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Messages - Mantis
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326
« on: February 02, 2020, 09:22 »
Yes, I agree - the aperture makes a big difference. However, it seems the sweet spot for sharpness is around F4 and down at F11 it gets pretty soft. So I was trying to balance getting moving items still in my photos with the smooth video and keeping the aperture around F4! I did take some dusk shots and good pretty sharp results with a shutter speed of 1 second. Any slower than that and I did see motion blur in my photos. So you are probably right about the still shots at 1/50th being OK. I was in Hawaii with the drone and so it was very bright. I used the ND16 with polarizer and usually ended up with 1/50th second at F2.8 or F4 - somewhere around there. Perhaps the ND8 would have been a better choice. Still learning every day!
Steve
I was going to reply to your first question, but Increasing difficulty said exactly was I was going to say and I perfectly agree with all he said.
The only small difference is that I use two ND+polirizer filters: a ND 16 for most situations in video, and a ND64 for time lapses and video in extremely bright situations
I could not live without my ND filters on my Mavic 2 Pro. My ND 8 is on most of the time, but not all. I think including a segment on ND filters would be helpful since those who don't know better might shoot video at f11 @ 400th shutter speed in bright conditions to get exposure right for video. My sweet spot for sharpness is F4 @1/60th. Even 1/50th is very good. Stills shot at that are crisp and sharp as ID stated (wide and far should be easy to get sharp). I just purchased some higher ND filters to shoot long exposures with the MAP2. That will be a real test of the drone's stability using the gimbal.
327
« on: January 18, 2020, 08:21 »
I closed my account there. They make you keep any clip that has sold for I think three years.....yes, it's in the fine print. So while I still have my account there I deleted every clip that has not sold and removed the keywords from those that have sold. Effectively done with them. Maybe 5 sales a year.
328
« on: January 18, 2020, 08:19 »
80/20 rule, Jan is historically slow, at least in the USA. At my company about 1/3 of 3000 people took the week of jan 1 off. Some of those are our image buyers. So extrapolate that across the US and one could reasonable say we're ramping back up for the year. You will probably start to see an uptick on the back half of Jan.
329
« on: January 18, 2020, 08:15 »
My 12 month range with IS is $600 to $160. I made $247 in Dec. Of the 12 data points eight were in the ~$200 to $300 range. So average for me.
330
« on: December 30, 2019, 19:22 »
They are selling our products too cheap.
Really?
Shutterstock :
ID Earnings Downloads
143379691 $0.38 1
Deposit:
FILE ID FILE NAME DATE SIZE METHOD EARNED BEFORE TAX TAX WITHHELD NET EARNED
28378823 blablabla.jpg Dec.20, 2019 - Subscription Plan $0.38 $0 (0%) $0.38
The original topic was about prices, not royalties, but even if we compared royalties, I assume you realize the above isn't the whole story, and thus not a reasonable comparison.
I have never supplied DepositPhotos - not ethical in their approach when they first contacted me plus their history as a file sharing site - but if I look at December for SS, my return per download is 98.8 cents (and I get 38 cents per sub same as everyone else in the top tier)
Anyone want to share DepositPhotos' RPD for December 2019 (on a decent number of sales)?
134 dl. 28 cents RPD
331
« on: December 22, 2019, 10:02 »
I got paid on Friday. This month last year I made $650 and this year it was $220 if that tells you anything.
332
« on: December 22, 2019, 10:00 »
That's your call. We don't know what your X axis is, but if it's beefy, why quit? All of micro stock is going down the toilet, and I consider Alamy mostly MS. My sales there swing wildly. I could make zero in one month and $800 the next. Knowing that I just let my stuff ride for those good months, but set my expectations to zero. You've got to decide what you want out of Alamy and if that income does not fit your value proposition then dump them. But anyone in MS today is scratching and clawing for every penny they can get before they can't get anymore. I have left many MS agencies over the years for revenue purposes because they did not fit my minimum needs, which I'll admit today have dropped significantly over the years. I just sold a cover photo for a travel magazine and made as much in that one sale as I do on SS in a month. I'm doing more and more outside of MS because my value proposition is almost fully eroded, but I do hang on...it helps pay my estimated taxes:)
333
« on: December 07, 2019, 20:24 »
The site is of course being actively run. I have not had time to actively post here or work on any significant changes to the site, but we make all payments that are requested once meeting our $50 threshold.
@ Niserin, please PM me your username or email address and I will look into your request. It's possible that since this post we've already addressed it, but I am not finding a username under "niserin" so unsure of your account credentials with us.
@ Me - I'm sorry to hear that, under my ownership I have paid out all payments requested in a timely manner. I don't imagine that was any time recent, but I'm happy to discuss further.
@ Stocktastic, I'm sorry to see any contributor account go, but being realistic with the nature of sales volume for many contributors, I of course understand it. I welcome all contributors to continue uploading, or to keep their portfolios on account. At the end of the day, even when an image doesn't sell, we incur costs of hosting the images, but that is not necessarily a reflection of the contributors work.
If anybody has any questions, you can always email me at [email protected]. I receive the emails directly to my phone and always try to respond same day.
Thanks,
Phil Shapiro
Absolute joke. Your site generated maybe $3 to $5 a month, so an average portfolio size of 3,000 has to wait for 10-17 months to make payout. I get it that others' mileage may vary but the relativeness of my post is the point I'm making. This is why I bailed.
334
« on: November 20, 2019, 21:51 »
Yes contact Adobe support on Adobe.com. I contacted them twice recently about Photoshop 2020. The first time with the first problem I talked to someone on the online chat. He was super helpful and logged into my machine remotely and reset some Photoshop preferences and that fixed the problem. The second time I contacted them about a different problem. I used chat support again and got someone clearly much less knowledgeable than the person I spoke to the first time, he gave me some dumb answer that made no sense and then told me to go to the Adobe forums. I instead just called up their support phone number and spoke to a different person who was quite a bit more knowledgable and willing to help and the problem got solved.
That solved it. Reset developer mode. Bingo.
335
« on: November 19, 2019, 21:14 »
For whatever reason when Lightroom last updated, it now drastically changes my Nikon raw files when they Import. I have never had this problem before. I would import my raw NEF file and the preview would look exactly like the view in my camera. Now when I import the images are 2-3 stops too dark and I cannot figure out how to set lightroom to view the images as shot. There has to be a way or LR becomes useless for time lapse. I have 10,000 images from about 15 time lapses and use LRT time-lapse together with LR. LRT views the images properly.
Does anyone else have this issue and how can I get back the profile that fits my camera? Using Nikon D810 and D850's. I check marked in preferences to use the profile based on my camera's serial number but that didn't do squat.
Right now LR is unusable.
Appreciate any help you can provide.
336
« on: October 27, 2019, 08:40 »
Today my first 44 (of 65 Images) uploaded in April 2019 have been accepted - just took them 6 month to review ;-)
I always wait a few weeks then email them. All usually reviewed after the email. Doesn't really help with sales any longer, unfortunately. Takes two months now to hit payout. Man, I remember the $200 plus months and the sharp drop to $20-$30 a month....and falling.
337
« on: October 27, 2019, 08:28 »
This morning I love Shutterstock because I woke up to a $100 sale. Friday I hated Shutterstock because I only made $6. Last month on the 15th I loved Shutterstock because I has a $125 day and a nice $67 royalty on a crummy image. In July I hated Shutterstock because my month was only $400 and change, or half of what I usually make. But in July I also loved Shutterstock on the 27th because I got a $96 video sale. Earlier in the year on March 16th, I really loved Shutterstock because I made $126 on one animated video, but the next day I hated them because I only made $12. Love:  Hate:  It comes and goes in this business.
338
« on: October 12, 2019, 08:59 »
I upgraded to Mac Catalina which is 64 bit. Quicktime pro no longer supported. Any suggestions on other video apps? I do all of my editing in Final Cut Pro but I do some resizing in QT. Need a decent player with some editing capabilities. I cannot even get the QT basic to open after the upgrade. Beware. All of my office applications are no longer compatible. Had to buy 64 bit versions.
Anyway, looking forward to any player suggestions that have some editing capabilities similar to QT Pro.
339
« on: October 06, 2019, 08:22 »
4K clips shouldn't cost buyers double that of HD....I would suggest only a 20% premium max.
You can set your 4k, HD, Web price to whatever you want. It's up to you, not Pond5. Just go to "Account" and "Preference" and set your percentage.
What he is saying is to have a price cap forced on us. That kind of thinking is what destroys industries. I have 4k 5 second clips that sell for over $400. What nut is saying is to cap that at $95. P5 should hire him.
340
« on: October 01, 2019, 19:48 »
Looks like SS got hacked as well. I received an email notifying me of change of payment. Went from PP to Skrill and a .ru email address. Change your passwords.
Nice of SS to inform us.
341
« on: September 22, 2019, 07:40 »
Anyone else noticed a drying up of sales since P5's 20% commission grab? My SS sales are steady, P5 is struggling the past few months. Whatever they're doing with their extra commission, it doesn't seem to be increasing turnover.
Very much so. Still getting 2-3 image sales a month but the videos have been cut by 2/3. I would get 5-6 a month now at two if I'm lucky. But stock in general has tanked this year. August is the first month in years where I didn't make $2500 (I used to make mid $3k a month on MS). Had roughly $1700 in Aug. Very, very much drying up sales in MS.
343
« on: September 20, 2019, 19:24 »
I guess money is what makes THEM happy.
I think that is unfair. They reported what caused the anomaly. Giving the benefit of the doubt that they are honest in their explanations, they seem reasonable.
There was a computer goof, both in currency (since 1AUD < 1USD) and in double-reporting. That has been corrected. If I were driving the ship, I might have handled the communication differently, but the end result would have been the same. Obviously, tell us first. Then possibly roll back the excess payment over 3 months, or such that no contributor went below 50% of expected revenue in any given month, until it was recaptured.
The end result would have been the same regardless. You had a windfall in June due to software error. The error has been fixed, and the account normalized.
Not really any different than if your bank (Wells Fargo or whoever) accidentally put extra money into your account one month. That money is not yours, and will be recaptured when recognized. One couple discovered that just last month when they found an extra $100K in their account. They went out and spent it, and are now in court for grand theft as a result...
Not sure how long you have been around, but his comment about money making them happy comes from a time when Getty/Istock used a phrase to us contributors like money doesn't make you happy in the midst of commission cuts via a new screw the contributor pay system. I forget what they called it, but it is really the pot calling the kettle black. If They really didn't care about money why would they take ours due to the error? Well, money DOES mean something to them. Crooks.
344
« on: September 19, 2019, 17:30 »
It's just become laughable. Made $200. Exactly 1/2 of last Aug and 30% less than last month. With a shi t load of refunds. I had 137 refunds.
345
« on: September 14, 2019, 17:44 »
They are a joke. I trialed them a few years ago. To date the only site I couldn't get a video sale. I'd say delete
Agree. I got maybe a sale every few months. Then they had CSV issues, claimed it was me, and I just gave up. When I tried to delete my account I couldn't. They have a policy that every video that sold is retained for three years. So I went in and manually deleted the video I can, then removed the keywords from those videos they were making me keep. So account is finally dead. Now that they have gone subscription, that tells me I made the right decision to delete my portfolio.
346
« on: September 06, 2019, 19:14 »
Efffffffffffffffff NO
347
« on: August 24, 2019, 21:33 »
Explore over 300 million royalty-free images, stock footage clips, and music tracks...
Right
I still can't fathom why people don't understand the concept of more competition, and how that increase will always equal less sales. More choices, better, newer images, less sales. Is there some kind of denial that ignores that we are producing a commodity which is provided in floods of millions, not like anything was ten years ago. But the question is "why have my sales dropped". 
Agencies keep selling more, we are selling less. What could it be?
Competition, sales dilution.
Depends on the situation. For me I typically make $800 + each month. All of a sudden I will make $250 this month. The is not the addition of a bazillion images. It is something else. Probably summer slump together with search changes. Either way I have about 5,000 assets and to see a drop like this is not related to the influx of images per se.
348
« on: August 15, 2019, 04:41 »
Something other than summer is affecting my sales. Just making $3-5 a day. I am usually making $25-$50 a day. Only at $140 so far for August and July netted only $460, when my last few months before July have been $800-$900. Probably getting summer slump plus the recipient of a search change/test. Either way the last two months have been horrible, Aug worse than July, overall on track to be down 60% this month.
349
« on: August 04, 2019, 08:50 »
The swings are just huge. Last month (June) I made mid $900. July was mid $400, half.
350
« on: August 02, 2019, 08:02 »
It depends on the clip. I have some that are 6 seconds and some that are 20. My 6 second clip has sold a couple of times for $400. The idea behind the 20 second clips is that buyers can take snippets from that clip that fit their needs. But if the clip is really unique, bigger is not always better. Like many here, I have learned to upload 10 sec or less in most cases, but sometimes (not often) more if I think it is needed.
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