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Messages - Mantis
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751
« on: July 25, 2017, 07:54 »
So DREAMSTIME got back to me and said that he is "LICENSED TO RESELL IT" and NOT in violation of copyright. what? I fired back a nasty response and we shall see. But according to DREAMSTIME, this is allowed.
752
« on: July 24, 2017, 16:08 »
There are several of mine. Will report it to ss when i get home.
EDIT.
I just filed a complaint with DT. SS is next.
Edit again. Notice sent to Shutterstock.
753
« on: July 23, 2017, 19:39 »
The most useful tip I got was to look at images already on the agency of my subject, and ask myself, "Why would someone choose my photo over theirs?"
NB, it's not always the 'best' standalone photo (always an objective call) which is chosen, it might be that a colour or crop they could make is 'best for their layout', so you can't always tell, but it's always a good question to ask yourself.
Yes I try and do that however buyers don't always want the "best" they want "fit for purpose" which explains why much of my fairly average output sells.......
Right and this is why (mostly) leaving room for cropping is usually a good idea.
754
« on: July 23, 2017, 17:04 »
This is a good point. When the critical mass is spiraling down it is next to impossible beat it in its own bubble. Looking for alternatives is certainly what I am doing as well. I have little technical knowledge (web design, shopping carts, etc.) which is keeping me at bay until I figure out how to move forward with alternative strategies. RM is but one avenue but I am getting into motion graphics with sliders and holy grail type time lapses, but it's expensive and time consuming. I enjoy it but have a day job too.
How about footage?
Doing that too.
Mantis,
I have read several post from you in the past and I was under the impression that you were mostly in video
Nope. I do both. I have about 3800 images and 1300 videos (mix of video, animations and time lapse).
I believe a couple of years ago I read that you had more than a 1000 video.
I have always appreciated your posts as a very sensible person (rare thing in forum).
But I would have thought you had at least 3000 now
Me too but life changes have slowed down my production. Couple of deaths and a move really have impacted my time to create content. Two weeks ago was the first time I shot commercial images. Funny, I was just thinking of doing a couple of week video shoot road trip. I still might but have to dial in some time for myself. I will tell you that my plan WAS to double my collection in two years, but life just happens.
755
« on: July 23, 2017, 15:36 »
This is a good point. When the critical mass is spiraling down it is next to impossible beat it in its own bubble. Looking for alternatives is certainly what I am doing as well. I have little technical knowledge (web design, shopping carts, etc.) which is keeping me at bay until I figure out how to move forward with alternative strategies. RM is but one avenue but I am getting into motion graphics with sliders and holy grail type time lapses, but it's expensive and time consuming. I enjoy it but have a day job too.
How about footage?
Doing that too.
Mantis,
I have read several post from you in the past and I was under the impression that you were mostly in video
Nope. I do both. I have about 3800 images and 1300 videos (mix of video, animations and time lapse).
756
« on: July 23, 2017, 14:01 »
This is a good point. When the critical mass is spiraling down it is next to impossible beat it in its own bubble. Looking for alternatives is certainly what I am doing as well. I have little technical knowledge (web design, shopping carts, etc.) which is keeping me at bay until I figure out how to move forward with alternative strategies. RM is but one avenue but I am getting into motion graphics with sliders and holy grail type time lapses, but it's expensive and time consuming. I enjoy it but have a day job too.
How about footage?
Doing that too.
757
« on: July 23, 2017, 08:36 »
I thought they might like it natural but I am not sure because they seem to buy my over the top edited images which I don't like. I always think that something like that doesn't exist in nature. Not that I want to leave images flat and boring but not that saturated.
You've got to assess the probabilities of the buyer base. Will you sell more to buyers who want fully "pay-n-go" clips or to buyers who want flat, more editable clips? I can't say because all of my clips (other than my animations) are graded. The only way to tell would be to have another mirrored set of ungraded clips and compare sales. But that is not practical. So I choose to assume that most buyers want a finished clip and do not want to have to worry about another POST Processing step. But that's just my hypothesis. There are others in here with far greater video experience than me.
I actually tried once (over a year ago) with a set of 70 clips on Pond5- had one set uploaded with ungraded S-log3 footage. No sales. The graded set sold many clips since. I guess it answers the question...
That's a good data point. Thanks for sharing.
758
« on: July 23, 2017, 08:33 »
This is finally motivating me to work on other ways to sell my photos. Would be great to ditch microstock one day, it was fun a decade ago but none of the sites have made it possible for me to have a sustainable income. So there's no choice other than delving in to other options.
This is a good point. When the critical mass is spiraling down it is next to impossible beat it in its own bubble. Looking for alternatives is certainly what I am doing as well. I have little technical knowledge (web design, shopping carts, etc.) which is keeping me at bay until I figure out how to move forward with alternative strategies. RM is but one avenue but I am getting into motion graphics with sliders and holy grail type time lapses, but it's expensive and time consuming. I enjoy it but have a day job too.
759
« on: July 23, 2017, 08:29 »
I thought they might like it natural but I am not sure because they seem to buy my over the top edited images which I don't like. I always think that something like that doesn't exist in nature. Not that I want to leave images flat and boring but not that saturated.
You've got to assess the probabilities of the buyer base. Will you sell more to buyers who want fully "pay-n-go" clips or to buyers who want flat, more editable clips? I can't say because all of my clips (other than my animations) are graded. The only way to tell would be to have another mirrored set of ungraded clips and compare sales. But that is not practical. So I choose to assume that most buyers want a finished clip and do not want to have to worry about another POST Processing step. But that's just my hypothesis. There are others in here with far greater video experience than me.
760
« on: July 22, 2017, 17:33 »
I dread looking at my SS stats now. Yesterday and today are the worst ever. To think I used to excitedly check every five minutes to see my new sales. 
This week I had three $7 download days with almost 5000 assets. I only go in now once a day or so now. Just disgusts me that one tweak of the search and half my income is gone.
761
« on: July 22, 2017, 12:49 »
Yes, I had an incredible jump of $1.25. The beer is on me tonight ladies & Gents... 
Where did you see the $$?
Microstockr Pro --- I jumped for joy!
So there is money involved for some I guess. For me not a penny bump.
762
« on: July 22, 2017, 08:57 »
Its a no-brainer! Buy a Nikon D810
At this time the best pixels you can buy from Nikon. All our portfolio is shot on a Nikon D810 with a few exceptions
Also shooting with a D810. love it, especially when the light is perfect. No noise. But it's almost $3,000 US, a bit over your budget. Rumors are out that in the coming days there will be a Nikon D820 announcement, so if you wait you might be able to pick up a D810 for much cheaper.
763
« on: July 21, 2017, 08:50 »
Did anyone read their newsletter that said they found a royalty glitch and would be recalculating history and potentially see a bump in royalty payments? They said it would be completed by last night but this morning i dont see any changes in my income. Perhaps it will show up in Julys figures next month.
I did see that, and my overnight bump was tiny enough to be normal overnight sales.
Hmmm ok well if it did happen i netted zip. Not surprised, though.
764
« on: July 21, 2017, 08:39 »
Did anyone read their newsletter that said they found a royalty glitch and would be recalculating history and potentially see a bump in royalty payments? They said it would be completed by last night but this morning i dont see any changes in my income. Perhaps it will show up in Julys figures next month.
765
« on: July 20, 2017, 19:37 »
If I'm not mistaken Kenko bought Hoya, so they may claim that they are one in the same. I'm not sure if the glass processing quality has been integrated but my guess is that they are made the same and branded differently.
766
« on: July 20, 2017, 17:36 »
I have just requested through StockXpert as if the site was still alive and i end up getting payment after a few weeks.
767
« on: July 20, 2017, 08:38 »
Up $40 over last month. Nothing earth shattering. I hate getting monthly statement....when are they ever going to real time sales? I suspect never. It gives them a cloak of control to hide a lot of riffraff.
768
« on: July 19, 2017, 11:53 »
Just got some videos of F-35 aircraft rejected due to intellectual property issues.
After I requested explination SS reps told me they treat all national symbols as proteced elements, hence the national air force (IAF) signs on the plane wings are what caused the rejection.
I recently consulted an IP lawyer who specifically told me that all national symbols are Creative Commons.
I know for a fact that the american Eagle, or the Israeli star of david are not, and will never be, protected.
how should I deal with this?
They are abviously wrong...
Give up. Why fight them? Even if you win you make like a few $.25 subs? Just move on -Do more work that will make you more money than these images anyway...
I disagree.
Each of these videos is quite hard to come by, especially as commercial ones. They sell for $25-$60 each (my share) for every sale. I had rare access to an air force base with a big telephoto lens. These videos could make me hundreds of $$ in the coming months/years.
Right or wrong, it is the agency's rules. Its like alamy requires model releases if a finger is in a photo even though the person is not recognizable.....which is the purpose of a model release. So i would not spend a lot of time on this unless you think a few emails will get them to change their minds.
769
« on: July 19, 2017, 07:31 »
Hey all,
Do you also get a feeling of excitement in anticipation of seeing your "single & other" download in your earnings summary tab. Usually it's only a few nickels above a standard sub but I'm always hoping it's a $80+ download...it feels kinda like playing a scratch card lottery 
Not anymore. They have conditioned me to not care any longer.
770
« on: July 17, 2017, 17:21 »
Shutterstock is killing my month. At this point European vacations won't really matter to me.
771
« on: July 13, 2017, 09:24 »
why people don't simply accept that at 1 million new images added every week....millions of photos in instagrama and zillion in all web....it's clear that the cause of the falling of earning for single contributor is ue to this....people sold people sold a lot because there was zero competition...take lifestyle...in the last 4 5 yeats many big contributors have entered, a lot of talented have entered...nowadays if yuri arcurs began from scratch he would sell much much less...when he uploaded god lifestyle he was one of the best now he would be one of the bunch.
so the only way to keep up with earning is shooting and uploading content.
Wrong. While we accept that millions of images are being added, it does not explain the overnight circumscision of our income. If it were more gradual, then your hypothesis would be more acceptable. But we are talking nearly, almost literally, over night. That is pulling levers and kicking the tires.
772
« on: July 11, 2017, 10:15 »
Thanks all for wishing good luck, yea i also will shoot footage, and hope not only Grand Canyon.
I shoot there all the time. Its no issue unless you are doing a commercial shoot, then its permit, insurance, and all the hassle of doing that kind of thing. Agree with increasing that shooting time lapse and video will get you a better return than stills. My stills do sell but not enough to pay for more than a micro fiber cloth.
773
« on: July 11, 2017, 10:12 »
LOL i am still under 200 dollar ill probably end up 66% down of a normal month.
Sorry to hear that. The thing is its not like customers just stopped buying on june 1. So since i think most of us agree that a search change was the most likely cause, then a subset of contributors have to be winning.
774
« on: July 11, 2017, 07:19 »
None of this makes any sense at all. How do you explain the incredible drop of exactly 50% straight down the line and almost to the penny hitting everyone I know that joined about 10 years back and all with commercial high-value portfolios including myself of course.
No not a conspiracy but certainly the search is manipulated killing off many contributors and aiding some other sections.
I was looking at July sales today and holy cow. I will be lucky to make $300-$400 this month, compared to my normal three times that. Today I am at a under $150. I would give exact numbers but we are not allowed to share real data from SS. But you get the point. In June they changed something in the search and, well, you can do the math. I will be 66% down from my norm. Norm=last several years (except for a few search changes that adjusted back to "normal").
How are you doing on other sites? Personally I seem to be experiencing a similar slowdown/crash nearly everywhere. Certainly since May my SS sales have fallen markedly.
Other sites are not anything like SS. They are 'maintaining' averages, IS down some but it is gradual. DT is very cyclic, I'll admit. One month I will pull $200 the next $100. But I have seen that for a long time. Overall, SS has a drastic 'something going on' for me (and it sounds like many others, too.). If SS stays like this, it's game over for me. I won't bother trying to build my portfolio any longer for micro stock.
775
« on: July 10, 2017, 20:38 »
None of this makes any sense at all. How do you explain the incredible drop of exactly 50% straight down the line and almost to the penny hitting everyone I know that joined about 10 years back and all with commercial high-value portfolios including myself of course.
No not a conspiracy but certainly the search is manipulated killing off many contributors and aiding some other sections.
I was looking at July sales today and holy cow. I will be lucky to make $300-$400 this month, compared to my normal three times that. Today I am at a under $150. I would give exact numbers but we are not allowed to share real data from SS. But you get the point. In June they changed something in the search and, well, you can do the math. I will be 66% down from my norm. Norm=last several years (except for a few search changes that adjusted back to "normal").
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