This was never just about losing personal income. For many it has a significant ethical and political dimension. 

Absolutely agree. I have no connection at all with the USA, never been there, no intention of going, and I don't see why I should pay any money, no matter how little, into their Government coffers.

I mean ... apart from anything else ... aren't they already the richest country in the world? Why do they need to suck in money from others, many of whom live in far poorer countries and, like me have no connection with the US?

I don't wish to give the US Government a pile of my personal data, either. I declined an offer to join another US agency for that reason.

I'm seriously considering pulling my portfolio from SS.

One aspect that I am deeply uneasy about is the US Government collecting personal data on hundreds of thousands of people who have no connection with the US whatsoever ... like me.

I don't want to give the US Government my name, address, birth information, citizenship status, foreign tax number, signature and a copy of my identity document (all of which are required for the ITIN). What business is it of theirs?

I don't want to give them 30% of my income from Shutterstock either.

So I guess I'm out of Shutterstock. Too bad, but there are many more agencies in the field, across the globe. I never thought the day would come, but I may even go exclusive with one of them now.

As  understand it (as British Citizen who has never been to the USA and is a resident of Switzerland, also 0%) we are required to:

1)  Obtain a 'U.S. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)'. This can take 4-6 weeks.

2)  Then, with this number, fill in the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form W-8BEN

3)  Once these things have been done and approved we will be granted the 0% tax status. But, until steps 1 and 2 have been completed we will be subject to a 30% Withholding Tax.

Please correct me, someone, if I'm wrong.

I object to this most strongly.

I know that the USA considers that it rules the world, but I fail to see why I should give the US authorities the details they require. I have no connection whatsoever with the country and my personal details are none of their business. No other country has the gall to do this.

I am very seriously considering closing my Shutterstock account. It will be tough, as it is one of my better earners, but I'll find other agencies in other countries - countries that don't act in such a high-handed way - and that will make up for it.

I use Nikon because, like others, it's the first SLR I had.

I bought a Nikkormat FTN with my first pay rise back in the 1970s, started to accumulate lenses and have never looked back.

Before that I was using a weird semi-SLR made in the UK called a Periflex (made by Corfield).

I've still got both cameras, and the lenses from my Nikkormat still fit on my D3, though no automatic anything.

... for some time now Ken Rockwell has been berating digital ...

He's being deliberately controversial to drive traffic to his web site. Attention-seeking, but otherwise meaningless. Did you read what he had to say about microstock a little while back?

Dreamstime is fine with me too.

And, anyway, who cares if someone leaves? That happens all the time in companies.

I suspect someone may have a massive chip on the shoulder. Too many rejections?

I just found these two:

Me as the angry librarian.

http://shkolazhizni.ru/archive/0/n-10350/
 

What are they saying about you ... ?   

Has anyone put this facility on their own personal web site?

Any experiences with installing it, or with it in use?

Is it a good thing (that is, for us photographers) to promote?

I'm toying with the idea of putting it on my own website.

For Europeans, who can't get AlienBees, I find Elinchrom excellent. No quibbles at all.

... I've sold something.

About time too.

Telezoom or prime?
I can easily recommend the 70-200/2.8 non-IS i think you still can buy it new for about 65% of the price of the IS-Version. It's optically superior than the IS.
It's one of my best lenses (and i have plenty ).

I'm pretty sure it would be a zoom ...

But good point. Thanks. I'll put it to him (and explain what a prime is). You can get much more optical bang for your buck with a prime.

Quote from: Bateleur on December 03, 2008, 01:58

Two places for me:

1) Keywording. Drives me crazy.

2) Record-keeping. Keeping track of what I've submitted where, and what's been accepted/rejected.

Do you technically have to do #2?  Does it take "time" in the process?  Or is it something more like "good info to have" instead of the actual just shoot & submit?  I dunno - Cushy is decent in that way - tells me to where I've uploaded at least.  i could use it for more but since it's all manual, I haven't yet.

It depends on what you mean by '... the process.'

I'm taking it to mean the whole range of things you have (or, maybe 'should') do when selling photographs through agencies.

You have to set up shoots (one way or another), take the photographs, convert them from RAW and otherwise process them, keyword them, etc. etc. Leave out any one of these 'processes' and you won't sell anything. But your photographs will sell just as well if you don't keep any records at all.

But is that wise?