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Messages - epixx

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101
StockXpert.com / Re: Makes you wonder...
« on: May 14, 2009, 23:35 »

Pretty soon we'll only be able to take photos of mud and dirt. Bricks will be protected by the manufacturer.  ;)



They are getting there. I just had this removed from StockXpert:



I don't know how to make a ship image more generic unless I only show a dark silhouette against the sunset   ::)

So ships are out, together with cars and trains. Airplanes are next, I suppose...

102
StockXpert.com / Re: Makes you wonder...
« on: May 14, 2009, 21:25 »
Although trade mark laws haven't changed much, practices certainly have. I've just had a number of train photos removed because of this, and it makes me wonder what on earth the owners of the trains will gain by that. They design and paint their trains in a certain way to get exposure, but they only want exposure that they can control, which reduces the same exposure tremendously. There are obviously two sides of this, but I'm afraid the corporate world is shooting themselves in the foot, if we look at the long term consequences.

There was btw. a case a few years ago about a Ford Mustang club who had printed a calendar with their classic Mustangs. Ford made them destroy the entire print run. And then people wonder why they go bankrupt?

103
Featurepics.com / Re: Anyone selling at Featurepics?
« on: May 10, 2009, 23:33 »
Just a little report:

While FP has been a reliable, but very slow seller for me, this year has changed everything. I get very regular sales there now, and accumulated commissions so far this year adds up to 3% of my totals, which brings them up to 6th spot behind SS, DT, IS, FT and BS but ahead of StockXpert and 123RF.

Photos that I sell at FP are often either at the bottom of the pile at other agencies or rejected all together. That proves to me that there is a need for agencies that are a bit different, and that price is hardly an important factor as long as we are talking micro to medium priced stock. Most of my photos are priced at $10 or more at FP.

Good, isn't it?

104
General Stock Discussion / Re: Contributors' Collective
« on: May 06, 2009, 01:56 »
I don't understand this discussion. Instead of putting a lot of effort, money and risk into making something that may or may not fail, why not give our full support to agencies like FP? FP was my number five earner last month, with 70% of prices that I decide myself. You won't do much better than that whatever you do.

105
Try Featurepics. They were my fifth best earner last month, ahead of BS, StockXpert, 123 etc., with a low number of sales, but a high payout (70% of a price I decide myself) per dl.

FP rocks   ;D

106
Very interesting month. All figures compared to April 2008:

DT 24%, up 116% BME
SS 21%, down 35%
IS 20%, up 34% BME
FT 9%, up 58%
FP 7%, up 338% BME
BS 6%, up 68%
CS 5%, up 584% BME
123 2%, up 15%
StockXpert 2%, down 70%
Scan 1%, up 14%

Total, up 17% from April 2008, up 6% from March 2009, BME

SS continues to sink, StockXpert even more so. BME for the third consecutive month at DT and second at IS. FP and CS both surprised with much better than average results this month. Shows that a little patience pays off, doesn't it? Very happy with the results, particularly considering the fact that Easter came in in the middle of all this.

107
BME last month, and it looks like another one this month. Guess I'm doing fine then   ;D

108
Nikon / Re: No interests at Nikon Cameras
« on: April 18, 2009, 21:36 »

Now the the 24MP D3X is a different story. Most of the review sites including http://www.dxomark.com/ show it outperforms all other DSLRs. If I could justify $8K today I'd buy it. A $3K 5DII will do everything I need for $5K less.


Why don't you consider the Sony A900? The Zeiss lenses are fabulous, and I've seen some really great images. It's important to use the right RAW converter though. Have a look at this:

http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alpha-numerique.fr%2Findex.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D264%3Aalpha-900-comparatif-de-9-logiciels-de-developpement-de-fichiers-raw%26catid%3D70%3Adeveloppement-des-raws%26Itemid%3D321&sl=fr&tl=en&history_state0=

109
Nikon / Re: No interests at Nikon Cameras
« on: April 18, 2009, 12:06 »
D80, Fuji S3 and S5. D80 is a great camera for microstock, and very cheap now.

110
News related editorial photos usually don't sell well as microstock, at least not yet. Other forms of editorials sometimes sell, but you don't know until you've tried.

111
StockXpert.com / Re: StockXpert rejections...new trend?
« on: April 06, 2009, 20:16 »
They just approved all the photos that I uploaded yesterday. Same kind of subject as the ones they rejected the day before, same shooting, same lighting, same everything. Oh well  ::)

112
Featurepics.com / Re: Anyone selling at Featurepics?
« on: April 06, 2009, 18:36 »
Guess I should lower all orices!  After one year I have 2 sales - one brought me a $10 commission, and the other brought me $1.45.  I only have 140 images up there.

I'll stick it out a little longer.

Roadrunner

Why lower the prices? If customers find what they want, they are not going to look elsewhere to save a couple of dollars. Their time costs money too, and the chances that they find a better price elsewhere are very slim indeed. All my images at FP are priced at $7 and higher (Microstock images at $7 to 15 and macrostock RF at $50 to 100). Yesterday, I sold an image that was priced at $100. It sold at reduced resolution, so the price was just $52.75, but my cut is still $36.93   ;D

113
General Stock Discussion / Re: 123 RF
« on: April 06, 2009, 02:13 »
I like them.  One of the easiest uploads, hardly any rejections, a higher subs commission than most sites and reasonable sales.  They are usually in 6th or 7th place.  Some months are better than others, their EL's are better than some sites and make a big difference.

Why stop uploading there?  It takes minutes and brings in extra money.  I don't understand leaving the smaller sites, they can't provide competition to the big sites if we don't support them.  Do we want to end up with 1 or 2 sites that can dictate our commissions?

Agree wholeheartedly.

114
General Stock Discussion / Re: 123 RF
« on: April 05, 2009, 23:16 »
I'm still uploading, and although sales are slow, they are very steady. They are also virtually maintenance free, with automatic payouts and all. With the bad performance of StockXpert, they are actually moving up my ranking. If successful microstock agencies continue to be bought up by morons, some of the mediocre ones may end at the top of the pile faster than we thought possible   ::)

115
StockXpert.com / Re: StockXpert rejections...new trend?
« on: April 05, 2009, 23:08 »
Same thing here. Until about a week ago, they accepted almost 100% of what I uploaded. The last week, they've rejected 19 out of 20. The one they accepted was one of four similars, and they didn't even pick the best one   ???

Seems like the reviews are finally going the same way as sales at StockXpert. I'm amazed how they've been able to ruin what used to be a very well run agency less than a year ago. Incompetence at the highest level, but I'm sure the management will be rewarded with some mega size bonuses before they are thrown out   :D

116
Shutterstock.com / Re: SS Earnings breakdown 1Q 2009
« on: April 02, 2009, 12:58 »
OD and EL combined were more than 50% of my income on SS in March. I see that as a very positive development. It was also a BME for me at SS.

117
Featurepics.com / Re: Anyone selling at Featurepics?
« on: April 02, 2009, 12:56 »
I've had a few very slow months there, but yesterday, out of the blue, came a sale that earned me a months income compared to some other agencies. That's good enough for me  :)

118
General Stock Discussion / Re: March 2009 earnings breakdown
« on: April 01, 2009, 09:59 »
All figures compared to March 2008:

SS 40%, 31% up, BME
IS 21%, 72% up, BME
DT 18%, 21% up, BME
FT 10%, 23% up
BS 4%, 7% down
StockXpert 3%, 42% down
123 2%, 24% down
FP 2%, no sales last year
Scanstock 1%, 50% up

Total: 25% up from March 2008, 12% up from February 2009

Very nice month, and close to total BME. A strong shift towards the bigger agencies, the top four representing 89% of the revenue. Interestingly, more than half of the $$ on SS was PPD and EL. A very positive development in my eyes.

119
Dreamstime.com / Re: New Statistics Page
« on: March 23, 2009, 20:48 »
What about the new earnings page?  I miss total downloads in it, and total $ would be a nice touch too.  Curiously they kept the approved date column, what I find totally useless.

Regards,
Adelaide

Agree 100%

120
Dreamstime.com / Re: New Statistics Page
« on: March 23, 2009, 20:47 »
I really like the new stats page....it is so much better then the old one.

I don't know if I like it or not. Still too dizzy after looking at all those coloured graphs....

121
Dreamstime.com / Re: Multiple Uploads on Dreamstime!
« on: March 23, 2009, 20:37 »
That's great  :)

122
Shutterstock.com / Re: Shutterstock on Demand
« on: March 09, 2009, 23:47 »
It's a conspiracy for sure. All microstock sales have to be approved by a committee that meets at midnight every second weekday in Elbonia. Only the Pope, former American presidents and senior Elbonian citizens are allowed in the committee.

You don't believe me? Send a bottle of fermented goat milk to Elbonia (or to Texas), and see what happens to your sales   ;D

123
Crestock.com / Re: I think Crestock is refusing to pay me
« on: March 08, 2009, 03:44 »
Uploading on small agencies is like shooting your foot.

If a smaller agency pays more per download than the bigger ones, I prefer to shoot myself in the foot now and then. I've stopped uploading to Crestock a long  time ago, due to their louse politics and low subs payments, but 1 Euro at Scanstock is still a lot more than 36 cents at SS, and Scanstock, like many of the smaller agencies, helps paying my bills.

If there's no competition from below, there's even less incentives for the large agencies to treat contributors with respect. Better keep them alive.

124
Since feb. 21 my account suddenly was disabled. Just like that. No notice. No warnings or anything.

My uploading has been disabled. My gallery is empty. Banned from forum. No reaction from helpdesk.

I am waiting for three days now for an answer. I searched several sites and forums for information about what I can do. But it seems that photographers have not many rights or voice at Shutterstock.

Does anyone have a clue or have the same experience about what's happening at Shutterstock? Please let me know.

Thank you!
Mark

Not the first time this has happened, and probably not the last. It's difficult for a bystander to know who's at fault for the lockout, but SS' lack of communication in cases like this leaves me speechless every time. It's as if they are unable to understand that people are sometimes not guilty, in spite of what they think they've found. But since they are both police, judge and jury, they have the right to be right, every time, and whatever the truth may be.

125
I upload most of my editorial images to Alamy, but if there's not enough resolution for their 48MB requirement, I upload to the micros instead (SS, DT, BS, YAY and Scanstock). SS and DT sell a fair number of editorials for me, so it's mostly worth the effort.

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