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Messages - etudiante_rapide
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726
« on: February 03, 2016, 14:29 »
this is just a lot of hot air.
this is the part i agree most with you. union solves nothing. how many times do you drive by a strike and see happy faces in the end??? a union is the other end of the extreme; one end of the abuse of the employer, the other end is the abuse of the union. both is coercsion (spelling???) it is like child boycott or blackmail parent i will eat the veggies if you buy me that new game, if not, no dice. the only solution with the union is really no solution. the only ppl who win in the union is your labour bosses who gets paid to cause strike every time a contract is renewed. nobody else wins... not your employer not you. in the best companies, there are no unions. no one gets promoted by seniority or by nepotism, .. only performance gets promoted. same with ss problem here. we are not going to get ss to budge by being the angry strikers or the blackmailing child. we have to find a way to speak with the ppl who make the rules.. and speak with them like equals. not union, not strikers, not children, etc.. how is that going to happen??? look elsewhere other than those things like screaming, striking, blackmail, scaring, threatening,etc... these things will only be short lived solution, like the union method. you will have to go on strike again the next time.
727
« on: February 03, 2016, 12:44 »
We lost the war 5 years ago when many of us were willing to leave istock after cutting commissions below 20% but too many just carried on uploading.
one question i need to ask you. istock is still alive and well... according to the right column.. 38.4% exclusive 110.9 it did not fail for many; only failed for us who left istock during that time. There is a third option between opting in and opting out:
Upload the good stuff elsewhere and support fair trade sites.
This is not a black and white situation.
like where??? fair trade sites promising fair share, cobalt??? fair-share of 0 = 0 show me a site that sells daily as ss sells for me, and i will be there in a jiffy. afaik, all the new fair trade sites are still after many years in single digit or low earners. the new sites have 0 track record or is not open to all. and their images are not really sustainable ... much like art-pop images, they don't last with generations. that is like investing in penny stocks... you go broke in the long run... back to istock, obviously it does work for some ppl ie. exclusive. so istock , as much as i hate their performance which is now being aped by ss to rewrite history to damnation, it is * for the majority, but not to a chosen few. i think the answer is be those chosen few that is going to make ss open to communication. as i said before, shouting here and at the forum is like screaming at the groundfloor concierge and clubbing the delivery boy. you have to find a way to talk to Jon O or the shareholders or the clients. how??? i don't know. if i do, i won't be here talking either 
728
« on: February 03, 2016, 00:16 »
excuse my ignorance as i do not have a mobile and does not know anything about using one, nor do i have any plans to use one like a camera.
but this is a question i need to know from you mobile users who submit mobile photos to ss.
when we submit camera photos, we submit it as jpeg. do mobile phones have a different file type or is it also jpeg???
if so, how would ss reviewer know if it is a mobile photo or a camera photos?
if there is no way for the reviewer to know the difference, then how do you know if the rejection was based on the fact that it is a mobile photos and not the fact that camera photos are usually rejected ... due to poor composition, wrong exposure, noise, fringe, chromatic aberration, etc.
.. this considering if the reviewer is one of those majority who justifiable curated the photos on an objective basis, and not one who enjoys rejection massacre like atilla does for sadistic joy.
please feel free to be frank with your answer as i am just curious objectively.
729
« on: February 02, 2016, 19:13 »
There's an old adage that no one can take advantage of you unless you let them.
Anyone who is interested in an artist's union or association should read this thread as exhibit A as to why this has not yet happened.
This action does not require anyone to delete any part of their portfolio - or even to stop uploading. The cost to any individual artist of opting out is pretty small (especially for those who say they don't often get ELs)
And yet, it's something lots of contributors feel they can't support.
As far as trusting Shutterstock to see how things pan out with increasing the volume of ELs with price changes, I would point out that the prices for ELs are still unchanged, so right now they're not doing squat to increase ELs by lowering prices. All they're doing is taking in an increased share of what the buyer pays.
If they really were serious about their stated goals, the prices would have changed the same day the royalties did.
They didn't. They still haven't.
Think about the message it would send SS if customers could not buy any EL - the large corporate clients would be fine as they can use their custom plan with one of the SODs for whatever they need. SS doesn't care about contributors but they do care about customers. The customers would effectively deliver a message for us if they were calling to ask why they can't buy an EL all of a sudden.
What a missed opportunity.
your last para. more or less sums it all up nicely, JoAnn. i suppose those who have not seen any income from EL does not see the point . and for those like you, etc who do have regular earnings from EL would be more affected encouragement to stand and be counted. i guess either we stop uploading the kinds of work that get us EL or we opt out. this is the skipping stone that is why you see so little support to opt out. i wish there were more, but even i have seen a large drop in EL. even to the point of zero earnings of those 28 to 102 dollars commission, so long ago that i feel the damage has already been done, ie. increasing the print run . finally, The quality of the images has increased pretty dramatically over the past 10 years
Snip
Duck Swartz
Talking about your present strategy longer term?
Timothy E. Bixby - CFO
We think we can raise the prices over the long term but were primary in the growth mode right now and we would like to continue to cover as much of the world as possible and take as much as growth in the business that we can before we play with the pricing level.
We havent raised prices in many years and thats been a great strategy so far to grow.
Snip
http://tinyurl.com/qcqszco
the quotes by gblex more or less say loud and clear... read our lips, we do not intent to increase prices... not for a long time... in fact, we plan to decrease prices instead. there is an old saying that it is easier to decrease prices but once you start to decrease prices... you can forget about ever ever to increase prices ... not even a penny . why??? because you give the customer the impression your prices have already been too overpriced. ,, and the customer will now expect a lot less to pay.
730
« on: February 02, 2016, 18:21 »
I opted out. It isn't like I am losing a huge amount of income because EL's are once in a blue moon.
Who knows, in a year or two we may only be earning 5 cents on a sub download photo...
I really don't like fotolia's EL license at all. Is there an opt out for that?
If we decide that our voices do not matter, they won't.
I don't believe that we are helpless to stop the greed for a moment. It is unfortunate that as a group we chose and continue to choose to believe that we do not deserve basic respect and compensation; from a group that has become extremely wealthy because of our financial resources, talent and hard work.
How far down are we willing to go, before we say enough is enough?
i think angelawaye and gbalex both correct. same with everyone after my comment... some of us have been there before... ie the shitstorm... for those of us old enough to remember our very first shitstorm ... the intro of digital camera and the intro of micro stock. we went from one drop of income to another drop of income and both very disheartening... imagine earning 300 dollars as a newbie , fresh out of photography school, got into freelancing in a metro city, first job ... first paycheck ... me??? green as the water behind my ears like a newborn. yes, 300 dollars for my first photography assignment. today, how many dls do i need to make that same $300  the reality is that when i first made my first paychq , i was one of a handful of pro photographers with knowledge of how to set the camera in manual and using a gossen meter,etc.. there was no such thing as auto, and we had to process everything ourselves because the client wanted it yesterday. today, of course, we could give our clients what they wanted , even on the spot. and we are no longer one of a handful who knows how to take a good photograph. even that, what was a good photographs at that time, is necesary to earn that money. today, well, you know how little that matters in microstock or any type of photography, .. except maybe for pirelli, etc.. will we all end up with 5 cts??? i think it is inevitable... unless the market demands really a well taken image like we used to with the film media. the analogy would be going back to movies and music and classical dance, theatre,etc... the technology has progress, but the standard of quality has plummeted. you don't need to write music like beethoven or paint like da vinci or even need to master an instrument to call yourself a professional anymore. and the clients don't really care either. you only need to watch those amateurish ads on youtube to gather the reality. it's not rocket science anymore.
731
« on: February 02, 2016, 14:26 »
I elect JoAnn for anything and i've said it before.Level Headed,smart,sensible and knows how to write.
well said. i too have always voted for JoAnn in all her posting here. she has what many of us do not have , the able to write well, and i think before that, there was only two others who are sadly missing... mitz and lisa. not to dimean the others, but these 3 know the business and were not afraid to speak out. others too, but not as predictable or countable as JoAnn, (and the late Mitz, and the missing lisa). my comment afore was not to make little of JoAnn's effort, but more to say exactly what sharpshot followed after my comment. it's reality of why it is futile. unless JoAnn is in someway to be able to fly to where ss shareholders meet, or get to speak directly to jonO, everything else is just equal to strangling the receptionist or shooting the delivery man .
732
« on: February 02, 2016, 13:06 »
learning from history is good, .. whether it is in the context of world issues, or directly microstock..
we know what happened when an agency chooses to ignore the voice of the contributors..
all well-written in history of istock, getty,...
in business, the only voice that matters is very seldom the supplier...
eg farmer, fisherman, author,etc..
the only thing that matters and talk loudest is the shareholder, ..
and then next, the customer.
that is why marketing is so important . suppliers are plentiful, ... and blatantly, money talks volume.
so, being monkeys satisfied with peanuts, the only way to make the corporation listen
to get communicate the concerns to the shareholders and customers.
if the suppliers cannot get hold of the shareholders or customers..
nothing will be done. i say this, because we all know that's exactly what istock getty did.
it really does not matter if even the top 10 sellers pull out and go away,
the rest will still make up for the difference.
why? because stock photos are like fish, or books, or whatever you find in the "marketplace"...
easier to replace.
unless you hit them in the pocket... ie. the top 10 sellers form a new agency that
shows it can makes us as much earnings as we all get from ss.
only then, ss will listen. this is why it is futile to bang your head against the wall.
it is a noble thing to do, to stand for your belief,.. but it is still bloodletting...
733
« on: February 02, 2016, 09:33 »
I think it works the other way round: first become a millionaire, then you can spend your time doing microstock without having to worry about your financial future... 
LMAO... now who in the right mind would do that??? a S&M head-case , for sure !!! if i were a millionaire, i would be out sailing with all the lovely creatures , champagne, etc... the last thing i would want to do is aspire to be a wreck of atilla... but it's a funny topic, so it counts 
734
« on: February 02, 2016, 00:15 »
Funny! But seriously - do we know if this particular guy has actually made any money from these photos?
Yes, he does. There are about 250-500 images that sells decently and about 25-50 images that sells regularly. The strength of his portfolio is that people are not downloading one of his images, but multiple at a time. I've seen download patterns where people download multiple images from the same set at a time, so it's possible that he could have 10 downloaders that download 50 images.
My guess is that he gets about 50-100 downloads a day. Maybe more.
well, that proves my point , even though it was in jest... the free advertisement of his product does work with ss. hmmm, i guess we should think of using ss as a way to push our own products ... whether it is marijuana , tomatoes , apples,.. what next??? s*xy escort service
735
« on: February 01, 2016, 18:09 »
I think it would still be possible to make a million starting today, spend 10 million taking the photos, going to locations nobody goes to, hiring supermodels, easy 
or you could make a million isolated photos of marijuana and get ss to advertise your product for free. then give and take , in one year or so, the druggie in your area and around the globe will know where to find you. you get 0 dls, but your free ad will make you surely a millionaire in no time
736
« on: February 01, 2016, 16:39 »
yes, i have LOL when i was starting in microstock i was living in a country where 10,000 local currency = $1US i was indeed rolling in local currency and yes, i made my first million very quickly. but when i was relocated and posted in US, i became close to a beggar with my earnings of microstock... actually, no, correction, i made far less than the squeezee kid at the junction, and far less than the mime at the waterfront .
737
« on: February 01, 2016, 11:32 »
Here's another one (from the US).
http://www.shutterstock.com/portfolio/search.mhtml?gallery_landing=1&gallery_id=395407&page=1&safesearch=1&sort_method=newest
The spammer way to work, was not successful in Dreamstime
http://www.dreamstime.com/justcause_info
Why was he banned from this forum? I think I missed that. Not mourning his loss, just curious
i don't know why he was banned from dst because i gave up on them a while back. but i suspect it has a lot to do with dst going the other extreme with similars. on one end of the spectrum, dst went berserk that two similars is way too much , and will reject image 3 to 3million. on the other end is ss with some special no limit no reviewer checkpoint to stop any similars of marijuana and simple vectors of certain "elites" of mass-production meanwhile, conscientious hardline contributors who produce non-similars and non-simple non-LCV images are constantly being screened at the checkpoint with atilla in the "immigration-booth". go figure the sense of this. perharps, maybe not so ridiculous as it is the same when you drive through border, where innocent travellers are searched thoroughly while certain winnebagos and container ships which most likely store hidden contraband of goods and people,etc are wave to pass through without stopping.
738
« on: January 31, 2016, 18:43 »
here is maybe another way to prevent future scams from happening..
use a different email , if ever, for your confidential dealings with IRS,
something different from your regular emails with friends,
and again, an entire different email for ss, is, etc..
and even more with moneybroker or paypal or whatever.
this way, the only email you use for irs would perharps be the one you give to your bank.
and use one email for everything, ..ie. friends, fb, msg,etc..
if ever you get a scam email, it definitely won't be from the one you gave irs and the bank..
because no one else would have it.
and if you do receive anything, you can go to your bank and irs office to ask if they indeed send emails.. which is in most cases, the answer is no. i don't even think the bank or irs would call either. most times, you get a formal letter, with a reference number..
which has a papertrail to eg your last irs returns, or your bank account with ******###
or something like that so you know it is from them due to the confidential precaution.
and a phone number to call which of course would be the same official number on all your bank statement,etc.. and address.
if all fails, i always go to the bank or irs office... never email or even call them.
to be safe than sorry.
739
« on: January 30, 2016, 12:38 »
for those wondering why i chose Bri-X???
mining industry can only sustain profit if there is really gold, diamond,etc..
we, the contributor is like the gold, diamond, oil, (drilling)etc..
if you fill your perception to investors with fake gold (like marijuana, apple, tomato, isolated..)
how long before the reality shows that the emperor really does not wear any clothes???
if instead ss realise the value of pleasing their "ore" supply (ie. us the contributors)
and realise that long term stability and reassurance to good supply of
commercial images and excellent editorial images, etc... which are the lifeline and bread and butter
of both ss and the clients...
how long before there is nothing but a ghost town with polluted land unusable and a threat to human living there...
the analogy to mining industry, ... or forestry,etc... raping the earth and walking away for
short term gain as opposed to long term sustainable growth and capital appreciation.
740
« on: January 30, 2016, 12:25 »
Just a clarification, SS stock was never intended to pay a dividend to investors. The sole reason for investing was anticipated stock value gain. As the stock price rose, you could cash out for a profit or hang in there for anticipated further appreciation. I bought in to SS stock shortly after it first became available to the public. As it's price rose it's value to me, based on what I perceived as an unrealistic P/E ratio, became untenable. Thus I sold my interest just short of $50 per share and made a tidy short-term profit. I then watched as the share price continued to rise to well over $100 per share and knew this was totally unsustainable. Sure enough, it finally began to fall to a more reasonable $28+ per share. Do I wish I had held out for the higher price before selling? Sure. Hindsight is always 20-20. But my risk tolerance would not allow me take this action and in the end it proved correct.
In this light, SS' actions are focused not only on just increasing their bottom line, but inducing potential investors to bid up the price of the stock such that some of the larger investors, who bought in at higher prices, can recoup at least some of their losses and/or make a profit by selling out. In the long term, this does not bode well for further investment and SS may have to resort to more draconian measures to achieve their internal goals ... at our expense.
well said, and well done , congrats on your insight to profit quickly and get out. you , as an avid investor, would know by now, the first taste of fine wine is always the sweetest, or as the english say, the first puff of opium is always free. in one word, to remind you if you were around to invest at that time, where we too made a great profit .. 500% instantly, .. and then got greedy thinking we'll hold on to make maybe 600% only to find we ended up with 25, or even 28 cents per unit. the stock??? Bri-X
741
« on: January 30, 2016, 10:06 »
afterthought... how ironic that the numbers match.... 28 dollar... 28 cents... sounds familiar???
742
« on: January 30, 2016, 10:04 »
just to offer a slightly different perspective on this debate:-
the current stock price is $28.9
a year ago it was $70
two years ago it was $99
from what I can see no dividend was paid out over the last 12 months, 2 billion dollars have been wiped off the value of the company in 24 months that's an average loss of about $83 million a month. The trend looks very bad.
It seems to me like the CFO is under serious pressure from big investors to massively improve the bottom line (ie cut costs increase profits) and stop the rot. And somewhere down the chain this Brennan person was tasked with sugar coating a cost cut to us.
and you can also see it from yet another more realistic perspective that the current stock price $28.9 is the actual worth of the stock. it is much like all stocks and real estate in a metropolis etc, the perception of worth is always blown out of proportion when the stock is first issued. vultures , and speculators, and insiders,... buy up the stocks to artifically give the ordinary investors the impression that the ss stock is worth 70-90 bucks... even 110 bucks if they were allow enough time to pull the wool over their eyes.. but fortunately, they were unable to keep the intrinsic value from showing up itself to be... $28.9if there is any pressure in anything anywhere, it is the pressure between the shareholders ears to think they could sustain the period to bullsh*t their way into making a quick profit... but they can't... because you cannot fool the public all the time.. the same ppl they were trying to fool to make a quick profit sold out quicker than they did and now they are asking ss oringer & etc to slice the contributor so they can make a profit or break even it's called karma... the longer ss slice the throats of their contributors which is their suppliers and more like their farmers to the crop that brings money for those in the "market"place... instead of cutting the gym , expensive office, perks, etc...
get it, investors in panic karma!!!
743
« on: January 29, 2016, 15:07 »
...Sadly, though i think this is like trying to fix a leak in hoover dam with gum, ...
And it may well be a futile effort, but we'll never know if we don't give it a shot. And in a year (or whenever those who want to wait and see decide this isn't working out) it'll be way too late to make a difference.
I am under no illusions about the importance of one part time contributor to Shutterstock. SS management only give lip service to being concerned with contributor wellbeing - we're a cost to be managed. Investors care even less - we're just a risk factor listed among many as to why their investment could fail.
But there is a minuscule chance if a few of these "no" answers to customers happen together that someone will go talk to Paul Brennan and ask if he realizes what's going on. Or possibly that it'll happen to a larger customer without one of the SOD contracts and they'll call up someone to complain.
Or they may find a marijuana picture to license and be perfectly happy without mine
congrats Jo Ann , but what if they are pulling one of those "buy you out" strategy like the auto business buying out the battery cars... and the tobacco business buying out the researchers on danger of nicotine a long long time back in the 80-90s to silence you like even for months now, i suspect some of the biggest loudest anti-ss activists are actually the biggest ss inside workers painting a whitewash to "expose the bad apples from the marijuana"
744
« on: January 29, 2016, 13:50 »
and we are talking about kiev the most expensive...go kharkiv or lviv you can live even better.
i think there is a silver lining in this dark cloud if we are willing to shift with the tide... eg. -at least ss gives you the option to out if you do not like the new plan - everyone has its own comfort level and satisfaction... no one wants to be so proud as to announce to the world, "hey i am with ss the #1 microstock agency in the world, then to get to respond to the question , "ya, how much you make "... "duhhh, um, 28 to 32 cents each dl !!!"  yes, living in the super metros of the world is getting a bit ridiculous.. whether it is boston or nyc, or vancouver toronto.. or rdj or sampa... or even singapore or taipei or beijing or paris, london, durban, etc.. so we , as most of us are retired, perharps it is time we look to move to ukraine. and make ukraine the new mecca . only do it quickly before it gets to expensive, then we will all have to move back to boston or nyc or wherever we came from what i mean is, we have priced ourselves out of the life we can afford ... by being unwilling to budge . so jon may hit on something harsh but reality.. if you move, you will be happy with the money you earn as a microstock photographer with ss. if not, move your portfolio to where you are happy to make ... either zero with big promises of bigger %age..(everyone with single digit or less than 30% to the right column here below ss)... or move to the ukraine. thx mate, it does sound flippant but i am not... i believe you are right... too many of us are just unwilling to shift like a relic at stonehenge
745
« on: January 28, 2016, 16:30 »
In the end the only stats that you can rely on are your own.........and the only thing you can change is your portfolio and where you choose to put it
i agree with u. i know it's temptation to opt out on EL or complain about the weed man and ukrainians spamming the ss and pushing the good stuff out. but i don't know if opting out or boycotting by withdrawing portfolio going to stocksy, we know not everyone is welcomed there,. or going to adobe , yay, alamy, etc that produce 0 sales ... is going to help you or me. it is only cutting your own hand and letting the grass people flood the market even more. also, last, i cannot see how this will make the clients pull out of ss. unless the clients are looking for grass and marijuana, and tomato and apples, and repitition icons, the client is not going to know ss big addition each day contain garbage. cutting out on ss is not the solution. writing an email may not also do anything. you have to talk to the boss to make a dent in this,.. and afaik , no one knows how to talk directly to jon o.
746
« on: January 28, 2016, 14:33 »
Quit the whining and navel gazing
LOL i like that... i don't know all the answers, and from here so many pages, it's obvious neither do anyone . or else we won't be going on and on and on ... whining and navel gazing... as teddy the cat so well puts it. only thing i know is... whoever is still making money with ss, and is seeing an uptick in earnings ... why would they come in here to tell you their way??? obviously the ones who are not talking, are the ones not whining and the ones still making $$$$$$
747
« on: January 27, 2016, 17:40 »
This is getting circular but looking at my own sales in no way do I think my best pictures technically or artistically are my most successful it may have more do do with the concept or it may be our old friend luck ;-). I believe that we and the sites are far more concerned about technical quality than 99% of customers.
that definitely you are spot on. looking at the reality that most of our dls are web usage and the image size is no large than 4 by 5 ins. to expect 200% sharpness edge to edge is a bit overkill. it isn't that say , the client intends to print a life size or a billboard usage from the image . i would say if so, then introduce some sort of high end single high earning like what used to be $80-120 commission earnings for us, and then get us to upload on request that same image of high res . most of my, and i am sure many of yours, popular dls are really nothing much demanding, technically speaking... much like majority of the ads you see in news media... or like those horrible horrible ads you see on youtube,etc.. .. amateurish ads with very little need of high end production... \that saying, yuri was right... mob phone is all we need today.
748
« on: January 27, 2016, 14:53 »
Denial is a luxury and can be costly, in fact it has gotten us where we are today!
Those who regularly produce advertising & promotional material have very little time to find images and deliver projects. They have bosses and clients breathing down their back asking them to deliver.
Good enough is the order of the day. They do not have time to wade through pages of images to find a perfect fit.
You are free to produce "good enough" photos, if you believe it works for you. 
My goal is to produce the quality able to push my photos as high as possible on the top popular/relevant pages, because these are, strangely enough  , my best sellers.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
both good points. i think stock is like the other stock (inventory) you find at your supermarket or book store,etc.. the one that is right in line with the customers is usually the one that is picked up... that is no secret why most of the junk funk and sweets etc are stacked where you file in to pay your grocery,etc... one day, i watched the clients in front of me went back to the sweet shelf 5 times ... while she waits to be her turn to pay. stock photos are i am sure the same... the client has no time to wade through to find that gem.. it's not his/her money , but the company who pays him/her to find that stock photo. he /she is not going to sit there and look for that amazing photo on pg 233.. if they did, they would be sacked for wasting company's time. so yes, being current is vital, as your new images are most likely to be there ones most busy clients will look first.
749
« on: January 26, 2016, 20:13 »
maybe he thinks he is getting his foot in the door ... and could end up like sonny bono and arnie (blacksmith)... (don't like to mis-spell his euro name so best i just use the anglo translation). you know, giving up the pennies you make today for the big bucks you get when he runs for office in politics
750
« on: January 26, 2016, 12:38 »
Great move Shutterstock!
Now I have no other choice, I will delete all my portfolio and start to upload to Yaymicro and Cutcaster!
oh??? & earn what??? 1.3 % or less (since i don't see either paying more than 1.3% on the right column here...) what ss is paying you today??? until another agency comes up to contest ss , even with 76 .8 % which is low all time, it is no use moving anything to anywhere else??? .. even the ones who claim to be the new kid of the block that listens to the contributor, could be the next to pull an istock (or canva) on us
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