A quick update. I have had no sales at dreamstime and their interface is as annoying as ever. I've had a sale at snapvillage and two sales at 123rf. I finally got accepted to fotolia (what's their problem, it's microstock, you're selling my images for pennies, get over yourselves) and had 2 sales.

One of the sites I had wanted to review was photoshelter. They were different. They weren't micro, they were about the photographer and they showed promise. They accepted my images and they had a great community going. I was ready to pull out of micro altogether. Then on September 11 (how auspicious) they shut down. Those that had been with them awhile claim to have seen the warning signs and I suppose given time I might have seen it too.

So Photoshelter collection is no more, as of October 10 they will delete all images in the collection. I didn't have that many images there (a bunch waiting in the queue though). There are some very disgruntled people. I partly understand that, it is work to upload all those images. Still, I think putting on our big girl panties and moving on is appropo, in fact, it's the only recourse aside from wallowing in self-pity. Of course if you like that sort of thing then have at it, for myself, I've already moved on.

One of the members of PSC (short for photoshelter collection) opened up a forum where the mostly genial community could congregate, lick wounds and decide what to do next. It's an interesting community, it is certainly trying to be forward thinking and pro-active. Through no fault of the founder/administrator of the forum it just isn't all that helpful. There are still those whining over their "time wasted" on PSC and how the founders of that site did them wrong (as if it were a tragedy and not a disappointment that things didn't work...get real). Additionally, there are a lot of pro's (and by that I mean egotists) that either a) think they are the only ones who ever figured out an f-stop or b) completely forget that they once didn't know their aperture from their iso. It's a bit snobsville. I must say the administrator is trying, he really is, to include everyone but if you're a hobbiest and poor no one talks with you. Not so bad for me, I have dealt with that ilk before, I feel bad for anyone else trying to glean some information from the alleged pros.

My biggest beef with the people that call themselves pro is that they have lost all objectivity. I know I shoot some great stuff and a whole lot of garbage. But I've scoured the macro sites and frankly, there's a whole lot of garbage being sold as pro. For every 100 images I can count maybe 5-10 that really show some artistry as well as technical brilliance. And ok, you sold an image for a few bucks maybe a lot of bucks. Are you really so afraid of competition that you can't help out a newb? If you really are that good, you wouldn't worry about it because you would know it took years to garner your skill and your talent comes naturally as far as composition and artistry so throwing a hobbyist a bone wouldn't make a ripple in the ocean.

So, I've posted in those forums, been duly ignored and click away when I see another of them whine about their wasted time. Pfft. A pro picks himself up, dusts himself off and gets on with things. A pro doesn't snub the little guy because he's starting out, he gives him a boot up because ultimately improving the craft can only help. A pro has class.

I want to meet a real pro.

// posted by dollyllama @ 9:30 PM