Quote from: leaf on August 08, 2014, 06:26
I feel working when you want and getting paid when you aren't working are huge ones.  Being able to travel anywhere in the world and continue the work is also a huge plus.

For me this really is a huge plus. I love traveling and knowing that i could move anytime i want to and just continue from there is a wonderful freedom. You are not tied to one place and job as most people are. 

Quote from: Goofy on February 01, 2014, 17:21
Hi Dan,

Yes, you have 61.87 but the most important part is the 'Cleared' Balance!  The Cleared is yours and you don't have to worry about a refund.  I seem to be one of the few that gets a lot of refunds- I had over $300 just a few months ago and it all was returned.

Hope this helps and may the 'Force' be with you...

Tom

Thanks for the quick answer!! It actually really is depressing.

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on February 01, 2014, 17:30
Distributors get paid 40% of the customer price and you and Alamy split the rest 50/50 - 30% of the gross for each of you.

Thank you Jo Ann.

Now i understand it. It is really crazy that the distributor (who doesn't really needs to do anything) gets more than either ALAMY and myself. I think i will also opt out...

Hi Everyone,

maybe someone here is kind enough to help me. When i look at my balance of account at alamy, i am super confused.
I attached a screenshot. How much do i actually have in my account?

I understand that o means that the money was cleared and when it is x i still need to wait. About how long does it take to get cleared?

What it the difference between Alamy Distribution Commission and Distribution Commission. Why is one 30% and the other 40%?. Why do i get a debit twice?

Do i once pay commission to the third party agency and then again to alamy? That's how i understand it.
But shouldn't the commission that ALAMY then gets be calculated from the amount with the other commission already reduced? Since it seems they calculate their amount from the full sale price? Hope that was kind of understandable.

If i understand it correctly i now have 61.87 in my account. Is it normal that alamy sells more over distributors.

I know, a lot of questions. But i feel like ALAMY does it really confusing.

Thank you already in advance.

kind regards,

Daniel

Quote from: Ron on December 01, 2013, 15:48
This stuff is best answered by the agencies. I wouldnt take advice on this from the forum, because the only one exactly knowing the rules, are the agencies. I am sure you can get advice here on some things, as in how you can best set the structure up from your side, but the legal question is best answered by the agencies. In my opinion. I wouldnt be the one to tell you thats its ok, and see you get in trouble, because I was wrong.

I guess your right. Thanks for the quick answer!!

I thought that this might be a situation somebody else might have already been in. The thing is that i will need to ask all of the agency's individually, which obviously is quite time consuming. But it is definitely the best solution. The only one where i can absolutely be sure.

Hi Everyone,

this might have been answered already, but i can't find anything on this topic.

My question is, i have stock photo accounts on my name (at all major agency's). My girlfriend and I now started doing food photos together and would like to open accounts that we would share, so that it would be easy to see how much income we have so that we can split it.

Is it possible to have a shared account? I guess it shouldn't be a prob because all image factories must have something like that?

Am I allowed to have a second account with my GF? Would it maybe even be possible to refer my GF and myself?

I would be really thankful if someone could help me!!!!

Best wishes Daniel

Quote from: tickstock on October 04, 2013, 21:44

Quote from: bhr on October 04, 2013, 19:42
I know that you say that you don't want to take a laptop. But if you would be carrying a tablet and and hard drive anyhow then you might just as well take an 11 inch Macbook Air. It's going to be a much less squirly solution and it will be slim and light enough such that it will probably end up taking up less room slipped in your carry-on bag. And an extra USB3 drive will fit in your shirt pocket.

Plus you can also use it to run Lightroom or Photo Mechanic if you suddenly find that you need to keyword and upload something along the way.

ETA: and when you have finished with it in a couple of years the Macbook will have retained much more of its value than anything else you could get.

There are a few issues for me with that solution.  The macbook costs around $1000, it weighs 2.5lbs, I'd still have to carry hard drives, it may get broken or stolen on the trip.   The surface pro is also pretty expensive.
I was hoping for something like a google nexus 7 that weighs closer to .6lbs and costs about $300.

ShadySue I have a netbook I've used before but I was trying to get something that would be more useful and even smaller.  My netbook is horrible, I can barely surf the web with that thing because of how slow it is and how short the battery life is.  I think it has 2gb ram also.

Ankya:  Probably two 256gb hard drives would work or maybe 6x64gb sd cards if there is a deal on those.   I had looked at thumb drives before but I must have missed the one I'm seeing now, 128gb for $50.  Four of those might work.

I have a nexus 7 and it's a great device. Use it regularly for Photo-shootings (Wifi tethering).
I have never used it to back-up data (it also only has 32gb) but apparently you can use the micro USB port to adapt stuff like an SD-reader etc.
Just how would you get the data onto an external hard-drive? You will def. not be able to power one with the tablets usb port!

I also think the only real solution would be an 11 inch ultrabook!

Quote from: bhr on October 04, 2013, 19:42
I know that you say that you don't want to take a laptop. But if you would be carrying a tablet and and hard drive anyhow then you might just as well take an 11 inch Macbook Air. It's going to be a much less squirly solution and it will be slim and light enough such that it will probably end up taking up less room slipped in your carry-on bag. And an extra USB3 drive will fit in your shirt pocket.

Plus you can also use it to run Lightroom or Photo Mechanic if you suddenly find that you need to keyword and upload something along the way.

ETA: and when you have finished with it in a couple of years the Macbook will have retained much more of its value than anything else you could get.

Totally agree.

If you really wan't a tablet, you could use a Surface Pro. It has USB ports etc. and is under the hood actually a laptop (just without the keyboard)

Quote from: oxman on August 31, 2013, 08:16
Looks like they are keeping that horrible SPOT REMOVAL tool. Gawd I hate that thing. How about adding a cloning tool and spot healing. I hate having to run over to PS to clean up stuff. Comon Adobe cut the crap.

I actually really like it. Works quite well for me!

I'm also really disappointed that ProStockMaster won't work without Lightburner....what a bummer!

My PP stats for may are still not showing up. Is this normal??

Quote from: jsnover on July 11, 2013, 20:47

Quote from: anonymous on July 11, 2013, 19:33
... I've asked clients to search your site and I get "weird, not impressed, not what we're looking for" responses. ...

Funny. That's what Photocase said to my attempts to submit images to them

I don't submit there 'cause I couldn't find anything of mine they liked (and I left the objects over white out of the stuff I sent them)

Same here, i tried uploading 10 Images last week. I selected 5 of my favorite images that where not "stocky". Very natural stuff that is also pin sharp (and even though not stocky, was accepted at all other sites). Additionally i added 5 of my bestseller images. These where really stocky images. So in summary i thought at least some would be taken.

Well, i was dissapointed, every single image was rejected.

Good to know.

Will also try out in sending some images from my archieve 

Quote from: Xanox on May 19, 2013, 19:57

Quote from: ShadySue on May 19, 2013, 19:26
I'm sure 38c a whack (for at least some sales) doesn't sustain a film star lifestyle, even with Yuri's sales.

location location location !

no idea about CapeTown, but you can buy a similar villa with seaview and small swimming pool in Thailand for as low as 2-300K $.

Believe me, the area his house is located at isn't as cheap as you might think!

Quote from: RapidEye on May 19, 2013, 07:41

And, by the way, I live in Cape Town. It is anything but a hellhole. I'd far rather be here than in Denmark, regardless of costs.

Perfectly right.

I lived in Cape Town for 19 years until 2010.

It is a beautiful country with stunning locations to shoot. It is full of models and the people are extremely kind.
All the conclusions with the exchange rate also doesn't really make sense. Cape Town isn't as cheap as most of the people here might think.
I now live in Austria, which is one of the more expensive countries in Europe and the price differences really aren't that big.

Do you upload to Zoonar? They have a partnership with Getty!

Quote from: Xanox on May 11, 2013, 19:40

Quote from: cthoman on May 11, 2013, 17:41
Smart devices aren't a fad, and they aren't going away. I don't think they'll replace the desktop for most professionals, but they are here to stay.

tablets are not smart, they're dumbed down laptops without a keyboard, no more no less.

desktops will never die, it's impossible, anything professional is done on desktops and always will.

people will soon get tired by the limitations of smartphones and tablets especially considering they cost almost as much as a cheap laptop.

the MS Surface ugly keyboard is the worst of both worlds but at least they're trying.
and what about oddities like the Asus Transformer ?

really, they already tried it all in the last few years but there's no way out and the latest trend is for tablet to have a smaller screen, say 9" inches so it makes even less sense than now to see tablets as a pocket replacement for laptops.

Desktops are already dying out. The only real advantage is the power they have and soon even smaller devices will have more than enough processing power for us photographers / designers.
For most of the market, laptops have already replaced desktops!

One thing is for sure, that people who wan't to be productive need a large display, but that doesn't mean that you need a large desktop!

I believe that in the end we'll just have a small device with enough power, that we can easily plug into a larger working space, television etc.

Can't see whats wrong with tablets.
There are already tablets with Windows 8, Intel i5 processors, good displays and enough ram.
On the go you can work on the tablet and at home you would just need a docking station. Plug it in and your ready to go on your 100inch Eizo display with keyboard, mouse and graphics tablet. Maybe in a few years, the tablet will even replace your wacom tablet and manage to  show a copy of the image on it.

Even though i am using a Desktop at the moment, i believe that this will be the future.

Willkommen 

Very nice portfolio!

Which Dell monitor do you have?

Because if the Resolution is higher than 1080P (1920 x 1080), you need to use a Displayport cable, so that that resolution can be achieved.

I made that mistake before and wanted to connect my Dell U2711 with a HDMI cable. The resolution was messed up and when i wanted to check it, my PC wouldn't let me go over 1080P. First i thought my 50EUR Graphics Card wasn't good enough until someone told me that only the Display Port cable allows such high resolutions (in my case 2560 x 1440).

PS: For normal photo retouching, the graphic card only makes a small difference. Even when i deactivate my card in Photoshop. I cannot notice any performance differences. The worse results you are having with the new card, will mostprobably be a wrong setting somewhere.

I also use Backblaze. Seems to work very well. The only downside was the long initial upload, took me 200 days to upload my whole pc. But thats not backblazes fault. My upload is just too slow

Thanks for all the info!!!!

This really is a great forum 

Anyways...still can't make up my mind

I guess for me it would be best to have one strobe with 400 Ws as a main light and another with 200Ws as a second light.

If i need more power i can always add a third one. But as a student i also need to look at the fincancial side and at the moment i would love to have the best of the best, but i will need to save up a bit

Quote from: Perry on April 18, 2013, 19:46

Quote from: MichaelJayFoto on April 18, 2013, 18:43
I used to shoot with 2 x 200 Ws when I started. It's perfectly fine for objects, for fill lights and accents. But don't try to use them as main light for people. Not even for one,

You mean 200Ws isn't enough for shooting one person? I have to disagree with you on this one. Of course it all depends on light modificator and distances, but I'd say you can shoot a person using a 1 meter softbox 2 meters away with 200Ws and 100 ISO and about f/8... disagree?

I agree with you. I have shot my whole portfolio with Speedlights and even that worked somehow. If i calculated correctly, a 200Ws Strobe should be around 4x as strong as an average Speedlight. is that round about right???

Quote from: MichaelJayFoto on April 18, 2013, 18:43

Quote from: Dantheman on April 18, 2013, 18:17
But i am unsure if i even need 400Ws.

Would you guys think that two 200Ws strobes would be enough? The Bowens Gemini 200 for example?
I would like to buy a large Softbox, something around 150cm and a Beauty Dish and maybe a Set of Strip Lights. Obviously all these accessories also suck a bit of light.

Would 200Ws be enough for stock photos. Mostly portraits with 1-3 people etc.?

I used to shoot with 2 x 200 Ws when I started. It's perfectly fine for objects, for fill lights and accents. But don't try to use them as main light for people. Not even for one, don't start talking about groups.

We currently shoot with 3 x 600 Ws - one for main light, two for the background - and 1 x 300 Ws for accent light. Excellent for one or two people, borderline for three, not enough to light large enough for more people.

In my opinion, you could go for 400 Ws for the background light but I would certainly get something stronger for main light if you want to shoot groups.

PS: What I describe is for shooting on white background. You might need less for background if want to shoot in real scenery and just need fill light for the surroundings. Still you want the main light to be strong, especially if you want to shoot more than one or two people.

Thank you for the info. Guess 200 Ws is way to little.

Which make of strobes do you use?

PS: I have really been enjoying your blog. Great stuff!!

Hi Everyone,

At the moment i am thinking about buying strobes and the question about how many Ws are needed came up.

Until now i have been using 2 Flashes. A Canon 430EX and a Yongnuo 560. They have been very helpful in learning about lightning, but i have the feeling that they are limiting me. I also find the hassle with charging batteries etc. very annoying.

I was thinking about buying a set of Bowens Gemini 400's, something like this (http://www.calumetphoto.de/eng/product/bowens_gemini_400_400_studio_kit/bowbw4717)

But i am unsure if i even need 400Ws.

Would you guys think that two 200Ws strobes would be enough? The Bowens Gemini 200 for example?
I would like to buy a large Softbox, something around 150cm and a Beauty Dish and maybe a Set of Strip Lights. Obviously all these accessories also suck a bit of light.

Would 200Ws be enough for stock photos. Mostly portraits with 1-3 people etc.?

Which strobes do you use?

I found the Bowens Gemini interesting, because they also offer a travel pack.

Unluckily it is very difficult to get the Paul C. Buff Strobes here in Austria. Otherwise those would be my first choice, since they are quite cheap and also offer the option with the Vagabond Battery Pack (which is also way cheaper than the Bowens version).

Would be happy to hear some opinions!!

Kind regards!

Very interesting and impressive. I have a lot of respect for people who specialise on underwater photography since it really seems to be a complicated task.

How did you get started with underwater photography?

Quote from: dirkr on April 01, 2013, 20:09
Connect to Site 1. Select all files you want to upload, add them to the queue (should be one item when you right-click on the selected files).
Connect to Site 2, ignoring the warning that you will close a current connection.
Select files, add to queue.
Repeat until you have all files for all sites in the queue.

Start Queue processing (should be one menu item in one of the top menus). That does the job, connecting and uploading one site after the other.

Unfortunately I can't tell you the exact menu items, as I have a German language version running...

I do it the same way.

Connect to Site 1, drag and drop all the images onto the server
Connect to Site 2, at this Point Filezilla asks if you want to close the first server, or open a new Tab. I select to open a new tab, and drag and drop the images again etc.

I do this for all sites.

For around 10 sites, it takes less than 2 minutes and after that everything uploads automatically.