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Messages - Asthebelltolls
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51
« on: September 07, 2021, 15:25 »
Each month this year payments from the SS have arrived no earlier than the 5th and no later than the 9th.
52
« on: September 03, 2021, 13:28 »
Thanks Brightonti for sharing. The presentation, personally, makes me realize just how boring drone shots have become. They're so common. So unoriginal that there's nothing that really has that special appeal. Something that really stands out from the rest of those cluster of landscape-seascape-cityscape,etc, etc. drone shots. Personally, I don't do "drone" shots but when I look at the presenter's examples of what's good and what isn't, I tend to disagree. It's my opinion that, like any image, a good drone shot provides a good story. A 30 second sequence that starts high above a city devastated by Hurricane Ida and ends with a family clustered in front of their flooded home. A 30 second sequence that begins high above a beautiful summer Italian village and ends outside a restaurant where a young couple are enjoying a romantic interlude. IMO, the examples the Presenter gave us was the "same-old-same-old". Nothing special. Boring.
53
« on: August 31, 2021, 12:04 »
I get the feeling this was a topic authored by an Adobe insider who wants to sell current Adobe tools.  80-90% of online agency material is stock from years (many years) ago. Still offered to buyers and still selling. I have images that were worked on by PS6 and still doing just fine. Until agencies tell me otherwise, I'm sticking with the same old Adobe programs that got me to where I am now. This is a business where you spend your money very, very carefully.
54
« on: August 25, 2021, 13:25 »
My problem using "basic" equipment shooting high speed or low light subjects has been dealing with grainy results. Often rejected by the agencies after applying standard image enhancements before submitting.
55
« on: August 21, 2021, 13:01 »
Thanks for sharing your night star experiences, Uncle Pete! I can't help you with your query but I appreciate the description of the effort you made so far!
56
« on: August 20, 2021, 14:21 »
Dreamstime is doing well for me.
Same here. They must be advertising! :-)
57
« on: August 17, 2021, 09:40 »
During the Industrial Revolution. In the manufacturing and Public sectors. Everywhere you look, when labor was mistreated by their employers, they unionized. Microstock is NOT a partnership. Currently, we work for companies that dictate and control the rules and that will never change as long as the vast majority of contributors accept their terms. Terms that they can and will change to meet their best interests, not yours. Shutterstock, on their home page, states "become a contributor" not "become a partner". Their tutorials often include a background statement suggesting that if you want to make more money expand your skills/profession into freelance work. Creating work for companies as a professional videographer and/or photographer. https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/five-year-camera-technology-actually-utdated I think the best thing we contributors can do in this forum is to let everyone know who is thinking about becoming a contributor is that the agencies are in control. Not you.
58
« on: August 13, 2021, 12:52 »
Dreamstime was my first agency way back in the stone age era, 2009, when we
were using rocks and chisels to submit images. They are the only agency that
retained and honored the original agreement that I signed up for. Back in those
days I assumed commissions would increase. Today Shutterstock received
$79us payment from a client for a clip I produced. I received $0.69us in commission.
This is why I continue to submit to Dreamstime and don't submit to Shutterstock and
a host of other agencies that broke our original agreement.
59
« on: July 27, 2021, 13:31 »
Thanks, Brightontl, for the interesting video resolution topic but from my POV there's an underlining message that should be included.
Submitting higher resolution clips to agencies cost the videographer more money. The higher the resolution, the more money the provider had to shell out. Something the agencies completely and totally ignore. I still get a few bucks for my 4k image sales as I would with HD. 4k, and eventually higher resolution clips, will become more and more popular as buyers adapt but what's the sense in providing top rated resolution clips when I'm going to earn nothing more than a handful of pocket change?
My last clip sale was $0.67 from the SS. Can you tell me what the motivation for getting the latest/greatest equipment is?
60
« on: June 09, 2021, 09:25 »
A special " exclusive" shot could probably be negotiated. Donald saved from serious head injuries by his comb-over after tripping when getting out of his limo, comes to mind.
61
« on: May 23, 2021, 18:21 »
And does HD still sell or is 4K the dominant format?
62
« on: May 12, 2021, 09:30 »
Yep, 2 sales at 10c, no commission to me.
Great.
And Contributor support seems to have been replaced with a bot sending a standard email to whatever question you might ask....
Wonderful.
You do have a commission (royalty) of .03 cents. 30%. Now see if that even buys you a single peanut.
And I hope everyone is paying attention to our inflationary times after governments spend trillions trying to deal with the world's health crisis. That dime that Shutterstock gives you or .03 cents royalty from Alamy covers the effort it took for your index finger to press down on the shutter release. Everything else you did: Driving to the location. Setting up. Getting the perfect shot. Going home. Down- loading. Working on the image. Submitting. Keywording, etc. Is ignored and the money goes into their pockets. Oh! But wait! That $0.10 is American currency! It could be as much as $0.13 if you're living in another country! Enough to buy two peanuts!
63
« on: April 12, 2021, 21:58 »
Working fine for me. Logging in, etc.
64
« on: April 04, 2021, 13:39 »
If you are succesful and talented the US has lots to offer. If you are ill or disabled not so much. For the affluent the US has a great lifestyle.
Yup, if I lived in the US I'd be bankrupt and homeless from medical. I need huge travel insurance just to go (when I used to travel). Lovely place with great people and scenery, but no, I prefer Canada. The idea of being a no-fault car accident away from extreme poverty doesn't appeal.
Not that my country doesn't have its issues of course.
....like deranged, knife wielding lunatics running through shopping malls and "missing women" headlines every second day but, yes, I too prefer Canada.
65
« on: March 20, 2021, 14:44 »
And for me photo income increased year after year since my first submissions to agencies more than 10 years ago. The decline started 3 years ago with reduction in commissions so while my portfolio may increase, my income is down 75% from 3 years ago. Some of that income is, in part, due to the marketplace moving from HD to 4K. I sell far fewer clips than I once did. It's my view that if agencies wanted to make cuts they should have reduced HD and kept images where it was - in the minimum $0.30 - $0.36 range. Videographers/Photographers would have remained motivated to submit images and motivated to upgrade equipment to 4K. 6K digital is just around the corner. How many of us are motivated to once again purchase new equipment for the new marketplace? Especially when we now know agencies are foaming at the mouth to reduce commissions?
66
« on: February 19, 2021, 10:28 »
https://forums.submit.shutterstock.com/topic/101723-video-levels-early-promotion/
I'd got just under half way to my next level and got a random email. The dashboard shows it too.
...so fully expect SS to realise and remove all the extra revenue in an adjustment...
And me as well but it doesn't seem to change the revenue coming in. Still giving peanuts for clips and nowhere near what it once was! Blessing us with a level increase does not motivate me to start contributing again.
68
« on: February 04, 2021, 21:32 »
Is HD still selling? How much longer before 6k becomes the common demand? It's an expensive venture if you only sell a few clips a month and agencies are paying a few bucks per sale!
69
« on: February 03, 2021, 18:01 »
Lowest $ since february 2015, half of what I made last month and jan 2020 
Yup, same here....Shitterstock didn't just take. They stole.
70
« on: January 27, 2021, 19:45 »
...and an interesting interface that appears to make uploading easier. Almost all my sales with Dreamstime were $1us or more this month and outselling the SS. I also noticed that you can now set your own price on each submitted image. With a minimum payout of 0.38us, Is there anything not to like about DT?
71
« on: January 25, 2021, 20:09 »
Neil Young just sold the rights to half of his music compositions for $180 million. I'd consider half that and I'll even throw in a few of my best sellers.
72
« on: January 21, 2021, 13:41 »
So far my january on SS is 64% lower than it would have been with the old earning structure 
And the same here. Just about all sales (74) with a $0.10 commission. Gee, thanks SS. Meanwhile Dreamstime is not only outselling the SS but sales are consistently coming in at +$1.00us and higher! More reason to abandon the SS and happy I stopped uploading to Jonnie and his cronies last March.
73
« on: December 16, 2020, 08:47 »
Can you read? https://submit.shutterstock.com/legal/terms?language=en Did you ever read this? Contracts change, they did nothing illegal, you have no class action suit. 18 f Please note that Shutterstock reserves the right to modify these terms at any time in its sole discretion,
And where in the agreement does it state that they will take away 2/3 of your income? Is that your idea of "fair" business practices? And was the agreement the same when contributors signed up 10 years ago? The most prominent statement I recall was the SS stating: " The more you contribute, the more you'll earn" Microsoft recently agreed to a multi-billion dollar settlement when a class action lawsuit claimed that they overcharged consumers during a certain time period. I don't think it would be difficult to convince the courts that the SS and other stock agencies used unfair and unethical business practices when they stripped away 2/3 of their contributor's income. And sweetheart, would you do me a favor? If you're going to vent your anger would you mind directing it at those trying to take away your income/livelihood and not at those trying to create a fair playing field?
74
« on: December 15, 2020, 09:43 »
Go ask a lawyer, free consultation, and find out, there's nothing to sue for or retaliate. They did nothing illegal, none of the above agencies did. They have the right to change the contract. I don't need a lawyer to tell me that " bait and switch" business practices are illegal, at least in my part of the world. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bait-switch.asp....but when there's only a handful of contributors responding to the topic it's pretty obvious that a class action lawsuit isn't worth the time and effort.
75
« on: December 14, 2020, 15:12 »
While empowerment is always desirable, the only real power we have is to choose to accept their terms or leave. Or stay but stop uploading new stuff.
Ok. How about everyone who has images with Bigstock removes all but one of their images? It's owned by the SS. It costs money to keep the company operating yet few of us make any real money contributing to the agency. BTW, and yes, I was one of those who kept my portfolio with the SS but hasn't contributed since the changed rates. Empowerment is protection against unfair business practices.
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