14 of my last 20 are credits but the previous 20 had 13 subs and just 7 credits (ebb and flow?).

Thanks for posting this. Google just rocks at everything they do!

Ibarn, your comments may explain why my 2 year old Dell desktop is slowly dying. The onboard sound went first about 6 months ago, then the onboard video two months ago. I fixed both problems by adding new cards. More recently it stopped booting properly. Its just a question of time before it fails completely. I'm not replacing anymore parts. My previous desktop lasted close to 8 years and I replaced it because it couldn't run the software not because it failed. I could just have gotten a lemon but don't intend to buy another one.

+1 for macbook pro. I just got one a few months ago (I've been a PC user for over 25 years). They are absolutely unbelievable in terms of simplicity and performance. It opens up multiple 21 mpix photos almost instantly. My next desktop is going to be a mac as well. You always hear about the mac "fan boys", well, I'm a recent convert. Once you try it you won't look back.

Your English is much better than my Italian. I've been using google translate to communicate with my family in Italy. It works fairly well. At least I hope it does

Sto usando Google Translate per comunicare con la mia famiglia in Italia. Funziona abbastanza bene. Almeno spero di sì.

See!

OK, nvm, I just noticed it wasn't your survey. Sorry.

" I then end up, with no ulterior motive, with the file as RF on some sites and RM on Alamy."

But that isn't what you asked in your survey. Your survey asks specificaly for RF rather than RM. You would likely have seen completely different results had you asked if people submit their RF images as RM on Alamy. I certainly don't.

The reviewers are all individuals with varying levels of experience and opinions. One reviewer may like your work while another will not. I submit to 8 sites and if one or two of them reject the images, I just move on. It isn't worth the frustration - don't take it personally. I've also gotten a few "similars" rejections recently at DT but with the current decline of IS, DT is actually in second place for me on the micros. I wouldn't give up on them.

wow - lots of responses here. I wasn't suggesting Italy and France are riskier than the US (or Canada). I don't always bring my equipment on North American travel either. I always keep my equipment with me when I travel (I wouldn't be able to do that on this trip). I enjoy taking photos at night and always plan my shoots. The sight seeing with the kids would be during the day and I wouldn't even use my camera during midday because of the harsh lighting. I've been to Italy several times - last time was a couple of months ago for a short trip. I did bring my equipment then but didn't get to use it at all. This is different - we would be out sight seeing during the day. The equipment and luggage would remain either in in the car or in a hotel.  I wouldn't leave the equipment in the car here in Canada, even in a relatively safe city such as Ottawa. I had a work vehicle broken into just a couple of years ago. I'm a bit paranoid now.

Thank you for all the responses. I think I've made up my mind. Looking on istock, all the sites I will be visiting seem already very over saturated with stock images. I would just be producing images similar to those that are already there and my images would get buried somewhere on the last pages. I'm not going to bring the equipment.

John

"Why not UK as well while travelling in Europe?"

Some other time maybe. I would have liked to visit Greece as well. I'm of Italian decent and my family in Italy have never seen my kids. One of the three weeks will be spent visiting family. We'll be driving about 3000km in the 3 weeks.

My main concern for the camaera is theft. We will be staying at several small hotels where security probably isn't a big priority.  I suppose I could dust off the old Canon 300d, 6 mega pixel camera :-(

I heard that European photos fair better at some sites such as Fotolia and Alamy. My North American photos don't do so well although I do get some sales on Dreamstime.

I have a couple more weeks to decide - really excited about the trip though.

thanks for the replies.

I'm planning a European trip next month (3 weeks). Will be in Italy, France, Germany and Switzerland. Is it worth taking city scapes and "travel" style photos for microstock (wondering if I should bring my 5d Mark II along). My North American travel photos don't sell that well so I am considering just bringing a point and shoot for the memories...

Thanks,

Your isolation of the frog looks like you selected it using the magic wand tool and are missing large pieces of the frog(look at the edges at 100% and you will understand). If the frog was perfectly isolated and properly lit, it would likely still not get accepted (what commercial value is in that object - what would a buyer use it for (I've been wrong before about commercial value mind you)? Also, it is artwork and probably would need a property release.

The lighting on the other two is not very good. You didn't use flash and the lighting is harsh for the skateboarder and too dark for the girl. You can shoot both of these with a single off-shoe flash and a deflector (or use two deflectors and bounce the flash off of one of them). You need to soften the light from the flash - you can use a second deflector to bounce the flash off of if you don't have an umbrella.

Is you're monitor calibrated? When I first started in microstock I couldn't understand why my isolations were being rejected. Turned out my monitor was way too dark and when I eventually had a look at the images on a computer at work I realized what the problem was (my first isolations were worse than your frog). There are a lot of tutorials on isolations - they are not difficult to do. That frog isolation would only take a few minutes using the pen tool.

Regards,

I threw a few average sellers but included one best seller - lets see how it goes...

This is kind of interesting, from the photo + selection window: "Some of your files may have already been moved into Photo+ by our inspectors or admins. The six-month lock does not apply to these files and you can remove them immediately by un-checking the box below."

Hmmm...anyone trying this? It's tempting to try with a few good sellers. Unfortunately, the buyers may just buy something cheaper and the best sellers may stop selling - I don't like the idea of a 6 month lock if it doesn't work. Then again, my sales probably can't get much worse.

I'm a Canon user and have been since before the digital age. I like Canon cameras because I'm familiar with them. Had I owned a Nikon first I probably would have stuck with Nikons. You should go in store and fidle with both models and make a choice. You can't really go wrong with either the Canon or Nikon. Both brands have great (expensive) lenses and accessories. Nikon has the advantage when it comes to flash photography and using the flash off shoe. 

I have a US bank account on a US bank (I'm in Canada). This allows me to get payed in US dollars and keep the money in that currency. I was lucky because a Canadian bank affiliated with the US bank set it up for me. Are there any banks in Europe with a presence in the US?

Is the bag real (lots of fakes around). I was in NY City last year - the brand name knock offs is a huge business in China Town.

I don't think the hackers will find any of my images right now.

Isn't the tweaking of the best match to favor newer images done every year (probably several times/year)? They eventually go back to favoring the best sellers. If they didn't do that, would new uploads even have a chance to sell?

I bought my first mac (after over 25 years as PC user). I must say, I'm really impressed by the engineering, quality and portability of the computer (its a 2011 13" macbook pro). Portability was my main concern. It took about 15 minutes to get used to the new operating system. Really user friendly.

Can any mac users recommend useful photo related software (other than photoshop and aperture). Anyone shooting tethered on a mac - what software do you use?

Thanks,

You really should be lighting the foreground and background independently to get a good isolation.

I am one of the people who recommended downsizing the images for the initial application. That's how I was accepted originally after the 3rd try - several years ago now. The reviewers are more picky on the initial application. I agree that you shouldn't have to downsize in most cases. Congratulations on getting accepted.

You may be cannabilizing your own sales by being on different sites but only to some extent. The sites have different search engines. My flames at IS are completely diffent from my best sellers on other sites (a few are the same but not many). If I had files only on one site, only a few of my files would ever get sales.

^ "...we was.." - English is my main language - really!! I meant she was in Montreal - I'm no longer there.

I haven't been in Italy in 12 years, unfortunately. I will be in Patigno di Zeri in Northern Italy. A very small village in the mountains near Pontremoli (also a small town). That is where my family is from. My grandmother passed away and asked to be buried back home (we was in Montreal, Canada). I probably won't be taking many photographs but I am planning a family trip in the summer.

Regards,

John