I put some up-rezed shots on Alamy a looooooooooong time ago. Sold nada.    When I got my 5D,  I submitted just a few more images...   low and behold,  I grabbed an EL sale... and have had a couple more since. I have now started slowly uploading my HD shots.   Getting an EL sale there is light-years and $$  from an EL on DT or elsewhere.   One thing I am avoiding...   I am not going to upload anything I have on the micros..  in a sense, I will keep my port there  'exclusive'  by my choice.   
     I think that if I were a customer and I paid a few hundred bucks for an image off Alamy and the next day found the same thing at DT for pennies or a couple bucks.....  I'd be a little upset...

Wishing you success Anita. =Tom

Welcome to the gang! =tom

I suppose I can say they are still reviewing us all...   I believe I submitted back in June or July and  they finally accepted me just a few weeks ago...   so  hang in there.  =tom

p.s.  and I'm happy to be on-board again with the old StockXpert gang!

Quote from: djpadavona on January 20, 2011, 21:26
You can use up your remaining credits by purchasing images you might need for designs.  No sense in leaving money on the table for them.

You are correct and a smart move if you purchase photos.  However, like many others,  I'm just a shooter,  I don't buy, no need.    No doubt,  FT will fold up and fade away before I hit payout and they will wind up with the $$ anyway.. LOL
  If  I could be sure my account wouldn't go to hell again,  I'd load up a hundred pix and speed the process up,  cash out in a short time...   but,     frankly,  I don't trust them.  =tom

Forgive me if I missed it somewhere.... I haven't been around too much lately (but I'm back now).  ...   my question is...   why the flying frog can't  I  get my Stinkstock money bounced over to my IS account and then I can close  the    "place holder"  StockXpert account?    Better yet,   give me my stinken money from the old StockXpert and  one-image-a-year  TS account,  and I'll close the StockXpert account and free up room on my hard drive (yuk yuk)...    Makes no sense...   if  an  StockXpert  contributor already had an IS  account,  what was the need to keep them on StockXpert?    Just send the sales to IS......   glad I make my photo money free lancing..
stock is becoming a bigger hassle than it's worth.  =tom

I deleted my photos down to 2 pix  that were 'regular' sellers.   It will take me a long time to reach payout,   but since I've done this, my account has not been abused nor have I had to endure tedious hassle to fix the 'problems' that  would repeatedly crop up. If I could get my money, I'd end it all...  but after all I've been thru with them...  no way I want to allow them to keep the measly money that is
there.  Personally,  $50 isn't much to me.  That isn't even a half tank of gas in my Suburban....   it's not about the money,  it's the principle..   it may take until the end of time to hit payout..  but,  I'll wait.  =Tom

I 'scribe to NG...    a fantastic article.   I love caving!! =tom

Hey anyone...  I haven't been keeping up with this thread or Stinkstock...    maybe one of you can tell me the answer.    Can I still just close out the  StockXpert/TS  account no matter how much is in the hole?  I think I've sold maybe a 1/2 dozen pix since they moved me over.   My IS stuff doesn't show there and what they took from StockXpert are probably my worst images...  in fact,  I wouldn't have the cojones to upload them anywhere anymore.  LOL    =tom

I've been with SS for many years....   and I sell my fair share of pix.....    yet after uploading 3 batches this week...........
ALL OF THEM  were rejected for      poor lighting  or  balance off..          ALL OF THEM  and not any two from the same shoot...   ....and ALL OF THEM having pix from a same shoot already online and selling on SS.  That's why I uploaded them.

That kind of raises an eyebrow on me..     oh well,  it's their site, their loss...    cause ALL OF THEM  are selling on IS.      =tom

Quote from: lisafx on October 08, 2010, 15:49
If I was just starting out I would stick with the top 4 or maybe top 6.  Only worry with the smaller sites once you are up and running well on the big earners.  

I agree absolutely...  I too started with.. wow, I lost count.. 10, 11, more?  .... most of them were a complete waste of time.. now the bulk of my stock income comes out of SS & IS.   8)tom

..............still waiting.....................       =tom


if... i ever get in...first thing i'll do is close my StockXpert/thinkstock.... debacle.  what a waste of time... even i wouldn't have picked the pix they picked.

Quote from: hoi ha on August 06, 2010, 06:13
Tom - .............. Finally, the terms that may appear as flag terms might not be the terms the flagger was referring to - when an image is flagged you need simply to look at your search terms, and if you think they are correct, ignore it and that's the end of it. if you think there are terms others may not understand, then explain it in a comment ot the admins. But, assuming your search terms are by and large correct and not spam, then you have nothing to be concerned about. just ignore the flags. Competing photgraphers cannot gain anything by flaggin other photogrpahers images and stand to be penalised if it is found that  what they are doing is not correct.

Thanks to everyone's advice... I consider all advice I am given.. 

I personally can't stand keyword spamming...  I will be the first to admit that when I got into this biz years ago,  I went crazy with keywords because, that's what I saw everyone else doing. At the time, I thought it moronic in many cases, but again thought,   'this is what you do'.    In the last few years I have many times gone back and removed words that should never have been put in there.   I do make an effort to police my own files. Now, I am careful about what I put in my keywords. I have come to learn that   more is not necessarily better.    thanks again to all for advice and support =tom

Quote from: WarrenPrice on August 04, 2010, 18:59

And ... the larger your portfolio the more weight your voice carries in the complaints department.   

so true, sir.   there is no shortage of hypocrisy in microstock.  the rules seem to change with the direction of the blowing wind.  however,  it is what it is. that's how they play the game.  we can play, or take our ball and go home.

another item I found very humorous from DT...    they called me on a few old pix that have never sold.  told me, they would do well in the free section, be used alot and give attention to my port...   ha ha ha ha... 
my thinking is,  if the pictures suck that bad that someone won't pay 35 cents for the things...  I don't think 'free' will make a heck of a difference.  ha ha ha ha.   if it isn't worth 35, it ain't worth zip.   =tom

Quote from: sharpshot on August 05, 2010, 08:31

Quote from: lisafx on August 04, 2010, 16:53
I completely agree that the "similars" policy as it is being implemented by DT is counterproductive.   However as contributors we don't have much say in it.

I doubt things will change until more buyers like Hoi Ha and Anonymous write DT and let them know specific examples of this policy costing them sales and even customers.  

I am having my say by not contributing any more images to DT.  It wont make any difference to them but I refuse to go along with this policy.

amen.   My DT sales went south a long time ago...  I haven't uploaded there in a long time..   this particular issue does not affect me as I do not do studio style series photos.  However, IMHO, it would seem to me if I was a buyer, I'd like to see a series of similar photos of a subject I had a need for.. but that's me.  What really blows my mind is   the statement   "ACCEPTED BY ACCIDENT".    All that does is destroy professional credibility with DT.

My issue with DT cropped up a few weeks ago when I got these emails telling me that someone objected to keywords on my photos.  Those 'someones' being other photographers.  The cases in point were to say the least, moronic. One example,  a landscape picture taken in Yosemite Meadow had  'objectionable' keywords such as  'yosemite' ,  pine (as in the trees in the picture) , and the odd word... 'meadow'.  
I had 4 of theses.  I fired off an email to DT...  but,  have received no response.  The real kicker was when I went to look at the ports of the people objecting.   Low and behold,  if I had the time to waste, I could have legitimately ripped thru their port and protested darn near every pic. These people had some real testicle fortitude!! Where's their flippin heads? Don't they realize anyone could just turn the tables on them??
  I let DT know what an unprofessional policy it was IMHO.                        morons....

I have been considering closing my account there for some time...    perhaps now, I will.   Not making any significant $$ there to make it worth the hassle of checking it.  I'm over payout... I'll probably shut it down in the next few days.    In fact...   seriously,  at one time I  was with 15 agencies...   now down to 8, not counting Stinkstock...
    I am thinking of going down to just  IS and SS and also keeping Alamy...   all the rest are peanut money to me.   I always swore I'd never go exclusive...  but...  as long as SS and IS keep sending me similar money..   ah, time will tell.   =tom

Quote from: cascoly on July 31, 2010, 01:06

check out my National Parks pages http://cascoly.com/trav/us/np.asp to whet your appetite - havent been to Yellowstone for awhile, but Tetons and Glacier are excellent, and it's easier to get away from crowds, especially if you can wait til Sep or later for color.  Same for Banff, Jasper area -- the Kananaskis area to the south of banff is great for hiking, and has many fewer people. 

Just outside banff, Johnson creek is a neat little walk with a series of catwalks over a narrow canyon



when in Montana be sure to find a tavern that serves Moose Drool on tap

steve

Steve.. thanks for the tips!!  We are really looking forward to this trip.  Enjoyed your pix...   the ones you suggested and..  I took a tour thru your Acadia and other catalogs!  Nice!!

For sure going to check out the Johnson Creek area.  I like these kinds of hikes thru the gorges and flumes. If you are ever in upstate NH... a great flume style hike in Franconia Notch... 

We've done many of the biggies west of the Rockies..  Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon, Arches...  Yellowstone and Tetons still on my list..  Have done most of the east coast NP's... although not all that many out here...

I'll be checking in later in this fall to see what you've come up with on your next trip!!  Soon as we get our public site up and running, I'll shoot you an address.

thanks...   tom

Quote from: WarrenPrice on January 16, 2010, 16:27
Spying sucks.  Too many travel restrictions after you retire.   

ha ha ha ha...   Either you are a former,  or you just joked, not knowing how close to truth you came.. LOL    There ARE a boatload of travel restrictions, some lasting years!!  However, in time, it all goes away when what you once had to keep so sacred secret can be found in a simple google search....    LOL    Things I had been debriefed on back in April of 1972...  just turned up declassified in  freedom of information on the www  earlier this year.   Free at last to talk after 38 years...ha ha ha.

I still have a day job, but not for much longer ( 62 yrs old).  We are avid travelers.  Even on weekends, we are never home. Out somewhere, hiking, mt biking, four wheeling... from Maine to Fla, NY to Cali.... and even into the land of our friends in the Great White North. Looking forward in 5 weeks to  14 days in Banff, Jasper and Glacier,  hiking my brains out and burning thru some digital memory. I am the type that could drive my Suburban off road deep into the Canadian woods, and where I run out of gas...  i'll build a shed and live out my life... LOL =tom

still waiting...    hopefully, they will tell  us  (me)  if they decide not to pick us (me) up  so that i stop looking at my email a dozen times a day... LOL   =tom


I hear what you guys are saying... and I am in agreement with you... hey, there's dozens and dozens of wanna-be stock agencies out there and I'm in no rush to join any of them..fact, most of them... if they were the only ones on the planet, I'd give up microstock.. I'll never join them...

    however,  these guys have a proven track record...  with me as well, StockXpert was my #3 consistently..  I miss them..   Heck,  the new reincarnation (thinkstock), .... I've got 1 sale. ....suck city!!
      ..... I'd welcome back a new baby StockXpert.   I'm hoping they pick me up.

Quote from: luissantos84 on July 26, 2010, 13:05
I would love to know if they will reject my stuff or not.. but almost 2 months and still waiting..!

not two months but..... i'm starting to hang out there....  keep looking in my email for either...  "yes, you're in"   or  "you suck, fahgetaboudit !"    =tom


... how many of you that have already been accepted were on StockXpert before?

Quote from: brookefuller on June 15, 2010, 14:43

Truth be told -- my Dreamstime portfolio is selling very well, and money talks to me more then rejections.  I made more on Dreamstime last month then I did on iStock.  
 

wow... that blows my mind. my sales at DT suck.   IS and SS still fight it out with me...   IS larger images(money)  and SS subs by the pound.. in the end... it's still a battle that IS usually wins with top dollar, but SS has been known to beat them once in awhile.  Right now, not counting Thinkstock (who does).. DT is my lowest sales. =tom

Just uploaded there yesterday with no hassle...  smooth as glass.   Beats me, bro... =tom

One....   sale....  25 cents..     my my my...I'm just racking up the bucks!!  I don't know if my migration is complete... i only have 48 images there from the StockXpert stable...  and personally, most are not ones I would have picked.  LOL    None of my IS stuff is there..   From what I can tell...  anything I had on both StockXpert & IS ... didn't go over. However,  some of my best sellers on StockXpert that were NOT on IS... didn't make the migration.     Pretzel logic seems to rule at TS..   Ain't nothing like the old StockXpert days...   hope the boys from Fresh pick me up.. =tom

had my first sale...   25 cents....      nothing like the old StockXpert days...  before she went belly-up.. StockXpert was usually my #3 money.   Hope the boys from Fresh pick me up.... =tom

nothing for me yet....  i may have messed up my app...  think I'll try again... =tom

Quote from: FD-regular on July 11, 2010, 13:27

Quote from: sjlocke on July 11, 2010, 12:54Posting about rejections without posting samples of the images?  Not much point really.

Speaking of silly rejections (sorry Komar to hijack your thread for a short moment) our new kid on the block, StockFresh, rejected this lifestyle image of a Muslim girl with the argument that I need to change the background. Now it is shot with a lens that produces a beautiful bokeh (Canon 24-70/2.8 ) and the tropical suburban background isn't that sloppy I figure. I can't grasp why beginning or low-sales sites are so anal-retentive in their rejects. The result is I halted my uploads to StockFresh, till they find some less ignorant reviewers.

At least Stockfresh is looking at your images..   i've heard nothing yet from them...   anyone else besides the uber-groups? =tom

still havent sold a single image from the former StockXpert  stable and my IS stuff is still not there...    guess I suck. =tom