pancakes

MicrostockGroup Sponsors


Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Topics - willie

Pages: [1]
1
no one site is perfect. but we can all make wish lists to see that site becomes your ideal site and perfect site.

what changes would you wish  most for that certain site?

i start ..

Site 4 - i wish to see an opt in / opt out for subs
Site 7 - i wish to see a delete/disable image option
Site 2 - i wish to see exclusive image option for those who cannot choose exclusive contributor at this time ( I think you all know which one for this).
Site x - i wish no more new sites appear as they really do nothing but approve all (or reject most ) images , promise bigger commissions and sell nada (or close shop after two years, and /or restart another one under a diff monicker).

the names of the site have been withheld to protect the guilty :)

p.s.
i wanted to make a poll but this old senile senior citizen does not know how.
perharps someone else will do it for me, and i will gladly delete this thread.

2
FD hinted there is some light to the tunnel for us faithful StockXpert contributors
who are still giving StockXpert full support to keep updating our portfolio there,
even though many have already given up or predicting its demise.
It makes no business sense to kill StockXpert with already a built foundation and reputation of once a hot number in the hands of the original creator.
Now, FD also said the creator of StockXpert is planning a new site which I for one cannot wait to support unconditionally, simply because when he was running the show, StockXpert was my best seller.

This may be something encouraging to the creator of StockXpert if he even comes in here to read anything in this forum.  At least when he sees how many of us will migrate our work to his new site, and or even close our account with StockXpert and or IS .
I would not expect such rash move as the latter, but I am sure many of us are already compiling new images waiting for the new of a new stock site by the creator of StockXpert.

So, let's give him some vocal moral support. Perharps when he is ready, he might come in here to make his announcement to leaf. And we will all migrate our work to his new site.

I know many will also say new sites guarantee nothing. But this is not a new creator of microstock site with no track record or having no clue about creating an effective market for us. This is the creator of StockXpert which was one of the fastest selling new sites before it got hijacked.
Nor is he the owner of a site that was perharps experienced in midstock or trad stock but haven't a clue in microstock and have failed once with snapwhatever such as Veer Mktplace.

Speak up or forever hold your peace.

P.S.
please don't come in here to argue about Veer Marketplace.
Start your own topic if you want to do that.
This here is to show your support for the new site of the creator of StockXpert.







3
3 wondering questions really:
ya,  i wonder alot over my pint of Guinness  :D

are these the only two that demand holding time and do not provide you with DELETE option?
i know their reason is that buyers need time to decide. but if so, why do IS,etc still allow the DELETE option ?  is it because IS and say StockXpert have more staunch contributors that won't simply delete after they submit? just wondering.

also , is DT the only stock site (micro, mid,etc) that provides IMAGE EXCLUSIVE?

wonder why no one else gives us that option.

do you find DT EXCLUSIVE IMAGE really improve your dls ?
i should expect so, or at least i thought they would be given priority in the search process. but there is no evidence to back this up.
what's your experience on this?

THX and have a great day !




4
Off Topic / i am a 5 star hotel? rofl
« on: January 18, 2010, 15:26 »
btw, what are those stars above BRONZE MEMBER
to the top left of my PM.

i don't remember being told i am a 5 star hotel  :D
if i were in the army , i would be like a general or something.  ;D

when can i cash those stars? how many stars do you need to get a washing machine or one of those cool vacuum dry cleaning carpet hoovermatic or whatnot?

 :D :D :D :D

5
ADDRESSED TO IS EXCLUSIVES

IS has made quite a remarkable impression since the days when they got everyone pissed off with them a while back.
for me, as an indie and a very very recent IS contributor, it is the change in the attitude of the reviewers to be specific and more communicative that truly made IS review system commendable . as we know FT and the others are still giving those of you rejections with reasons that boggles your mind and vague reasons to say the least.

but i am not interested in your problem of rejection here.
i am more interested in hearing from those who have gone exclusive in the past couple of years, to ask them if they regret or feel it was a great move.
if it's the latter, why? other than having one site to upload RF.

also for everyone else of the exclusive IS, how long did it take you to be exclusive material. and how many images did you have in the portfolio before you decided it was time .

thank you in advance for sharing your insights.

ADDRESSED TO IS EXCLUSIVES

6
hello,
i know there won't be too many answers here, but i do know at least 3 qualified ppl who frequent this forum to be able to answer this open ended thread.
i suppose i could PM them , but i feel this would be educational for all here.


i am not sure if this is the right category to open this discussion.
but i know that people in mid stock are more well-versed in issues of licensing as opposed to micro contributors who tend to be purely RF.

you will have to refer to another thread here regarding someone who has her images re-used by a buyer of her RF image and using it as his own in Deviant Art.  http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/need-help-with-deviation-of-my-photo-on-deviantart/msg128837/?topicseen#new

i wonder if this is due to the laxity of RF images, and the wide application of Ext Lic . also that for a few dollars you now can get a lot of use to other ppl's creation . (read as, you can get a sub for lots of images for little money and redesign them as derivatives to lose the original ownership).

lots of questions now pop up in my mind on this issue.  some even not so sure if i said it correctly, but i think you know more or less what i am trying to ask.
if not , i will clarify as this discussion moves along.

 so instead of hijacking the OP thread on this subject, i thought it better be served to make it a separate thread
so the experts here can share with us their experienced of RM
and why they would prefer RM to RF.

one thing i 've heard most time when you talk of RM is that "you have more control " of your images. "buyers have a history of where it was used",etc.

other than the fact that RM buyers pay more for this "control"...
would i be correct to say that if i have images that are unique, (read as non generic), difficult to reproduce, hard to find, niche, stylistic,etc..
i would be wiser to go RM and forget about wasting my time in RF and micro.

as i said, a wide discussion here. but key issues being RM , control of misuse or even loss of your ownership due to derivative, etc..

 please feel free to extrapolate around RM and RF to give your opinion. the floor is wide open to you.
thx


7
Lighting / portable generator for location alien bee
« on: January 09, 2010, 17:28 »
just got myself back into the studio with some alien bee strobe.
love them to heavens. it definitely is a big help and release for winter as
prior to that, i shoot mostly outdoors in existing lighting due to my preference to use mostly existing lighting and supportive reflectors and of fill flash.

this had a tradeoff , though ie. i cannot shoot almost half of the year, which at the beginning does not bother me as i usually flee the winter to the tropics during those times. but after we all had to tighten our belts due to the market  correction, viz the real STOCK  that matter... market.., and loss of some thick walleted clientele due to their business failure or job layoff, i too needed to make some sacrifice and therfore  stay home during the bloody winter. arggghhh!

well, so i got myself the Alien Bee units which are simply amazing.
now, i am thinking of incorporating them outdoors so i don't have to wait till the best moments to shoot .
i wonder if there are any on location pros here who have used portable generators for something small as the Alien Bees.  i think it would be cool to go off to some deserted island or forest, lol.. if i can find them, lol..
and set up these bees to shoot there.  my models think it's a cool idea this summer, and so do i.

any insights from anyone who has used portable generators will truly be appreciated.  no, don't send me to some reviews or whatnot. i am talking about first hand experience, not some desk chained paid reviewer / critic who has never used the things other than his computer and google without the faintest idea (most times) what she / he is writing about. worse some paid editor who gets a free dinner for writing something nice for some equipment distributor.

i know those machavalian scavenger do exist, as i used to get perks like that a long time ago , lol.. ie. ya, i was once a MS myself, rofl.




8
i just updated my will, to include stock images.  no, i don't plan to leave this earth so soon, at least not until i kiss all your asses in micro stock, lol.
just kidding,
but something made me think of this after i read of Mitz passing a while back.
i never thought stock images were anything worth worrying about, as this is only like not even 5% or 0.5 % of my photography income. but let's say in 20 years time,
if micro stock would ever survive, lol..
it might be sizeable. and to most of you who have been in micro since its inception,
it no doubt is already.

so, what i did is make my models the beneficiary of my stock images, which is naturally whom should be getting them, after my demise.
and for the rest, well, i really don't know. who gets my isolated products
and chicken fried rice and poutine, lol.

no, seriously, since my models are the ones who worked as hard and diligently as i did in stock photography, i decided they should be the ones to inherit my wealth (rofl) from stock photos.

what about you?

9
for as long, or rather, as short  as i have been inmicrostock, and microstock group forum, i have always took the stance that StockXpert is #1 with me.
i never lost that perception,even when JUI and Getty ursurped their vision on StockXpert, and when StockXpert reviewers sort of forgot about my uploads for months and left my portfolio in limbo. prior of which my images were always approved within hours rather than weeks, or even days.

much recently, StockXpert have resumed to the old ways i am accustomed to with this once great site. reviewers are now consistently approving (and rejecting at times) my new uls in a couple of hours.   and , my PM  to Support is getting answered promptly, whereas during their time of limbo, it seemed that they were replaced by ghosts.

this is certainly good news to me. i have written them to ask if i should stopped uploading to StockXpert since i am also already with IS. having given the response, not to do that, but to continue with StockXpert as well. i concur happily, because my upload approval with StockXpert far surpass that of IS, and i am not restricted to the amount i can upload to StockXpert.

i am still an StockXpert fan bigtime, and only a tiny IS follower, only because IS is related to StockXpert, not vice versa.

i like to start this thread to show StockXpert, we want a new revival StockXpert... WITH OR WITHOUT GETTY.
i am sure many or at least some of you feel the way i do with StockXpert.

maybe this is how we let them know we want them to be their own site...
and not just some lackie of IS.

10
Bigstock.com / are you getting SS type changes with BigStock?
« on: January 03, 2010, 18:38 »
since BigStock is now part of the SS flagship,
i am wondering if any of you SS-er and SS/BigStock-er are getting some shift in the culture. meaning, are you getting the SS typical increase in dls, and / or , do you plan to give BigStock more of the types of images that SS prefers.
ie. more saturated (*over-processed) images .

meaning:
* over-processed:  in the  IS sense.

11
Just wondering if anyone of you have anything exciting lately. Big changes in your downloads. Something wonderful with a new site eg. Veer, Vetta, BettathanVetta.
Or something old that has been revive from the dead.

I will start.
I had a rather wonderful surprise at Dreamstime. My new images are not moving at all, but my old works have picked up a bit of attention. My latest being a dl for a "really old" image for 1.50$ which isn't bad after a spell of xx cents mostly.

I know it would be nice to see some dls with my new work, but so long as I am getting dls, I am quite content to keep active at Dreamstime.

Dead zone? Well, Stockxpert is more or less rigor mortis. I am not even bothering to check there anymore. I don't think I will even reach payout. So
no Guinness for me in the offing. But who knows maybe I make up for it via Dreamstime once the summer hols is over.

Other than that, Veer has been a non starter, even though my acceptance is very good.  I have try BettathanVetta, but I like to give John some support.
As for Vetta, well... I am not eligible, but I like to hear from those who are doing well. I hope it will do well , for the good of all contributors.
No matter what we say here , for or against, we are all really looking for the same thing... better pay for our images.

We can dream, I guess. Let's hope Dreamstime is not quite over yet. ha!ha!...
but instead show that dreaming does help to improve sales,...
at Dreamstime at least, ha!ha!

Cheers. Kick arse... but play fair ! It is after all only a bar brawl... not the end of the world.  As old Who Pete Townsend used to say, we're Rough Boys, but The Kids are Alright!


12
Hello all,

Enough has been published about the pros and cons of going exclusive. I don't need to hear anymore from those who are against. Neither do I need to be convinced from those who are happily stayed in exclusiveness.

The question I ask here is more on preparation and awareness.

What , in your experience , do I need to be ready BEFORE going exclusive.

Or , if I decided to get out of exclusive, what do I need to be guarded about.

As I said, this is for both sides. And please feel free to voice your experience.
I only want to know what to do. NOT what you feel whether I should or should not go exclusive.

Cheers. As always, lots of good people with expertise here. Appreciate it.

P.S.
CEOs (eg. Keith of Zymm, John of Cutcaster,etc) are welcome to write me as well, as it's good to know as much before jumping in.




13
Now that Getty's announced their curve ball on Stockxpert, things are getting even more discouraging.
Did we dig our own grave but letting sub kill micro like "video kills radio"?

Be as explicit as you wish, this is as open talk as it's ever going to be.
Cheers.

14
Off Topic / msn ,live, hotmail, dead slow.
« on: June 15, 2009, 10:46 »
Is it me only or has anyone suddenly found logging into live.com , hotmail,etc..
a lot slower since you updated the latest window update.
Also, each time you log off it says ISP timed out.

Can do with some expert help. Should I do System Restore back to where the WU was and then ignore that update?
All else is working spiffy.

15
Off Topic / adobe virus? photoshop too?
« on: June 11, 2009, 12:34 »
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090609/tecnology/ctech_us_microsoft_security

just read this about Adobe Reader . i wonder if it's cause of concern for photoshop too.
btw, what happened to the april fool virus? so much noise (no pun intended) and nothing happened.
is this the way to sell virus protection?

incidentally, microsoft is coming out with their "free" virus protection software
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090611/tecnology/ctech_us_microsoft_security

16
Dreamstime.com / and speaking of avava
« on: May 27, 2009, 17:41 »
he is featured contributor for Dreamstime . congrats Jonathan.

17
just got this in one of my mail. it's a product costing 150 bucks. here's the specs:
scans 35mm neg and slides
5MP cmos sensor
10 bits per colour channel for data conversion
fixed focus
AE control
Auto Color Balance
3 white LED back light source.
incl software to edut and resize as well as convert neg to postivies.
+ 20 buck S&H

what do you think? anyone has one? i suppose it 'll do for home users,
but wonder if this is any better than the HP scanner i bought  3 years ago, which is not only very slow but also not very good.

i do have quite a bit of good images on 35 slides and neg for stock
but never had much luck converting them.

in fact, i even have some color 4x5 positives from my view camera workshop days
that would be stunning if i know how to digitalize them. imagine the quality of a 4x5 positives. perfect for XXL lol . Alamy would be the best for those.

18
just received an email from Veer to say that i have been selected to be transferred to Veer marketplace.
 i like to extend blanket congratulations to Veer and all here who received the same awesome notice.
congratulations  Veer ! congralutions to all here who got the email too.

Pages: [1]

Sponsors

Mega Bundle of 5,900+ Professional Lightroom Presets

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors