A tablet is great for photo retouching but not so good for vectors. I find it much easier to precisely locate control points with a mouse. Depends on your illustration technique I guess.

Does this happen on other sites? New files are not showing up in portfolios or search on istock at the moment. Apparently it's a hardware problem - not the first. I'm trying to get back into it and files approved days ago have vanished into limbo. I'm wondering if it might be worth the trouble to upload to multiple sites after all.

Most of my current work is with my Pentax 50mm macro on a 1.5 crop body. If I had to go with just one though it would probably be the Pentax 31mm f/1.8 LTD, which is slightly more versatile for most of the work I do (food photography).

However, I'm thinking of changing to MF with the Pentax 645D. If I do that I'll be using only the 55mm lens, which works out to be the equivalent of about 45mm on a 35mm FF camera, due to the sensor on the 645D being a crop sensor.

Quote from: & then... on September 29, 2010, 01:45

Quote from: averil on September 29, 2010, 01:23
Don't know if anyone noticed but Joyze updated the FAQs on the new structure a couple of hours ago. She really should change her avatar if she wants to project a friendlier image.

maybe she doesn't want to. I wouldn't after taking all that crap. I can only imagine the sitemails being sent to her and everyone else. She is really helpful and sweet by all accounts, so it goes to show you even the nicest ones might be done with the haters...BANNED....

She had that avatar from the very first announcement about these changes. Just preparing I guess...

Don't know if anyone noticed but Joyze updated the FAQs on the new structure a couple of hours ago. She really should change her avatar if she wants to project a friendlier image.

Does this seem familiar?

Yuri says he uses a monopod when shooting models because he can't guarantee to get the focus spot on if he hand holds the camera.

I do mostly studio work and am very seriously considering the Pentax ATM. I shot with a Mamiya 645 for years - definitely a cut above 35mm.

That price is about the same as the recently released Pentax 645D. I think Pentax will be forcing down the price of this kind of camera. The Pentax is also using an approx 44mm x 33mm sensor which is actually a crop sensor for that format and will effectively increase the focal length of lenses made for film cameras.

By flat I mean like this rather than, say, Rembrandt lighting.

Quote from: mtimber on September 26, 2010, 11:34

Quote from: averil on September 25, 2010, 00:32
Mark, let me offer a suggestion on how to come to understand stock. I do this knowing full well that you won't accept my suggestion, because no one else I've offered this to has taken it up.

One catchphrase that used to be common around the traps is that a stock photographer needs to 'think like a designer'. One way for a non-designer to do this is to engage in battles (Photoshop compositing competitions) in the istock Steel Cage. Once you start trying to put together a photocomposite design, you start to see how all those shadows in the wrong direction, the images that have such strong character that they don't fit with anything else in the design, often the sheer impossibility of finding the right image among millions, etc etc make life so difficult. And sometimes how a single image can inspire a theme. Most importantly no single image works on its own, everything is a part of a larger whole. This is where stock photography is so different from other forms of photography.

That is interesting.

You would think then that designers would like a specific type of lighting as standard?

(left lit, right lit etc).

Left or  right doesn't matter too much, one can always flip an image. Fairly flat lighting is preferred though (think beauty lighting) because it's much easier to paint in shading that isn't there than to remove shading that is there. Check out this battle - they restricted themselves to variations on the one head image (same head for all the designs)

I'm guessing that Vetta sales are the x factor in exclusive income. Very hard for an independent to estimate what these are worth. Perhaps sales on Getty should be factored into this too.

Senators of which country? istock is Canadian, Fotolia is based in Europe I think, SS in the States, not sure about Dreamstime (France?).

On the subject of Ignores, I'm intrigued. I've collected a couple in the past 24 hours and I can't for the life of me work out what I might have said recently that pissed people off.

About Rob - he's a busy man. Fingers in lots of pies. He will probably take a pretty big commission hit though, maybe even from 40% to 25% - don't know what his rate of sales is but with such a small port... And then there's the change in istock 'culture'. People sometimes do things for a combination of reasons.

Mark, let me offer a suggestion on how to come to understand stock. I do this knowing full well that you won't accept my suggestion, because no one else I've offered this to has taken it up.

One catchphrase that used to be common around the traps is that a stock photographer needs to 'think like a designer'. One way for a non-designer to do this is to engage in battles (Photoshop compositing competitions) in the istock Steel Cage. Once you start trying to put together a photocomposite design, you start to see how all those shadows in the wrong direction, the images that have such strong character that they don't fit with anything else in the design, often the sheer impossibility of finding the right image among millions, etc etc make life so difficult. And sometimes how a single image can inspire a theme. Most importantly no single image works on its own, everything is a part of a larger whole. This is where stock photography is so different from other forms of photography.

I think the slow-mo sequence in Kick Ass (in the warehouse where Big Daddy dies) with Hit Girl taking out the last two goons was shot on a Phantom at 1000fps.

Quote from: thesentinel on September 24, 2010, 21:19
^
But without the good guys we can only expect an acceleration of the rape and pillage.

Unfortunately the good guys serve to give a false impression of who we're really dealing with. istock maintains the front of being a community to encourage contributors to give their all (while taking less), but quite obviously this is only done to further their business interests. Rob and Roger and Lobo are like the happy smiling business team images that designers use to get customers in.

The real problem is that we are barely in touch with reality at all. We filter out just about all experience that isn't important or isn't dramatic. Can you remember what the last dozen strangers you passed in the street look like? What building is five doors down from your place of work (if you don't work from home)? To make an impression something has to be out of the ordinary. Everyday reality is irrelevant and uninteresting. Who wants to buy images of that?

To me it appears underexposed. I dragged it into PS and checked the histogram, and there are almost no values in the top quarter. Increasing contrast on the girl helps a bit too.

If you ignore someone their posts do have a small Show button you can use to remind yourself why you ignored them in the first place. Sometimes though people who are arrogant and obnoxious lack social skills do actually have somethin positive to contribute on some subjects. If you decide that you overreacted by ignoring someone go to your profile->Ignore options and remove them from the list of ignored members.

IF the extra money that istock will be taking is used for marketing, so that we all made more from more sales and higher prices despite lower royalty percentages, then that might be justifiable. We are here, after all, to make money. That does not appear to be the motivation however.

Quote from: pseudonymous
Sorry but this does not make any sense.  How is it possible that downloads have dropped, commission rates have dropped and you've earned more?

Prices have gone up.

I'm thinking of trying RM on Alamy. I'm currently exclusive on istock and will probably stay that way for a while, while looking into other options. I work full time in a different industry so can take my time to look around.

I'm considering switcing to MF, so maybe Alamy RM plus remain istock exclusive for lesser work (maybe at smaller file sizes too) is my best bet. I don't do the kind of work that might qualify for Vetta.

I guess the limitation is the need for buyers to have accounts/credits at more than one place.