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Messages - jamiehooper

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1
Shutterstock.com / Re: Drop in sales - is it only me?...
« on: January 26, 2022, 14:49 »
I've been on SS for 7 years, and my downloads have continued to decline over the past year for the first time. A bigger issue is that 2 years ago my most common royalty was $ .38.  Since SS "restructured their payments" that has changed to $ .10.
Do the math, and it's no surprise that I used to make twice my minimum payout every month and it now takes me 3 months to barely make it.

I stopped uploading to them a year ago when I saw that no new images were being purchased and my income from SS dropped every month.

AdobeStock, on the other hand, is going gangbusters. BigStock, Dreamstime, and Deposit are dead to me.

2
General Stock Discussion / Video earnings vs Image earnings
« on: March 22, 2021, 18:36 »
I've only submitted photos for years, but am considering adding videos - mostly from drone footage.
For those of you who do both, do you find one better than another, worse than another, or "it depends"?

3
Thanks Matt, that worked great. But I normally work in Lightroom, and when I used it to add keywords and other metadata to AdobeStock all the fields were blank. So I had to go to Bridge and do it all over again.
So, do you have any information on how to do this with LR?

4
Shutterstock.com / Re: Shutterstock's own model release rejected
« on: November 08, 2019, 16:29 »
And just one more thing...

After reflecting on this, it appears that the Shutterstock rep that suggested I have the model make out a new release was giving me 2 options.
1. Lie on the form and say that they signed the new one a week ago, or
2. Put the real date in and be rejected again because the signed date did not match the witness.

Either way, this is clearly just a workaround, since doing either one would be, in essence, SS simply accepting it the way it is.

I think shooting stock was a lot easier when I began 6 years ago.

5
Shutterstock.com / Re: Shutterstock's own model release rejected
« on: November 08, 2019, 10:35 »
MYSTERY SOLVED!

To their credit, I was able to get an answer from SS. I began with the "contact" at the bottom of the page and picked my area of concern, "releases". Support did not look at the forms, but sent a reply back with possible things to look for and link to their page of release information ("why was it not accepted"). I had fulfilled all those areas but was able to answer that "no, my problem was not solved"
Next I got a response from a longtime SS contributor (designated to that task by SS). Excellent reply, including some things I did not know about (good for future information), but were not present on my form. I then had two choices: again, either the response solved my problem OR still not solved. I naturally selected the NOT SOLVED button which let me know that it would now be looked at by someone with more authority. (BTW, the volunteer contributor did inform me that, since he was not part of SS, he was not allowed to view my form).

And this morning I got my answer!!

They were suspicious that one of the dates on one of the forms had been altered, and so could not be used as a legal document. Everything was signed at the same time, and looking at the form it appeared that the pen had technical problems and so the model had to write over it again because it was skipped/faint the first time.


All the responses above were excellent (and mentioned by support)
I've attached that part of the form so you can all see it and judge for yourself.



6
Shutterstock.com / Shutterstock's own model release rejected
« on: November 07, 2019, 11:02 »
I just had an entire shoot rejected for "invalid model release".
I've had problems before, (using my own form that has been accepted for years) so now I download and use their own release.

- As stated, I used their own release.
- JPG of the release was correct resolution and sharp.
- All lines were filled out completely.
- All writing was legible.

Yes, I'm pissed, but I want to correct any problem.
Have any of you experienced this? Any suggestions or ideas for what I might have missed? Is there any way I might be able to get feedback from Shutterstock. (HA! Well, I had to ask.)

7
Adobe Stock / Re: Adobe Stock took my money away
« on: February 15, 2019, 12:47 »
The Adobe giveth and the Adobe taketh away.
I'm looking at this philosophically: I never actually had those big sales, so they didn't actually subtract anything.

Nope. Didn't work. I'm still pissed.

8
Why are we even having this discussion? Fotolia no longer exists. Sign-in, Google search, all roads lead to Adobe Stock (with a big headline that proclaims "Fotolia is now Adobe Stock!")

9
General Stock Discussion / Who signs the property release?
« on: November 09, 2018, 14:32 »
OK - here's a kind of interesting situation. I have interior photos of a manufactured home, taken for the owner of the park. She is the owner of the home...but, the home itself is a design by a major company.

So, the question is, do I need a PR signed by the home's owner or company? I'm guessing the owner, but thought I'd just toss it out to the group.

10
General Stock Discussion / Re: shutterstock earnings question
« on: October 14, 2018, 19:02 »
It's a matter of figuring out what the market wants, and having images that can be legitimately keyworded to as many needs as possible. Boy playing with a puppy outside could (besides the obvious) have keywords like friends, pals, buddies, friendship, companion, love, and playful. Note that none of those keywords would be picked up by an AI keyword program based only on the objects it could detect.
Before I take a photo for stock I ask myself "why would anyone want this?"
Then, as I go through candidates to upload I ask myself "why would lots of people want this?"
If I can't imagine a good answer I don't spend any more time on it and move on.

So, to answer your question, no; size of portfolio is not (necessarily) reflective of sales. My portfolio has only about 600 images, but last year on SS they earned me $1,500.

11
Hi Matt - I was pretty excited about this because I had over $935 in earnings between Jan. and July of this year alone (as of this month its well over $1,000.)  I've been watching my mailbox patiently, but it's been more than 8 weeks since the initial announcement and I have still not received the email. So now I'm wondering if I misunderstood the terms of the benefit.

12
I submitted a shoot last year, and all the photos were rejected because I didn't use THEIR form that had a date for both the model AND witness. In several years of working with SS I never had this happen. Fortunately, I knew the model and she lived nearby, so I just re-did my own release that I've been using for years and made sure to include ALL the information that was on their own release.
Rejected again!
I gave up, downloaded their form and went back a third time. All photos accepted.

I have not submitted any photos to SS that require a model release since then, and have been thinking that this was just a temporary thing. But after reading this post, it looks like they have doubled down. Sad, but thanks for posting.

13
Shutterstock.com / Re: February Payment?
« on: March 13, 2018, 16:35 »
I always get my payment by the 8th, but as of today (Mar. 13) I have not. Thanks Jo Ann, for quoting that e-mail. I did not get it. I'll go see if I can rattle their cage if I don't get it by the 15th.

14
Shutterstock.com / Re: Shutterstock and Model Releases
« on: December 16, 2017, 18:57 »
I ran into the exact same problem 2 months ago and actually posted it to this forum. No one (at that time) had the problem. So I was thinking it was just me - but looks not.
And, my experiences was exactly the same. I have been using my own MR (based on SS) for 5 years, and suddenly all images rejected.

The ONLY difference was that, looking at their release, they now needed the witness to fill out an additional line with the date they signed it. Huh? Wouldn't that be the same date as the model's signature? Otherwise, how could they witness?

Oh well. Fortunately, the I had excellent relationship with the model who lives nearby, so I re-did my form, this time adding the date signed by the witness so everything was EXACTLY the same as the SS release; but with my company name at the top.
Rejected a second time!
I had another agency's release (with the agency's name at the top ) which also asked for the witness date, AND a photo of the subject. So, fine! I used that (with photo attached) brought it back to the model and witness had them both sign it again.

Aaaannnnnd......you guessed it. Rejected again!

I'm pretty pissed now (because this does NOT reflect the information SS has on their site) so I downloaded their OFFICIAL SHUTTERSTOCK MODEL RELEASE FORM, had them sign it, and submitted it a 4th time.
With success, all images accepted.

So, I'm still puzzled (and pissed, because there is no excuse for this), but at least glad to see that I'm no longer alone.
I'll continue to check this thread in case someone comes up with an explanation of what's going on. Happily, Fotolia/Adobe accepts my releases and has pulled past SS over the past few months in sales.

15
Shutterstock.com / New Witness date on Model Release
« on: October 27, 2017, 16:29 »
I just had a series of images with model, and enclosed the same model release form I've used with SS for 5 years.
They all got rejected due to "no model release attached or information missing". Thinking I had somehow forgotten to attach it, I resent the group again being sure to attach the release.
Rejected again, same reason.

So I wrote SS and actually did get a reply back within 24 hours with a link to their requirements.
They NOW require that both the subject AND the witness each have a date.

TO QUOTE:
The date of the model and witness signatures should be the same, as the witness must have been present at the time the model signed the release.

Well, duh. If the witness is signing as a witness, then, wouldn't the dates be the same?
And if so, why would you be required to write the same friggin' date twice?
Do they think it provides proof that the witness actually witnessed the signature?
I smell the hands of a lawyer here.

Oh well, I can play that game. Made a new form, went back and got them to fill it out once more. Sure glad they lived reasonably close to me. Thankful this was not a shoot that was in another city or state!

It sure would have been nice if they had sent me an email letting me know when SS changed their form requirements.

But, now you know. I just wanted to be sure you all have a witness date on the MR form you use, to save you grief.


16
$6.50 for me.

17
General Stock Discussion / Re: Quantity vs quality
« on: February 26, 2017, 14:32 »
"Quality" is really irrelevant in microstock. "Saleability" is the name of the game. This is a business, not an art gallery. 
Any image that sells has to be competently done as a baseline; but to make money for the artist it needs to fit the buyer's needs.That means it should "tell a story" that many people want to tell, and for bonus points have impact in a small size. If not many artists are telling that story, you rise to the top.
In addition, I have seen (and I'll bet we've all seen) some of our top-selling images on one site fall flat on another. I don't know why that should be, but it is.
Month after month I find that about 3% of my images are providing 90% of my income. And, as I said, it's a different 3% for different sites.
Now, if I could just unlock the "magic formula" for that, I'd only have to submit a few images if each one sold really well. The holy grail of microstock!

18
Adobe Stock / Re: How are your Fotolia sales in October?
« on: October 24, 2016, 13:40 »
Fotolia has been great for me this year; in fact ahead of SS a bit every month. But October looks to be a disaster for me, with sales half of what I've been getting since the beginning of the year.
I did sync with Adobe; but I don't necessarily think there's a connection at this point.

19
Shutterstock.com / Re: Shutterstock earnings in July....
« on: August 01, 2016, 14:12 »
Sounds like I'm not alone. I usually make my min. about halfway through the month; but this July I barely squeeked under the wire at the last minute.

20
We have face recognition, so as a mircostocker, I'd like each photo to recognize every single object in the picture and add it to the metadata keywords ;)

21
FT ahead of SS in terms of sales has been my experience for the past 8 months. Right now (1/3 into the month of July) my sales in FT are almost twice my sales on SS. I have about the same number of images in both, around 400, all photos.

22
General Stock Discussion / Re: Photos of cities
« on: June 18, 2016, 19:52 »
Re-think exactly what microstock is.
I live in a small city on the west coast of US. Since I'm already there I can find JUST the right light, clouds, and day to do top notch stock images of it. I only have a couple of skylines online (one day with clouds, one at night) but they sell on a regular basis because designers and companies here (and in every city )need stock.
So, say you're a designer or blogger in London. You can choose from thousands of fabulous images of London. Even great shots get diluted in that volume. But if a local business or blogger needs something of my city there are only about 8 skyline images to choose from, (including mine) so I get consistent sales year after year. The smaller city you live in, the better chance you have of selling images of that city - especially if its NOT a tourist destination.

And (to my opening sentence) its not many shots you upload.
It's about how many shots you sell.
Keep your eyes on the prize.

23
I'm a brutal editor, but fall in the 40-60 range of edit/submissions. But I'm also careful in what I shoot, so the only things I reject are near dupes and technical problems. On the other hand, I'll bet a lot of us have taken a great "single" shot and had it sell well. (Next door neighbors yard sale is one of my examples. )So, that would be 100%.

24
Shutterstock.com / Re: Problem with Shutterstock
« on: June 03, 2016, 18:37 »
Oh, good - it's not just me.
(Or maybe, bad, it's not just me!)
Hopefully all will be well in the bank account soon.
Very soon.

25
I only submit photographs; but for me Fotolia has been gaining in sales every month for the past year. (since Adobe). SS used to be my best; but now Fotolia is far in the lead. So far this month, my sales (and income) are running about 70% higher than SS; a pattern I've seen for the past 4 months.

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