MicrostockGroup Sponsors


Show Posts

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 - cascoly

Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5 6 7 8 ... 170
51
Off Topic / Re: Worst First starts
« on: January 25, 2025, 14:03 »
Go tell that to your government. Because the German government doesn't know that there is no war and constantly supplies huge quantities of weapons to Ukraine.

no matter how many  times you say it, russian aggression in ukraine is not equivalent to WWIII

52
Off Topic / Re: Worst First starts
« on: January 24, 2025, 15:31 »
which  progressives have ever supported violent offenders? evidence please
The evidence is the entire policy of Biden and the Democrats over the past 4 years.
Be specific.
1. Support for the flow of illegals into the US.
2. No deportation policy.
3. Friendship with totalitarian china.
4. Lifting sanctions against terrorist iran.
5. Inviting putin to attack Ukraine. Biden, even before the full-scale Russian invasion, said many times that russia would not be punished for genocide and the murder of Ukrainians.
9. No policy aimed at terrorists in north korea.
1,2 - bipartisan immigration blocked by trump telling Republicans to defeat it

3 since Nixon in '72 US has had relations w china

4 trump ended the nuclear agreement w iran - which was working, but now results Iran weeks away from enough funel for abmb

5 complete fabrication - never happened

9 compared to trump's 'love letters' to putin, xi & kim??

and, as usual, you just make th ngs up without actually supplying evidenc e or sources

53
Pond5 / Re: My Pond5 Download Trend
« on: January 24, 2025, 15:22 »


You're allowed to disagree but you're also making random claims without any supporting data at all.  I believe thats known as fantasy.

You've also shown a complete lack of understanding of anything in the modern video world regarding standards, framerates, formats, editing and in addition called the data from one of the largest stock submitters "lies".  So again, show your working.
good luck!

he don't need no stinkin' facts!

many have asked; none have been answered

54
And as stock is only a part-time job for me, I can consider myself lucky - the last 6 years of stock have enabled me to do some travelling - I was able to go on a safari, see Iceland and was in the Seychelles from the income, surprisingly the pictures from there hardly sell at all.

You also need to improve your metadata. Poorly written titles and keywords won't make your content visible to the right buyers.

For instance, take a look at this picture:

https://stock.adobe.com/de/images/close-up-of-different-fruits-hanging-on-trees-taken-on-the-seychelles-islands/253979877

Your title, "Close up of different fruits hanging on trees taken on the Seychelles islands," is not specific enough. The fruit is called "breadfruit." Including that information in your title, along with other relevant details about the fruit, would be much more effective.

i've been using visualmind.ai both to get more expansive captions/tags and an enormous savings in time - i spend a few minutes to process hundreds of images, then another few minutes fact-checking.

just for fun - i saved a copy naming the file xxx.jpg & ran thru VM & got:

Caption
Large, round breadfruit hanging from a branch, surrounded by lush green leaves, highlights the stunning beauty of tropical flora and the richness of natural vegetation

tags
breadfruit, fruit, tree, green, leaves, nature, tropical, plant, growing, branch, food, exotic, botany, agriculture, flora, leaf, garden, organic, natural, ripe, unripe, close up, detail, texture, freshness, healthy, vegetation, rainforest, jungle, polynesia, caribbean

obviously ' polynesia, caribbean' need to be deleted & Seychelles could have been appended before the run

VM can often identify place, and even specific building

55
Off Topic / Re: Worst First starts
« on: January 23, 2025, 14:27 »
... Go after the criminals and violent offenders who have been sheltered by the progressives.

which  progressives have ever supported violent offenders? evidence please

meanwhile trump has already pardoned 1000+ violent offenders & known murderers  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/22/donald-trump-pardon-convicted-police-officers/77889905007/

and
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison for running an underground online marketplace where drug dealers and others conducted more than $200 million in illicit trade using bitcoin.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pardons-silk-road-founder-ulbricht-online-drug-scheme-2025-01-22/

56
Canva / Re: Canva - Canva for Education
« on: January 23, 2025, 14:16 »
fwiw, i appealed one of the silly bans & it was accepted -- havent time to bother with the other dozen

57
Canva / Re: Canva - Canva for Education
« on: January 21, 2025, 20:22 »
here are my silliest deletions from last few days (previously civil war re-eanctgors were deleted from the general collection) - some of these seem to be religiously motivated - more non-Christian images rejected --

leopard with its kill
hindu shaman giving blessing
a cannon
slot machines in casino
wild horses at rodeo
Combining Silver Lead Foil and Bamboo Paper
hindu women climbing steps
Skeleton in a Tomb in the Catacombs
Cathedral of St Kilian
Langka Battle Carved Bas Relief from Ramayana  - Angkor wat
Detail of Battle of Devas and Asuras - Angkor wat
Painted Wooden Struts and Beams of temple

even tho it's the educational collection, it's an extreme xtian/puritanical decision that people are not allowed to see - are the young not supposed to know that violence exists? (while the US is a major exporter of arms - like most of the 2000 lb bombs used to target individual, minor Hamas fighters that obliterate Gazan civilians & cities)

58
...

unfortunately,as I have already said,if I was still at least 40 years old,I still had time,but now at almost 50 years old I no longer have time.

this is a subjective thing,it depends on one's condition,if I had a different situation,I could certainly still afford to wait a few years,but unfortunately it is not my situation.

as I already told you,in the first 20 days of January 2024 I made the exact same number of sales that I have now made in the first 20 days of January 2025,the exact same number of sales,It's definitely not a coincidence,it just can't be statistically.

so it seems clear to me that I will still have to wait a few years before seeing concrete/acceptable results,if ever.

....

I will continue to monitor the situation,if/when I start to see at least a similar number of sales to November,I will resume uploading....

it's very likely that I'm screwed!  :D

at 50 you don't have the time, young'un? wait till you're 25 yrs older, like me

statistically there's no reason identical results shouldn't happen. low probability, but not impossible.
and if you wait to see improvement before uploading more, you're ensuring you won't get the results you want.  what % of your previous portfolio did you upload last year?

59
Shutterstock.com / Re: Is Shutterstock Manipulating the Numbers?
« on: January 18, 2025, 20:44 »
No, they didn't.
To be honest, I don't understand how people come up with such weird conspiracy theories in the first place. It's becoming a habit here.

Since Elan Musk hasn't completely shot up the Shutterstock headquarters with his lasers from space, downloads are completely normal, revenue in January is expectedly poor.

exactly - my income is up, must be the quality of my work.  my income is down - the devil's running te agency & stealing my money.

60
Shutterstock.com / Re: Shuterstock about to get eaten by Getty
« on: January 13, 2025, 13:41 »
don't you think "Gutterstock" makes more sense?

or GetStuck

61
Shutterstock.com / Re: Shuterstock about to get eaten by Getty
« on: January 13, 2025, 13:38 »
What happened to Shutterstock Inc share price? The euphoria didn't last long.

I see this as Shutterstock admitting defeat.

I thought after the 2021 stock coalition attempt that it didn't work out. Well turns out it did. Quite surprising to see that the number of irate contributors following the cash grab were themselves customers, or know customers personally or worked for customers who were large organization subscribers.

The message got out there and collectively a sizeable part of Shutterstock's customer base left, probably redirecting their business to Adobe, and thus never to return, and along with that, their share price and profits with it. 

Not that I think iStock is much better so I suppose this 'merger' is like birds of the same feather.

more likely was just a blip based on the announcement, then quick profit taking to bring it back to the pre-annoucement price. no indication it was a 'defeat'

62
General Stock Discussion / Re: New Year's Resolutions
« on: January 03, 2025, 20:14 »
...
Absolutely! Albert Camus is a great philosopher of the positive in the face of existential darkness. His works are like philosophical psalms of the Bible. I loved the interpretation of Sisyphus. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to read his other works, such as 'The Philosophy of the Absurd' or 'The Rebel', although the books are sitting on my shelf.

the rebel is well worth the effort - the stranger is an excellent, more accessible reading, along with Sartre's nausea which i re-read every few years.  i've not yet achieved Sisyphus' happiness amidst the absurdity of life

63
Pond5 / Re: My Pond5 Download Trend
« on: January 01, 2025, 15:25 »
RPD  and total DL aren't really useful for comparing agencies

my RPD for AS is twice that of SS yet SS income is consistently about 20% greater than AS (which is what matters in the end)

meanwhile SS DL are 1.5 to twice as many AS, but not reflected in $

so both RPD & DL are misleading as indicators of success, which also makes the AS weekly ranking merely bragging rights


64
General Stock Discussion / Re: New Year's Resolutions
« on: January 01, 2025, 15:11 »
Happy new year!

Some motivation for you:


The stone is not the destination or the goal, but the path itself is the stone. Every step, every effort, every challenge we take every day is the stone that drives us forward. It is the opportunity that we have every day to grow, to learn and to improve ourselves. Keep going and know that you are not alone.
one of my favorite essays,'the myth of Sisyphus'  --

"This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither  sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

Camus

65
   DT doesnt use the description or subject from meta data

For me it does.
  I have embedded titel, description and keywords in my metadata and all I have to do with Dreamstime is select the category. That's why I do not understand why people here say the upload process was compilcated. It was even easier when they auto-detected the categoeries, all you had to do was click on submit, but unfortunately that does not work anymore.

the problem is youn can only submit 1 image at a time, so you waste time waiting for each  image t be submitted

66
Adobe Stock / Re: What's your weekly ranking and how many images?
« on: December 26, 2024, 14:15 »
Unfortunately, sales have now dropped even further. Only a little more than half of the downloads from last week. ..

no surprise - it's xmas / new year's

67
General Stock Discussion / Re: What's the Future of Microstock
« on: December 25, 2024, 21:59 »
...
It's really a shame because photography, when done properly, is form of self expression, art and can bring lots of joy beyond just financial aspect. ...Shooting wildlife is art, waiting, patience in the wild, having proper equipment/lens - not this.   AI is downright evil in my view, not just in photography.  ...

you need to realize that the essence of microstock is the opposite of fine art. MS is commercial. if you dont realize that you'll never be successful in MS.  no judgment - we each have to decide how our commercial lives might contribute our spiritual goals. but don't expect a capitalist society to prioritize your ideals

68
General Stock Discussion / Re: What's the Future of Microstock
« on: December 25, 2024, 21:53 »
....
It's really a shame because photography, when done properly, is form of self expression, art and can bring lots of joy beyond just financial aspect.  In particular this downright despicable mess AI is creating.  ... Shooting wildlife is art, waiting, patience in the wild, having proper equipment/lens - not this.   AI is downright evil in my view, not just in photography.   Why don't all these Googles and Apples (and Adobes) invest effort in figuring how to save the planet that is dying in front of our eyes with human caused global warming,  instead of working on software algorithms that won't mean anything once Planet can't support life anymore.   Sorry for rant, just very bitter about it.


you're confusing moral goals with practical business decisions - agencies have no effect on public policies - they provide what buyers want. so if you want to change the world you need another venue!  i contribute 10% of my meager income to such projects as UNHCR, nature conservatory et al, and have no expectation that microstock is going to change the world

69
during the 2013 govt shutdown, NP were closed. a state hwy runs thru Zion so that road was still open - however rangers wouldn't let us stop at viewpoints (or anywhere) to take pictures!

70
Pond5 / Re: Pond5 he is definitely dead
« on: December 15, 2024, 14:59 »
You can read my questions now?  ;D 
After reading their response it is obvious to me why you wrote to them. So the answer is yes.

Yes, my question was about their system, submission and reviews, Editorial and things that I do, so it wasn't technical "technically". The reply took a week. ....
I didnt get an answer from them, which means they have problems, which means we may no longer see a quick solution to any issues, as was the case before. We don't see it yet.

No it just means YOU havent gotten a response & from that you claimed they had fired their support!

71
...To get a rejection, you have to do something pretty extreme. Someone will have to test the theory that a missed check box, for Editorial, for example, makes an image impossible to upload again. How about rejection for improper Editorial caption, is that a death sentence for the image? ...



i had some rejections recently because i'd failed to check editorial the first time, fixed & re-sub'd - sometimes accepted.  there seem to be 2 reasons concerning editorial

Editorial Designation: This content can only be accepted for editorial use. Please select the "Editorial" button before submitting..

or

Metadata - Editorial Requirements: Editorial captions must include day, month, year, and geographic location information and a description. Descriptions, keywords, categories, and locations must be accurate, descriptive, and relevant to the subject matter, and must be in English. They should not contain any potentially objectionable or offensive language. Remove special characters or repetitive words/phrases and check spelling/grammar errors.



I've re-processed many older shoots, but can't always remembered what' lso been submitted (at lesser quality) -- been getting:
Previously Rejected: This content has already been submitted to Shutterstock.

i also got that msg  when i resub'd images falsely identified as genAI, but nothing about not submitting again

worse tho is reviewer inconsistency - non-licensable is still a big reason for rejection - until recently some reviewers would reject entire batches, and others accept those on resubmission.  and as far as forgetting to click editorial, they should do what DT does - automatically move to editorial if they find it should be
 

72
500 a month is a very good number. I hope I can reach that one day.

Do you also teach a class an optional? class on stock photography on these cruises?

Would there be interest in that?

none of my tours are described as photography, but we do spend more time in less visited places, and stay in central areas so there's  time for exploring.   many folk come to Istanbul a day or 2 early & i offer suggestions based on their interests.

https://cascoly-images.com/the-rest-of-istanbul-what-you-missed-on-your-1st-days-tour/

https://cascoly-images.com/exploring-the-other-mosques-of-istanbul/

We set up independent tours and also give free advice on traveling in Turkey on your own.

The river cruises are more expensive but enable you to visit many places in a short period of time, with both included walking tours and free time to explore/photograph

these travels are symbiotic - travel provides a varied portfolio and sales pay for more travel.

as far as stock photography, the general level of photography is selfies & snapshots and few know about stock - the few who do are buyers (most commonly known are 'Getty' and Shutterstock )

73
Yes, sign me up. i've been wanting to MAKE UP TO AS MUCH AS 5 CENTS A MONTH -- is there family & friends discount?

74
General Stock Discussion / Re: Inflation and microstock?
« on: December 11, 2024, 19:28 »
Inflation is only a short term issue. The longer term problem is AI. Agencies are waiting for AI to continue maturing to the point where they can eliminate contributors. As AI matures they will pay you less until they stop paying you.

for the last year or more US inflation has been close to 2% while many other countries are still struggling  - price increases everywhere are not due to inflation

if inflation was a problem for agencies, we'd see an increase in prices. instead we see a not unexpected decrease in prices as the market matures & images are a commodity

75
Adobe Stock / Re: What's your weekly ranking and how many images?
« on: December 10, 2024, 18:05 »
What the heck are you talking about guys?
I see you didn't even try to use AI for daily business tasks like coding review / coding description, writing concepts, summerize und structurize pdf documents, translating texts, review of contracts, evaluation of customer feedback, etc.

When you have problems and chat with the Amazon support, do you really think there are real people even typing, when you want get a refund?

Just use google for AI use cases or better ask an AI chatbot.

The hallucinations problem will be solved with agents (ChatGPT 5) and a multiple plausibilty check of the generated answers.

By the way this week looks ok sofar:
38 Downloads, 26,39 $.

yes, same here - i use ChatGPT for 1st drafts for my blog for travel & historical posts, for code segments, suggesting blog titles, write image collection descriptions and item descriptions for etsy, ebay& amazon.  i use visual mind to  produce 100s of excellent titles, captions & tags for images in minutes it otherwise takes me about an hour to do 50-100

all these examples need minimal no editing

Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5 6 7 8 ... 170

Sponsors

Mega Bundle of 5,900+ Professional Lightroom Presets

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors