Should I stop uploading to low earning agencies and focus only on top ones since time investment does not justify return or I need to continue to struggle and upload in order to build larger portfolios which may produce better returns?

Today got email about expiration date for free credits they gave to me. I tried to buy my photos but it seems these credits are different than regular ones. When I try to make a purchase it claims that I do not have enough credits. Do they have a half value or I cannot do math?

If this trend continues I will have worst result across the board. Summer or recession?

I am not a pro and I started with uploading my images to microstock. Recently I have been trying to get enrolled on some macro agencies and I have no idea how should I divide my work for micro and macro. Which subjects would do better if I do not send them to micro but set aside to upload them to macro later?

I am not talking about rotation by multiplication of 90 degrees but arbitrary number.

I tried uploading after one year to see if anything has changed. Nothing.

Never happened to me before I guess somebody just needed images of California missions :-)

otherwise Shutterstock is the best. It seems to be a rule when I looked at result charts from different people.

Just got email today. It seems to be complicated if you compare to other footage sites.

1. You can now upload PAL SD, NTSC SD, and HD together through FTP. The system
will unite the files under one file ID.
2. You can upload a model release/screenshot and a thumbnail for the file.
3. You can upload the title, description and keywords.
4. Naming conventions: There is a strict naming convention that must be followed when
using FTP to upload your video files. Assuming that the original file is a 29.97 HD file
named clouds, the files should be named:
clouds_HD.mov
clouds_NTSC.mov
clouds_PAL.mov
clouds_THUMB.jpg
clouds_RELEASE.jpg
clouds_META.txt
5. File folders: These files must be uploaded into a folder that you create on the FTP
server named "clouds".
6. Once finished, rename
folder. When all the files are in the folder and you are
satisfied that everything is in order, you must rename the folder to "clouds_done". You
do not need to rename the files themselves, just the folder. Our system will not attempt
to process files that are outside of a folder, or in a folder that does not contain the word
"done". In other words, you can take your time to upload all the parts to a particular
folder, and we won't touch it until you have changed the name to xxxx_done. Once you
have changed it, you won't have any time to add more files, so don't do this last step
until you are certain that all is in order.
If for some reason a file in the folder fails to process, the file folder will be renamed
"xxxx_error" and the log note will be added to the folder for your information. You can fix
the files accordingly, and once fixed, rename the folder to xxxx_done and it will try
again.
Rules and limitations
1. You still need to edit the file metadata in a browser after the upload is complete to
add the categories and to check the radio buttons legal checklist. A file will not be
considered fully uploaded until this is complete. Although we continue to explore ways
to do this, there is no estimated date for this feature.
2. You cannot use FTP to upload the fullres
versions of files already accepted as
Proxies. If you are using the Proxy approval method, you must finish the upload through
HTTP.
3. If you upload several files such as NTSC and PAL together and one file is rejected for
any reason, then all the files must be reuploaded,
since they are all linked by the file ID.
Make sure you test the files before uploading them.
4. The thumbnail needs to be 380 pixels wide, and with the same aspect ratio as the
original. With this in mind, if you upload HD, then the SD versions must be anamorphic
(16:9 anamorphic pixel aspect ratio).
5. You may only upload one HD file. It should be the natural frame rate of the camera.
6. If no thumbnail is submitted, then a frame from the first second of the video will be
selected by the system.
7. If no text file is included, or if the text file is not in the following format, then you will
still have to add all the metadata through the HTTP interface.
Metadata
The following template must be used or the metadata will not be passed on with the file.
The file must be .txt and must be strictly laid out according to line. Use commas to
separate the keywords. Words with commas between them will be treated as a phrase.
The file should not include the words " Line 1:" This is for clarity only.
Line 1: Title
Line 2: Description (make sure there are no line breaks).
Line 3: Keyword 1, keyword 2, keyword 3, keyword 4, keyword 5, keyword 6, (make
sure there are no line breaks).
Line 4: "Yes" if the NTSC or PAL files are anamorphic. This sets the anamorphic switch,
and is only effective on NTSC or PAL files. If you leave it blank or type in anything other
than the word yes, SD files will be processed in a 4:3 frame, even if the file is
anamorphic. This does not affect HD files even if HD files are included in the batch.
Example:
Fluffy Clouds
Pink fluffy clouds float by in real time.
clouds, sky, pink, fluffy, exterior, daylight, weather pattern, daydream, video
yes
The above example would be saved as clouds_META.txt and included in the clouds
folder.
These instructions will soon be available on the website. Meanwhile, when it is
announced that the FTP service is up and running, you will have to start using this
workflow. Once you login to the server, you should begin by organizing any files that are
still sitting there into folders and begin to create the text files for the metadata.
As a future workflow, you might consider creating the folder with all the elements on
your computer, then uploading the whole thing. Just make sure you don't name the
folder "done" until it is complete.

Something related to microstock:



If you go to http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2010/03/dell-to-stocks.html , then follow link to Dell site you will no longer see it. I guess they noticed everybody knows they steal images :-)

"ImageRights , an Internet-based services company, helps locate and identify image use on the internet. ImageRights provides a low-cost, easy to use solution designed to help protect the copyrights of photographers, image libraries and publishers. ImageRights is applying visual search and image recognition technology to discover the use of photographs and illustrations across the Internet, empowering rights holders to reduce illegal image use and ultimately recover fees for the unlicensed use of their works. "

In general similar idea to TinEye but you have to upload your images and pay them for storage.



http://melastmohican.net/wordpress/2010/03/19/imagerights/

Looking at my portfolios at different agencies I noticed that there is not much similarity between them. There are very few images that are universally doing well across the board.  Otherwise portfolio sizes, content, best sellers vary. If I try myself I would not create so different sets of images. For last two years I have been submitting same images everyday to couple agencies. There is no standard good photo prototype as the one we got for metre in Sevres :-) One agency claims photo has bad lighting, another that composition is bad, third dislikes description or keywords, fourth one likes everything and takes it. Next day it is opposite. First one likes the photo and others reject.