reward those middlemen who understand where the equilibrium point is.
Well agree or disagree, the role of the middleman has changed in recent years. Middlemen used to be tour operators, travel agents, taxi companies, banks, auction houses. Some still exist. I lived on as a golf tour operator because of unique local knowledge and connections but a stock provider telling me which picture I should use? I dont think so.
Sure, when middlemen use to be only what you described, photographers were only shooting on film. Agree or disagree, both the middleman's and the photographer's job descriptions have evolved in the digital world. 
453
« on: May 05, 2022, 20:31 »
Does anyone know what is this?
454
« on: May 05, 2022, 16:09 »
Just calculated my April '22 numbers => Second-best April, behind April 2017. Not bad!
So it's the same for you: AS has overtaken Shutterstock in terms of revenue? That was different for you too, wasn't it?
It's not the first month when it happens. It's true that my SS share has declined. But what matters is that my total is still OK. That's why is never a good idea to be exclusive with anyone. Here is my SS-AS gap graph:
455
« on: May 05, 2022, 11:20 »
Just calculated my April '22 numbers => Second-best April, behind April 2017. Not bad!
456
« on: May 04, 2022, 18:32 »
I don't hold out much hope for any improvements for contributors.
Most people will agree with this. But I really think rebuilding contributor relationships is the only way forward. Stock agencies are parasites by nature; clearing houses, middle-man between producer and consumer. You can have best marketing, subscription plans, etc. but if fresh quality content stops coming -or is getting uploaded to competition instead- this is doomsday.
What they did with 10 cents, AI QA nonsense, Forum etc. should be studied at college business classes how NOT to do things. If incoming management can understand and fix this, SS will be great again.
Parasites? Well... that's a very marxist point of view, a point of view that fails to understand the essential role of "the middleman" in a prosperous economy. "The middleman" is not a "parasite", but a critical component of the market, a component allowing the expertise to flourish, instead of being wasted with collateral activities. The farmer can focus on farming, and the photographer on photography, while the middleman is bridging the gap between expertise and customers. Obviously, there are always middlemen trying to push their luck, but the market has a natural tendency to reward those middlemen who understand where the equilibrium point is.
457
« on: May 01, 2022, 20:30 »
Anyone got a $100 plus commission?
I received a straight $70 commission for a clip sale on Adobe the other day. That was always their full 4k commission before subs came in. It was for one of my clips that often sell as establishing shots (for movies, documentaries, tv shows, etc) that are outside the standard subscription models on SS and now I suspect on AS too.
The $100+ commissions are typically for these type of clips sales with extra seats.
You are probably talking just photos, but with the value of video sales falling on AS, I thought it is worth noting.
Good one, Annie! I also got a $70 sale, but this one was the best of April on AS.
458
« on: April 28, 2022, 10:26 »
In my case the downscaling seems to hide imperfections, that is why I use it.
Yes, you hide the imperfections seen on the "tip of the iceberg". But the same "tip of the iceberg" (with the same end dimensions) obtained from a properly processed pixel-binned RAW file must be at least as good as a downsized JPEG "tip of the iceberg" because both methods use the same input, while one is lossy (JPEG), and the other is lossless (RAW). The only case when the high-resolution JPEG method is preferable is when you really need more than 12Mpix resolutions. In this case, the imperfections coming from a more noisy algorithm + imperfections from the lossy Jpeg compression may be fewer than the imperfections of a perfectly processed RAW file ran through an upscaling algorithm.
459
« on: April 28, 2022, 09:37 »
I am using Samsung S21 and soon buying S22, but have also used two iPhone 13 Pro Max friends have for comparison.
In both the iPhone and the Samsung, RAW pics are way better than their Jpeg version.
Personally I find that Samsung has an advantage due to to its highest resolution, being 64 or 50 Megapixels (latest model), despite some suggesting it is interpolated.
I find it better to shoot in full resolution, which is only Jpeg and scale down than shoot RAW with the Samsung at 12 Megapixels.
What always works for me is to denoise with Topaz AI and then scale down to 12 or 8 Megapixels.
In Topaz, you have to play with the various profiles to get the best results.
DxO does not recognise the latest phones, so Deep Denoising does not work and Photoshop does not give a good denoising result.
This gets my daily outdoors pics accepted.
Otherwise, if not using the big resolution, as I already said always shoot RAW in the 12 Megapixels resolution and denoise.
Then inspect the finished pic at 200%, prior to uploading.
The Jpeg usually has much compression, compared to one derived from RAW.
Samsung S22 Ultra (Qualcomm chipset) here. I don't think that a downsized max-res Jpeg (108Mpix in my case) can be better than a properly processed, pixel binned RAW photo with the same end resolution. BTW, the original high-res is not interpolated. Instead, the RAW file is pixel-binned, in other words, a raw pixel is a cluster of elementary pixels. A binned pixel is almost the same as the larger pixel, hence able to receive more light with less noise. As you mentioned JPEGs are usually overprocessed, over-compressed and a lot of information is discarded. You only see the tip of the iceberg. When downsizing that information is still lost. You will see the tip of a smaller iceberg. On the other hand, the RAW file is allowing to see ALL the iceberg, not just the tip. If your downsized JPEG looks better than a pixel-binned RAW file, maybe the way you process the RAW file is not optimal. You should always be able to achieve externally at least as much as what the camera is able to do internally because both methods are using the same input.
460
« on: April 27, 2022, 09:36 »
Shoot raw, make cropped panoramas, and/or downsize before uploading.
461
« on: April 20, 2022, 14:56 »
while i agree with the concept of a gift economy, the newsletter totally distorts the idea. volunteer work is part of the gift economy - labor, donated art to non profits, pro bono, open source, et al - but one needs an income in order to be generous
Most of these are not really altruistic "gifts", but rather investments in marketing.
462
« on: April 19, 2022, 15:23 »
BME for me.
Either I'm misunderstanding the graphic, or you've marked in the wrong place. What you have marked in red is March 2021, or am I wrong or am I misunderstanding something?
JustAnImage is correct, Wilm. The graph above is the way IS is reporting earnings on their ESP website. Here is the same info from Todayis20:
463
« on: April 19, 2022, 08:16 »
BME for me.
464
« on: April 18, 2022, 20:07 »
Stats are in.
Good luck Franky and DM.
March 2022
0.50 average
Thanks for the notification, Pete.
465
« on: April 13, 2022, 09:05 »
Even though it's an old thread, it go me curious too.
So I made this chart, with data from 11 years.
October is a clear winner, but the differences are not that big.
I added 2 more years to mine to cover 2016 - 2021. Before that, I was growing almost month to month, so those years were not representative (because the last months of the year always looked better). 
466
« on: April 12, 2022, 10:04 »
It's still a good question and it made me curious. Here is each month's median rank, for the past 4 years (higher position = better earnings). November was the best month for me (followed by Sept and Oct), while July was the worst (followed by December) 
467
« on: April 07, 2022, 18:02 »
I will. That's the whole point of thinking. You are a "one way only (do no enter)".
Nah... the whole point is to learn from other wise men (instead of reinventing the wheel while believing that the earth is flat) and keep an open mind. When you refuse to acknowledge common sense and see lizard people, you better follow the advice given in that final sentence. 
468
« on: April 07, 2022, 15:37 »
469
« on: April 07, 2022, 14:35 »
...
My point being I'd rather know about any investigation into possible corruption in a government I was about to vote for. ...
not all 'investigations' are the same - many are just wacko conspiracy theories with no foundation in reality -- like MONTHS investigating Benghazi; or the lizard people/pedophile pizza joint, or Jewish lasers causing CA wildfires ( https://www.vox.com/22256258/marjorie-taylor-greene-jewish-space-laser-anti-semitism-conspiracy-theories )
Or 5G and Covid being linked, or only silly political conspiracies allowed. Neither side in the US has an exclusive on the far out absurdities they claim are the truth. Neither side has reasonable limits on how far they will go to make false or fabricated claims, like accusations that are completely contrived to distract the public from the real issues?
Hunter Biden's computer is photography related? Is that what I missed? I thought it was about investigations, taxes and emails? 
It's more than OK to see what no one else is seeing, as long as you also see what everybody else is seeing. 👍 But if most of the time you only see what no one is seeing, without seeing what everybody else is seeing, it's advisable to seek psychiatric help.
470
« on: April 07, 2022, 08:09 »
Hats off to those Russian contributors who decided to run their business from Andorra.
Their decision may have been deeper than just tax reductions...
471
« on: April 04, 2022, 12:35 »
SS is total waste of time. My March RPD there is 0.214.
~50 cents for me last 3 months on SS.
March RPD on SS: $1.10/dl overall $0.70/dl for images $17.5/dl for videos
472
« on: April 02, 2022, 06:51 »
There is certainly some truth in what you said, Firn. Some russians may be afraid to speak up, or maybe the numbers are simply made up, because the polsters may be afraid to speak up. But as Justanotherphotographer pointed up, based on the reactions seen on varius fora, twitter, FB, etc, these numbers may be closer to reality than we like. Too many feel the urge to defend Putin, instead of keeping their mouth shut. Propaganda works! It works even in the US let alone in Russia itself. Just check Tucker Carlson (who is openly rooting for Russia) and his followers. We saw it even in this forum: too many contributors genuinely believe that Russia has the right to invade another country, while using all sorts of logical contorsions to justify it. So again, what DP is doing is perfectly justified. Earnings for microstock are taxed by the Russian government and the proceeds used to murder Ukrainians. Nobody should be OK with it.
473
« on: April 01, 2022, 17:20 »
Not bad: second-best March overall, behind March 2017.
That your pictures sell well, I am not surprised and is also known to me. They are very good.
That you can still increase, triggers in me the question: Do you still upload regularly?
Not really. A few items a week, if any. Mostly old stuff previously discarded for not being good enough. There is not much increase from where I stand. For the past few years, I'm oscillating around similar amounts, and that's more than OK.
474
« on: April 01, 2022, 12:29 »
I feel like it is worth bringing community attention to - we are art people here and it is so sad that Depositphotos decided to use war as an excuse to earn some extra buck and spread hate.
Depositphotos stopped payouts to all Russian and Belarusian contributors. There was no notice in advance, Payoneer and Paypal still worked in those countries - people just got emails that starting now they won't get paid but Depositphotos will keep selling their content. As I know they are the only microstock that chose to cut off contributors (and they are already in a pretty sad and bad situation already). No need to say that most Russians and Belarusians do not support the war and are nearly completely stripped of their savings and earnings. We are supposed to create art, not war. So very sad.
I deleted my portfolio from this Depositphotos, don't want to support the owner who chooses a path of hate and discrimination.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/896181/putin-approval-rating-russia You are wrong. The butcher's approval rate is going up after invading Ukraine! A massive majority of Russians (microstock photographers inclusive, I can bet) will follow their "Dear Leader" no matter what! Nobody should support Putin's war machine and sponsor his spread of hate, war, and murder of innocents. Unfortunately, some slaves don't fight for their freedom, but to become slave masters themselves! What DP is doing is perfectly justified! I wish more companies and governments would take a similar stance and completely stop sponsoring Russia's war!
475
« on: April 01, 2022, 11:00 »
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