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Messages - mike123
26
« on: February 21, 2023, 17:54 »
.."March 3rd, 2023 we will consolidate the different currencies in which royalties are paid and switch to US Dollars."..
Bad for me ,previously received euros, about -5% cut. Well great, not.
I think you can easily add some conversion fees into that, so it's more like a 10% cut.. Really bad - Adobe is the last agency that keeps microstock game alive for me and if it also starts to decline, there will be no more sense to keep microstock going 
27
« on: February 17, 2023, 05:07 »
I think it is possible to use your earnings on Dreamstime to buy photos, not sure though if it works below the $100 threshold. But if yes, you could simply find someone (for example here on the forum) with high-level images and make an arrangement that you buy a few and that person sends you the received amount (minus tax and fees likely). You don't get the full 42$ though, maybe somewhere around 15-20$ only - but it's better than nothing.
You could also wait for the 100% royalty day, as mentioned before, and do this transaction on that day and receive more.
28
« on: February 10, 2023, 13:23 »
Thanks for the info! Moved another slider to the left 
29
« on: February 10, 2023, 13:07 »
Wow thanks Mat and Adobe Team!!! Got over 4000 downloads and 26 new uploads in 2022, so it looks good . At the same time I deleted a few images in 2022 (they went somewhere else for exclusive usage), so I hope those don't count into the amount of new uploads, otherwise I might be below 20 
30
« on: January 17, 2023, 13:35 »
I had a look at the Mini 3 and Air 2S to replace my aging Mavic Pro 2 but decided on keeping the older tech but bigger sensor. Even the Mavic Pro 2 raw files have a fair amount of noise in the shadows - I find processing the raw files using DXO 6 and its noise reduction Deep Prime XD does an excellent job to make files look great free of noise (takes around 15mins to process per file on a 2020 macbook pro).
Have you tried noise stacking on your Mavic 2 Pro (taking a burst of photos and then averaging them in PS)? It did wonders on my Mavic 2 Pro files - the noise went away almost completely
31
« on: January 15, 2023, 17:41 »
Could Mavic 3 be an alternative for both drones? It depends where you want to travel to, but for example here in Europe it just got the C1 certification label and you don't need to keep distance from people any more, which makes flying much simpler. But it still has to be registered..
32
« on: January 15, 2023, 08:58 »
Mini 3 should be more than enough for microstock quality. Even smartphone photos get easily accepted for microstock, and they mostly have the same sensor size (and worse optics) than the Mini 3. But it also depends on light - if you want to shoot low light scenes (for example blue hour), the image quality will not be great. In that case you would be better of using your Mavic 2 Pro
33
« on: November 28, 2022, 07:43 »
I was off Shutter for about 2 years and enabled my portfolio in September to see how my Christmas images will fare - kind of an experiment if Shutter is worth it (spoiler: it isn't, going to deactivate it on Jan 1, as soon as I fall back to 15% royalty  ). Anyway what I noticed is that almost all of my Christmas photos sell for 10 cent (or slightly above), while other photos also go for higher prices. No idea why, my theory is that Christmas images are bought by larger buyers with large subscription plans. Or it might be just a coincidence.. Just curious: do you also observe similar price distribution?
34
« on: November 25, 2022, 05:02 »
That IS a great story man!! And think about it, if you deduct your equipment from taxes, you didn't lose 100, but much less . If you just want to deduct your equipment from taxes, you should not need any expensive consulting.. It's pretty simple: you either deduct the whole cost in one year or you split the cost over several years. All information can be found via Google. You can probably even call the tax office and ask. That's what I've been doing when I started with taxes (talking from Germany here, so Netherlands might be similar). Also remember to deduct everything you use for work, like computer, editing software and so on.
35
« on: November 24, 2022, 07:31 »
Great article, thanks!!
Any chance you have any tips on how to get a permission to fly in Lisbon (since you've got some drone shots from Lisbon)? I applied for a permission when I was in Lisbon in July 2022 and wanted to grab some sunrise shots over Alfama, but the aviation office (I think it is ANAC) declined mine with the reason being "sensitive installations" or something similar
Hi, thanks.
Indeed ANAC / AAN are often-times overzealous in their approach relating to security - I've had some bizarre rejections.
My tip is try to keep the GPS parameters quite narrow and max altitude quite low at 30/60 metres. If they do reject your submission, try again with an even smaller parameter. Once you have their OK then even if you "break the rules a bit", at least you have the authorization document to protect you if you get stopped by authorities.
I had no issues getting authorizations to close to fly in at Commercial Square and Belem next to the Tower and Patrimonio, as well as close to Palacio da Pena in Sintra.
Hope this helps!
Alex
Thanks a lot Alex, your answer is immensely helpful!! Now I know how to approach the authorization process and will definitely try it in future! Michael
36
« on: November 24, 2022, 06:54 »
Great article, thanks!! Any chance you have any tips on how to get a permission to fly in Lisbon (since you've got some drone shots from Lisbon)? I applied for a permission when I was in Lisbon in July 2022 and wanted to grab some sunrise shots over Alfama, but the aviation office (I think it is ANAC) declined mine with the reason being "sensitive installations" or something similar
37
« on: November 21, 2022, 06:40 »
Also maybe clarify if you only mean microstock or also other channels like selling through own website
38
« on: November 15, 2022, 04:57 »
You say that you live in Amsterdam - so my advice is to take advantage of it. The bestsellers from Amsterdam must have thousands of downloads, but I see no photos from the historic center of Amsterdam in your portfolio. Go to some famous scenic spots in Amsterdam and try to get them in the best light possible.
I am always on the lookout for good weather conditions and ready to hop on the bike and cycle to the center of Amsterdam to take photos, but competition for such a popular spot is high, so I often find myself taking photos somewhere bit further outside the center. There are many interesting neighbourhoods.
But like you say, as an insider, I have advantage to someone who is here only as a tourist for few days, so I am definitely going to keep shooting.
I sold hundreds of my Amsterdam photos on microstock and I only have been to Amsterdam on 3-4 weekends as tourist and I never managed to get particularly nice weather there (except one time, but I don't sell these photos on microstock). So you can certainly do better. Don't hesitate to shoot the popular angles, they are popular for a reason. Just try to get a better than average photo there, so it stands out from the crowd
39
« on: November 11, 2022, 07:12 »
You say that you live in Amsterdam - so my advice is to take advantage of it. The bestsellers from Amsterdam must have thousands of downloads, but I see no photos from the historic center of Amsterdam in your portfolio. Go to some famous scenic spots in Amsterdam and try to get them in the best light possible.
40
« on: May 25, 2022, 05:59 »
Remove the logos in the simplest/dirtiest way possible. Why bother for pennies? I usually just paint with color over the logos (much faster than cloning) and the agencies accept the photos
41
« on: January 11, 2022, 02:59 »
My photography goals for 2022:
1. grow my social media (I have some specific numbers in mind)
2. travel and shoot much more then in 2021
3. create a website and setup print shop there
4. don't spend any more time on microstock - only sell via RM agencies and through social media/website
5. teach myself advanced video editing
It looks like a lot, let's see how much I can achieve
42
« on: January 10, 2022, 03:19 »
I decided to try Shutterstock this year again (my portfolio was disabled since mid of 2020). Enabled my portfolio, got 11 downloads in a row of 0.10$ and decided that my decision was a stupid one . Now I have a disabled portfolio again with a balance of 1.10$
43
« on: September 24, 2021, 17:24 »
I usually bring both a smartphone and a full frame camera on trips. But I would use the big camera only in challenging light and use smartphone for simple shots during the day. Uploaded some smartphone shots to Adobe, they were all accepted. Actually microstock is not worth more than smartphone pictures
44
« on: July 21, 2021, 08:20 »
Got that email today as well. So happy I deleted all my images from DP years ago. No idea why anybody would want to work with these thieves
45
« on: June 15, 2020, 02:42 »
Deactivated my Level 5 image portfolio today. Only 500+ images, but some unique and well selling ones. Some images were in customer lightboxes, according to Shutterstock app.
Videos already deactivated on June 1, but I only had a few low quality ones.
46
« on: March 04, 2017, 07:56 »
Write to their support? I did that to set my Extended License prices to max for all of my images when I changed ranks
47
« on: March 04, 2017, 07:46 »
I think 123 is worth it only when you can consistently stay at level 4 or above. Otherwise the royalties are too low, not percentage-wise but money-wise due to their low prices. As I had a small portfolio of less than 100 images when they introduced the new royalty system in 2013, I figured the best I can do is to reach level 2, so I deleted all my images there. A year later with twice as many images I gave them a new year-long try, which lead me to a conclusion that I might reach and be able to keep level 3, but will never get to level 4 (i'm doing stock only part-time). Thus I deleted my images by end of 2014 once more. Since then I didn't bother with 123 and it looks like it has been the right desicion
48
« on: January 07, 2017, 16:25 »
Thanks for looking into this forum GraphicLeftovers! I've sent you a PM with a detailed description of the "unreachable email" problem and also of my original email verification problem.
49
« on: January 07, 2017, 10:06 »
Hello guys, was anyone able to get through to GLStock via email? My problem is that they apparently sent the verification email to a wrong email address (must have been originally my fault by giving them a wrong email address with a minor typo - but then how were I able to open an account with a wrong email address?..). Anyway, since November I've tried multiple times to reach GLStock by email (via [email protected]) and/or via the contact form on their site. Every email fails to be delivered due to "unreachable server". After a longer break, yesterday I've made a new email attempt, but with the same result  . Hope someone managed to reach them and can give me a hint how to do that..
50
« on: July 11, 2016, 16:21 »
I am opted out of Enhanced Licenses and today got an email request from SS for 3 of my images. When I asked about the royalty for this particular download, they said 2.30$ for each image  ... I asked if this was a typo and they said "no, this is real".
I'm glad I opted out...
I would expect that would have been reported as a SOD not an EL, another reason to opt out.
I thought the same, even though they specifically asked for an Enhanced License Download. At least they bothered to ask me, the only positive thing about it
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