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Messages - Zero Talent

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 ... 94
1
I am not a photographer and I do not take portraits of people. For video shooting, I think the micro 4/3 system is ideal. I also think that it is better to buy telephoto lenses of the micro 4/3 system because they are smaller in size and lighter in weight than lenses of other systems. I dont know whats in Canon, but the stabilization in Panasonic lenses and cameras is so good that you dont need to carry a tripod or monopod with you. High-aperture lenses are also produced for the micro 4/3 system.

Considering that an ordinary person cannot have two systems at once (it is expensive), it is better to sell all cameras and lenses of other systems and buy only a micro 4/3 system !!!
 ;D ;D ;D

I tend to agree. I already switched to a mirrorless APS-C camera, and I couldn't be happier with the reduction in the size and weight of my gear.
With the improvment in software capabilities from Topaz, Abobe, I get similar quality, if not better.

I already sold my full-frame camera and some L lenses and I am in the process of selling everything else.

I don't have a purchasing wish, but a selling wish 😁

2
General Stock Discussion / Re: This month's sales
« on: November 01, 2024, 08:45 »
Average month

3
General Stock Discussion / Re: This month's sales
« on: September 03, 2024, 22:06 »
Good August.

Looks you make good on FAA , is it worth the effort ?

There is no effort; once the metadata is in for the main agencies, uploading to FAA is just a matter of a few clicks.

Thanks, I know. Wanted to know if is worth paying to be a premium so I can upload more images. Have around 4k images ready to upload.

Ah ok. That fee was paid back many times over during last month... so yes.

4
General Stock Discussion / Re: This month's sales
« on: September 03, 2024, 14:47 »
Good August.

Looks you make good on FAA , is it worth the effort ?

There is no effort; once the metadata is in for the main agencies, uploading to FAA is just a matter of a few clicks.

5
General Stock Discussion / Re: This month's sales
« on: September 02, 2024, 11:00 »
I doubt I can double my income again next year, but if I reach 12k in 24 I think to aim for 15K as a baseline for 25 seems reasonable.

Making 12K - 15K per year on Adobe is totally doable.  In 2023, I hit about $20K, and so far this year, I'm at $14K with about 8.000 videos.

What do you mainly produce?  Videos?  How long have you been at it?  I started back when it was Fotolia, so I've been at this for quite a few years.  I think that might be the trick, but if longevity and a strong history is the secret, then people starting more recently have a serious uphill battle unfortunately.

Doable indeed, even with 1,839 assets (including 368 videos).

6
General Stock Discussion / Re: This month's sales
« on: September 01, 2024, 14:07 »
Good August.

7
Not that relevant since Adobe offers many of us free access to all apps or to LR/PS.

8
General Stock Discussion / Re: This month's sales
« on: June 07, 2024, 15:20 »
Average May for me.

10
General Stock Discussion / Re: This month's sales
« on: May 03, 2024, 17:44 »
Happy to report two events:

- Last month was my best April ever.
- My lifetime earnings crossed $400K

Congratulations on these figures! I know very, very few contributors who can achieve such success with such a small portfolio. They are my role models. And you, too, have remained true to your motto "rather less, but very good".

If I see it correctly, you have an RPF (return per file - images and videos mixed, with a ratio of approx. 4:1) of around $200. That's really good!

We can still argue about whether talent is part of it or not. I say yes, you say no. But ultimately it doesn't really matter. The fact is: you deliver "stocky" image material - and that pays off.

What I can't remember: Did I ever ask you how long you've been offering on microstock?

Thanks, Wilm, cobalt and Pacesetter.

Yes, we can still argue. This job doesnt require talent. Its very much engineering, and not only about how to operate the equipment. Once youve identified the formula, you apply it over and over again. Zero Talent is required for such repetitive work....  ;)
We are producers, not artists.... like or not.

About your question: In September 2013, I uploaded my first photo to Shutterstock.

P.S. Averages can be deceiving. In this case, the Pareto principle works better (my top seller, a photo, brought in over $8k, my best video, over $7k).

11
General Stock Discussion / Re: This month's sales
« on: May 03, 2024, 12:11 »
Happy to report two events:

- Last month was my best April ever.
- My lifetime earnings crossed $400K

12
I used TurboTax and I remember that there are provisions to declare taxes withheld outside the US.
I have a bit of that myself, not from microstock, but from a non-US investment fund.

13
SS, AS,.IS,.P5,.DP, DT

14
I still think smart phones are not there yet, once compared to real good equipment. So i will not try it as of yet

It's a camera you have on you when you don't have your camera with you.
With a bit of processing, you can get perfectly acceptable photos/videos.

My smartphone upgrades were paid in full (and more) with money from stock:



15
Print on Demand Forum / Re: Selling on Fine Art America
« on: April 01, 2024, 16:01 »
There is a loz of content that works for both. Beautiful landscapes, holiday and tracel destinations and probably pretty people with a sense of fashion and style.

Flowers, food for the kitchen, sensual images for the bedroom.

The main challenge will be to get followers.

So a website and blog, insta for promotion will be usefu.
On the shutterstock website, photos are sorted by their popularity. Can you choose from popular stock photos to sell on Art America?  ;D

I'm not sure what your problem is.
It's not only FAA succesfully selling stock photos as prints, Art.com even has a Shutterstock collection:

https://www.art.com/gallery/id--b855849/shutterstock-collection-posters.htm

You may even find your own stock photos there, if your work is good enough to be curated by Art.com.

16
Print on Demand Forum / Re: Selling on Fine Art America
« on: March 31, 2024, 20:46 »
I provide links to stock photos. Will they be sold on the Fine Art America website?
These are more stock images. Find Art America is looking more for things that someone might get printed on a T-shirt, or framed and put on a wall, or put on a coffee mug.

What's wrong with hanging a random middle-aged guy with a fake smile and a tablet in his hand on your living room wall?

17
Print on Demand Forum / Re: Selling on Fine Art America
« on: March 31, 2024, 12:46 »
Steve, I'm not sure if you're aware, but you're the Cord Cutters poster boy!
I often see your photo on my Facebook stream!
 ;)

18
Print on Demand Forum / Re: Selling on Fine Art America
« on: March 30, 2024, 17:57 »
I understand this site is for selling art photography. This site is not for selling stock photography.

Mate, thats why its opened on off topic subforum, whats your problem here ? Just move on. *.
My question was not about the microstockgroup.com site, but about the Fine Art America site.
I do not have problems. I do not upload to the Fine Art America site. But looking at what is sold there, I see it is not a stock photograph.

It is not, but since there is off topic subforum, and I know how forums works, I can ask others about that too.
All my FineArt America photos are also available on my microstock sites.

20
Print on Demand Forum / Re: Selling on Fine Art America
« on: March 30, 2024, 05:14 »
I understand this site is for selling art photography. This site is not for selling stock photography.

Mate, thats why its opened on off topic subforum, whats your problem here ? Just move on. *.

With your permission, I could move this thread from the "Off-Topic" to the "Print on Demand" subforum, since it is obviously on-topic.

22
Print on Demand Forum / Re: Selling on Fine Art America
« on: March 29, 2024, 09:23 »
As of today, I have almost 550 photos on FAA, and I have made over $12k there since I started in ~2014.
I do not advertise, promote or cross-promote anything, I don't interact with comments and likes.
My last FAA sale was two days ago (see below). The advertisement mentioned is not mine (this is what the FAA does, hence the deep discount).

Is that $12k profit or sales? As I know FAA will take a lot of commissions.

Profit.

23
Print on Demand Forum / Re: Selling on Fine Art America
« on: March 29, 2024, 07:36 »
As of today, I have almost 550 photos on FAA, and I have made over $12k there since I started in ~2014.
I do not advertise, promote or cross-promote anything, I don't interact with comments and likes.
My last FAA sale was two days ago (see below). The advertisement mentioned is not mine (this is what the FAA does, hence the deep discount).

24
Yes, for years either with a Samsung or iPhone.
I mostly use the phones for editorials and they sell ok.
With the iPhone, the latest models are ok with the 48 Mpixels ProRaw.
With Samsung which only shoots 12 Megapixels Raw, I find the RAW better than the 50M Jpeg, even when I resize the 50M, scaled down to 12M.
A final note about Samsung: The Expert RAW are bad! I mean bad!
They force a terrible plastic denoising that renders the Expert RAW pics useless!
Also, although the question is about photos, in the video, the iPhone in ProRes is naturally better,
but here's a suggestion about Samsung.
Go to the advanced menu in the video settings and double the bitrate.
This in 24 fps will double to almost 100 Mbps and makes a huge difference.
Finally, try to shoot HDR10+ with Samsung and then process it as Rec.709.
Shooting with the Samsung in HDR10+ forces the phone to shoot in H265 10-bit 4:2:0 without the need for an external application.

P.S. I haven't used the latest Samsung that I think shoots 50m in RAW, but only in the big model.
I fully agree with your Expert RAW assessment.
Expert RAW is neither "expert" nor "raw." It's a gimmick for the plebeians.

Instead, and especially for videos (but also for photos), I highly recommend you try MotionCam Pro.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.motioncam.pro

On my S24 Ultra, I can shoot full-sensor (4080 x 3060) 10-bit RAW video at 30 fps with no frame loss. Imagine that!

This RAW video can be either converted to a stream of uncompressed RAW DNG photos, which can be edited in Lightroom and reassembled as a video, or it can be exported as ProRes or Log video to be color-graded using a classic process.

For photos, ProShot is also a great alternative, also being able to shoot "pure" uncompressed RAW with all 4 cameras (same as MotionCam Pro)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riseupgames.proshot2

Too bad Samsung has not opened up the Camera API to higher resolutions, allowing third-party developers to do a better job.
A very monopolistic attitude, unfortunately.

25
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