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Messages - araminta
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126
« on: January 10, 2009, 17:29 »
I know many Mac-Users none of them use Safari (Firefox seems to be the way to go).
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=0Almost 8% market share... with the Mac at about the same market share... I would say that it means that almost all Mac users use Safari. UPDATE: But I now see it's an old story 
127
« on: January 10, 2009, 11:09 »
I don't know ifranview and I don't use myself a free software (I use Adobe Bridge to manage keywords), but you can try GraphicConverter which is a shareware. A very complete graphic toolbox, but its interface is quite messy IMHO. I don't know how it compares to ifranview however. But I guess you have iPhoto 08 and you may also investigate a little bit this option. I don't know or use iPhoto myself, but if you Google it, you can find that there is for example what seems to be an interesting keyword manager plug-in available here.
128
« on: January 09, 2009, 18:08 »
Anyway, did they make it any easier to create anything there?
Yes: you can now quickly create many products (one of each category) from a single image or design based on pre-defined templates or your own templates (but I haven't used this option yet). I do not sell a lot and it is time consuming indeed, but it is a different business compared to microstock and if you feel creative, you can do whatever you want here without any risk of being rejected by reviewers  And this month, I've earned until now (9 days) as much as a normal full month at DT... but I suspect I'm just lucky.
129
« on: January 09, 2009, 17:09 »
oups... wrong button.
I thought a Mac had only right buttons?
Yes, two right buttons. But I use the wrong one
130
« on: January 09, 2009, 16:23 »
oups... wrong button.
131
« on: January 09, 2009, 16:21 »
For those who want to sell their photo on business cards or many other types of goodies, I would recommand Zazzle. I sell more on Zazzle than on 123 or BigStock and this month until now more than on any microstock site (but I may just be lucky this time).
But it's quite fun to create design... quite a different business than microstock.
An interesting point: you can freely choose your commission. Il you want to earn 99%, you can (but I would bet you will not sell anything for this price).
132
« on: January 08, 2009, 15:27 »
I guess that with 4 sales I'm one of the top earners at Yay Micro I still upload all my pictures here because it is so easy, but we need sales soon indeed.
133
« on: January 08, 2009, 13:48 »
It's indeed cool to see sales back at the pre-shake level, but it's also somewhat frightening to see the impact on sales best match algorithm has. One of my good seller (200+ downloads) had 0 download from begining of September to begining of December (3 months), but has been downloaded 8 times between Jan 01 and Jan 07. One can wonder how important are keywords and picture quality on sale when you see the huge influence the best match algorith has 
134
« on: January 08, 2009, 03:08 »
Why did you get a ST-E2 unit if you have a 580 which can be used as the master?
Because I want to be able to put the 580 off-camera, typically on a stand with an umbrella or a softbox. This is a lot simpler as you then have a constant light on your subject while you move your camera to get the proper composition. Otherwise the 580 as a master is even more powerful as the ST-E2 because the latter can handle only two groups of flashes while the 580 can handle three groups (main - fill - background).
135
« on: January 07, 2009, 12:54 »
how much do you make from stock photography
Depending on your portfolio, between $20 a year to $1'000'000 as Yuri Arcurs does Welcome to microstock: whatever you earn, this is a fun business.
136
« on: January 07, 2009, 12:50 »
For me IS seems to be back at the "pre-best match shake" level (which is very cool), but sales at DT are SLOOOW.
Ditto.
Ditto too.. But I don't want to jinx it.. Knock on wood, cross my fingers, throw some salt etc. etc..
Ditto
137
« on: January 07, 2009, 12:46 »
work much better for studio use
Can you elaborate on this point? I'm interested  I decided to go with Speedlite after reading Strobist:Lighting 101 as I'm not currently shooting people but only still life and it seems to me that a hotshoes solution was a good one to start with even for 1-2 people shots. I must say that I'm now quite impressed to see how easy and portable this setup is. But I'm still interested in knowing which advantages offer studio strobes. I understand that Speedlite are not powerful enough for groups of people, and you don't have a modelling light, but is there any other real advantage? Is it really a "much better" solution? Because Speedlite also have huge advantages as soon as you shoot on location as they are a lot more portable (4 strobes are definitively not realy portables... only transportable) and you don't need an external power supply, only plenty of AA batteries.
138
« on: January 07, 2009, 10:50 »
I agree, don't buy the 220EX: you cannot tilt the head and this one is not very different than a basic on-camera flash. Looking for an elegant lighting solution for my studio shots (objects, not people yet), I've recently purchased 1 580EX and 3 430EX as well as an ST-E2 flash trigger instead of studio strobes : this is an extremely portable and inexpensive lighting setup powerful enough for objects studio shots as well as 1-2 people shots. The 580 as a main light, one 430 as the fill light and 2 430 for a nice and easy white background... it's all you need for semi-pro studio shots I would say. For microstock, this is a setup I would recommend warmly This is the reason why I would recommend you to purchase either a 430EX or a 580EX: this may be the first element of your future lighting solution. You need in this case one master flash (the 580 or the ST-E2 trigger) and 1-n slaves (the 430). For your first flash, as you don't need a master-slave configuration yet, you may go for the 430 or the 580, the main difference being that the 580 has more lighting power, shorter recharge time and is more robust. But the 430 is a good choice too.
139
« on: January 07, 2009, 09:55 »
For me IS seems to be back at the "pre-best match shake" level (which is very cool), but sales at DT are SLOOOW.
140
« on: January 06, 2009, 16:52 »
Congrats on your wonderful new lens!
At least we agree on this subject You are certainly entitled to your opinion and to have one different than mine
However, no, I do not regard any of my lenses, cameras, computer, car, or any other piece of equipment as more than a tool. Some of them are tools I like very much and I will happily argue their merits, but I reserve my love and devotion for living beings.
In the end our stuff is just stuff - IMHO it's a mistake to get too attached to any of it.
Macs are also for me tools I like very much and I happily argue their merits, as you have probably noted. I consider that enthusiasm is a VERY positive feeling, whatever the reason of your enthusiasm. I'm myself very enthusiastic about various subjects and science and technology is one of them: Mac are tools, but they are also a wonderful piece of technology. ... but I reserve my love and devotion for living beings.
Amen. It is impossible to argue with that
141
« on: January 06, 2009, 13:48 »
But I never see any enthusiasm coming from Windows worshipers
Most likely this is because people who prefer PC's view their computers as a tool, not a religion or a way of life...
I'm a software engineer... I would say it is a good thing I consider computers as something more than a tool... as I consider as a photographer my brand new Canon 24-70L a little bit more than a piece of glass and metal. You understand that feeling?
142
« on: January 06, 2009, 13:43 »
I told you this would happen. It was not difficult: it always happens If the Mac is that super, why does it have a tiny market share,
Because Bill Gates is by far a better salesman compared to Steve Jobs. and why do they feel that constant itch all the time to preach their superior gospel to the inferior PC infidels? Re-read this thread: zealotery(?) is everywhere... Mac or PC side. Insecurity?
Once again: enthusiasm. I'm also enthusiastic for microstock business and I like to explain to other people why I find this business cool and interesting. Same for the Mac. I guess you understand my enthusiasm for microstock. You should then understand my enthusiasm for the Mac platform: different subject, but same feeling. Enjoy your Macs, but I don't care for them. Next! 
Sound like an old and wise macrostock contributor telling us on this forum "Enjoy microstock, but I don't care for this business".
143
« on: January 06, 2009, 03:58 »
But I never see any enthusiasm coming from Windows worshipers
I couldn't be more happy with windows.
Being happy is not being enthusiastic I'm sure most Windows users are happy with it... partly because many don't know anything else. But I agree, if you like to build your own machine, a PC is the way to go: this is one of the good argument. But I myself like not to have to build my Mac ;-)
144
« on: January 06, 2009, 03:10 »
Every time somebody on any forum (I'm obviously much more on IT forums than on photography forums) starts to rant about what PC users are missing like the unique Mac experience, I have this Jehova witnesses feeling. They used to come on knock on your door trying to convince you that you're worshiping the wrong God.
It just got me allergic to all that starts with an "i". iGod, iPod, iPhone, and... iStock 
For me, Mac users are only enthusiastic, sometimes overly I agree. But I understand (and like) enthusiasm, whatever the subject is. I also see on many forums a lot of what I can only call Mac haters and I don't understand at all people who spend so much time to talk about things they dislike. I'm not a Linux guy at all, but I also understand and like enthusiasm of Linux community. But I never see any enthusiasm coming from Windows worshipers Is seems indeed that the Mac vs PC vs Linux debate is very hot most of the time: I'm just happy to be enthusiastic.
145
« on: January 05, 2009, 18:17 »
and there are a ton more programs for the PC On PC, you have 2563 graphic editors... 2548 are crap and the best one is PS which is also available on Mac along with a few other very nice piece of software (yet not as powerful). On PC, you have 99283 text editors... but I need only a good one which is not a problem to find on a Mac. On PC, you have 992 FTP software, but I need only a good one and there are a few good ones on the Mac as well as many not as good. On PC, you have a mega-powerful and expensive MS Office suite but should I pay so much when I only use 10% of Word or Excel features? On Mac you have MS Office too, but I prefer a lot Apple iWorks suite which is just what I need and so much fun to use and cost only $80. On PC you have 92993820 OS skins or hacks. But I don't want to skin or hack my Mac because it works just fine as it is. Having the choice among zillions of apps? But I just need to be able to choose the best app amongst a few good candidates and there are many good apps on Mac in every category. But I agree: a few softwares are available on PC only and if you need them absolutely.... well, you can use a Windows VM on your Mac There are a few good arguments to buy a PC rather than a Mac and a few good arguments to buy a Mac rather than a PC, as well as a few good arguments to use a Linux box... but there are dozens of silly arguments and it is difficult to distinguish between them
146
« on: January 05, 2009, 17:48 »
In spite of dual quad core processors and 4 GB of ram it was slower than my old PC!
Hum... On my iMac Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz and 3GB RAM, I'm able to render a 6000x4000 3D picture in Maxwell Render requiring almost 2GB of memory and using 100% CPU on both cores in background while continuing surfing, writing mails, listening to music and even doing some light PS work: the OS is very efficient at resources allocation. On my PC at work, Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz with 4GB RAM, as soon as I run Maxwell Render with even a small sized output, everything almost freeze: it is impossible to do anything else. And concerning antialiased fonts, I always feel Windows font rendering ugly compared to Mac and I'm glad now to be able to use Safari on my PC which render web pages with anti-aliased fonts. Different people, different experience
147
« on: January 05, 2009, 17:34 »
I still don't believe that dual licenses are necessary, but...
True...if you already have a PC, you already have a Windows license, isn't it?
148
« on: January 05, 2009, 17:30 »
If you really want to decide based on facts, you should avoid to listen to remarks on Macs coming from PC guys: there are too much false ideas (e.g. the one button mouse, hardware compatibility issues or the not enough softwares myths)
Remember: most Mac users use PC too while most PC users don't know Mac at all.
You mean like this, for instance:
I use PC because I refuse to pay 3x more for a computer thats glossy
That is completely false: Mac are no longer glossy!!!
149
« on: January 05, 2009, 17:17 »
If I knock at Fermilab's door and request to see their results about some sub-quantic particle, would I have access to it? I don't think so, even if I were an American citizen. And even if I, as a researcher, was allowed to access their data, would I be allowed to sell them?
You just need to subscribe to some scientific journal where all results will be published quickly... scientists got paid by knowledge and fame, not money I would say that most if not all public research institutes publish their results which are then freely available to anybody. And scientific data cannot be resold because they have no commercial value, especially if they are freely available. There is no patent or copyright on knowledge and NASA data are 99.999% knowledge databases: the published pictures are just here to show the world how beautiful the Universe is (hey, this is just marketing: NASA need government funds), but NASA business is not about pretty pictures but about collecting scientific data. NASA pictures and data from Mars probes were freely available worldwide almost immediately: science cannot progress without sharing the knowledge. And remember that even the top secret DOD freely share GPS data worldwide. Do you think that US governement should start asking money for GPS usage? I have nothing against business, but I'm glad that not everything is business in this world.
150
« on: January 05, 2009, 11:41 »
Are the results of medical, engineering, agricultural and any other government-funded research also freely available to the public?
NASA pictures are scientific results and I think scientific knowledge resulting from government-funded research is freely available. But I may be wrong in some cases: I didn't think a lot about it and I'm not an US citizen Roads are also freely available. Same story with ancient music, litterature and art which is not copyrighted: you can take a picture of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" and sell it. Not everything should be copyrighted in this world It would be a shame not to be able to purchase a calendar with NASA most beautiful pictures and I don't think it is part of NASA role to sell calendars. Hopefully God did not copyright the beauties of nature: NASA does not create the Helix Nebula or the Andromeda Galaxy.
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