The technical specs aren't quite as demanding, on things like noise and lighting. But I am sure they are the same on focus, etc. That said, I suspect it depends on the type of editorial shot...in my case, I have little excuse to get poorer shots, because none of my editorial subject so far have been on the move, or on a timeline where I couldn't shoot them on a better day. But to expect a guy in a war zone dodging bullets on a rainy day (extreme example) to get a studio quality shot it is asking a bit much...thus some slack exists...in favor of capturing real life situations rather than staged ones.

Don't get your hopes up to much, what slack they might give you with image quality...they yank back with a draconian caption, and exif requirements.  SS is a pain...and as I discovered with IS this morning, they are even worse.

I wish I could say Istock is the only Micro that is a pain when it comes to editorial. I am getting very close to saying screw it, and post them all as RM where captions aren't micro-managed.

That said, here is some more heartburn from Istock that I just can not figure out. They want EXIF data in the image, even though I have input everything required (or so I thought) through Deep Meta. I don't put any EXIF data in editorials for the precise reason, that every Micro wants captions, descriptions, and keywords different on these things...and so manual entry seemed to be the way to go. Of course eventually someone was going to scream WRONG! Sigh.

Here is the rejection...

The EXIF data of your photograph is missing and is required for this image to be approved at iStockphoto for editorial use.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The caption information for this submission is either too brief and does not describe the scene successfully, or it is unclear, or both. The caption is where you supply the 4 W's:
Where was the image made? When was the image made? Who or what is in the image?
What is happening in the image? Please provide adequate information, clearly, and entirely in English.

Please provide captions in this format:

City, Country ? Month Date, Year: Caption descriptive text.

Here is what they have on file through Deep Meta...

Harvest Moment Ice Sculpture Close-Up

Caption
Fairbanks, USA - March 5, 2011: Harvest Moment Ice Sculpture, 2011 World Ice Art Championships

Description:
Fairbanks, USA - March 5, 2011: Harvest Moment Ice Sculpture, 2011 World Ice Art Championships

Keywords:
alaska, art, blue, carving, championship, cold, competition, detail, fairbanks, fish, harvest, ice, illuminated, marine, night, outdoor, sculpture, scales, winter, sea, ocean

Sorry, but I have a hard time believing any company would agree to purchase another company if they didn't have a say in the future direction of what they acquired.  People change, visions change...and the minute there is a divergence in opinions on the future direction of the business the guys with the most chips win...

A new (old) bug has returned.  When more then 1,000$ on IS has been accumulated, the right panel stops updating with sales (no sound either), the top bar does.  Pictures accepted keep updating OK.

There is a simple solution to this problem, cash out!!! Why let IS hold your money interest free, don't they take enough already. 

I would add Stockfresh for a few reasons: they have a very quick review process (usually within 1-2 hours), they accept almost everything, they have a fair commission (50% and subs sales are limited to M size) and their site looks clean and nice. The main problem is that the sales are very slow (been there since July 2010 and I only sold 3 images with a portfolio of 700+).

If there sales are as slow as getting approved...I have been waiting so long I have lost track of how long its been..., I am not sure its worth the effort.

One of the draws for me, was the fact Nikon's mounting hasn't changed in forever, which means that just about any lens made in the last 20-30 years if not farther back can be used on the Nikon in manual mode.  For example I am using a Nikon 50mm from the early 80's on my D90. And I am pretty certain the same lens would work just fine on D700, or D2X. Unless you really need the auto focus, image stabilization, etc, this alone can save you thousands in lens costs by buying used lens in decent condition. And if you take care of those lens, it doesn't matter when you upgrade to the next body, they should work for the most part.

Quote from: gwhitton on May 03, 2011, 17:28

They shouldn't ding you for releases that you weren't able to attach before you uploaded. And to my knowledge they don't do this. However, there is one aspect of German law you need to keep in mind. Unlike Shutterstock, and IS you can't submit editorial images as RF. You must submit them as RM. ALL RF must have model and property releases...editorial included.

I don't think that's true. You don't have to have releases at all. It is ultimately the buyer's problem to figure out if a release is required for his usage. Your responsibility is only to make a correct statement as to whether a release exists or not.

If you can point me the the aspect of German law you're referring I would be interested to see that.

And Zoonar does not require you to upload releases at all, neither do you have to make a choice between editorial or commercial. From their FAQs:

"You are not required to add model or property releases at Zoonar. But we reserve the right to ask for a release if your photos are sold for commercial purposes. It is, however, important that you use the correct release settings for your photos or else they can�t be sold. If you have a release for one of your photos assign it to the photo in question in the �Manage pictures� section. Use the drop down menu and select �is available�. If you don�t have a release select �is NOT available� and if a release is not necessary (only appropriate for photos that neither show people as primary subjects nor copyright protected objects, designs, works of art, buildings and registered trademarks) select �not necessary�"

Essentially this is the best way to deal with the problem, leave it where it belongs (at the buyer).

I had long chat with Michael Krabes (?) about that after several of my "editorial" RF shots got rejected by there third party distributors...and what I said above is what he told me. You must mark editorial as RM, and state in the description "For Editorial Use Only" or all the distributors will deny you and that will be the end of it. I am still trying to decide on my end, whether to delete them and resubmit, as it seems even if I do this they won't be considered. Seems silly...but what can you do. Its their game.

They shouldn't ding you for releases that you weren't able to attach before you uploaded. And to my knowledge they don't do this. However, there is one aspect of German law you need to keep in mind. Unlike SS, and IS you can't submit editorial images as RF. You must submit them as RM. ALL RF must have model and property releases...editorial included.

I think the key to getting noticed on Flickr starts with the following.

- Having shots people are interested in
- Expending the effort to get known, join groups, make contacts, comment, etc

Both take alot of effort, more time than a lot of us have. But once you have that audience, as I have seen with a few of the top guys, you'll achieve more views in a few hours than most will in a year. How much traffic that directs to your website, and ultimate sales, or commissions is another thing. Probably depends on who's looking...which is always the case.

The most you should ever lose in closing a Canstock account is the minimum payout...I take that back...you'll lose all the revenue you would have gained if you just left the images there and forgotten about them for a few years.  Why anyone goes through the extra effort of removing their files (verifiable fraud and abuse by the agency aside) is beyond me. You are only hurting yourself.

Quote from: gwhitton on April 29, 2011, 17:29

While we are bashing the US dollar, lets do a little bashing of the Euro. I wouldn't be surprised if the Euro doesn't even exist in 5 years. Some prominent European economists are wondering the same thing, because ultimately Europe has to deal with the bipolar nature of its economic structure. On the one hand you have economies like Germany that are historically very strong, while on the other end you have economies like Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland that are in the toilet, and asking for hand outs. In the past this disparity was managed by the poorer countries devaluing their currencies...but that can't be done under a continent wide one currency system. At some point the Germans and the French are going to get tired of carrying the load, and how that plays out will be interesting.

As for the dire prediction that the US can't solve its problems....I'll bet when push comes to shove they will. It won't be pretty, but they will because they have to. And part of that fix will be to stop playing nice with the Chinese on their currency, and the massive trade imbalance it creates.

And something else to keep in perspective...despite all the doom and gloom, America's per capita debt was until the last year or so, on par with other major European countries.

True. The Euro has its Problems too, which shows that the current system of Fiat lux money is not working. BUUUT....as you already said europe is sort of bipolar. You have the stable north (exept Ireland) and the unstable south. But if you ahve a look at the USA they more or less equal to states like Greece and have NO backup like Germany or France to hold them up. So the risk for the USA is definitly higher.

I think a fairer way of looking at the US is at the overall assets of its people. Is the US really broke when it produces consistently a $14 trillion dollar economy every year? I would say not. The reality is we are a lot like Greece, which if you look under the covers isn't broke either.  There are just alot of people who don't want to pay for the government services they demand each year from their politicians. For most of the 100 years America had much higher taxes than we do right now and we did just fine. In fact some of our greatest growth occurred with the upper tax bracket at 90%+ .

The minute we learn to live within our means and quite whining about a paltry tax rate in comparison to just about anywhere else....the better off we'll be.