Hi
I am new to stock photography and right now trying to understand and gather information. I have also started uploading on some of the sites.
This is the first post that I have opened after registering. And what stuck me that the newest posts are at the end. I wish they were at the first page and the oldest posts were at the last page.
What say ?

Regards
Soumen

I think you can change this for yourself go under Profile > Modify Profile > Look and Layout >  Newest posts on top

Ah I'm not alone then,  I have images pending since Sept 13th as well.  -just sent an e-mail, hope to hear back soon-

I love looking at this guys work.  http://cetrobo.deviantart.com/ 

I love the colors he works with as well as the whimsical ideas. 


I also love following http://elenakalis.deviantart.com/gallery/

Her underwater work is pretty dang cool. 


And this last one http://cute-and-bright.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=/

Her photos may be a lot more kitschy and overfiltered but I think they're cute and again I love the colors.



The old masters are great but I like watching some new/er people the most.

I won't tell you if it's "too late" or not to be a vector designer as I've started uploading vectors last September/October and am just getting started myself.  Who knows if I'm fighting a losing battle or going to reap rewards further down the line?

As for designs currently in demand you can check all of the other micro sites and see what's been downloaded, & what's in the most popular sections. Also keep your eyes open to what's around you.  What kind of graphics do you notice in the magazines that you read? What do you see in marketing for shops?  Browse online and see all sorts of graphics being used.  Use these as things to mark as what might people want.  Also maybe keep an inspiration folder but be careful not to outright copy ideas. 

As for front page content... I don't know about fotolia as much but for most anyplace you need a popular design, great keywords and some luck.    Use the keyword research tool on this site in addition to the keywords you come up with in case you miss a word you never thought of.  Be careful not to spam your images with irrelevant keywords though.

You've gotta just try your designs,  see if they work, and change them up if they don't.   

You'll probably get more advice from illustrators more experienced than me as well. 

Seoul is certainly one place I want to go to in my lifetime. 

"Seoul seems to be a fantastic city to photograph. I would love to go there.
But are you sure about the timing? It is very close to the border with the North. I hope there won't be a war and that they will eventually choose a path similar to Germany's reunification." -Snufkin


As for perspective on the N Korea thing I may suggest this video. 

http://www.eatyourkimchi.com/the-threat-of-north-korea/

It's from the perspective of two Canadians who are living in Korea for five years now.   Not that there isn't any risk,  just another viewpoint.


Good luck with your photoshoots fotoVoyager!

I kept getting a flash error, but all is ok now 

I've uploaded and syncd my first 10 files to toonvector, so am just waiting for review and obviously acceptance to the site.

By the way, did you guys download and install the dropbox or are you using the web version to upload?. I haven't downloaded it 

Downloaded it,  The little icon at the bottom right (near the time but I'm a PC user) makes it super easy to open up quickly.  I prefer this method of uploading to a lot of other sites. 

Uploading seems to be a lot nicer too,  are the forums completely gone?  I can seem to find that either.  I also can't figure out how to view other images.

Hi again,  I just wanted to do an update and maybe get feedback from others. 

I did decide to just go with illustrations and will do photography a more of a summer hobby thing.   
I'm slowly building up a portfolio and have been accepted and have been selling a few on SS  (whoo hoo!)
I'm only at 100 or so vector images and I do know that isn't enough to start making a living off of microstock,  but ya gotta start somewhere.

I wonder if anybody might have suggestions for me on things I might be too blind to see myself for being so close to my work or if I'm doing fine and should just keep doing what I'm doing.  (go ahead and hit me hard if you must,  I can take it) 

This place is probably the best place to view my illustrations at. http://www.toonvectors.com/artists/starsania/32

Thanks for taking the time to look!  =D

Even for those of us that have port elsewhere are effected by this, and even those that don't plan to leave because they think it is better for them that a bunch of you are leaving. Put simply, if you were a customer, and saw an image you liked, but then saw one on the Google Drive that might be as good but is free....wouldn't you go for the free one? It affects us all. Think about it.

I do not have a portfolio on I-stock at all after reading up on some of their previous injustices and deciding it was not a company for me. 

While I can't really do much to support this, it's fantastic contributors are banding together to fight for protecting our rights as contributors.  Free images would certainly hurt the small fries like myself and others because it's so very difficult to compete with free.  Why would they pay anything for my images at another place if they can find a similar image for free? 

I'm rooting for all of you that are taking a stand.  I do hope it sends a message not only to I-Stock but to other companies as well. 

I use the microstock keyword tool to help find keywords then individually add them to images in Adobe Bridge.  I also add the description and title in bridge (or sometimes Photoshop)

I do this pretty much except for me it's Illustrator instead of Photoshop.    I also don't produce enough to use an outside uploader.  I just do it myself.

I thought I'd start organizing using the folders for each agency method but I gave up on that quickly.  It was cumbersome and easily grew out of control.

I now use a spreadsheet with the file names along the side,  agencies along the top and a Y, N, or P for yes, no, and pending. Blank spots mean it hasn't been submitted yet and a / for "I'm not going to submit this image there".    If the file sells anywhere I place  * by it's name in the spreadsheet.   

And since I do vectors I keep them all in one folder with sub-folders for EPS8, EPS10, AI, and Jpeg. I use bridge to view all the files at once and do keywords there.   I'm sure you could do something similar with Raw Jpeg and re-sized.

I'm only at around 75-80 (vector) images now but I seem to have found my flow when it comes to organizing. 

You'll have to try a few methods and see what works best for you. 

It might be a little weird,  but I myself listen to a lot of Korean music while I'm working.  I've been wanting to learn the language.  This one in particular is very pretty and relaxing.

<a href="http://youtu.be/Jw077fxesZs?hd=1" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://youtu.be/Jw077fxesZs?hd=1</a>

Probably not everyone's cup o tea though  XD

I'm not really qualified to leave technical critiques, it looks like you're doing alright to me.

Is the 3+2 =7 picture meant to be that way?  Last I checked 3+2 = 5.