Quote from: fai123rf on August 06, 2010, 14:43

Point taken, Lisa.

We used to have a 123RF site forum but forum activity didn't pick up like we wanted to, that's why we decided to put it away and concentrated our attention here. I don't mean to blow our own horn by seemingly overpromoting our social media outlets, but we just want to let you know that if you need another outlet to voice your problem, it's there.

If not, you can still do so here. Me and Angelina check this forum often and we'll do our best to solve your problems and receive your feedback.

Thanks for responding.  I am glad you will continue to check in here. 

I'm not even on facebook or twitter and with the privacy concerns that keep cropping up there I'm disinclined to join.   

Quote from: donding on August 06, 2010, 11:14

I recently heard a buyer say that they usually bought from microstock, but they could not find the shot they wanted simply because all they could find was posed studio shots and none looked candid. They were finding it more and more difficult to find what they needed because of this. These candid shots are what microstock calls...snapshots. In some cases they are snapshots, but the microstock agencies need to realize that not all the buyers want that posed studio shot. It just doesn't look real to a lot of buyers so they shop elsewhere.

I've received a lot of rejections, Donna, just for trying to produce and provide such shots.  I admit, however, it is very difficult to get the kind of "microstock lighting" in unstaged setups that most agencies (and buyers) expect.

I dream of a day when Flickr & others will start reminding people they should comply with the IP rules, and even tell N accounts have been closed due to this.  Otherwise I think the culture won't change.  For each account closed there are many with the same type of infraction.

ok, I've been on Zazzle for a while now (8 months) and I'm selling items on a regular basis but I want more sales.

I have almost 6000 items in my shop and 99.9% is my stock material which means that the images are "not lousy" in terms of technical quality.

Now that alone is not a ticket to wealth at Zazzle (obviously...) but another very "basic" principle is driving me nuts: their search results.

I don't want to belittle other people's work nor am I saying my work is better than others' but I have to show an example to prove this point.

If you search with the keyword "fun" in the category "T-shirts", sorted by "popular" gives me some of those results I can't wrap my head around.

Take result #4 - a photo of the front of a Peugeot with the word "ownage" underneath it. I'm not saying that it's a bad design - I just wonder how this shirt can outsell all the following results?

Check the following result pages. Already on page 2 I see more "artistic" or "funnier" shirts than that car one.

Supposedly the ranking is calculated by a mix of sales numbers, views, votes and other stuff we don't know about.

Now, if you click on the portfolio of that Zazzle member with the Peugeot car you see that "he" has only two designs in "his" store.

Is this just a fluke or did somebody with 2 designs on Zazzle turn up on #4 for the keyword fun out of 1.9 million search results crack the code (or the algorithm)?

I'm pretty sure whoever knows the most important factors of Zazzle search won't tell them here but maybe you want to share anything regarding this.

Again, I think all the images in this example look great and I respect the designer. I'm just trying to paint a scenario here.

Quote from: donding on August 05, 2010, 10:13

Somebody didn't like having their picture on there...

For real.  I didn't mind having mine on the site, but I am glad they will be licensing them from now on.  

If they are going to make fun of us we might as well get something out of it

wow, i just found a portfoglio on dreamstime with 7000+ pictures. it's amazing: it seems like it's more than full with duplicates. also the latest uploads have tons of similar shots. this makes my rejection (i posted on top of this page) even look much more ridiculous. they're really not similar and only 2 shots!!!

i guess i should not post the link to that portfoglio here (don't know about the forum rules) but i am really asking myself how this submitter can get all the shots accepted again and again

Quote from: lefty on August 04, 2010, 09:24

Soon, if stock agencies not careful, many of our work will be free on cd for sales on ebay or download free torrent like porn movie and movie problem.

That's the case already. But what will they do with it? Music and movies you can enjoy in private, but using an image on the web is a public thing. If people are spreading their images over many agencies, how anybody can prove that it wasn't bought somewhere? The sites won't help you, if you're not exclusive. How could they?

I'm a full-time fashion and commercial photographer in the New York City and national market. The bulk of my clients are dress companies who need photography for their ads, catalogs and/or web sites.  They tend to all get their sample dresses and gowns each season at the same time and need the images right away so I find myself tremendously busy Jan-Feb and June-July with clients shooting in New York and out of state.  During these times my micro stock activities take a backseat.

Outside those peak periods I shoot magazine assignments on a less regular basis.  Microstock is somewhat like my babysitter. It keeps me from getting in trouble or wasting my time in-between assignments. I wish there was better synergy between my assignments and micro stock, but my assignment work tends to be with agency models who are not allowed to sign stock releases. I'm hoping to integrate the two bodies of work more closely in the future.

Apart from that I speak at photography workshops that are organized by a friend. Away from photography I'm into road cycling and am currently building up a carbon road bike to replace a bike that was recently stolen. And My colorful circle of friends include actors, musicians and burlesque performers that always have shows to shows going on.

Samples of my fashion and commercial work:
www.danhowellphotography.com