Yeah, in lieu of what I thought might be an opportunity to grow my portfolio, I submitted a batch of 110 images.

You know, I always thought iStock to be my most critical reviewer. The hardest to get accepted, and the poorest acceptance ratio.
And that's fine - there's usually *some* reason to it.

But Crestock.. Woah...

Things HAVE changed. For sure.
My review was completed within AN HOUR after submission.
The problem: they accepted 10 of the 110 images

That's just plain insulting.
Crestock is all about quality. Ok, fine... but check to the right and see where they rank..
Oh, "low earners"...

I don't see iStock doing too badly with their images, and with just a few of my pics online so far, it's already competing against my regular SS sales where my port is a meagre 200 odd images.
But Crestock is just plain anal.

I think I should consider canning my account there.
That's just ridiculous.

I'd like to see what has really changed, other than the turnaround time.

Quote from: dnavarrojr on July 22, 2010, 18:43

Interesting...  Video is darn close between all 3 models (5DM2, 7D and 550D).  But there are differences.  The 550D does not support all of the ISO modes that the 75/5D do and that has been a problem.  Even with stills. The 5D outclasses both the 7D and 5D in stills in my opinion.  Even though the mega-pixel size is smaller, that full size sensor makes a huge difference.  And the number 1 reason to pick a 7D or 5D over the 550D is weather proofing.  You cannot take the 550D out in the rain, heavy fog or even severely humid conditions.

I love my 550D and I'd highly recommend it to anyone on a budget, but if I had the money I'd have gotten the 7D.

I agree. I'm currently shooting with a 450D, waiting for a wortwhile upgrade.
Funny thing - when I would take my camera down to the coast on diving trips (in South Africa), for the first day or so it wouldn't allow me to shoot in anything but Auto (which is almost pointless).
I've noticed that with the 400D and 500D as well, on odd occasions, only at the coast in summer (very very humid).   
So, the weather proofing (lack of) explains it all.

Nonetheless, I think I'll wait till end September before making a call. I'm pretty certain Canon will launch the 60D, since the 50D was launched in 2008, and is in dire need of an upgrade.
It's time for me to make a move into a better class of camera, but I really can't afford the 5D MkII, as much as I would absolutely LOVE one

The 7D is closer to what I want to spend, but there are rumours that the 60D could feature some really cool stuff, and a Digic V processor, which is probably something to wait for.

Quote from: dnavarrojr on July 23, 2010, 04:43
I applied there weeks ago and never heard back from them.

Same here. I'm pretty certain they'll get through the reviewing process.
I'm actually quite excited about this site.
It looks clean and easy to use. And if it's anything like what StockXpert did for me, then I'm happy to be a contributor

I guess we just need to wait and see. Step 1: Finally getting my application reviewed and approved.

Quote from: patrick1958 on July 21, 2010, 10:17
Don't be surprised if Nikon starts using Foveon sensors.

Patrick H.

Which Sigma now owns? And Sigma has already introduced two cameras that use this.
That should be interesting!

Quote from: Albert Martin on July 21, 2010, 09:56
Nah... They rock enough with 5DMkII and 550D... They will not need any new model until Nikon catches up...

You think? But Canon currently has no decent offering at around the $1100 mark.
It's the Rebels around $800, then the 7D around $1700.
Surely they need to introduce an upgrade to the dismal 50D?

I reached payout about 2 months ago, and a month later I was paid automatically (via PayPal).
So it definitely works just fine, albeit a little slow.

I'm wondering when the new 60D will be announced and what it will feature?
I can't imagine it would trump the 7D in terms of features and quality?
I have seen rumours on the net saying it might feature an  APS-H size (1.3x crop) sensor: Digic IV 18 MP, a flip-out LCD screen etc.

What are your thoughts?

Anyone got some inside info? and perhaps a launch date?
Rumours say it may be launched today actually..

Quote from: Cricket on July 16, 2010, 00:15
Is Cutcaster even worth bothering with or should I just blow them off altogether??

Has anyone had any consistent sales with them?? 

I've given up on cc.
I'm also no great photgrapher, but at least my images on other smaller sites have sold a few times by now.

Quote from: ShadySue on July 01, 2010, 14:16

Quote from: Chris.Alleaume on July 01, 2010, 13:51
Yup, it's kinda nuts how things work in this situation...
I guess there's reason to it all. How do they know that the graffiti isn't, in fact, legal and therefore not "public property".
In my case, I took photos of public propery, under a bridge.

Well, I give up. Some pretty awesome work, but I'll just keep it for my self
Oh, wait, I don't get to make money off it..

You wouldn't want to be profiting from crime, now, would you? 

Hmmm... Moral dilemma...

Yup, it's kinda nuts how things work in this situation...
I guess there's reason to it all. How do they know that the graffiti isn't, in fact, legal and therefore not "public property".
In my case, I took photos of public propery, under a bridge.

Well, I give up. Some pretty awesome work, but I'll just keep it for my self
Oh, wait, I don't get to make money off it..

I recently did a shoot in the city of Johannesburg.
I uploaded to the various microsites and 123rf reject all of my graffiti images because I need a release?

If it's public property, under a bridge in the slums, how can it be that I need a release for colourful graffiti on a pillar or wall?
It's common property, surely.

Other stock sites (like BigStock, Depositphotos) have accepted these images...

Ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks

Wow, I have over a hundred waiting since the "Dash for Cash" started.
Still nothing..
Kinda frustrating...

So I've registered as a contributor - just waiting to have my application reviewed (it's taken a few days already).
I love the look and feel. Nice and clean.
Looking forward to this, and hoping it does even better than StockXpert

Quote from: microstockphoto.co.uk on June 12, 2010, 14:56

Quote from: Chris.Alleaume on June 11, 2010, 05:39
(which I don't think is a superb image anyway)

sorry to disagree but I think this *is* a great picture: besides being technically good, it clearly shows a concept, as they say...

Wow, thanks so much to all. Very valuable feedback!

Quote from: loop on June 11, 2010, 09:38
That's a very good stock photo!

But... ONE WHOLE YEAR trying to be accepted at IS? How is this possible???

I tried and tried.. And kept getting rejected after each application.
And, of course, after each application, they make you wait even longer between attempts.
First it was 3 days, then fail, then wait 7 days, then fail, then 21 days, then fail, then wait 3 months, then fail, then wait 365 days!!!

Quote from: rubyroo on June 11, 2010, 08:31
Congratulations Chris!  It's such a great feeling isn't it?  

I remember the first time I had an EL sale on SS - I hadn't actually realised that such a big sale was possible there.  I think my response was.... 'Uh.... what?..... Really?.... No..... Yesssss!' and then some jumping up and down.  

I wish you many more - but the first one will always be the best  

Congratulations on iStock too.  I'm sure you'll do well there, and that year of trying will seem like a distant memory as the sales start rolling in.   Best of luck to you.

Thank you!

I've been with Shutterstock now for a little over a year.
My portfolio is quite small (around 230 odd images), and my sales have been on the up and up at Shutterstock.

However, this morning I logged in to check what's happening, and I made a $28.00 EL sale for this image (which I don't think is a superb image anyway):

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=27841381

I'm so excited about it! Oh, and I FINALLY got into iStock a few days ago (after a year of trying) so I'm hoping sales there will be good too!

So I logged in to this new site, hoping to see what's available and possibly upload...

And I've been trying now for about 5 hours.
This is what I get:

Quote
Warning: extract() [function.extract]: First argument should be an array in /var/www/stockfresh/www.stockfresh.com/common.php  on line 247

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/stockfresh/www.stockfresh.com/common.php:247) in /var/www/stockfresh/www.stockfresh.com/common.php on line 275

That's on the banner, and when I log in:

Quote
Warning: extract() [function.extract]: First argument should be an array in /var/www/stockfresh/www.stockfresh.com/common.php on line 247

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/stockfresh/www.stockfresh.com/common.php:247) in /var/www/stockfresh/www.stockfresh.com/common.php on line 275

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/stockfresh/www.stockfresh.com/common.php:247) in /var/www/stockfresh/www.stockfresh.com/index.php on line 73

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/stockfresh/www.stockfresh.com/common.php:247) in /var/www/stockfresh/www.stockfresh.com/common.php on line 368

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/stockfresh/www.stockfresh.com/common.php:247) in /var/www/stockfresh/www.stockfresh.com/index.php on line 121

Not really something I would consider if the site is unstable...

Quote from: michealo on August 21, 2009, 11:40

Quote from: Chris.Alleaume on August 21, 2009, 10:46
Here we go (link to an online album).
Let me know if you can't access this.
http://picasaweb.google.com/chris.rafale/IStockApplications?authkey=Gv1sRgCNzVrK7L_82-Bw#
I'll be the first to admit that, in retrospect, some of these images aren't actually that great.
However, I also think there are some great ones.
In fact, some of these have sold well at other agencies.

In terms of the next images to submit - it's 180 days away (that's 6 months).
So I really can't tell what I'm going to be submitting next...

First off I would shoot everything at no more than ISO 100 to give yourself the best change
I don't know whether it is Piccaso or not but the white balance looks off in lots of them and the colours are washed out in a good few of them.

Yeah - you're right.
The one with the baby is not the correct white balance - for sure.
So ISO 100 would help me achieve less graining and noise, yeah?

Quote from: sjlocke on August 21, 2009, 10:57
The camel one is the only one I would go with.  Did that get rejected?

Thanks.
Yup -Everything was rejected with the same old reason. Every time.

Here we go (link to an online album).
Let me know if you can't access this.
http://picasaweb.google.com/chris.rafale/IStockApplications?authkey=Gv1sRgCNzVrK7L_82-Bw#
I'll be the first to admit that, in retrospect, some of these images aren't actually that great.
However, I also think there are some great ones.
In fact, some of these have sold well at other agencies.

In terms of the next images to submit - it's 180 days away (that's 6 months).
So I really can't tell what I'm going to be submitting next...

Nope. Not even one

I'll provide a link shortly to the images for the last 2 applications (that will be 6 images),
as soon as I can upload them to my site.

I feel so sorry for myself.
I've attempted 6 times to apply as a contributor at iStock and been rejected every time.
I'm pretty certain I can sell well there, and I'm so disheartened by my constant rejections.
Not a single photo of mine has been accepted.
I've tried so many different styles, ideas, photos etc

I don't seem to be doing too badly on all the other 8 stock agencies I'm registered with - I just CANNOT seem to crack into iStock at all.

I'm at a loss. I've followed advice from previous posts here, I've tried what I can.
Now I have to wait another 180 days before applying again for contributor status.
I'm bummed. What next?

I think there's still something going on at StockXpert.
I agree that sales in general are down, however, there have been odd things happening on my other slower accounts.
Of the big 6, SS still remains on top for me while the others offer the occasional spurt of sales at random.

This is no gripe - I'm thankful at least I can still see the few cents rolling in - it's better than losing, isn't it?

As for my opening statement above - I recently (about a week ago) submitted a batch of photos to StockXpert (as well as to the other sites that are still worth something to me).
The general trend was about a 90% acceptance ratio.
StockXpert rejected all but one. So perhaps there are a few things going on there.
In the past two days, 2 batches of my images have been reviewed and the rejection rate is the worst it's been this far from StockXpert.

So, something is most certainly happening...

Hi guys and gals,

Interesting find:

Check out the search trends on google for Al, SS, DT, IS, FT:
http://trends.google.com/trends?q=alamy%2Cshutterstock%2Cdreamstime%2Cistockphoto%2Cfotolia&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd&sort=0

I also tried a match with StockXpert,BigStock and CS(Crestock)
http://trends.google.com/trends?q=stockxpert%2C123rf%2Cbigstockphoto%2Ccrestock&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd&sort=0

Note the trends in time of year too!

My 2c worth