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Messages - Lee Torrens
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126
« on: April 30, 2009, 14:11 »
I would buy me one of those new spiffy batmobile type Italian cop cars 
A bit like this one?  Ok, not exactly a batmobile, but purchased by someone who makes more than 10k/month in microstock.
127
« on: April 23, 2009, 09:09 »
I had a photo of the glass roof/ceiling of the British Museum removed from iStock last week, so this explains why. The same photo is still on some other agencies, which has happened before. I guess there has to be some disadvantages to being the top agency*.
*In this context I'm using "top agency" in reference to being the most well known to people such as the National Trust. 
Er, no, the British Museum is not owned by the National Trust.
Doh! That'll teach me to make assumptions.
128
« on: April 23, 2009, 09:07 »
3. Wait until your product or service comes up in discussion and then engage. Do not create a thread about your product or service yourself.
I would like an exception for regular forum members that start some new venture. I'm very much interested in the free reflectors that S.Locke offers. 
Sean already took out an ad for his reflector hats. Take a look.
129
« on: April 23, 2009, 08:08 »
I had a photo of the glass roof/ceiling of the British Museum removed from iStock last week, so this explains why. The same photo is still on some other agencies, which has happened before. I guess there has to be some disadvantages to being the top agency*. *In this context I'm using "top agency" in reference to being the most well known to people such as the National Trust.
130
« on: April 23, 2009, 07:58 »
MSG Guide for people representing a business: 1. Register an account in your own, full, real name. 2. Put the name of your company in your post signature. 3. Wait until your product or service comes up in discussion and then engage. Do not create a thread about your product or service yourself. Use of the word "shameless" does NOT negate this advice. 4. Be respectful, listen, and acknowledge each relevant post (If your product or service doesn't come up in discussion organically, take out an advertisement - they're great value! ...and it may just cause someone to create a thread about your product or service)
131
« on: March 26, 2009, 23:43 »
This site is about photography?
This made me laugh out loud. Really, laugh out loud, not just LOL. I realised early on that I wasn't going to make much money taking photos, so I tried monetizing the talking-about-it part. I'm getting closer.
132
« on: March 23, 2009, 15:07 »
Big day in microstock. The founder of the first and arguably still the most successful microstock agency, iStockphoto, has today announced his resignation.
Great news for Bruce - significant day for the industry - and a nervous day for everyone involved with iStock.
Here's the forum link: http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=86073
I'm pretty involved in iStock, and I'm not nervous.
I know the word 'culture' gets thrown around pretty loosely in regards to workplaces, but I can definitely say that our workplace has a culture. It's strong and vibrant and it's stayed with us. We've grown a lot over the last few years. There were twenty people in the office when I started. There are more than a hundred now. Throughout all that change and growth, the culture hasn't gone away. Our core team, people who have been together for years, will continue doing what we've always done. So I'm sad that I won't see my friend Bruce as often anymore, but I'm not nervous.
That's good to hear. At the time of posting the above there was no confirmation that Kelly would take over. Other iStock insiders told me directly that they were nervous. Very nervous.
133
« on: March 23, 2009, 14:09 »
I always find it hard to believe when the self-confessed workaholic and visionary leader of an organization resigns to "make some time for myself and the people in my life".
I wonder - is this a harbinger of sea-change at iStock?
That depends on who takes over and how this changes the iStock-Getty relationship. I am surprised he hung on for as long as he did. So many take overs are followed by resignations, purges, etc.
He may have had a contractual obligation to stay on after the sale. It's just gone three years since the sale. Although they seemed to enjoy great independence, so I'm sure he still enjoyed himself (it certainly looked that way to me).
134
« on: March 23, 2009, 13:45 »
Big day in microstock. The founder of the first and arguably still the most successful microstock agency, iStockphoto, has today announced his resignation. Great news for Bruce - significant day for the industry - and a nervous day for everyone involved with iStock. Here's the forum link: http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=86073
135
« on: March 22, 2009, 19:20 »
FXP must be enabled on both FTP servers, which obviously includes the microstock agency FTP servers in this situation. Flemmish, have you successfully uploaded files with FXP before? I read that it opens some vulnerabilities, so I don't expect microstock agencies would have it enabled.
136
« on: March 21, 2009, 22:35 »
That's true - if people post too often or too much nonsense, I drop them. Hopefully, I'm careful enough to post mostly interesting business stuff with the occasional personality bit.
I dropped @Cutcaster because John had promotional auto-tweets setup to go off every few hours which bugged me. He uses discount coupons, so he can see exactly how much revenue he's generating through Twitter - quite smart. While he's using it to drive sales, I'm clearly not his target market. I use it to build relationships and hope that by providing value (linking to interesting stuff, breaking news, spreading rumors, etc) I can build authority in the microstock niche, which helps my blog. Neither my method or Johns is more holier than the other, but they do represent different value opportunities to followers. That's the beauty of Twitter. It is what you make of it. If you want to muck about and pass time, you can. If you want to use it for pure business, you can. It's just a tool. Use it in whatever way works for you.
137
« on: March 21, 2009, 21:15 »
I'm still experimenting, but I think twitter is overrated. Too much nonsense chatter, not enough business.
Yep, I had the same observation, but with some people I enjoy the nonsense chatter. I have two accounts. @microstock which is purely business, and @leetorrens which is my nonsense chatter. I think if you choose carefully who to follow you can keep your timeline pretty free of nonsense chatter. I hear @nytimes is rather light on personality.
138
« on: March 21, 2009, 20:26 »
I only get the occasional tweet from the MicrostockGroup account. Seems to correlate pretty well with new threads, not new posts.
139
« on: March 21, 2009, 18:04 »
141
« on: March 17, 2009, 14:19 »
This is looking very strange. Why did so many people have EL sales yesterday? (March 16) I had two, different photos but the same subject (industrial equipment). It seems too many people had the same thing happen on the same day to make it coincidence.
Any theories? New big, EL-only buyer subscribed? Buyer doing a big project? Hmm....
142
« on: March 17, 2009, 13:55 »
Hola desde Argentina. Soy Australiano, pero vivo aca. Me encanta castellano, pero estoy aprendiendo muy lentamente. Es lo que hay!
143
« on: March 12, 2009, 09:33 »
Is anyone in touch with Avava? I think he's from Seattle and would be a great interview.
I'm not sure if he is still actively submitting to micro, I think he was just testing the numbers. I know he was a little sour on this place and isn't posting anymore, but maybe you can catch him by PM.
Jonathan is a very well-known traditional stock photographer who I'm certain has direct, personal relationships with many people at Corbis. And yes, he's a good suggestion. I think all Seattle microstockers are exclusive with iStock.
144
« on: March 12, 2009, 09:26 »
yeah, nice to see Lee get a mention.
The article also stated this
Stock photography is more science than art, says Jon Oringer, CEO of Shutterstock, the No. 2 online stock photo service. You have to have a commercial eye for what will sell, he says. And there are legal hurdles you must clear.
Where do they get that stat? Or how are they measuring that shutterstock is No. 2
That may be my fault. He had a LOT of questions for me and I gave him very long answers for each one. I mentioned rankings in terms of turnover/sales volume from both contributor and agency perspective, plus generalisations on which agencies contributors found most lucrative. It's not difficult to believe that a gross over-simplification such as "Shutterstock is No.2" came out of that. Generally, the article isn't the worst mainstream journalist attempt we've seen, just disappointing that it gives the impression that microstock is still an untapped opportunity for enthusiasts. It's not fun thinking about all the time and effort that will be wasted by people trying out microstock over the next few months as a result. Maybe it's time for a new blog post, "microstock not for hobbyists anymore". Come to think about it, there's likely quite a few old posts I need to update. Doh.
145
« on: March 11, 2009, 10:56 »
yeah looks interesting with some great shots. I think microstock is really shooting themselves in the foot by wanting plastic smooth quality and studio lighting every time. Microstock is where the artistic interesting shots should be allowed to shine. Unfortunately that isn't the case. Perhaps Veer will turn that around.
How do people get in that gallery by the way? Do they just pick at random .... that is to say, you upload to flikr in the hope that you get picked to be included in the getty collection?
Artistic shots appeal to a much smaller group of buyers, so they don't work in microstock where volume sales - and subsequently, mass market appeal - are prerequisites for success (in terms of sales/ROI). I think that's the power of traditional stock at the moment: artistic shots and anything with a smaller target market. Yes, Getty apparently had all hands on deck voting on Flickr photos for inclusion. They're then checked by editors and an invitation is sent. All that you can do to get in is post your photos on Flickr then wait and hope. Also check out Daryl Lang's piece on the topic: http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/03/gettys-flickr-collection-is-online-and-pricey.html As usual, he makes some great points.
146
« on: March 11, 2009, 10:45 »
*!
Nice one.
Will you close this one?
147
« on: March 11, 2009, 10:42 »
http://www.gettyimages.com/FlickrIt's up! What do you think? Some great shots in there - many which would likely not pass microstock inspectors for being too artistic. ...which is a great thing as it means there's still outlets for artistic content! ...but will it sell there?
148
« on: March 06, 2009, 09:28 »
I don't care much for the SAA myself either. I got the impression that it's a group for the middle aged white guys who love to hate micro to get together and collaborate each others' world view about microstock being evil, a passing fad, or full of crappy photos. I publicly challenged the previous president's thoughts on the industry and we had short blog-post dialogue.
But last year I met Shannon Fagan and liked what he had to say about the industry from a traditional stock photographer's perspective. He's since taken on the SAA presidency and I'm impressed with what he's doing. In my view, he's a square peg in a round hole, and I get the impression he's committed to helping rid the SAA of misinformation and fear mongering that's been cited here. In my view, he'll save many SAA members from themselves, though I'm sure he would put it differently.
I've had quite a dialogue with Shannon over the past year. I like the guy personally, and love what he stands for, and I admire his thinking and insights. Plus he's an amazing photographers as well. Let's see what he can do for the SAA. He has my support, in full knowledge of where I stand on the organisation.
149
« on: February 06, 2009, 10:32 »
Cool it down guys and gals, life is too short to biatch around
There should be a good article around about the history of microstock. If not, is there a Lee Torrens in the audience?
I think it's time to dust of my old draft post titled 'Microstock for the Mainstream Press'. Maybe an industry timeline to accompany it - good idea.
150
« on: February 04, 2009, 15:01 »
I've just emailed all the people who have said they're attending this with new time and details. If anyone else was planning on dropping by, sitemail me and I'll fill you in.
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