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Messages - sgoodwin4813
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1276
« on: September 22, 2012, 07:42 »
This is exactly what is needed - like Amazon but for images.
1277
« on: September 21, 2012, 22:22 »
Mine too.
1278
« on: September 21, 2012, 13:43 »
I save everything - you never know when you might need the raw again. I use Time Machine to back up to two external hard drives - one is connected to the computer and the other is at my office for my real job. I switch them out every 2-3 months, so the one at the office doesn't have everything but isn't too out of date in case of theft or fire. I would backup only every night but Time Machine automatically does it every hour or so and I haven't figured out how to change it (not sure you can). If anybody knows how to tell Time Machine to only back up once a day please let me know.
1279
« on: September 18, 2012, 14:21 »
you should look around to find other outlets.
Its simple, there are too many photos online, and too many who do it.
Also we cannot compete with free pictures from FB and Flickr.
That pretty much sums it up. I read an online article the other day from a major organization where almost all of the photo credits were to flickr users, presumably used for free. We can't compete with that, when a lot of good photographers inexplicably give their work away for free. Crazy. September for me is mainly OK so far, due to some unexpected (but very welcome) activity at Veer. SS steady, iS in at #2, 123 and DT both off but fighting for #3. Slow sales elsewhere.
1280
« on: September 07, 2012, 22:44 »
Very disheartening if you are busy with your best effort in the "big sales" run-up to the 2013 commission cuts 
+1 They are #3 for me so far this year and had been getting stronger every month but now seem to have stagnated. Hope they get back on track soon.
1281
« on: September 07, 2012, 22:34 »
My last batch there had a similar fate - long time in the queue, then 80% rejected, all for the same reason, that they didn't meet their "esthetic". Very annoying. Not sure if this is a change in policy or a lazy, rogue reviewer. After that batch I stopped uploading there. Previous batches were inconsistent but overall with a decent acceptance rate, and they often accept (and sell) images that were rejected by SS, iS and the others. I was content to leave them off the upload list, but have had some recent strong sales - if there aren't any refunds in the next week or two I will start uploading again and take my chances with the reviewers.
1282
« on: September 07, 2012, 22:24 »
I had a BME there in May with very strong sales during June and July - strong third place, fighting iS for second. I thought by now DT would be beating iS. However, sales fell of a cliff last month - made less than $5 on 500 images, the worst there in years. Now nothing, not a single sale since a sub on Aug. 22 - this is probably the first time since I started there with no sales in more than two weeks. If they made a change then it has killed my sales completely. I'm glad to know that some are still getting sales as it means buyers are still there, although frankly if they all went elsewhere it wouldn't bother me too much since I'm currently getting 0% of the DT pie. I always liked DT in the past. Hope it turns around again soon...
1283
« on: September 06, 2012, 12:26 »
I didn't know you could see the split on BS either. Mine have been 44% US, 11% higher than with SS.
1284
« on: September 05, 2012, 19:55 »
I had a similar problem with the 600D. I was trying to use a 580EX speedlight as a master with another speedlight (430EX) as a slave and one or two Flashpoint monolights on sensor. All of the lights would fire, just not when the shutter was open so all I got was black images. I tried every variation I could think of and occasionally they would work, then go back to black images. Drove me completely crazy. I think it is a problem of synchronization of the shutter with the lights - the flashes don't seem to trigger until after the shutter has closed (or maybe before it opens). Looked online and couldn't find anything helpful. I'm not good with flash anyway and never did figure it out. Eventually I just bought three monolights - fire one from the camera and the other two on sensor and they work every time.
Sorry I can't be more helpful - I'd love to know the solution if anyone can figure it out. Good luck!
1285
« on: September 05, 2012, 13:49 »
Mine (all time) are: 33% US, 67% other
Based in US
1286
« on: August 24, 2012, 18:49 »
If you go to 2500 on the smallest side that would still leave you at slightly over 9 Mpx and might be enough to get past the inspectors. I'd try a few at different sizes to see what works. If I have one with problems but still salvageable I sometimes go to 2000 on the smallest side minimum leaving it at 6 Mpx, but that's starting at 18. If you have to go smaller than 6 Mpx then forget it and just move on to the next.
1287
« on: August 23, 2012, 08:32 »
If I were to have a batch of similar images that I wanted all approved (not a big stretch right?) I would consider uploading them at separate times, keywording them at separate times and submitting them at separate times. Do you really think the editors are going through your entire portfolio when reviewing?
You can only submit 70 images per week anyway..might as well switch it up.
Though it could be connected to the Kennedy assassination. Maybe he has the Kenyan Obama Birth Certificate? Just a thought.
Mat
That doesn't work. They use software to find what they call "similars". The problem seems to be that lots of reviewers rely on the results for that and will reject images that are actually quite different and in short supply on their site. I don't mind them only accepting two different versions of each subject but they have taken it to an extreme. I've had some quite unique photos rejected, probably because there were several elements that I use in lots of other photos and that gets caught by the software. Some reviewers must be ignoring the software because they accept almost everything. So they have a bad policy and it's a bit of a lottery. As I find it tedious uploading there, compared to the newer sites, I don't do it very often anymore. And I'm annoyed that they seem to be following the istock policy of raising prices and lowering commissions.
It really does seem to vary a lot between reviewers. My last batch of 10 had 5 isolations of flowers from my garden and 5 architecture-type shots of buildings from a recent trip. I expected the architecture shots might get a rejection or two for similars because three were of the same building (although very different perspectives), but all were accepted and instead all five isolations were rejected as already being well covered in their database. That was annoying, because although they may have lots of isolated flowers, they have few to none of the ones I submitted. For example, one was a spuria iris, of which they have zero in their database, while another was a kniphofia (red hot poker), which gives you 34 results in their database but only one is isolated. That reviewer was being lazy and just rejecting every isolated flower without checking whether they are present in the database. Very annoying. If that keeps up I'll stop submitting nature isolations there as they sell much better elsewhere, but probably with a different reviewer they will be fine and instead they will reject the buildings. The inconsistency is the hardest part to deal with. BTW, I have submitted images that might be considered similars in different batches and sometimes they get through no problem, other times they are nailed - it seems to depend on the reviewer. So that strategy can work as long as they aren't too similar.
1288
« on: August 22, 2012, 23:39 »
Crestock - slow and inconsistent reviews, very few sales
cutcaster (2010) - no sales, ever
PM - very slow sales, complicated uploads
Veer - very slow and bad reviews, no sales for the past two months
Might start PM again - looks like they now don't require you to prioritize keywords
Would start at the others again if sales pick up
FP would be next on the list, but easy uploads, fast and easy reviews and the 50% commission keep it going even though sales are slow
1289
« on: August 21, 2012, 18:05 »
I usually get 0-3 a month. Had one last month and one this month, on an image I didn't expect would get an EL so that was nice.
1290
« on: August 20, 2012, 08:25 »
DT has done great for me the past few months but so far this month has fallen from a strong #3 to #5, not much ahead of the pack of low earners. I get frustrated by their "too many similars" policy also but it does keep the searches reasonable and this may help in the future as the databases get more and more clogged. For example, I just did a keyword search for a subject I am thinking to shoot. On iS the search returned 89 hits, most by exclusives, on DT 491 and on SS 1307. Many of those that came up on SS contained neither of my keywords in the image, compared to iS and DT where almost all were relevant. Even if I can make a decent image it will never be seen on SS due to the ridiculous keyword spanning and acceptance of too many similars. So maybe the DT policy will pay off if buyers get too frustrated sorting through too many similar images to find what they want. I wish there was a way to flag keyword spamming on SS.
Of my last 10 sales on DT, 6 were $.0.35 subs, and the rest were from 3-8 credits averaging $1.25 per DL - much lower RPDL than in the past so hope it is just a statistical anomaly.
BTW, the default sort on SS came up as Recent. Popular and Relevant gave much better results for the keywords I checked. This is the first comparative search I've done where iS gave a better result (i.e., more relevant to what I had in mind and expected to find) than SS - hopefully they have fixed their search issues.
1291
« on: August 20, 2012, 07:53 »
Bla. bla, you will say.
But there are many people who cant read. And speaking of it, how is it with the degree of alitteracy in the USA?
I assume you mean literacy - according to Wikipedia it is 99% ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_rate). Functional literacy would be much lower. However, I don't see how the literacy rate in the US is relevant to anything in this discussion. I work at a local university - a large, land-grant institution of more than 35,000 students. I am the faculty advisor for one of the largest student clubs so talk to a lot of students from many majors and keep track of them after graduation. Those with "worthless" majors on average certainly have a much tougher time getting a job after graduation compared to those in the more marketable majors such as computer science, engineering or business. However, they usually end up with a job they love and often seem much happier than those who did engineering or something similar because their parents told them it would be marketable. Many companies pay a lot to hire people with "worthless" majors because they know how to write, speak and/or make public presentations. If you work hard, can think and write well you can go far regardless of major. Experience of course also is very important. The correlation between education and income is very high and undisputed ( http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm). I agree with JPDSK. Investing in your kids' education is one of the best things you can do - I'm surprised that would be disputed here.
1292
« on: August 18, 2012, 08:04 »
Read the fine print closely. Some contests demand a transfer of copyright ownership simply because you submitted.
Exactly. Read the fine print closely. As long as there are no restrictions about prior publication, they are not taking ownership of the image and you are not exclusive it should be fine. Most decent contests nowadays are on top of this - they will say that you must be the copyright holder, have model and property releases as appropriate, and request unlimited use of the image in all media but that you retain copyright. If it doesn't state something like that explicitly or has any other weird restrictions then back off. I've made more on some local photo contests than I make on the smaller microstock sites in a year, so those things are worth checking out. Plus you only need to upload a few images, there is no keywording and you can use images that wouldn't pass QC for microstock so it's usually worth the effort. Good luck!
1293
« on: August 10, 2012, 16:13 »
Yes, thanks for the reminder. I look for these most years but usually don't see more than a few - maybe had better try the Retsina first. It's been cloudy here in Indiana but is clearing now so maybe we will get a show tonight...
1294
« on: August 09, 2012, 07:06 »
It's JPSDK's list flipped upside down 
FT- best (yup)
IS - Very good (though they do reject almost all my composites and some isolations)
DT - Bad for their similar approach, doesn't make sense half the time and I bet their reviewers don't know what to reject/accept anymore either. I'm not talking about different poses of a model btw.
SS - Worst because of inconsistency. One day they accept almost all, other day they reject all, this could happen with the same batch btw.
Actually the best out there is Crestock 
Other then that they are top notch, consistent, feels like my work gets reviewed by true professionals. When you pass IS, you know you've got the quality for (natural) stock photography!
My experience is more similar to this - FT, CanStock, Deposit and 123 recently accept almost everything (80-90% or above), DT is complicated by their similars policy but reasonable about what they reject, iS is tough but have the best reviewers in the business. They are very picky but the image almost always has the flaw they mention, even if you have to go to 200% to see it (except for one recently where I couldn't find the problem - will check again if I get time). They are fanatical about CA and artifacting, and will notice a few pixels of fringing at one edge of the image. Their reviewers mentioning the specific location and nature of the problem and occasionally enclosing a blowup of the bad area has helped my photography immensely so that now I can usually find and eliminate many problems before submission. They really don't like too much sizzle on the colors so sometimes need a separate version from the other agencies - straight from the camera might work as pointed out previously. Inconsistency at SS in my experience usually is on focus. Any image where the focus is not perfect or might be perceived as soft gets special attention and a separate version for SS and BS, which seems to share reviewers or at least reviewing philosophy. If I get complacent and forget I often get nailed by the Focus Nazi who will give a lot of rejections. Sometimes there is inconsistency for other reasons but usually it's for focus. Crestock is one of the worst (along with Veer) IMO so have stopped uploading there until they get some sales to make the hassle worthwhile.
1295
« on: August 09, 2012, 06:41 »
About a month in my experience, and then they reject almost all of them because they don't meet their esthetic - whatever that means - not sure if they even look at the images. Even longer to get any sales. I've stopped uploading there due to low sales and uneven reviews. Hopefully things will change but they seem to be sinking fast.
1296
« on: August 09, 2012, 06:35 »
Thanks for sharing your perspective, and especially for pointing out the true commission rate on funds spent rather than sales - I had not really thought about that previously. It really is time for a raise! Hopefully your holdout at iS will cause them to re-evaluate their low commissions for non-exclusives. I would join you in the cause, except if I stop uploading they won't notice - hopefully those of you with clout can get a better deal for us all (although I won't be holding my breath for that!).
Congratulations on the success of your site - it proves that due diligence and hard work can still pay off.
1297
« on: August 01, 2012, 12:13 »
Down 31% from June 2012, but up 89% from July 2011 so at least the long-term trend is in the right direction (with increased uploads).
1298
« on: August 01, 2012, 06:58 »
No BMEs, but BMYs for $$$ at BS and iS (best there in 18 months). Way up over July 2011 (+68%), roughly in accordance with portfolio growth (+64%). ELs at iS and SS, and even a small sale at Alamy with a very small port. Most sites holding steady, except for CS, which was way down, and Veer, which was 0. Have made more so far this year than all of last year so no complaints.
1299
« on: July 31, 2012, 09:04 »
it's a wonder they are still alive and kicking
I'm not sure that they are. I had a BME there last month but this month nothing - neither alive nor kicking. I guess it's time to reconsider uploading there.
I stopped uploading there a while ago. Reviews are too slow and bad when they come in. They rejected 80% of my last two batches, all for the same reason - just didn't appeal to them. The only ones they accepted were landscapes, which in my experience never sell there. Weird. No need to reconsider - just stop until things change. As for the keywords, I haven't checked on mine. I'm now trying to front-load my keywords for those agencies that accept fewer and truncate them. Not bothering with Veer any more.
1300
« on: July 30, 2012, 14:52 »
Mine was 50 a week but went to 10 a few weeks ago with no explanation or warning. Interestingly, about the same time Crestock went from 10 a week to 50. Review times for my last batches to Veer were around 6-8 weeks so they clearly have issues. I stopped uploading to both a while ago due to:
1. Too long review times
2. Inconsistent and sometimes weird review results, and
3. Mainly lack of sales, especially for Crestock. I had a BME at Veer in June but haven't had a single DL there this month - probably won't bother uploading there again until they show some signs of life. They have one of the highest RPDL numbers for me so I hope things pick up, but right now their summer slowdown has become the summer stop.
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