I find it a bit amusing that so many think it's completely natural to expect no less than $79-$199 for a few seconds of footage but don't want to spend even half that for software that takes years to develop. 

If you're interesting in doing video, do yourself a favor and get the real software right away.

For me, I have Final Cut Pro X. But since it does not output certain codecs, I can just use MPEG (or used to) for quick access. For me, it's not about cheap. It's about speed and flexibility.  So I now use Quicktime Player Pro (that I paid for) which works just fine to export to other formats. For me, clipping will be done in FCPX where I have better control, but you can do it in Quicktime as well (if your'a Mac user).

Anyhow, I agree that to do things right you should make a modest investment for the right tools. 

I have made the upgrade to Lightroom Classic.
I must say that I am not happy at all!
Adobe has made a very bad work this time: all is very very slow.

Not only me by the way: https://forums.adobe.com/message/9905229#9905229

Also a lot of complaints on Photoshop CC 2018.  Very slow and clunky and brushes like the Healing Brush take 10 or more seconds to work. 

https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/healing-and-spot-healing-brush-lag

Quote from: derek on October 20, 2017, 12:06

^ I am far from a travel photography but I should imagine that Travel is one of the most competitive fields of them all. There must be hundreds of thousands of amateurs and whatnots with a dslr or a compact running around on hollidays taking pictures.
A friend of my son went to south-america Machu-pichu and all that and came back with thousands of shots. He pulled over some shots on a CD and sold the lot to a huge  PR agency!...must have been over 100 pics and sold it all for $100. He was only too pleased to get his name as a byeline.

Some wanabees are even getting into my own highly niched market which for many years I thought was totally impossible.

It's the least competitive field. I wouldn't call travel photographer who went to few obvious places or all-inclusive resorts. Even in USA there are plenty of uncharted places. Look : Machu Pichu 15,000 potos, Slab City: 100 photos.

And the demand is probably equally weighted.

"Verschlimmbesserung"

An attempted improvement that makes things worse than they already were. This is a very common German expression which has no good translation in English. It is pronounced "Fair-shleam-besser-oonk" (schlimmer = worse, besser = better).

Just had to share this when someone told me about it....will save me a lot of words!

I'm actually giving a talk on continuous improvement today.  I think I will use this word on one of my topics about project charters (or lack thereof)

Quote from: Zero Talent on October 19, 2017, 06:39

Quote from: Chichikov on October 19, 2017, 05:11

Quote from: Mantis on October 18, 2017, 18:21

They won't hang on to Classic for too long and that will force every user to the cloud. You want to do a 1200 image 40mp raw time-lapse in LR you will have to upload those to the cloud. That means you will have to pay extra for storage to do that.  The cloud version doesn't work from your hard drive so you will now be faced with additional costs just to be able to edit your work.  Deal killer. If they end up dumping Classic, as I suspect they will, LR Time-lapse is in trouble.

I wen't to Jo Ann's Adobe link and I can't seem to even find a link to the Classic Lightroom.

As I have understood it will be officially distributed after the 28th.

I upgraded PS,  Bridge and LR Classic yesterday and tested the new luminosity/color masks.

Nice upgrade!

I had to re-install a few 3rd party plugins, but I'm happy to see that all of them are compatible with the new version.

I can also confirm LR is visibly faster.

Oh yes, I see it in the Creative Cloud app. (Did not see it yesterday evening)

I installed the new version but told it to keep the old files (in the advanced tab).  Now, LR keeps telling me to update the software and when I go in to do that it tells me I am updated.  Only way now is to uninstall and reinstall.   

"Today we�re announcing a change to how we calculate net revenue45 (and thereby author earnings) for Elements. Starting January 1, 2018, we will deduct the cost of Tuts+ course creation from Elements gross revenue, before calculating the earnings split with authors.

How did we get here?

Creating a subscription service has a lot of moving parts. One of the most important parts is making sure that whatever is included creates the kind of value that keeps subscribers renewing month after month.

For most of this year Envato has been steadily adding new content into Elements. We�ve rolled in our Tuts+ courses subscription valued at $19/mo (including the complete catalogue from A Book Apart ($192 value)), added 250,000 amazing photos and given subscribers access to the invoicing app AND CO.

All of these have been added to Elements to further increase the value of the subscription and provide more reasons for subscribers to stick around longer (who wants to lose access to authors� content and all these extras?!).

To date, the cost of Tuts+ course creation (including A Book Apart) has been taken on exclusively by Envato, even though the rewards are shared equally with authors. While this may seem like a great win for authors, it�s not sustainable long term for Envato or Elements.

So, from January 1, 2018, we will deduct the cost of creating Tuts+ course content from gross revenue in addition to what�s already deducted; transactional taxes (such as VAT, GST, sales tax), refunds, chargebacks, affiliate fees, and payment processing fees and then split the remaining amount (net revenue45) between authors and Envato using the subscriber share method16.

This will ensure that we�ll be able to sustain content like this in the future, continue to build the platform and grow the total number of subscribers coming back to Elements month after month.

What�s next?

As we move closer to January 1, 2018, we will update our Elements Author Terms, help centre articles and adjust our earnings calculator to prepare for this change. There is no action required from authors.

We know there will likely be questions around this change and we�ll be around to answer any questions you�ve got about it. We�ll answer in batches for the first week and then anything that hasn�t been answered on an as-needed basis for the next few weeks."

Dead fish...like my ex wife.

Today I had a Right Managed sale (Photo) on Alamy and Man was I happy.  Someone please explain this commission structure.


My sale was for $340.06.


Alamy Distribution Commission was 30% = $102.02.


Distributor Commission was 40%= $136.02


My balance suddenly became $ 149.02.


I can understand Alamy Distributio Commission on 30%. but why and what does the Distributor Commissions of 40% due to earn all this money.  As I look at it I have 70% commission Total.  Someone please help and explain this to me.  Thanks, Oscar Williams.

Been that way forever. Pay everyone else first. Whatever scraps are left are yours.  If this were an RF sale you would still be better off than micros. But with RM I think the structure should be a tad more robust for the artist if the terms have specific language such as "exclusivity". Meaning you cannot resell that image anywhere for a year (or whatever). Lot's to consider when uploading to Alamy. For me, I rarely get any worthwhile sales there and have never had an RM sale because I have no RM offerings.  If you classify images as RM you should be aware of the payment structure and the implications of that specific image's future salability.

Nothing like the old days.

Quote from: Artist on September 28, 2017, 10:54

better ask client what are their estimated budget.

The answer will be 100 dollar even though they have a 1000 $10,000 to burn.

 

Mara, I had a potential customer approach me like this. All of the above discussion points are valid considerations on pricing. However, with a direct deal you can also offer customized image processing (crops, retouching, adjustments, noise reduction for large use) specifically for the customers uses. The customization will help to keep pricing at least near the top of the agency pricing, if not higher. In my case the images were similar to clip art but, with negotiation discussions, they desired all the same special backgrounds. I already had Photoshop separate layers and Actions close to what was needed. So it was fairly easy edits that would have been very hard for them. If you can bring more image value to them then pricing is a bit less limited.

In my case, the images were to be used for resale as wall art. So, extended licences applied via microstock and helped raise the pricing limits. I was quite willing to offer my easy updates in exchange for 100% commissions. If you can't work this angle of money vs time and delivery, then let them buy from microstock (I've played that game as well). When making a direct transaction you will have to be in charge of the billing, receipts, and tax calculations. Assuming the deal is not a scam of some sort, you still have time involved with making the deal and getting it carried through to completion.

One of the signs of a scam is very easy price negotiations that end in a value higher than normal. Then you receive a check for more than the agreed amount and have instructions to send some of the money on to third party (for expenses or something). The customer check eventually bounces after you have forwarded good money from your wallet. You are left with a lighter wallet and maybe loss of images (image copies).

That was my very first thought based on the OP post.  If they already know about these images being available for cheap on SS, they are either trying to get their hands on the images an easier way or are just * cheap...trying to peel a few cents off the total price.  I would offer a price of $10 an image. If they don't take it send then to your "agency".

Quote

I don't see how. The client will see you as a cheap resource. They paid you ten bucks an image to own your copyright. Why would they ever pay you more?

Everything is negotiable, I suppose.

Rose Colored Glasses

Quote from: Mantis on September 16, 2017, 08:59

I wish they took underwater stuff. I would gladly pull al of it off micro to work with Stocksy.

Why wouldn't they take under water stuff?

About two years ago they said no, that wasn't the style they were looking for so I assumed that is the same now.