I don't care about the money, its just about the fun.
I fiddle about a workflow to shoot and upload 300 food images a month with less than 1 hour work a day.
To shoot quick and good food photos with minimal effort. This is a competition. Maybe i should say its about the completion. Like it was in earlier days at photo competitions. Finding a way that works - after work one hour jogging and one hour shooting.

Love the attitude. I wish I could say the same.

Most people pay for gear and upload for exposure and fame.

He does his/her hobby and sometimes get and some money out of it.
Plus having a steady job or at least expences covered and living a healthy life with exercise!

Again, I wish I could say the same.

Quote from: jonbull on September 09, 2019, 06:58

always the same stuff always the same old files...nothing new sells....unbielevable.

Just to see, I looked at recent stuff for landscape : https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/search/landscape?sort=newest&image_type=photo
UNBELIEVABLE, I was not conscient about all the crap coming in. Nothing surprising that recent stuff, even if the best keeps unseen and unsold, buyers don't come through all these snapshots to find professionnal photo... How serious contributors can feel proud by participating on such a platform? personnaly, I feel ashamed to put my best pictures there.
But, I am sure that one day things will change, and they will have to clean up the base.

SAME FELLING...i stopped uploading serious stuff to ss...totally useless at this point...they sell always they same stuff....if you have hundred file in good position you sell them if not it's totally useless to upload new stuff...every sunday i always sell my two bestseller, every day included sunday....so it's not the quality the problem, the problem is that at this point new file have a 1% chance to sell. all changed after they cancel the third tab...once it was easier...last two years a nightmare for new upload.

Quote from: jonbull on September 09, 2019, 06:58

always the same stuff always the same old files...nothing new sells....unbielevable.

Just to see, I looked at recent stuff for landscape : https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/search/landscape?sort=newest&image_type=photo
UNBELIEVABLE, I was not conscient about all the crap coming in. Nothing surprising that recent stuff, even if the best keeps unseen and unsold, buyers don't come through all these snapshots to find professionnal photo... How serious contributors can feel proud by participating on such a platform? personnaly, I feel ashamed to put my best pictures there.
But, I am sure that one day things will change, and they will have to clean up the base.

Perfect example of proof by using a terrible example. One word search for Landscape? Are you joking?

What buyer would do that? Landscape 

always the same stuff always the same old files...nothing new sells....unbielevable.

You say you stopped uploading and when you did it was rejects. What did you expect?

Perfect example of proof by using a terrible example. One word search for Landscape? Are you joking?
What buyer would do that? Landscape 

Consider I did not want to test a buyer vision, I just wanted to observe recent submissions.
Try this :
https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/search?sort=newest&image_type=photo

Better for you?
Your perspective may be different considering you entered here late 2017, I started microstock mid 2004. Maybe I'm not that stupid regarding query and search engine.

Quote from: Uncle Pete on September 09, 2019, 14:19

Perfect example of proof by using a terrible example. One word search for Landscape? Are you joking?
What buyer would do that? Landscape 

Consider I did not want to test a buyer vision, I just wanted to observe recent submissions.
Try this :
https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/search?sort=newest&image_type=photo

Better for you?

just look the ss forum , some thread like doom and gloom or that guy who wanna upload 10000 photos....then you realize.
for me it's unbieleavbel why they keep accepting that stuff..if i were a customer i would pay the dollar more to brows serious collection like stocksy or even stock i s much better with much less garbage.
they are losing market share day by day...their 4q keep losing growth and probably next will be red numbers....they keep losing enterprise customer...shouldn't they realize that the problem is their collectioN?
had they ever browsed unsplash? pixabay...i fell better looking unsplash collection for each  keyword than ss for sure....ahow we can blame customer who buy to unsplash...better images, more creative, right now covering the needs of many customers, and free!

On the subject of titles and keywords I wonder with the AI software getting better and better is soon it will be better for that to be automated and done by the agency.

Right now you have people who are new at this and just learning and might get thousands of video or photo files tagged wrong or you have the spammers doing it on purpose and at the end of the day no one can find anything. Not everyone is an expert at thi but this is a library and if stuff is not filed properly it won't be found.

AI is still rubbish. See Adobe thread above.

The way forward is quality sold on your own site.
[/quote]

Much easier said than done but I've been saying this for a long time now, we have to try the sell direct method, at least try it and many of us are one person operations so it's too much work to do everything and make it work.

Can't be out shooting video or photos full time and then become web developer and site admin in the evening when that itself is a full time job so maybe options to look at are Shopify and Amazon to sell these digital products that we have or stand alone sites but you may need to partner with someone or work in a team or get some outside help.

Then there is the massive promotion needed to get the attention of customers.  It's a ton of work.

But millions of small, medium and large businesses are doing it, selling their products on their own sites so it's possible, not everyone has to go through an agency.

The agencies do make it easier so we can focus on doing the work but lately it's getting to be impossible to make a living because of all the little deals and side deals and stuff that leads to more great news, you are making even less money next month!.

Even Shopify or Amazon would be better than these stock agencies, you pay for the use of their infrastructure but that's it.

Quote from: StockDaebak on September 09, 2019, 19:52

On the subject of titles and keywords I wonder with the AI software getting better and better is soon it will be better for that to be automated and done by the agency.

Right now you have people who are new at this and just learning and might get thousands of video or photo files tagged wrong or you have the spammers doing it on purpose and at the end of the day no one can find anything. Not everyone is an expert at thi but this is a library and if stuff is not filed properly it won't be found.

AI is still rubbish. See Adobe thread above.

For now at keywording stock photos. Though it already beats the best human players on chess, checkers, go, etc.

Quote from: Uncle Pete on September 09, 2019, 14:19

Perfect example of proof by using a terrible example. One word search for Landscape? Are you joking?
What buyer would do that? Landscape 

Consider I did not want to test a buyer vision, I just wanted to observe recent submissions.
Try this :
https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/search?sort=newest&image_type=photo

Better for you?
Your perspective may be different considering you entered here late 2017, I started microstock mid 2004. Maybe I'm not that stupid regarding query and search engine.

LOL another invalid conclusion. Because I joined here in what? That's my third time, I closed my account because of being frustrated with how the forum had gone down hill. Better now. Would you care that I started in Microstock in 2007 or so? I mean would that mean my opinion would be more valid to you? 

A one word search doesn't represent what any intelligent buyer is going to search and the word landscape is even worse because it's so vague. Just pointing out that one word search to prove something, does not prove anything.

I did click the link, what was I supposed to see? Recent submissions, I get that, what's your point? If you mean SS is accepting junk, yeah I'd agree. The whole review process seem to fall apart in about 2012 when they went for "we have the most photos". But just in case, can you be specific what I should be looking at in recent uploads?

Here's a good three word search that should make you wonder what SS is thinking...  https://www.shutterstock.com/search/sliced+vegetables+isolated?sort=newest&image_type=photo
446,334 sliced vegetables isolated stock photos - and it's most recent since you suggested that.

Seems that the limit is around four similar images, although we both know that reviewers are luck, chance and some are more vigilant about enforcing strict rules. (in other words, full of a false sense of power)  Some will probably reject twp images as similar, because they are outsourced and many are just making money, without the concept of what their job is. To review and accept suitable images. Instead they see it as, finding things wrong and rejecting images.

So anyway, tell me what I'm supposed to be seeing in recent uploads, I'm unclear what your point was?

My pov is that high quality content = sales!
I don't know about photos or real footage, but for illustrations and motion graphics this is the key. No search algorithm or voodoo rituals...simply creative high quality content.
But i'm happy to listen to other motion designers inputs.
...Maybe i'm wrong but i suspect that the same rule apply to others types of content.
Sorry for my terrible english

Your English is fine.

Quote from: MotionDesign on September 09, 2019, 15:03

My pov is that high quality content = sales!
I don't know about photos or real footage, but for illustrations and motion graphics this is the key. No search algorithm or voodoo rituals...simply creative high quality content.
But i'm happy to listen to other motion designers inputs.
...Maybe i'm wrong but i suspect that the same rule apply to others types of content.
Sorry for my terrible english

Your English is fine.

thanks! 

Quote from: Uncle Pete on September 09, 2019, 14:19

Quote from: DiscreetDuck on September 09, 2019, 08:34

Quote from: jonbull on September 09, 2019, 06:58

always the same stuff always the same old files...nothing new sells....unbielevable.

Just to see, I looked at recent stuff for landscape : https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/search/landscape?sort=newest&image_type=photo
UNBELIEVABLE, I was not conscient about all the crap coming in. Nothing surprising that recent stuff, even if the best keeps unseen and unsold, buyers don't come through all these snapshots to find professionnal photo... How serious contributors can feel proud by participating on such a platform? personnaly, I feel ashamed to put my best pictures there.
But, I am sure that one day things will change, and they will have to clean up the base.

Perfect example of proof by using a terrible example. One word search for Landscape? Are you joking?

What buyer would do that? Landscape 

Quote from: jonbull on September 09, 2019, 06:58

always the same stuff always the same old files...nothing new sells....unbielevable.

You say you stopped uploading and when you did it was rejects. What did you expect?

my rejects is probably in the 5% for batch. I'm not uploading my best stuff or creative one, simply upload stuff i not consider my best work, that doesn't mean is bad work, probably much better than what you are uploading.

Probably  You got that part right.