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!

I just got an email from ss to reset my password - just trying to make sure it's not phishing.

I have received my first payout from Fotolia and my rank changed. I saw something in another thread that I have to go into my files and change my prices? How does that work?

I obviously have not read through all the fine print, but I am happy to see daily activity there as I slowly build my port. If there is a step I'm missing about increasing my sales amount, please let me know.

Thank you!

I started uploading this year and my gallery is SSSSSSSSLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWLY growing. I have sales, but I'm not sure how to interpret them.

What's the difference between sales in credits and sales with subscription?
What happens when you convert credits?
What is the payout level (sorry if I'm being lazy)?
And why has one specific image been almost the only one that is selling for almost a month now? What effect does your weekly position have?
Do photos have a weekly position or is that only applied to your portfolio in general?

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go along, but I am moderately pleased with the results I'm getting there and am trying to determine if I should direct more of my efforts here.

Main thing is with all this differentiation between commissions and credits, I don't even know if my total credits amount is my income balance.

I've recently begun to try to build my galleries across various sites, but I seem to be running into problems here and elsewhere. I want to be productive with my time, so if this site is notoriously buggy, maybe I won't bother.

Bugs include: Accepted images not showing in my portfolio - finally got a reply to a support ticket that the missing images will be "re-batched" and will show up in a few days. Also, just tried to upload another few and after waiting for the upload for about 10 minutes, I got a screen that says I don't have any images q'd.

Do I have bad timing and have been trying to do this when they are having problems? Or, is it just a horrendously buggy site?

I'm trying to build my ports at various sites, so I'm not really familiar with the flow here. How long do reviews take and how long before they show up in your port?

I submitted a few on 5/30. I discovered by accident that they got accepted, but when I open my port, they aren't there.

Thanks in advance.

I've asked this at ss also, but thought I might get some additional input here.

I've got a series of editorial images that an advertising agency has contacted me about purchasing them for commercial use of the images.  They want unlimited use.

I'd like to try to make it work, but I've got some hoops to clear first.

The photos are from an equestrian competition.  I had permission from the OP to shoot there as long as I didn't solicit the competitors.  Should I go through her first about getting releases from the competitors for commercial use?  Would that be a professional courtesy, or not necessary at all?

Should I ask the agency to chase the competitors for releases, or do I need to do that myself?

I have asked if they want exclusivity- if they do, how do I price that?

Over at shutterstock, I'm seeing comments that you get better replies here, so I thought I'd give it a try...and please excuse me, as I am sure this has been discussed to death, so perhaps if someone wants to just point me to the correct thread, that would even be helpful.

How is it that relatively new images that have not sold once are showing on my first page of most popular?  Honestly, I just don't get it.

....I am sometimes very curious about the featured images on shutterstock's front page.  I have asked in the past and received the explanation that if you know the rules you can break the rules.  But this one I just don't get as a featured image:


Obviously, I'm off base, because there is so much I don't understand, so how does this image break the rules in a good way?  I've tried to shoot something similar time and time again just because I think water drops are striking images, and they never come out looking like what I'd want to submit like this:


Is it because the splash is kind of in the shape of a crown, maybe?

Am I being an ass?

Someone has offered me a real gig.  Trouble for me is that they want finished results at 300 dpi - minimum size print 8" x 10".  Well, my li'l ole Panasonic only shoots in 72dpi and when I convert it to 300dpi after the fact, 100% prinit is only about 6" x 8".  I am quite sure it wouldn't work to upsize the resolution (my max is 2560 x 1920) before resetting the dpi to 300 during postprocessing. 

Therefore, I am considering doing a camera rental for this shoot.  Where is the most cost effective camera rental place?

Waiting for that first sale at YAY, or waiting for that first OD sale at SS?

Don't like sounding 'tupid, but I'm really not that familiar with Alexa and am not sure how to get the reports. 

Can someone post a link to the current stats for the big 6?