Review of Fotolia Portfolio is Paying Off!

A few weeks ago, I started the process of removing my original images from exclusivity with Fotolia. Nothing against Fotolia. My statistics say that when you spread the love around, you get more back in return ($$$). Anyway, my first reclaimed image sold on StockXpert.

Sorry for the water mark. Anyway, this photo was taking in August of 2006 in the Mammoth Hot Springs campground of Yellowstone National Park. The tent is in Wyoming but the mountains and valley are in Montana. The tent actually belongs to friends of my mother, Bob and Cheryl Merchant, who happened to be in Yellowstone at the same time. After a long hike to a water fall, Cheryl cook out over the camp fire and I got this great outdoor image.

Changes at StockXpert

Two changes happening at stockExpert. As part of their Gettyimage acquisition, they are going through their database and removing any legally questionable images. Also, they are raising their image approval standards. for more information, here is the article: http://www.stockxpert.com/message/view/7905971

Change to BigStockPhoto Delete Policy

BigStockPhoto announced that they are making a change to how your approval rating is calculated. Currently if you upload and then delete an image, it is counted as a rejection. This policy is going to be changed so that when you delete an image, it down not harm you approval rating. BigStockPhoto origionally did this to discourage contributors from flooding there upload queue. This change is not yet in effect, but soon will be.

Chnage is in the Air at BigStockPhoto.

BigStockPhoto is tightening their submission process a bit. They feel that to many "low quality" images are being submitted and overwhelming their submission queue. Hey, look at it this way. You have a better chance at selling a great image then one that just does not stand out. Here are the new upload limits:

New users with less than 15 total approved images are limited to 15 images in the Admin Approval Queue at a time

Users with an approval percentage of 50% or less are limited to 10 images in the Approval Queue at a time

Users with an approval percentage of 70% or less are limited to 20 images in the Approval Queue at a time

Users with an approval percentage of 85% or less are limited to 40 images in the Approval Queue at a time

Users with an approval percentage of 92% or less are limited to 50 images in the Approval Queue at a time

Users with higher than 92% approval percentage have no limit.
Images that are uploaded and deleted will also lower your rating. Deleted images count the same as declined images.