Keywording Secrets From Dreamstime

I has been a few weeks … er months .. since I came back from CEPIC, and about time I start sharing some of the things I learned while I was there.  I shot a little video while at the conference so I could bring some of the information back to MicrostockGroup.  Here is the first one.

This video is an interview with Carmen Pietraru, an admin at Dreamstime who works in the Quality Assurance Department.  Carmen deals with the customers of Dreamstime, meaning both photographers and buyers and has very good insight into how Dreamstime works and how to give your images an advantage by smart keywording, categories, titles and descriptions.

The video is just over 5 minutes long, and probably worth your time watching if you submit to Dreamstime. You can probably even edit a few images while letting the video play in the background

Crestock Acquired by Masterfile Corporation

Things are about to turn around for the Norwegian microstock agency Crestock.  They have just been purchased by the Canadian traditional stock agency Masterfile who are eager to shake the site up and get things rolling again.  It’s going to be a fun ride to see what they do with the site.  Personally, Crestock is of my favorite sites in terms of usability, layout, and overall design so I hope Masterfile has what it takes to succeed.

Crestock Acquired By Masterfile Corporation

To Crestock’s Contributing Artists:

Effective July 1, 2010, the assets of Crestock were acquired by Masterfile Corporation, through its subsidiary, Crestock Corporation.
Masterfile is a privately-owned company. It has been in the image licensing business since 1981 and is globally recognized in the advertising, publishing and stock photography community as a premium brand. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with a European headquarters in Dusseldorf, sales offices in London, Milan & Paris and agents in over 100 other countries. The company is big enough to compete with the giants, but small enough to be responsive to all its stakeholders. There are 80 employees in Toronto and 24 in Europe. The Toronto office sells directly into the USA.
Why the acquisition? It’s no secret that the microstock business has revolutionized the global stock photo industry and our acquisition of Crestock is a springboard for Masterfile to join the revolution. We believe the combination of Crestock’s community with Masterfile’s commercial experience and resources will be beneficial to both clients and contributors. We can provide clients with quality stock images across all price points and licensing models, and give contributing artists an improved global marketing force for their images.
The new Crestock Corporation. Crestock will be run as a separate business unit with considerable support from Masterfile in finance, marketing and technology. Crestock’s founder, Geir Are Jensen in Norway, will continue to work with the company as a senior advisor. Gudmund Aarseth, in Scotland, who has been responsible for day-to-day operations since late 2009, will also continue with the business. He will transition back to his preferred role as a website design consultant for Crestock. We plan to add a number of people to the organization in the coming year to improve service levels and bring more global microstock experience to the company. Steve Pigeon, Masterfile’s president and founder (that’s me) will oversee the transition. Of course, we will be drawing on Masterfile’s management experience and some pretty talented staff to help build a better Crestock.
What’s in it for you?

Your current account and log-in information with Crestock will remain unchanged.
1. Payouts. The first order of business will be to get all unpaid royalties (a.k.a. “commissions”) paid to artists who have previously requested payouts. This process will be completed within two weeks. You can rest assured that payments will be regular and timely from now on.

2. Image backlog. Crestock currently has a considerable backlog of new images in the editing queue. We will get that cleared within two months. In the meantime, we are adding experienced image inspectors and editors to our team to handle larger volumes – so we will welcome your new image submissions and will move them through the process quickly.

3. Quick Response Time. Over the past year, Crestock operated with reduced staff which seriously restricted their ability to respond to questions and problems. Effective immediately, you can expect a response to your e-mail inquiries within 24 hours (weekends not included).

What else can you expect to see from Crestock?
Advertising and promotion. Look for a lot more media buzz as we work with our ad agency and marketing staff to build Crestock’s sales aggressively.
More pricing models. Crestock has one of the simplest pricing models available in microstock and we intend to stick to that principle, but we will soon be offering a broader range of files sizes and price options. We will continue Crestock’s popular feature that enables clients to do transactions by credit card without forcing them to buy credits in advance. We will also be adding options for clients to purchase extended licenses and seat licenses – which translate into larger dollars per transaction to Crestock and its contributing artists.
Globalization. We will expand Crestock into a multi-language, multiple currency business in the course of the coming year, in line with the capabilities of Masterfile.
Legal improvements. We have updated the general legal terms on the website, added a membership agreement and replaced the content upload agreement and the image licensing terms and conditions granted to clients for our mutual protection. We have also added new model and property releases to the site for your convenience (and legal protection).
The new Artist Image Upload Agreement is a fairly lengthy document compared to Crestock’s old one, but it spells out exactly how we are going to work together and clearly defines your rights and ours. In my considerable experience at Masterfile, I’ve learned that good contracts make good friends. You will be required to read and accept the new agreement before you can upload any new images to Crestock but you can still request and receive a payout without approving the new agreement.
Crestock went through a rough patch over the past year and we appreciate that you hung in there with them. We think you’ll see a considerable improvement under Masterfile’s guidance, but talk is cheap: ultimately, your continued relationship with Crestock will depend solely on our ability to do a good job for you.
And that’s our goal: We’re going to give this company our best shot… so you can give us yours!

Steve Pigeon, PresidentCrestock Corporation
3 Concorde Gate, 4th Floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3C 3N7
steve@crestock.com

[Discuss on MicrostockGroup]

Microstock Survey – 2009 Results

Intro and Disclaimer

Sorry for the long delay.  At long last, here are the results from the 2009 Microstock Survey.  First off, a big thanks to everyone who answered the survey.  Hopefully we can all get some information from the the results that are interesting and useful.

First off, let me say that this isn’t a scientific survey.  I am not a scientist, statistician nor mathemagician.  This survey only gives a general idea of the current state of the microstock industry.  That said, I think it does give a very good general idea of where we are at.  This year we had 413 people respond to the survey giving a pretty good sample size.  The majority of respondents came from Microstockgroup forum but the survey was also announced on and received a number of respondents from twitter, numerous microstock blogs, the iStock forum, DPChallenge forum and a number of other spots.

In the first table below I have compared the number of respondents to the number of photographers on Dreamstime and Shutterstock and the respective portfolio sizes.  Unsurprisingly, it is pretty obvious that the active microstockers are the ones who answered the survey.  That said, there are still some very long tales in the results; ie. the majority of images and sales belong to a small percentage of artists.

The Results

Below you will find the general results from the survey which already include a number of interesting pockets of info.  Throughout the next few weeks (and months) however, I will extract more detailed stats which, amongst other things, should will give us a closer look at how the full time microstockers are doing, how the exclusive / non-exclusive strategy is working, how the stats compare to 2008, etc…  I will be including some of these in my 5 minutes at the New Media Conferance in Dublin next week and of course continue to post the results on the blog.

If there are results you are specifically interested in seeing, post your questions in the comments?

Basic Information:

Survey Respondents: 413

Female: 102
Male: 303
No Answer: 8

Average Age: 41
Median Age: 41

Exclusivity

iStock Exclusive: 78
non-exclusive: 329

What was your gross microstock income for 2009?

Average Income: $10,654
Median Income: $2,560

How many images did you have online December 31 2009?

Average: 1156
Median: 600
Sum of  images of all respondents: 440,335

Is microstock your primary source of income?

Yes: 76
No: 330

Do you hope to make Microstock your full time income in the future?

Yes:131
No:197

Percentage of total income that comes from Microstock Photography?

Average: 28%
Median: 10%

Do you Feel Microstock has a positive future?

Yes: 305
No: 98

Which microstock sites do you contribute to?

What types of media do you submit to microstock agencies?

How many months have you been involved in microstock photography?

Average: 34
Median: 30

Are you planning / hoping to go exclusive with iStock within the next 12 months?

Are you considering becoming a non exclusive photographer in the next 12 months?

On which site did you generate the most income last year?

In 2009 which site gave you the highest return per image (RPI)?

[Discuss the results in the forum] or in the comments below.

What statistics are you interested in seeing?

Veer Dash for Cash

Aggressive Uploading Incentives from Veer

Veer Marketplace is creating some big waves this week with an aggressive new incentive directed towards photographers called Veer Dash for Cash.  The program will reward photographers for every accepted image uploaded between May 5 and June 30.  The payout per image will be between $0.35-$1.40, which is the highest the microstock industry has ever seen and certainly makes a statement about how serious Veer is about bettering their position in the industry.  Photographers will of course, still be compensated at their regular rate whenever their images generate sales.

[Discussion on MicrostockGroup]

[Program detail on the Veer site]

Here is the press release with all the juice:

Veer® ‘Dash for Cash’ Gives Contributors Chance to Earn Extra Money

Veer plans to give away hundreds of thousands of dollars for images contributed between May 5 and June 30, 2010

CALGARY (May 5, 2010) – Veer (www.veer.com), a producer and provider of affordable visual elements and design-related products, today announced the Veer® Dash for Cash where image contributors have a chance to earn their share of the hundreds of thousands of dollars that Veer plans to give away to new and existing contributors during the promotion.

The Veer Dash for Cash gives new and existing Veer contributors from most countries worldwide the chance to earn up to $1.40 per approved image submitted between May 5 and June 30, 2010. Contributors from the U.S. and Canada may also participate in the “Bonus Round” to win a $500 cash bonus just by following @veermarketplace on Twitter™ and tweeting about the Veer Dash for Cash. See below for details.

During the Veer Dash for Cash, contributors may submit as many images as they’d like, up to the standard maximum of 100 images per week. Every image that is approved by Veer editors will count towards a contributor’s final tally, and contributors will earn cash for every approved image. After the promotion ends, contributors will continue to earn royalties for every image sale of the approved photography or illustrations.

The Veer Dash for Cash per image cash payment varies depending on whether contributors are new or existing to Veer, and how many total images are approved during the Veer Dash for Cash program.  The more images that contributors submit, the more money they can earn. As contributors have more of their images approved, their per-image-payout increases, up to $1.40 per image. See below for the various payout levels.

New contributors

• Get 1 to 199 images approved and earn $0.35 per image.
• Get 200 to 399 images approved and earn $0.70 per image.
• Get 400+ images approved and earn $1.40 per image.

Existing contributors (fewer than 199 images on veer.com)

• Get 1 to 99 new images approved and earn $0.35 per image.
• Get 100 to 399 new images approved and earn $0.70 per image.
• Get 400+ new images approved and earn $1.40 per image.

Existing contributors (200 to 399 images on veer.com)

• Get 1 to 49 new images approved and earn $0.35 per image.
• Get 50 to 399 new images approved and earn $0.70 per image.
• Get 400+ new images approved and earn $1.40 per image.

Existing contributors (400+ images on veer.com)

• Get 1 to 399 new images approved and earn $0.70 per image
• Get 400+ new images approved and earn $1.40 per image

“Veer is a few months away from launching a refreshed website, and we are serious about offering an even wider selection of quality content to our customers when we do,” said Aaron Booth, Senior Director, Creative Content, Veer. “The Veer Dash for Cash is a way of saying thanks and rewarding contributors for submitting their best work to us as we ramp up our activities.”

As part of the Veer Dash for Cash, contributors based in the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec) also have the chance to enter the Bonus Round to win an extra $500 cash by following @VeerMarketplace and re-tweeting “I’m in the Veer Dash for Cash! Upload images and earn cash instantly when they’re approved. Find out more at http://bit.ly/dflggq.” The winner will be drawn at random and notified via a Twitter direct message. Click here for full details, terms and conditions.

Due to the expected high volume of submissions, Veer Dash for Cash payments will occur on or before September 15, 2010, after all submitted images have been reviewed, tallied and published.  Visit the Veer Contributor website for full details on the Veer Dash for Cash and on becoming a Veer Marketplace contributor.

Reflecting Light

If you have ever taken pictures outdoors in bright sunlight, you’ve probably seen the old standard – the family all squinting at the person taking the picture, with their foreheads overexposed pure white and the shadows under their eyebrows, noses, and chins underexposed to pure black. You may have seen photographs taken indoors with flash even though the window behind the subject was fully sunlit. Of course, we’ve all seen the odd color cast and lighting of pictures taken in deep shade on sunny days. There’s one tool that will help you solve all of these tricky lighting problems, and it’s a very inexpensive one. No, you don’t have to go buy a new flash, or a new camera, or some kind of fancy light. All you need is a simple, inexpensive reflector.

D.I.Y

You can make a very useful reflector inexpensively using the white foamcore board you can get at almost any craft store. A medium sized piece will work for individual subjects, but you might need a big one for a group. Get some tape, a knife, and a weight (in case it’s windy!). Cut the first layer of the board about 1/3 of the way up the front, then fold it into an “L” shape. Tape the corners so that it will stay bent, and put the weight on the short end of the “L”. Now, put the reflector out of the picture below your camera’s line of sight, and examine your subject. Move the reflector until you see the shadows lighten, and take the picture. You’ll see that the contrast has come down quite a bit, and everyone looks much more evenly lit.

Sometimes you can get away with laying a large white reflector flat on the ground so that the light is reflected up into the shadows of your subject. Be careful, and experiment – you can get too much of a good thing and end up with flat, odd looking pictures.

Windshield Reflector

Another good alternative to the white foam core is the collapsible silver windshield reflectors for the front dash of automobiles. They’re designed to reflect the sun’s light (and heat) back out of the car, and they’ll do a very good job reflecting light for us, but again, be careful! It’s even easier with these large silver reflectors to overwhelm the lighting in your image.

When you’re shooting inside, and you see that there is sunlight coming through a window, a reflector placed judiciously in that beam of light can allow you to avoid using a flash, making your images much more natural and beautifully colored. Once you try this, you’ll be hooked by the images you create. Feel free to experiment  with more reflectors – throw one in the sun, and one on the opposite side of the subject reflecting THAT light back at them.

When you find yourself shooting pictures in the shade, look around for an opportunity to reflect sunlight back into the image – this will lighten it, give it the depth and color it’s missing. It works particularly well for macro photography of flowers and anything that will hold still. You’ll probably still need a flash if you’re going to shoot macro pictures of moving things.

If you find yourself needing more control over just how the reflectors influence your image, you can purchase a light stand for around $30-$40, and buy some spring clamps at your local hardware store. With this combination, you can clamp your reflectors in almost any position you need to put fill light wherever you want it.

Another option to consider is to look for natural, pre-existing reflectors such as white building walls, light-colored sand or pavement, a white car – almost anything with a light, neutral color will work and help fill in your shadows and improve the lighting in your image.

A word of warning for DIY’ers – Purchased reflectors can be good (and cheap) too.

Photo Reflector by Impact

While the DIY version of a reflector can work just as well or better (in some cases) than a purchased reflector,  make sure you don’t spend too much on a DIY project.  The costs can quickly add up to more than purchasing a professional quality reflector from a photography supply store.  B&H Photo for example have over 300 collapsible reflectors for sale starting as low as $10 for a small size.  A reflector made by some of the top companies can be an inexpensive light source.  Purchased reflectors also have the advantage of being very compact when folded down and sturdy when full size.

Whatever reflector type you choose – the most important step is DOING.  Get your camera, get yourself a sunny day and a subject to take pictures of, and go experiment. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the way reflectors will improve your images.