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Messages - FD
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776
« on: August 12, 2010, 19:15 »
Germany isn't really that expensive I wasn't probing into your private things.  But yes, you can live cheaply everywhere if you watch out. I only need 6m 2 for my PC and me when I'm alone in Europe. Over there, we need a little bit more space.
777
« on: August 12, 2010, 18:59 »
Oh, I recognize the lion! Cool, the Flemish Lion finally has some brand value. FlemishDreams was intended 5 years ago as a political site but I ended up in Asia shooting pictures (and more), just like Brits end up in Berlin. The domain had 250 daily visits so I thought I'd rather put up some photography talk there. I imagined you to be a completely different "type"! Yes it's always like that. I know long hair is 70-tish. Nice sneakers. Nah, cheap chinese copies from the "market". 2 euro max. The same famous market (it's on a blog I'm preparing) where Windows 7, CS4 and all movies by the dozen are 90cents. I think I'm the only one islands around that has a legal Windows. But we're getting off-topic.
778
« on: August 12, 2010, 18:26 »
I really like their website and uploading is easy Not for me. I have to copypaste all my IPTC since they only cater for the (proprietary) Adobe scheme, and not for the open (base scheme). Uploading has been an ordeal. I got 200 pics accepted and 400 in the q for weeks. If I get my upload fee, I'll pay somebody to copypaste the xtra 300 pics waiting in the edit zone.
779
« on: August 12, 2010, 18:11 »
Funny - if I was asked to pick someone round here who I was convinced to be a non-smoker, it would have been you. No idea why! Interesting how we put a picture of someone together on not much of a ground at all... Since I have my pic up at the DT profile, I had already 2 people ask me why I smoke. I told them I don't smoke, it's the cigarette. all my income is from microstock. But - for perculiar ad complicated reasons - my cost of living is really low. Yes Berlin has some nice bridges to sleep under and it can be very cozy there, in the proper carton box. 
780
« on: August 12, 2010, 17:49 »
I thought it was, "You're only as old as the women you feel?" Haha, my favorite Marx quote. I didn't want to say it in the beginning coz the ladies would be insulted.
781
« on: August 12, 2010, 17:46 »
I can't give up smoking though. It's easy! I've done it thousands of times.
Isn't that a Twain quote (or paraphrase)? (I mean Mark Twain obviously - not the twain in the wailway station).
Bingo! At least a person here with some cultural background. He has great quotes, but my favorite ones are from Marx (Groucho, not Karl), Woody Allen and Monty Python. I can't post them here or I get 10 ignores more.
782
« on: August 12, 2010, 02:44 »
Especially when it's a random person that you don't know and doesn't know anything about microstock. It's simple. You make a form exactly like the model release stating "I agree to receive 1,000,000$ as the XYZ lottery winner". Make sure to cut out a clean square at the place of the signature, and put the MRF underneath. Seriously, don't ask random people. Ask people that enlisted as models on model sites, ask friends that know the concept, agree to shoot some good shots for their FB for free on condition you can do some stock work too. Many people are very reluctant to see their faces online, especially when you explain them the (small but real) risks. It's unfair to force them, certainly friends. If they do so, pay them a fair amount afterwards, when the shoot went well and they did their best in terms of salable stock. Doing like this, I have a long waiting list for models in the Phils. I had to learn it the hard way after a year of no returns. If people want glamor shots (they all do), make a deal and give them what they want - after you did your stuff.
783
« on: August 12, 2010, 02:25 »
To revert to the topic (sorry), I just had 2 shots on Awkward. Pretty awkward if I may say so. One of those almost never sold (well maybe 5 times over all).
I'll report later if they got any extra sales at ShutterStock. It's just an experiment.
784
« on: August 12, 2010, 02:04 »
I can't give up smoking though. It's easy! I've done it thousands of times.
785
« on: August 12, 2010, 02:00 »
This isnt meant to be negative or pessimistic. Its meant to set expectations for novices. Im sure for a lot of people here if you ran the numbers you would probably come up with similar figures. Correct. Buying the DSLR was the easy part.
786
« on: August 12, 2010, 01:50 »
No site will even think of allowing private Google tracking code on their servers. First it's a load on their resources (imagine how slow the site will get if everybody does it) but most of all, it's a huge security risk.
The code is a javascript call to an outside black box. What if you "mistype" that outside black box to a typesquat domain and inject the core iStock site with some malicious code from there? You'll need somebody at iStock to review your code first and that will take resources that don't benefit iStock at all.
Forget it. GA is a tool for webmasters.
787
« on: August 12, 2010, 01:28 »
I have poor sales. You don't. You're successful and obviously know a lot more about this business than I do. I feel the need to intervene here You might have poor sales for now but your portfolio is excellent. Your opponent is right about observations about the industry but it doesn't matter. Your images are top, contentwise and qualitywise. If sales are little for now, maybe it's your keywording or the whims of the search engines. Doesn't let that discourage you and make more, more, more! Join the guild of image producers that enjoys making images for the fun and the satisfaction. We regulars will never reach the numbers of the stock-beasts. I enjoyed every image I made and I frankly don't care about saleability. Some buyers must be attracted by it since most of my sales on DT are N/A (found by visual search) and I'm in a few niches that aren't covered without staring at the best sellers or copying, but just by coincidence. So go on by all means.
788
« on: August 12, 2010, 01:08 »
- Mostphotos is a great extra free backup (don't count on it - they might go out of business any time).
- It is a great place to browse the portfolio of known photogs since their content is unfiltered by the QC and questionable LCV criteria of stock agencies.
- There seems to be less garbage than on stock agencies, amazingly.
- I had several sales the first year they started. Unlike they said, sales don't count in the search engine. Only the yay's of other photogs do. This is the major flaw.
- It's a free replacement for Photoshelter and Smugmug.
- Their image SEO sucks: I never saw one of their images in Google Images.
- While all new RF stock agencies offer more of the same, MP has unique content and that's their USP.
789
« on: August 11, 2010, 15:44 »
His example was that if they needed a picture of "Joe's Inn" in Sonoma and they didn't have one, they would look on Flickr first and negotiate directly with the photographer. His statement was anybody can take "one good picture" and that was all they needed. NG wouldn't care what the rest of your portfolio looked like if they found the image that worked for them. The problem is you can't find that kind of pictures on stock since it will be rejected for lack of PR or LCV. Even as Editorial it won't be accepted since it's not newsworthy.
790
« on: August 11, 2010, 11:22 »
Yes the guy recently left Veer. That's what managers do all the time when things look dim, switch companies. Seen too many of those. It's not a photographer's friend, though. We hear a lot about how the industry has been in turmoil and it seems to be always bad news for photographers well our perspective is the opposite. Its the best time in the industry if you are a buyer that is. Great imagery is now as cheap as chips as they say in England, Simon notes. And Pixmac leads the picture pack. Translation: Yes it's true the photographers are bleeding to death and their corpses are all over the place. But think about the vultures!  They will have a great feast soon on those suckers with their cams. And I'm going to teach Pixmac how to properly scrape the last meat from their skulls, yeah!. I really start to feel " cheap as chips". Maybe it's a better name than "regular". I don't understand how any photographer can not feel insulted by this kind of corporate underlife. Instead of making sure the producers of images that suffer all costs and risk get some decent fees, the corporate will kick them further down. The worst thing is that you have no choice by the obligatory opt-in.
791
« on: August 11, 2010, 07:35 »
Am I wrong about this? Would any of us like to be starting from scratch now? I think I even wouldn't get in any more at SS and IS. In 2005 it was much easier, and the technical requirements were less. In 5 years, suffering rejections and learning what sells and doesn't sell, we oldies have grown with the sites. If you want to enter now, you need to have that skill acquired outside stock or you can't pass the high threshold. There will always be fresh photographers with loads of talents, but the avalanche of 1-2 years ago is over, I guess.
792
« on: August 11, 2010, 07:25 »
No sales at all since August 7 (included) - while in July I averaged 1.9 sales per weekday. Not much but I don't remember a 4-day period on IS without any sales at all.
793
« on: August 11, 2010, 07:09 »
If you have checked the Partner Program in dreamstime, yes your port is automatically at Pixmac. I don't know about fotolia. I checked out of the partner programs at DT. I was tired to see those 0.21$ sales. Now you can say that's a loss but I can live with that kind of loss. I'm glad Pixmac is going to conquer the world from behind their Macs. Can somebody wake me up when they actually did? (I'm a bit allergic to yuppie hype - it's so... 80'-ish; the 80-ies are out, greed is out, success is out, and we survived global warming)
794
« on: August 10, 2010, 15:45 »
On one final tip, more and more I, and probably many others are beginning to do their image searches on google. This way I can search all private sources and agencies at once. I believe global searches will dominate in the next few years. Agree. But you'll have to wade through much more garbage since GI doesn't have QC, and that's what sets the sites apart. What's more, on most images on GI isn't any licensing info.
795
« on: August 10, 2010, 09:45 »
Sorry to disappoint but if there was some new 'free' model being discussed behind closed doors and under an NDA in Dublin...the people involved didn't invite me! But since I'm a busy body, I probably would have heard about it and I didn't. So not to worry. Most of the talk was about how to raise prices, not free. Glad to hear. Well I heard about an NDA but not in public. Raising prices will be as difficult as putting the ghost back in the bottle. The amateurs will never give up producing stock under the cost level.
796
« on: August 10, 2010, 09:27 »
In which group of nations belongs Ukraine and Poland ?! As well as Croatia ...
Faces do not change so easily , especially in neighboring countries ...Living standards maybe... Interesting (although off-topid) points: How much you pay in Croatia for: - a 1-bedroom apartment, just decent, not on a prime location. (400/100*) - 1 month internet connection. (44/16) - an average 1-month electricity bill. (50/20). - 1 bread (2/1). - 1 hr wage hamburger-flipping (0.4/8). I added my prices in euro for Belgium/Philippines. We can go from there if you want. * fenced and privately guarded area; if not, you will be robbed/burglared within the month
797
« on: August 10, 2010, 08:36 »
There are a lot of scammers getting creative now.. Very creative. Till 2 weeks ago, the password of one of my mySql databases kept being changed. The server is clean (after a Turkish hack 2 years ago), so how could he inject a password there? It took we a week to rebuild my site from scratch manually, with a brand new DB, all filled up by hand. I could have used a backup but I resisted. After the new database/site was working I wanted to delete the old infected one but the server refused. I then cleared all the tables (it showed empty) but it still was undeletable and 3MB large. I had to ask support to delete if for me. Since then, I get these 404 errors in my Google Analytics: http://www.flemishdreams.com/STYLOPHONIC-MP3-FREE.html 404 (Not found) 2 pages Jul 31, 2010 http://www.flemishdreams.com/encore-4.5-5-torrent.html 404 (Not found) 2 pages Jul 30, 2010 http://www.flemishdreams.com/encore-v.4.5.5-cracked.html 404 (Not found) 2 pages Jul 30, 2010 Obviously, the MySql DB was hosting a lot of garbage undetectable for any cleaning program, perhaps serving as a torrent seeder or who knows. It's a bit off topic, just a caveat for those that run their own site. Never put any financial info on it. "They" can get everywhere and leaks are only stopped after months and after some victims.
798
« on: August 10, 2010, 07:47 »
jeepers creepers.... You put Poland in the same basket with Ukraine ? I congratulate you on the knowledge of the contemporary world.... and invite you to Poland, you would be surprised that girls do NOT have 'Eastern' faces in a way you connotate it. I was just quoting a respected poster here, with a great model portfolio. I wouldn't have an idea. I guess if you pay properly for models, you can select looks. The problem is that for microstock, you'll have to use TFP and grab what you can get. Well it's a theory except you're forgetting something, the highest yielding type of imagery are those that feature people, the buyers at present don't want that many images with Chinese folk in, and the other countries you mentioned are all poor in comparison to the largest image buying countries, and without sounding patronising I could spot a Polish girl in a cheap looking outfit a mile off, so although they may be able to mass produce the images cheaper than the Western world a lot of them will look cheap which is not what sells. (for the record, I objected that post, pointing to Dolgachev - the fact is that around the southern shores of the Baltic <included Poland> there are still many people of German ancestry since Poland moved a lot to the west after WWII) Edit: as you can read, the poster I quoted mentioned more the "outfit" than the looks. All my business outfits I use in Asia came from Europe. I wouldn't dream to buy a business suit there, since they all have this outlandish look - except for Thailand and Vietnam where the hand made suits are the best looking in the world.
799
« on: August 10, 2010, 07:22 »
Does Fotolia accepts generic model release? Yes. Don't look further. A generic model release accepted by all sites, based on the Getty one but with the Getty specifics removed. Here (Word doc format). ( country of jurisdiction to be filled in by that of the photographer - if a model likes to sue me, it can come to my place, I'm not going there.) ( a few fonts changed since DT complained once that the fonts of "shoot" date weren't readable enough)
800
« on: August 10, 2010, 02:53 »
Anyone tried uploading their watermarked microstock shots to flickr and have a link to your own photo commerce site ie. Photoshelter where it could be downloaded.? Yes! Two years ago on my paying Flickr account. They phased me out without any warning, making me lose 25$. When I demanded an explanation, they just deleted my account. I was quite popular then with over 1,000 shots online, and in many groups. Somebody must have reported me since some Flickerians don't like watermarks (for obvious reasons). Flickr doesn't allow commercial use. It's about stealing sharing.
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