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Messages - sam100

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 ... 20
1
Adobe Stock / Re: Is Fotolia Tanking for anyone else?
« on: October 12, 2012, 03:10 »
Gold  member : 70% drop over the year :o

Patrick.

2
Off Topic / Re: Photographer on holiday dilema
« on: October 05, 2012, 15:52 »
Going on vacation isn't about choosing lenses.
Take with what you are comfortable with, learn your lens of choice.
Make the most of your lens of choice.

And most, make it your vacation, not a stock photography trip if you are ever plan to have a life and time off.

Patrick.

ps : i've made some stunning images with a Samsung nx 100 on my road trip in Normandy, Brittany and Picardy this year with the standard kit lens (France Europe by scooter)..... with only one lens.


3
Illustration - General / Re: Scans from old books/illustrations
« on: October 05, 2012, 15:45 »
They stopped accepting PD images not as part as selling potential, but because it required too much time for their reviewers to evaluate and confirm the validity of the PD status of each images.

One of the points.

Patrick.

And the hassle of checking if there is no TM breach.

4
123RF / Re: What's Wrong with 123rf earnings stat page?
« on: October 05, 2012, 15:43 »
One of the reasons i deleted whole port on 123, plus tanking earnings when they  started the free section.  Never recovered.

Patrick.

ps : i didn't like the tiff earning for some cents eather.

5
Canon / Re: Canon EOS 6D announced
« on: October 03, 2012, 06:10 »
the mark 2 is a deal at 1700$
it is a few years old but it is a gem of a camera for portraits and landscapes and I think they will clear them out in short order

+1

6
Site Related / Re: Is the IS ranking gone?
« on: August 24, 2012, 12:11 »
Glad to see the notify link is back... ;D

Patrick.

7
Dreamstime.com / Re: DT's approval policy - your thoughts
« on: July 25, 2012, 10:45 »
Do you think there is a possibility that DT is eagerly looking for a buyer but everyone who might be interested might be low-balling it since DT has been on a downward trend for a while now?
I doubt that DT themselves have been on a 'downward trend'. I imagine that their sales/turnover has been steadily increasing but the contributors' slice of the pie has been shrinking via commission cuts and spread thinner through an ever-increasing number of images. The commission cuts would have increased their profitability and therefore the value of the business. ...
I can only speak from my numbers and I had my good times with DT more than 3 years ago. Good for everyone else who still managed to be on an upward trend since then but my sales tanked since then.

I do have have excellent search result placements but receive just "too many" subscription sales.

My first uploads are in the 100.000 file ID range (2005) and I have seen wonderful growth with them but for some reason they are the only one of the bigger agencies that screwed things up for me on an unsurpassed scale.

No doubt that they have to ensure their income stream to pay for their overheads and pay rises but I cannot see how the dilution of images has such a big impact ONLY on DT and nowhere else...  ???

I am at 1/3 of what i used to earn 3 years ago.
Speaks for itself I guess.

Patrick.

8
Dreamstime.com / Re: DT's approval policy - your thoughts
« on: July 25, 2012, 10:33 »
I would assume that they want a diverse catalog, and want contributors to fill it with a new and different subject or topic with each file. Unfortunately for them, most professional contributors don't work like that. They work in sets and revisit popular topics, so these rules have the opposite effect. They become overly restrictive.

I think both the similar policy and the payment tiers work as upload deterrents. Why create new files that are just going to undercut your older files?

I also think that from a buyer's perspective having a few similars makes sense. Many times I have though "gee, I wish they would have just turned this way a little, or...". I totally understand curbing people from uploading 20 images that are almost exactly the same, but having a few choices is a good thing. At the time the contributor uploads, they have no idea which is going to become the better seller, or which will never get any downloads.

+1

9
123RF / Re: Super Fast Review
« on: May 27, 2012, 14:28 »
Wouldn't have been faster than the review of andres or yuri.

Patrick.

10
This is just a hallucination .. isn't it.?. ;D

Patrick.................................? am I Patrick...?............ ;D

11
123RF / Re: Sales
« on: May 27, 2012, 14:22 »
I left 123 about a year ago... it made a little dent in my income, nothing to worry about.  A site thtat makes me between 2-5 % is nothing to worry about.
A site that constantly pushes yuri and andres images in front of mine...
A site that doesn't know the difference between underexposure and low key,
A site that doesn't know the difference between high key and over exposure
A site that deliberately refuses good food/product shots
A site that has big attitude .?................. and doesn't make if for contributors..........?..................

That's not exactly the site i'm searching for.... nor would expect to perform for me.

I make 50 fold on SS... 123 jump... to the bottom.

Patrick.

ps : just want to make clear the search position makes it all... and...... does the site (admins) like your pictures.

12
Keep dreaming.

13
Software - General / Re: adobe bridge CS5 slow
« on: May 09, 2012, 10:09 »
Have you tried assigning/using a  scratch disk.?..

Patrick.

14
Software - General / Re: adobe bridge CS5 slow
« on: May 07, 2012, 11:49 »
using the scroll wheel while standing on the zoom area will switch the magnification.
What/where's the scroll wheel?

Mousewheel....

15
Software - General / Re: adobe bridge CS5 slow
« on: May 07, 2012, 09:51 »
i use lightroom for raw to jpg.. and use adobe bridge to edit keywords.

I wonder is lightroom works perfectly for keywords and possible to dump the adobe bridge totally? one thing i like lightroom is the zoom feature is really good to check the quality of image, the zoom in bridge is not really helpful.

Why don't you use Adobe Camera Raw, which in integrated in Bridge?
Butting in, it's not as handy as it would be if you could just either hover to zoom, or click to zoom into a detail, e.g. an eye, to check sharpness.
Unless I'm missing something, from Bridge, you need to click to open ACR, then go down and select 100% zoom, then go up and select the hand tool and navigate to the precise area you want to check. Of course, it's doable, but not optimal if you're trying to select from several 'similars'.
(I guess this isn't an issue for those with large monitors who get huge Bridge previews. I only have space for a tiny monitor.)
In old versions of Bridge, you could click and get a zoom on the immediate area, e.g. an eye, BUT it was a 200% zoom, and I never found out how to reset the default to 200%, before the feature disappeared in the current version.

using the scroll wheel while standing on the zoom area will switch the magnification.

Patrick.

16
Dreamstime.com / Re: New DT 2012 Pricing Structure
« on: April 27, 2012, 02:01 »
I think the complaining has been about the lack of a raise, not about taking a raise themselves and passing on only a little to contributors. The closest they came to that was when the introduced extended licenses. Initially you had to buy a large-ish quantity and the contributor payout was set on that basis. Then they later added the ability to buy a smaller quantity of extended licenses - at a higher price - but contributors got a flat amount regardless. In the beginning I think it was $20 per extended license.
Yeah, I think that was it.
Me too ;) . No raises, but no cuts either. It doesn't make them the good guys, but competition's actions are making them (look good/the good guys)...SS is the best of what we've got (indies).

When royalties do not keep up with annual inflation, it is a calculated cut. No raise since 2008 ='s a 10% pay cut.

+1

17
iStockPhoto.com / Re: Istock now accepting cellphone pics.
« on: April 14, 2012, 16:01 »
Both side have valid points.

IMO if an image is technical okay... why not acceptable.?. :)
How much different is a Ipod, iPAD, Iphone image from a point and shoot.?.. where is the line.?.

Patrick H.

But that's the problem, they AREN'T technically OK. They might be compositionally OK, they might be creatively OK, but I don't see how cellphone pics can be technically as good as something taken from a high-end camera. If they are, then we are all fools for spending thousands of dollars on tripods, cameras, studio equipment, etc. etc.

There's a big different between "technically OK" and "as good as a high end dslr".  As has been pointed out, in favourable circumstances the best of the cellphone cameras can produce technically adequate photos.

We pay for high-end cameras because they are far more capable and perform well in tough circumstances. We can do lots of things with a good SLR that are simply impossible with a cellphone.

let me comprehensive on a answer, being an inspector.
Maybe I can not,, but as an employee i do need to follow guidelines.................................  :o
sorry.....

18
iStockPhoto.com / Re: Istock now accepting cellphone pics.
« on: April 14, 2012, 12:42 »
Both side have valid points.

IMO if an image is technical okay... why not acceptable.?. :)
How much different is a Ipod, iPAD, Iphone image from a point and shoot.?.. where is the line.?.

Patrick H.

19
General Stock Discussion / Re: World's most downloaded man
« on: April 14, 2012, 11:46 »
I am a member of a belgium model/photographer contact site for years now.  A few weeks ago images of that model appeared on the site in a model portfolio offering his modelling for stock for free.... needles to say that account got deleted within hours.

Patrick.

20
Software - General / Re: replace semi colon to coma
« on: March 16, 2012, 02:08 »
Microsoft word, use function replace on whole text...

Patrick H.

21
anyone knows?
yes, it is a "free", but it has mine anyway...
as i know, in DT, for example, even "free" photos shown in your PF.
PS it is any advantage from free photos in FT?

Yes, there are advantages for free photos.

1. Buyers don't have to pay for them.
2. The site gets more traffic from people looking for free photos, which may help the site, but not as much as it helps people looking for free photos.

 ;D

22
Canon / Re: Canon 5D Mark III 3 - Rumor Page :)
« on: February 03, 2012, 09:41 »
5DX might be aimed at studio shooters who would also like performance for outdoor photography. If the specs are right, then I believe it's a smart move from Canon. Better focusing system is all I wanted on my 5d2. It sounds like a reasonable update. On the other hand, I fail to see how Nikon will get clean images from a 36 MP full frame sensor. I suspect you won't be able to "crop to xxxl" from a noisy / soft image, but rather downsize and there goes your MP advantage...

I think if Sony can get near full frame quality from a 24MP crop sensor it shouldn't be too hard to get excellent quality from a 36MP full frame sensor.

And I'm not sure why everyone complains about the 5DMII's focusing. I've used if for everything including fast moving objects and it works fine. So just to have 61pts is worth spending $2,700? Not for me. If these specs are right I'll be taking the money I have set aside for the new 5D and picking up an NEX-7.

+1

23
Off Topic / Re: Future of MicroStock?
« on: January 24, 2012, 16:40 »
I don't see how the Spotify model can work for images that need to be incorporated into something in another piece of software - Photoshop, InDesign, some HTML somewhere, etc.

All the streaming music services use some sort of DRM and  although I'm sure people do try to get around that, you can't just save an MP3 file when listening to Spotify. And with paid services (Spotify or Rhapsody) you need to connect to the service at least once a month for the mobile saved files to continue to play (and those play only in their app, not any music player of your choice).

If you just looked at pictures, it might be analagous, but as that's not what people do when they license stock images, a whole lot of additional software would be needed - and adoption of that DRM software by the majority of image editing, page layout and web design software - before you could even think about using this approach.

And then there's the issue of how you sell enough ads to make money with the free version (versus paid) of the service...

I can connect with Spotify on my AV receiver and record directly to usb stick, or via the rec out mode to an external device (MD player/recorder in my case).
Same on the computer, lots of software out there to record what is played on computer.
Additional option, every computer has a soundcard with an out connector, just make a bridge to the input channel and you can record, or make a connection to an external device and record.  No DRM is going to stop that.

Patrick H.

24
General Stock Discussion / Re: Editorial keyworder
« on: January 17, 2012, 13:57 »
You mention editorial, the only thing that springs to mind is this editorial caption tool for Shutterstock.

http://postpop.drivehq.com/microstock/editorialcaption.html

I'm not sure if this is what you're referring to.


That's it, thanks a lot...  ;D

Patrick H.

25
General Stock Discussion / Editorial keyworder
« on: January 17, 2012, 10:40 »
Hi,

Does anyone remember or have the link to the online editorial keywording tool that was mentioned a couple years ago over here.?.

Patrick.

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