Quote from: Clair Voyant on October 16, 2017, 19:00

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on October 16, 2017, 18:55
No, not in Canada. But what is the workaround?

I think the workaround can work only if you are from Canada and use Canadian banks. Sorry. The 2.9% forex rate from PayPal is nasty.

I am in Canada. What is the workaround?

No ... still waiting.

I'm in Canada so I can't offer any specific advice about British tax rules but I have a couple of suggestions.

I use a tax expert to do my taxes. She's completely up to date on all our local laws and has given me lots of good advice about what I can claim and how to arrange things to make them deductible. It costs me $100 a year (that's deductible!) and I can call her anytime. Plus she's handled problems when Revenue Canada themselves made mistakes. She has saved me far more than I've ever had to pay her.

Get model releases for each member of your family, pay them a reasonable modelling fee (by cheque since that gives you proof and makes it deductible too), photograph them (especially in front of identifiable landmarks) and upload plenty of pictures to your stock agency(s).

Get a notebook and track all your travel, hotel, meal and other expenses with receipts. It's better to have the information and not be to claim it than to be able to claim it but not have the information.

I also do a lot of business type traveling and expense deductions are always a problem. Don't forget that you need those receipts!

My RAW files go back to the 1950s when I was a kid and I have family images that go back the better part of another century before that. We called them slides and negatives back then. The term 'RAW' is a child if the digital photo age born in the 1990s. Technology evolves but the concept of the original image remains.

I assume the technology we have today will evolve into something even better someday in the future. That allows us to take those old pictures and make them even better.

But only if you had the foresight to save the original!

Many of the topics are simple rehashes of older conversations that have occurred many times before. I don't write unless I have something NEW to say (or something irresistable tickles my funnybone like the 'knitting' comment!) Otherwise I just read the newsy stuff that affects me like the recent conversation about Veer shutting down. This is why there are so many lurkers on the forum.

Quote from: Red Dove on March 13, 2016, 13:24
They are on the Knitting Forum

That's more profitable.

Most Canadians also pronounce 'z' as 'zed' but many of us are comfortable using either pronunciation because of the strong influence of our American neighbors. Still, there are a lot of snobs who insist on correcting us when we say 'zee'.

I was taught in school (grade 4 or so in the 1950's) that the contraction for 'would have' is 'would've'. Unfortunately it sounds very much like 'would of' and since our school systems now feel it is more important to teach gender identity in that grade, our current students miss out on learning English so they didn't learn the difference.

This also explains why so few people - including most teachers - know the difference between arithmetic and mathematics.

Quote from: ShadySue on January 10, 2016, 17:18

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on January 10, 2016, 15:13
I always wonder why non-US people pluralize "stock" and "microstock".

I've always wondered why USians singularise 'maths'.

Chuckle - I am Canadian (if that makes a difference) and I have a BSc in Mathematics. For me, 'math' is a short form of the word 'mathematics'. I've always wondered why anyone would feel the need to pluralize a word that was already plural.

Quote from: PR Image Factory on August 15, 2015, 04:35
does anyone here sign up with contributor of Adobe Stock?

You 'sign up to contribute to Adobe Stock' by signing up to contribute to Fotolia.

Jonathan Ross & Elizabeth ?? interview about Adobe Stock. Sorry I don't know Elizabeth's last name.

Youtube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMCJIXiRcm0&feature=em-uploademail

ETA:
... also an Adobe interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxzYuXue8tI&feature=em-uploademail

That video is incredible. I used to go to Niagara Falls a lot when I lived nearby. One of my buddies did a commercial flyover shoot for Niagara Falls Tourism and I went along as his assistant and second shooter. It was an incredible experience - hanging out of a Cessna with a Hasselblad. What a view!

There are special rules for flying over the area. If memory serves, we had to stay above 2000 feet. I'm surprised you would be allowed to fly a drone over those areas. Maybe it's simply a case of not getting caught! 

I just received a promotional email from Kelby Media promoting free vector downloads from graphicstock.com. The email directs me here:
https://www.graphicstock.com/freeimages/landing1.php

They only advertise 250,000 images and you can only get up to 140 for free. But still it raises all kinds of questions for me.

Comments ... ?

Quote from: bunhill on March 29, 2015, 18:01
I would not be surprised to see them scrap the exclusivity program sooner or later - at least as it currently exists.

Everything they are doing seems to be about reducing complexity and building the business rules into the site. The exclusivity program ultimately increases complexity. And they could just as easy create different collections according to some algorithmic criteria.

I doubt they will discontinue exclusivity. That's the only thing they have that keeps those contributors from contributing to the competition.

I realized I answered the questions about the number of days I was in the USA incorrectly - wrong number of days and I put them in the wrong year. I don't know how much it matters so I went back and redid the interview. I'm crossing my fingers that I did the right thing.

Thanks all. Yes, I have reached $100 but I could not find the link. I was thinking maybe they might have removed it prematurely.

Help!

I got this email dated "Today at 11:41 AM":

"Dear Contributor,

We'd like to remind you that 21 January 2015 is the last day to request a payout of your earnings (for all current payment methods). You will have until 11:59 pm MST on that day to make a request. Payment will occur the following week as per the usual schedule for that payment method.
Any earnings of $100 or more that remain in your iStock.com account on 31 January 2015 will be paid to you on the first monthly payment, provided that you have selected a payment option. The first monthly payment will occur on 25 February 2015.

Sincerely,

The iStock Team"

Interestingly, I spent an hour last night, just after midnight, searching iStock and my profile looking for a way to request a payment. I know we have to do it before January 21 but there seems to be no way to do it.

My earnings are so pitiful there that it's not something I need to do regularly. In fact, my last payout was so long ago I've forgotten when.

Does anybody know how to request a payment?

I have the Lowepro Pro Trekker 300 AW bag, the same one shown in your ad, and I love it. I do a lot of hiking, snowshoeing, and canoe tripping in remote areas and this bag really keeps my equipment protected - with a few reservations. I keep bodies, lenses and other 'not waterproof' items in waterproof stuff sacks inside the camera bag. I like the rolltop stuff sacks from Sea-To-Summit which come in a variety of sizes. You don't need compression-type stuff sacks.

The ad says it is lightweight but compared to what? If you really need something lightweight, this may not be the bag for you. It is an expedition bag that will keep your equipment safe. It is heavier than most similar sized bags.

The bag comes with all sorts of bells and whistles many of which I don't really use. I've never bothered with the 'hydration pack' feature although several local outdoor stores carry packs from various suppliers like Camelback that will fit. I simply use a Nalgene water bottle. The Nalgene bottle is very 'breakproof' and I don't trust the vinyl pouches and flimsy grocery store water bottles not to puncture or break inside my camera pack.

When you get your new bag, you will need to spend some time getting it properly adjusted to fit your back. I suggest taking it to someone knowledgeable (for example at an outdoor store) to get help with that. You will also need to readjust some things for summer versus winter use.

It's a fine bag. Good luck with it.

I was away and just catching up on my email.

I got the letter too. I just didn't get the money. 

"Hi there,
You reached the next redeemed credit level this year. Nice work!
We've applied the new rate retroactively and added $0 to your account.

Please accept our apologies for the delay.

The iStock Team"

As my dear departed mother used to say "Well, that was a waste of a perfectly good stamp!"

I don't understand what I might gain by putting my time and effort into trying to destroy an agency where I've already put my time and effort into building a portfolio. I may not like a lot of the things they've done but I still want to make money.

I don't know how to adjust that - or even if you can. I use the left and right arrow keys to move between photos on the preview bar. You don't even need to position the cursor.

I use Canon L series lenses on my 5D2 and I've never had any issues using them for astrophotography. I've specifically used these:
16-35 f/2.8L
24-105 f/4L
70-200 f/4L Non-IS Version

As important as the lens is, you also need a good stable tripod, particularly one that won't sway in the breeze. And don't forget to turn IS off. You can also manually focus to infinity and turn off your autofocus.

@ Muskoka Imagery: I live in Barrie. You might want to check out Torrance Barrens for star photography. I like to go up there several times a year.

A bit off topic but ...

I think some mobile apps are very good and very useful. I particularly like using Evernote, Model Release apps, The Photographers Ephemeris, Skyclock and NightSky 2 on my iPhone. If I had an iPad, I'd subscribe to Lightroom magazine. But I think the screen sizes are too small to do any serious photo editing on iPhones and iPads.

I've just ordered a base model 13" MacBook Pro from Apple for travel use for picking up email, surfing, and backing up my compact flash cards in the field. It's hard to carry an iMac on the road. I plan to load Lightroom and Photoshop on the MacBook but I don't expect to use it much for heavy duty editing - maybe some keywording and picture sorting.

I'm sure there will be a lot of interest in LR Mobile although I'm not planning to use it myself.

Forgot to mention : You need to upgrade to LR 5.4 which was released yesterday for the mobile app to work with your desktop version. It needs the new synch feature.

Adobe announced Lightroom Mobile for iPad today. This is a FREE app but it requires the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan or the Complete Plan.

Get it on the iTunes store.

Matt Kloskowski has a free introductory tutorial: http://lightroomkillertips.com/?p=5793. Be sure to subscribe - it's a great blog for LR users.

Matt also has a full learning center on the KelbyOne training platform: http://kelbyone.com/lightroom-mobile/

I had a 1 credit sale in September 2012 that netted me $0.07 royalty at 15%. That works out to a credit cost of $0.466666.