So far I've got nothing for January, but thats not saying much as I have a super small portfolio.   I will keep my finger crossed.

Thank you everyone for all of your responses, I am really appreciative of how much everyone here is so willing to help out.

I was having trouble with 123RF, crestock, and GLStockImages with FileZilla.  An email to crestock suggested that I download another ftp program to test the connection since they were able to connect with FileZilla.  I downloaded CyberDuck to give it a whirl since it appeared to be the simple, and free.  It appeared to work just fine at all three sites I had been having trouble with, but it also doesn't appear to have any higher end functionality. 

I need to look into exporting directly from Lightroom Fran - that would be an absolutely fantastic time saving method.  I find it hard to keep track of the photos that I have uploaded to which stock agency - and having an export function from within LR would dramatically simplify that.

If nothing else, using an ftp client like ftp voyager or transmit that can schedule uploads or combining with automater routines is a phenomenal idea.  I will have to spend some time looking into those individual programs.

Thanks again everyone.  This has been really helpful!

Hey everyone,

I ahve been using FileZilla to upload images but I am finding that it is not successfully connecting to a couple sites and I was wondering if anyone had other programs they are using instead of FileZilla?  FileZilla seems to work most of the time, but not always.

Thanks!!!!

I really liked the video, but I am with everyone here in that I dont understand how on earth you can get that much light in a kitchen without setting up flashes.  I go home and look at my own kitchen and couldn't imagine doing it with the kit lenses I currently own or at an ISO level that would stand the remotest chance of getting accepted.  It really seems as though the lighting in the video had to have some additional sources of light.  Maybe not flashes - but constant lighting.

I wonder if an option for some of us with small kitchens and low budgets is to put halogen work lights on a stand outside of the nearest window to throw some additional light into the scene or to create some additional ambient light.  I know that the light from these aren't exactly the best but they may serve to brighten up the entire scene enough that you could use kit lenses at lower ISOs.  It also appeared that they spent a bit of time using a 50mm on one of the cameras as well, and the DOF on some of those photos did look a bit shallow. 

Regardless, it is really inspiring to see these guys do a shoot in an ambient setting without having to truck a bunch of light stands and adjust a bunch of lights around.

Thanks for posting the video.  Definitely some new ideas are churning in my head.  :-)

All of that makes a hell of a lot of sense.  Thanks to all of you for taking the time to respond to my question - it really helps a newbie like me who is just getting his feet wet.

I had read somewhere that most designers used 2-3 sites however, most tended to be loyal to only one.  It would make sense since time is money that a designer will have a single go to site and not spend too much time shopping around for a lower cost image from elsewhere.  Its not like I go to Bing if Google search fails to return a result I want, so why would a designer do anything differently?

I will be sure to post how I do at some point once I have evaluated my numbers once I get past the point of being excited when I make a sale.  :-)

Sorry everyone for not responding sooner to my own post - full time job has been keeping me busy with 13-14 hour days since I made that post.

First and foremost - thank you everyone for taking the time to comment on my application and photos.  It has been really helpful and I have been going back through and looking at SS again to try and determine what images I should submit.

That being said - a quick search of SS landscapes shows me that I might not be in the same realm as the SS photographers.  In comparison - I do tend to underexpose my images which I artistically prefer as I think it creates drama - but is indeed not what stock agencies are looking for nor what they tend to accept.  I am in the process of re-evaluating this aspect of my photography and will try to make the necessary adjustments to lighten up my photo's as I am taking the picture.

Additionally, I will go back through and evaluate my images with stricter standards at 1:1 and try to submit only images that meet the highest standards.  Unfortunately I tend to get attached to my images which seems to cause "defect blindness" - usually because I know what I had to go through to get those images.

I did have one question that I have not been easily able to find the answer too - and that is whether or not your "acceptances" on your SS application can be carried over to your next application or whether they require you to submit 10 wholly different images.   

Again, thanks for all of your comments.  You guys have been extremely helpful with your comments, opinions, and evaluations.

Okay - this is my first post here and I am hoping that you guys can help me out.

I have been accepted by IS, DT, and alamy but had recently applied to shutterstock when I realized the potential for a 2:1 earnings ratio when compared to IS (according to the poll results).

I uploaded 10 images that had been accepted elsewhere and was quite suprised to get a pretty bad rejection (of 10 images submitted, 4 were accepted, 4 rejected for focus, 1 for poor lighting, and 1 for trademark).  I guess I suspected different results given that all of the rejected files had been accepted and have sold on other sites.  I understand that SS is different and - as I am learning - maybe more selective than IS.  However, I am a bit lost and was wondering if anyone could provide some feedback if possible.

The rejected files are located here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/txw84wrvxxwdm4l/hhZxUsJC-y/SS%20Rejection and are organized by their rejection reason.

Really any help at all would be wonderful.  I am just more confused than anything else and as always - looking to be better at this side of the business.

Thanks in advance for any comments.  Reading through the forums has been quite helpful and I am thankful that there is a resource like this one.