Quote from: camiart on February 19, 2011, 16:55
I've got some photos from well known places in Europe and sale is very low...

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-61888663/stock-photo-florence-cathedral-santa-maria-del-fiore.html
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-61888480/stock-photo-rome-colosseum-with-flowers.html
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-61888639/stock-photo-piza-tower.html
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-54036013/stock-photo-gondolas-on-the-canal-in-venezia.html

While these are nice images, I think they are not framed correctly (like Elena said) for micros. These are unique shots in that they are framed in a more creative or unique manner. I think the point that Elena was making and I think that from looking at other travel images, is that what sells well in a micro environment is the well known shot that is a stereotypical angle and framing or "postcard" style.. Thanks for sharing those images, I think they look very nice..

I think I am planning on taking these images to the macro market and see who wants what and the rest I don't know.. Maybe something will pop up for them later.. I don't think I will waste my time keywording for micros for a couple of sales.. At least the big agencies will edit and keyword the images that they pick for me (except Alamy)..

 I have had some great sales at Alamy, some actually surprising.. But yes I too have had those lame Novel Use sales.. Age I have only sold People stuff.. My Getty stuff is People very emotional and personal images, but I have not considered travel there yet, but I have had some good sales there.. I will maybe stick with Alamy and test a couple with getty.. Thanks for your insights..

Quote from: Elenathewise on February 18, 2011, 02:53
From my experience, the kind of travel shots that sell well on microstock have to me very straightforward. They have to look like a classic postcard, and usually people look for very recognizable angles and locations. Something even a little bit more artsy doesn't sell.

I have a lot of travel shots from different locations and here are a couple of my best-sellers (on micros):
http://www.elenaphoto.com/locations_canada_g72-toronto_skyline_p9207.html
http://www.elenaphoto.com/locations_france_g73-pont_du_gard_in_southern_france_p7294.html

As you can see both are "classic postcard", very traditional shots. I have more interesting shots but they don't sell on microstock nearly as well. So if you have something more unusual I'd place them on Macros, at least if you have a sale there you'll make some money, but on microstock you'll just earn peanuts.

Nice shots! Thanks for sharing.. I think I remember you saying somewhere you submit to Getty.. Do you prefer Getty or Alamy for shots of Travel Stuff? Any Experience with Age (I don't think they really do much travel though if memory serves me correctly)..

So I have a bunch of images that I took on a trip to Europe, that I have been meening to get to, but I'm wondering about where to place them.. Traditionally I would send all my travel stuff to Alamy, and the trendy commercial stuff for micros as the sales weren't there and it wasn't a mature enough market for that stuff.. My question is, do people here still feel that still applies or are travel photos doing better with micros.. Take in mind these are location photos not people. I have a few images w/ Getty and a Some with Age as well.. But I don't see them as being markets for this stuff (or even wanting them for that matter)..

Quote from: gostwyck on February 17, 2011, 18:42
Actually, to some extent I don't mind what is happening. Although it is getting tougher it also means that the barrier to entry is getting higher too, which is probably a good thing for established contributors.

I'm hoping it will dissuade the annoying type of contributor who upload hundreds of lousy, similar and badly keyworded images that just clutter the searches, especially when set to 'Newest'. There's nothing worse than uploading some good new images only to see them quickly swamped by irrelevant nonsense with spammed keywords that have nothing to do with the subject matter. Unfortunately, at that stage of an image's life, the automatic keyword weighting cannot differentiate between the wheat and the chaff.

For the most part genuinely good or unique images still get noticed and can still climb quickly to the top of the 'Most Popular' search order.

I think you are right to an pretty good extent.. I don't mind the bar being higher either, although it makes me have to work a little harder, although I'm OK with that if the balance is there.. It is unsettling though that some decent (maybe not super) images get swamped out so fast though.. I may have a few top images in a batch that get noticed and then the rest seem to just go off into the abyss somewhat.. The thing is, is that was kinda what made micro sustainable (for me anyway) was that there are multiple dl's from even secondary selection images.. If the only images that get dl's are the top of the line, then I'm unsure that will make micro worth the effort as those images would probably sell at higher price points as well.. I don't know though, it wouldn't be an issue really if FT and IS weren't screwing us at the moment, then it might be more acceptable to have to edit tighter and only get the cream uploaded..

Quote from: sharpshot on February 17, 2011, 17:45

Quote from: tubed on February 17, 2011, 15:16

Quote from: sharpshot on February 17, 2011, 08:42
They did send me details to use FPT but it was so complicated, I had to look in the forum.  Then I see all the problems they have with FTP.  They also have low sales compared to Pond5 for me and it really isn't worth it for 15% commission.  They should really be paying more commission than Pond5 because they sell less and make me spend lots more time getting clips on the site, so I will upload there again when they raise my commission by 350%

What would you say their acceptance rate is? similar to images? what do you get rejections for mostly?

What color is your shirt? what type of toothpaste do you use? --- Just kidding

Pond5 seems to accept almost everything so far.. IS is iffy at best it seems..

I don't know any more because I stopped uploading to istock.  15% commission is too low for me.  They did accept most of my clips, except timelpase clouds.  They have lots of those but I have sold a few on other sites.

I agree 100%.. I have been holding off uploading for the moment, to see how things play out.. I was just more curious for the comparison aspect of P5 and IS..

Quote from: gostwyck on February 16, 2011, 23:09

Quote from: tubed on February 14, 2011, 17:34
... I am just wondering, if this is me, or a bad timing thing, or if this is getting to be more normal that the big thrust of new images is not there anymore.. Anyone have any insights?

No, it's not just you! There's no doubt that it is getter tougher, much tougher, for new images to 'take off'. It's not actually new, it's been happening gradually over the last 5-6 years ... and it's only going to get worse too.

The phenomena isn't exclusive to Shutterstock either, it's also happening everywhere else, only it tends to be more noticeable at Shutterstock due to the surge we've come to expect from new uploads.

Essentially for new uploads to be noticed they have to be either 'different' (but still good & useful) in their subject matter or similar but notably excellent in comparison to what already exists. That's the way it is now.

Good to know.. Thanks for that.. It is quite a morphing scene these days isn't it?

Quote from: jbarber873 on February 17, 2011, 13:55
   The FTP upload system at Istock, for me, at least, works much better than the web based system, which constantly crashed at 95%. Having said that, it's still an awkward, windows 3.1 style process. It's amazing to me that there are so many bugs in the process, and the servers routinely go offline for long periods. Theres a long running thread in the video forum about it, and the answers are invariably " we are working on it." It takes a good solid month for videos to be approved, and the percentage to contributors is insulting, considering how much effort it takes to create a good video. I still upload to istock, but that's at this point more to try to gain insight into what the end users are looking for, and what sells. As video becomes more mainstream, I hope that Either Pond5 or Revostock will gain enough traction to be the "go to site" for video, but it's not clear at this point that this is happening. Total revenues for me at Pond5 exceed total revenues at istock, but not by much, and different videos sell at different sites. It's all a work in progress for video microstock, but the overall sales rate of growth is excellent. Last year istock sold 9 videos the entire year for me, and this year, I've sold 30 videos there so far. Pond5 has picked up markedly as well, and with the better percentage, out paces istock. I get the feeling that there are two different audiences for these sites, so for right now I'm keeping my options open.

What are your thoughts on their acceptance rates? It seems they have quite a few sales but it is lower than P5 in revenue because of the commission structure.. You think that is accurate?

Quote from: sharpshot on February 17, 2011, 08:42
They did send me details to use FPT but it was so complicated, I had to look in the forum.  Then I see all the problems they have with FTP.  They also have low sales compared to Pond5 for me and it really isn't worth it for 15% commission.  They should really be paying more commission than Pond5 because they sell less and make me spend lots more time getting clips on the site, so I will upload there again when they raise my commission by 350%

What would you say their acceptance rate is? similar to images? what do you get rejections for mostly?

What color is your shirt? what type of toothpaste do you use? --- Just kidding

Pond5 seems to accept almost everything so far.. IS is iffy at best it seems..

Quote from: pseudopixels on February 16, 2011, 07:40
Would it affect my acceptance ratio if I will delete some of my images to the portfolio. I've d been submitting for 3 months now and some of my images are not doing well so I think its better if I just delete them off.

Are you sure you have good keywording? If you have made sure you correctly keyworded stuff, then removing images from your portfolio I have heard can be beneficial, but I don't do it.. And regarding your question, it depends on what agency you are talking about.. Some it would affect your ratios some it won't.. I would personally just try and figure out what is doing better for you and try to work towards duplicating that into new ideas, don't waste your time trying to nit pick the images you already have up..

 Yeah, I am a little worried that these new images I sent in are going to be burried and not get the exposure to get them a push upwards.. I spent a good amount of time and money on them with Models, Travel, editing Etc. So I am wondering how this spread the exposure adjustment is going to affect things as before they would get the initial exposure and then the least popular ones would slide away and the more popular would climb up.. Hmm.. I have suspended submissions to FT and IS for the moment while I figure out if I want to drop my trousers for them or not .. SS was what gave me a little incentive, but I'm curious to see how new uploads are going to work for me.

Just Curious how this has affected others, for better or for worse? I pretty much maintained steady sales at SS over the past year while I was busy working on other things, although it slid slightly with minimal uploads over last 8 - 10 months.. Has the change from heavily reliant on new images to spread out over a balance helped or hindered people?

Aww I see,
a way it's good in a way it's bad I suppose, as I felt that was how you made better dl's there and how your images had a chance in the mass of uploads and subscription buyers needed fresh stuff.. I imagine what Mantis said is true then about the quality / volume thing.. Although Most of my quality / usefull images get first priority with Macro sites and Micro was secondary with what didn't cut for Macros, or shoots where I had a lot of the same Genre of images.. I guess with IS, FT pulling down our pants and images at SS not getting the initial exposure, to help them climb up the popularity Ladder and no initial rush.

Macros are somewhat dissapointing these days though too..

guess it might be time to re-think the strategy.. Things they are a changin..

Back to working on my design business..

No Istock does not do Exclusive files.. Only Exclusive Photographers.. So you are ALL exclusive to IStock or nothing.. DT and other sites will let you submit exclusive files for higher commisions..

Cool, one of my favorite bands..

So I had taken a break for almost a year from submitting as I was busy with my design business and a new kid etc. etc. So I hadn't uploaded anything for a while, but I have been taking pictures all along.. So over the past couple of weeks I have uploaded and had accepted a couple of batches a shutterstock.. But the initial downloads I was expecting is not happening.. I remember when I would upload a batch, and there would be a pretty high volume of dl's in the first few days, and then it would slowly taper off and then only the real good/lucky/popular ones would continue to get dl's.. I am not seeing that initial jump over these last couple batches, I mean they are getting downloaded, but only a few of them and even then it's only a couple of dl's.. I am just wondering, if this is me, or a bad timing thing, or if this is getting to be more normal that the big thrust of new images is not there anymore.. Anyone have any insights?

Quote from: Brandon Seidel on February 13, 2011, 04:04
For one click at Google, the search term costs over $1 and the list of sites fighting for that space is rather big.

The search term "microstock photography" alone bring in 1000s of hits a month.  All very targeted traffic.

If an agency was paying $1+ for a click from one of the major search engines (many of them are) for "microstock" related keywords, they would be spending 6 figures USD for the traffic.

So, I would say it's worth at least $11.  Maybe even $12.

So why aren't YOU capitalizing on that demand?

I imagine it would be worth quite a bit.. How much? that depends on who's gonna buy it and how bad they want it..

I was going to jump in and say something sarcastic here, but Sean already did it.. Besides I started a pretty big controversial ongoing thread a long time back, so I'm not going to go there. But just and FYI, I think quite a few people who take this business seriously and care about it's future are not thrilled about people coming here and telling everyone thier newest scheme to flood microstock sites with new signups.. But it's a free world yada yada yada..

Quote from: lisafx on February 11, 2011, 18:26

Quote from: lagereek on February 11, 2011, 18:01
Well good then we agree on a few points, Im signed up with CS myself and I will plod on there ofcourse but you know, when Ive reached lets say around 300 uploads and I know that the images in question are bona-fide good sellers, well?  then I also want to see a return accordingly.

Glad to hear you are going to hang in there.  I know the type of images you do, and you have some of the best, and often only, images of the type of industrial niches that you cover.  What may be happening is that, since Canstock didn't HAVE that type of subject matter before, buyers weren't conditioned to shop for it there. 

Now that your images are available there, I think you will see the market for your niches grow on Canstock.  It may just take awhile for buyers to realize they are there. 

I agree with Lisa, I have had some good sized sales there trhough fotosearch and they are getting more active on regular sales as well.. Upload is one of the better systems I have dealt with as well, and is quick.. Other sites could learn from their upload process to make contributors more willing to suply them with pics..

I have less than 10 photos up there and I just looked and I have 10,65 Euros in my account a few subs and 1 sale.. I havn't checked though in over a year I don't think.. I hated the upload process so I stopped uploading.. But with so few photos up and a few sales, it seems maybe it's worth it..

Quote from: mtkang on February 03, 2011, 17:16
actually my case is more like a recovery of a whole portable hardisk, instead of recovery of deleted files..

If the disk still works and is not damaged you can try to load linux (fedora 13 or other) onto a computer through a cd and connect the disk drive to that computer. Linux is very good at reading drives that are unreadable by windows.. Otherwise I would recomend sending it to a data recovery place if the disk is damaged  (couple hundred bucks).. The Freezing thing mentioned above may work, but most likely you will damage the disk further if you try to keep running it and the arm will rub the plate and scratch the $h*&^ out of it and then even a data recovery place won't be able to recover it for you..

I use Yuri's keyword tool then apply in photoshop after post processing..

Quote from: mtkang on February 03, 2011, 16:25
My portable hard disk just had problem again..

I tried the trial version of Kernel Recovery and it seems able to retrieve all the data, but I will need to buy it if i want to copy the data.

So before i pay anything, any data recovery software which is freeware?

thanks.

recuva is good and recently saved my a$$.. Also pandora software has a good free one as well.. Remember to not do anything with the hard drive.. Do not install anything or change anything as it will overwrite deleted files.. If you cannot use the affected drive as a slave drive to another drive, then install the recovery programs to a flash drive or external drive.. Good luck!!

Quote from: Suljo on January 21, 2011, 01:13

Quote from: cclapper on January 21, 2011, 00:23

Quote from: tubed on January 20, 2011, 17:59

Quote from: littleny on January 20, 2011, 17:35
I tried to sign up as a contributor at IS yesterday but i got a message saying something about new contributors are disable at the present time.
is this a momentary glitch or are they not accepting new aps?

Don't bother unless you want to be treated like dirt..

^^^^ Hhahaha LOL.. That's was super funny until I realized how true it was.

Yes, consider yourself lucky, read threads in this forum and in the IS forum and give it another think. 

That being said, I am certain they will be accepting new contributors and it is just one of many bugs on the site right now.

Also purchase good lubricant before you submit and pads for knees.