He's slowly turning into Brother Bear.   

DJPadanova,

Yeah, seriously.

No other site I know of has ever offered a buyer promotion paid for by contributors.
End of story.

Don't confuse comissions with short term buyer promotions.
And talking about commissions, they're higher on the other sites.
And in my case, so are my sales.

But if you're happy paying for it, great!
Not my problem.

Your sales?  Didn't you just mention you've had 4 sales in 3 months in iStockphoto?  I don't mean to be rude, but it looks to me like you are brand new to this and really not in position to make macro commentaries on the industry.  Trust us.  Those who have been around for several years contributing to the various sites have seen plenty.  This is the tip of the iceberg.

I can't believe I'm reading this.

No other site, as far as I know, has ever done such a thing.
No matter how big, well known the site, or up-coming and small.

Seriously?  DT lowered commission percentages in the last year. FT undercut credit sales by offering very, very cheap subs, while at the same time raising the bar significantly for future "cannister" levels. I'm sure there are plenty of more examples people can come up with.  In the larger scheme of things, having a short term 25% sale isn't a huge deal.

I think they changed the requirements Sean.  From the Exclusive FAQ:

How long am I committed?
If you get cold feet, you can cancel your Exclusive contract with 30 days notice, after providing us with a reason ("it's not you, it's me"). And we'll always take you back, with a 90 day reinstatement waiting period.

http://www.istockphoto.com/sell-stock-photos-exclusivity.php

July was ghastly and August is starting out the same.  No noticeable change since F5.  Read the July Stats thread on the IS forums for "entertainment."

Very nice collection and very nice shots. If the question isn't asking something that you may not answer, how do these sell? Is there a demand for this kind of action shot?

Of course.  The competition concept is far reaching, and there are so many potential uses.  Leaf's image screams "achievement" to me.

Actually I had not considered that until cclapper pointed it out.  Yeah, if you are making the fence the subject rather than the horse, then we might be on to something.  Then the horse becomes a point of interest in the shot rather than the subject, and you aren't competing against 100,000 horse shots.

But even still, the focus looks soft to me.  Hand held?  It might be something as simple as slight camera shake.  Bring a tripod and fire the shot with a cable release.

Also even with the edits you did, the image doesn't pop enough to stand out from the multitude of similar shots.  With a common shot like this, you have to work a lot harder.  That means shooting in optimal lighting conditions, and probably using a high quality polarizer to produce a striking blue sky.

I'd approach this shot 2 different ways if given a second chance to do it (which you will have).  First would be to make the fence enclosure the subject, which honestly may not be easy to pull off and still be interesting.  

Second would be to make the overall agricultural setting as the subject, with the horse and colorful barn as points of interest.  You could raise yourself above the fence and get rid of that distraction.  Or you could move in closer to the fence and use the fence to "frame" the image and lend a sense of place.  That might require bringing a reflector or off camera flash with you to ensure the lighting on the front of the fence is even and bright enough.  Try to shoot the image very early or during the evening magic hour and take advantage of the warm colors of the subject matter.

Or just go back home and isolate an apple over white.

The Gecko shot is a good idea.  I like how he is looking toward the camera, which is going to useful for designers.  But...

1)  Focus is too soft when I zoom in.  Look at the eyes.  You want good focus on the eyes.

2)  Image is noisy.  Look at the nose, and then the back legs / tail of the gecko.  Lots of noise.  This won't fly.

My advice is to re-shoot this one.  Nail the focus on the eyes using a good macro lens.  Be careful with your depth of field.  If you have enough lighting, go for F/8 if you can while allowing enough shutter speed to account for slight movements.

I'll let others chime in on the rest of the images.  Good luck and keep at it.

Very true.  It seems to be a generational thing, which makes me guess the blogger is in his 20s or younger. It's almost analogous to the belief that all sorts of media...movies, music cd's, etc should be free for the taking as long as someone is willing to post it on the net.  There doesn't seem to be much respect for intellectual property or copyrights among younger people (said the grumpy 42 year old).

That said, the website was worth more than a few chuckles.  

Do you think I could get an excited, erect stock market participant into the Vetta Collection?

There is no "mostly" about it Chia.  Pay increases are for exclusives only.  As a non-exclusive, you get a fixed 20% commission regardless of canister level and XS images cost 1 credit for any non-exclusive image.

As I have said many, many times, the reason slow sales at Istock concern me so much is because they are a very large part of my income. 

And I have also made no secret of the fact that I have considered exclusivity a lot over the years, but in the volatile microstock industry I feel safer keeping my options open for the moment.  FWIW there is no bump in commission from Diamond to Black Diamond anyway. 

I can't blame you for feeling that way.  The bottom line is the vast majority of contributors can make substantially higher income staying independent.  I took a noticeable earnings hit when I went exclusive at iStock, and I am taking another temporary hit right now due to the slow sales there.  If I were doing this for a living, I would almost certainly want to spread my earnings over multiple sites and reduce my risk.  That said I have no regrets for choosing exclusivity.  The income is solid, and the work flow is much simpler.

Keep up the great work Lisa.  We're going to need a new diamond level for some of you!