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Messages - riffmax

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1
Off Topic / Not a stock question - this is about selling direct
« on: February 15, 2024, 12:42 »
Greetings, all.

I am trying to revive my somewhat lackluster "career" that got back-burnered for several years. This time, however, I actually have time to do the extra work to try to get myself in front of people.

I have what might be a dumb question. I did a small session for family that was posted on Facebook (by the family, not by me) and that post has received some feedback. Is it ok or ethical or not for me to copy those comments and enter them on my customer proofs site as feedback?

I hope that makes sense.


2
POD sites such as Fine Art America (where many of my best-sellers have been selling for 10+ years)

Right, you sell well on FAA because you signed up 10 years ago. Their algorithm favors authors who have been registered for a long time.

Just take a look at this page: https://fineartamerica.com/recentprintsales.html

There are almost always the same authors. And if you check the registration date it's almost always 2010-2014... You can do well on FAA if you do a lot of marketing yourself, but it's very very difficult (But at that point I advise you to open your own website and do marketing by sponsoring your site and not your FAA profile).

My oldest upload to FAA was in 2015. I very, very rarely make a sale there. However, I have not actively tried to promote sales there in the past. In the past couple of months, I have tried to become more active on social media. So far, I don't see any difference, but I'm trying to give it some time.

3
Off Topic / Re: I'm back!
« on: January 11, 2024, 09:20 »
For video, I would also recommend to add editorial.

There is a thread on pond5 where people volunteer their latest sales and it is amazing how much editorial sells.

Also dont be shy to use your mobile phone. Especially outdoors it can give excellent results, not just for editorial.

There are only 60 million? 80 million? video files over all agencies, so basically the market is still wide open.

Just make sure to use a small tripod if you can or maybe invest in a simple electric slider, it makes a big difference.

Shaky handheld clips dont sell so well.

You can try to focus on themes like hands doing doing something - cooking, knitting, typing on a tablet or computer, making a coffee and overall documenting an entire process - writing a grocery list, shopping at the market, storing away your groceries at home..etc..think of a little story.

Very few people shoot with a story in mind and it is very useful for costumers.

Ideally with real people, but I have found little hand clips are generic and have a wide usefulness.

If you have access to a good location, a beautiful kitchen, a nice looking garden, a pool, a beautiful bedroom, a fireplacethere is an endless amount of fresh content than can be produced.

Good luck with your journey and keep us updated.

Thank you again - I appreciate the encouragement.

4
Off Topic / Re: I'm back!
« on: January 11, 2024, 09:16 »
OMG, I can't believe Rob has passed! What a shock.  How devastating!! I still can't believe I read that correctly.

As for your question: play to your strengths. In this regard - music! Do you still have your studio setup? Then how about doing audio? Possibly a steep learning curve, but in the meantime, you can still do some shoots, and/or have a play around with AI.

Remember the old saying: "There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats." - Albert Schweitzer

(and maybe get a couple of kittens too  ;) )

I am not doing microstock anymore. I'm involved in something new and will send a PM as soon as I get the chance.


Look after yourself, sweetie.

Love, A


PS. For the old days "Chrissie"

https://youtu.be/0H6re3PCP3E

Hello, my dear old friend and mentor in so many ways. Yes, I am still in shock about Rob. But it was such a long process I began mourning his passing quite some time ago. 2023 was, obviously, really bad. They never did get entirely to the bottom of what was going on, although they were getting close. When the "next step" included a feeding tube, he said "I'm done". I don't blame him a bit. The last days/weeks/months were worse and worse. My main problem is getting my big brain not to dwell on those days, but rather the man I remember being with for 40+ years.  I'll get there.

I did try to find you here. I've never trusted my email, but looking for you here was a dead end. I'm glad you're still around, though.

Yes, Rob was able to get the studio hooked up and working before he became too weak to do much. I have ventured in a couple of times and have been picking up my guitar a little. That's going to be a long road back, though. Eventually, I may try to generate some extra income through it, but just getting my muscle memory back and remembering some "chops" is going to take some time. My curiosity is piqued by this AI stuff, though. The main thing is that I need to keep pushing and pushing and pushing to make the ends meet. So there's this - there's ebay - I've started flipping some small furniture and collectibles - all "side hustles" that are going to be my only hustle!

Thanks for the video - brings back wonderful memories. Thank you.

Hope you and Nick are doing well. Looking forward to hearing from you again!

Love you :-)

P

5
Off Topic / Re: I'm back!
« on: January 11, 2024, 09:01 »
And I don't know who that gal is in my bathroom mirror! LOL!

Welcome back, I am sure you will do well. I have a haunted mirror, there is some old biddy in there that wont let me see the real me! (67 here going on 37ish)

Wendy, hello! I have thought of you often over the recent years. It is so nice you're still around!

I know what "they" should do about those * mirrors...and certainly the technology exists. There needs to be mirrors that have filters on them so that we can kid ourselves that we still look like we did at 37ish!

6
Off Topic / Re: I'm back!
« on: January 09, 2024, 17:40 »
Hi, Pete. You're still here! Hope all is well with you. It's nice to see a familiar name in all this.

7
Off Topic / Re: I'm back!
« on: January 08, 2024, 18:53 »
Thank you Jasmin and Marianne. It is nice to speak with you both. I agree that Adobe has risen in return over the last 5 years or so. Even as infrequently "feeding the beast", I still made payout every month. I'm hoping that by renewing my efforts and doubling them as well that I will do better than "making payout". I also am going to look into more sites and I will have to play with AI just to check it out. I may look into video - I tried it before and was pretty bad, but now that I'm not punching a time clock anymore, I will have time to hone my video skills as well.

I guess I shouldn't hold my breath about being accepted at Stocksy.

Marianne, I completely understand your comment about being younger in your head.  Of course, I have changed in my head over the years...I have less tolerance for idiocy and certainly am not nearly as obsessed with what other people think as I was when I was younger. Yes, I am relatively healthy, but my body still reminds me regularly that I am old. And I don't know who that gal is in my bathroom mirror! LOL!

8
Off Topic / I'm back!
« on: January 08, 2024, 15:25 »
Greetings, all.

I don't know how many of my old friends are still here after all this time. One or two, I think.

I've been out of the loop for quite some time. I'm going to guess it was probably 2019 or so. I know Hubs was getting pretty sick then and you guys helped me through a tough financial time and I will never forget that.

My life has so drastically changed since then. Sadly, Rob passed about 3 months ago. I won't go into detail, but he just never really got better, except for a brief span of hopefulness. We relocated out of South Florida, bought a little house in a small town (still in Florida, but now Central Florida), and had a lot of optimism for a better life.  Unfortunately for Rob, that optimism was brief. But he is out of pain and misery now and would not want to be living in the condition into which he eventually fell. I hold on to that to keep from staying in the rabbit hole I sometimes find myself in.

So, I am now knocking at the door of 65 and have "retired". I intend to get the photography back up and going enough to fill in the gap left by Social Security.  I will be able to give it all I've got like I never could before. If that doesn't work, then I guess I'm destined to be a Walmart greeter (no offense to Walmart greeters), but I hope that by putting more irons in the fire, I'll be able to supplement SS enough that I can avoid that.

Anyway, I know a lot has changed in the last 5 or so years, so there is some catching up for me to do. I'm learning about social media and have gotten some prints up at a boutique in the area. It will be a full-time job, but (as they say), if you're doing something you love, you'll never work another day in your life.  I am generally well and healthy enough, so I think I will be here for some time to come.

I just wanted to say hello to my old friends here and perhaps make some new ones. I'm sure I'll have plenty of silly questions (I always did), but for this part, I am really happy to be back at it. Even now, I am applying to Stocksy, so who knows?

Again, I just want to thank everyone who stepped up when Rob was sick. If I do nothing else, I want to do this - which is to say that your support was always so very appreciated. You might not have thought so, since I virtually disappeared shortly thereafter, but caregiving took over my life and that had to be my focus. It's no excuse for my disappearance, but rather just a reason. But, I'm glad to be back and am looking forward to participating in this awesome group once again.

Happy New Year, and I wish all the best for everyone in 2024!

9
Off Topic / Re: Bausch & Lomb 60mm telescope
« on: January 10, 2023, 19:35 »
LOL

Well, I bought it. Now I need to find a manual, a foot for the tripod, the adapter and whatever else I might need.


10
Off Topic / Re: Bausch & Lomb 60mm telescope
« on: January 05, 2023, 09:47 »
I'm leaning that way, although still undecided.  I can't figure how much it would cost me to get the attachments for the camera.

11
Off Topic / Re: Bausch & Lomb 60mm telescope
« on: December 07, 2022, 14:04 »
I just found out I can get it for $10 USD. I just wish I could see it work before I buy it.

So torn.

12
Off Topic / Re: Bausch & Lomb 60mm telescope
« on: December 06, 2022, 07:49 »
Are you sure it doesn't say 'Discoverer'?

Yes. Sorry. Discoverer.


13
Off Topic / Re: Bausch & Lomb 60mm telescope
« on: December 01, 2022, 12:44 »
It doesn't say anything about Balscope. It just says Discovery Bausch & Lomb 60mm zoom telescope. And I am quite sure I will get it for a very good low price (I bought an upright piano for $15 here) because staff get 50% off whatever the managers put on it for a price. And since everything is donated, they don't have to worry about margins.

14
Off Topic / Re: Bausch & Lomb 60mm telescope
« on: November 29, 2022, 15:17 »
Noted. Again, it boils down to the price, especially if it's just a plaything.

I don't have a "decent" telephoto. I mean, it's OK, but I still have to get too close to birds and butterflies and such to be able to pull off a stealth shot.

15
Off Topic / Re: Bausch & Lomb 60mm telescope
« on: November 29, 2022, 13:58 »
Thanks Pete. I guess it will depend on how much they want for the telescope. One thing that HASN'T changed since I was last here is my budget (or rather, the fact that I have none!). :D

I've been hunting online since I posted my question, and it looks like I would need something called a T adapter that would work on my D7000. Not very expensive at all.

Again, I am more interested in getting daytime nature shots.

I guess I should bring my camera in to work and fiddle about a bit.

16
Off Topic / Bausch & Lomb 60mm telescope
« on: November 29, 2022, 10:26 »
Hello, all. It's been a very, very long time since I've been here. In fact, I'd have to say most of the names I see now are unfamiliar to me.

That being said, life as I now know it is vastly different than it used to be. That includes my employer. I now work for a non-profit. We have recently had this telescope donated and I am wondering if it's something I can use. I know NOTHING about telescopes and am not specifically searching for this, so I don't even know if it's a thing. So, I have tons of questions.

I seem to have learned that it is possible to shoot with your camera through a telescope. How is that done? I would presume it would require some sort of adapter.  If it's true that you can use them together, is that ANY camera? I'm not that interested in astrophotography per se (although I wouldn't discount it if given the equipment and opportunity). I was wondering if (assuming this IS a thing) it could be used for daytime nature photography?

I guess the last initial question I have is about quality. I think it is a vintage lens, but I'm not sure.

If it's a dumb idea and no one in their right brain would be fool enough to even ask, just know that I am not making any claims about my brain nor foolishness!

17
www.isitdownrightnow.com shows the forum is down.

18
Shutterstock.com / Re: SS Upload Fail today
« on: February 05, 2017, 17:02 »
is not working for me too... :(
Never mind the new earnings table is working ;-)

Not for me.

19
"Why do you assume this market will conform to some sort of numerical pattern or model and the trick is to figure it out?"

Especially when that conformity is variable.

"but marijuana on white is still the best way to get downloads on ss."

Do we really KNOW they generate downloads?

20
I thought I'd look at Axon Guru just out of curiosity. I signed up, got the confirmation email, went to log in and got the "something went wrong" message.

21
General Stock Discussion / Re: Be careful to an illegal free stock
« on: September 27, 2016, 18:05 »
So far, my DMCA notices have been disregarded. Am I being too impatient (sent 2 days ago)? Or are they just unimpressed by a DMCA?

22
General Stock Discussion / Re: Be careful to an illegal free stock
« on: September 25, 2016, 09:05 »
"I did see some other search results with DepositPhotos previews - so I assume those items were stolen from DP"

Definitely not.

I found one of mine right off the bat - my all time best seller and it is not in my DP port.

Will have to keep looking for more.

23
Shutterstock.com / shutterstock password reset
« on: September 21, 2016, 15:55 »
I just got an email from ss to reset my password - just trying to make sure it's not phishing.

24
Bigstock.com / Re: not uploading
« on: September 16, 2016, 07:46 »
I just tried to upload via Filezilla and got 100% fail.

25
iStockPhoto.com / Re: Sales stopped last Thursday
« on: July 20, 2016, 08:05 »
Most of my sales are from the US of A, and the 4th of July is Independence Day. Wouldn't surprise me if a lot of people take a long weekend, so they can celebrate Abraham Lincoln's rousing speech, back in 1492...


1492, huh?

I think he makes confusion with the day when Louis Armstrong walked on Mars

Of course! How silly of me.

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