for those who's fed up with the prices, with the reviewers and everything about microstock that annoys you, here's another viewpoint.

someone recommended me to a bigwig at a large company who needs some photos. right off the bat, he's trying to negotiate the price down, with loads of good reasons of course. second, he wants to see many photos before selecting one. i've never worked as hard in preparing a portfolio as i have for the micros. here's a real human being you're dealing with, not some nameless reviewer.

well, he only liked one out of the whole batch, and he's noticed it may be a little soft (it wasn't even at 100%!). you'd expect something like this from ss or is, but a non-photog in a business suit? are they in cahoots?

now i'll have to write a special rm licence just for this one photo (there're also model release problems) and i'm longing, just longing to go back and churn out my stock photos in peace.

you'll need to read his earlier posts.

i think their commission dropped from 50 to 30%.

to be quite honest, dt only accounts between 8-20% of total sales, which seems to be the same for others. so, it wouldn't make sense to go 'exclusive' at that level, unless you really, really like dt and doing it for purely sentimental reasons (which we will go into detail on another thread).

does dt make up a large % of sales for you?, if not, why get into a tizzy over such a small % of your portfolio? concentrate on the big fish, bro...

i swear i must have garnered some good karma for even wanting to start another thread. i had an extra large sales at dt immediately after weeks of no activity. someone up there is watching. 

do you employ any specific tricks?

my understanding is that although the 5DMII truly has great images at full format, it's a bit slow and unweldy to use if you want to shoot news or sports (or carry it outside for action shots). so, i certainly hope nikon can come up with a 24mp camera before i jump ship and commit to better lenses.

is anyone up for a thread on 'things you like about dreamstime?' there are a few off the top of my head. but will get i get stoned if i do this? 

i know stock agencies are a stickler for not violating trademarks and getting model releases even for a man in a mask or a crowd of people. however, when you're working outside the stock arena, how strict are you pro photogs about these when handing over photos for a commercial project (ie a book or calendar, etc.)? do you provide these releases and/or airbrush trademarks? i'd be curious to know.

if this is for fotolia, the noise is not such a problem for them (at least in these photos). as for the first image, the focus on the glass in the foreground is just not sharp enough. in the second, the focus may not be in the right place and in the third, the colors may just be too artsy for them.

but i like the ambience of all the photos though.

actually, i've found that they really like food, drinks and veggies too, not flowers though.  also, well done isolations and anything with a home or recycle/green theme. so, it's not just feed the beast, but feed the inspectors .

hi,

i'm trying to decide which photo to submit to istock to make up my third pic (two have have been approved, whew). this is my 4th try so i need all the help i can get! thanx in advance.  

the two approved were outdoor landscapes, so i'm trying something different for the third.