Kirk Fisher

At least at the size you posted, I don't see any noise or grain. You do have a narrow field of focus so I would add "Selective focus on leaves etc." (or something like that) and submit again just in case the out of focus areas are fooling their reviewer (or software) into seeing it as grain or noise. I've had to include that on occasion even though it doesn't make sense to have to.

Try shooting RAW if you aren't already and your camera allows it. You'll be able to push lightening the shadows much more without creating noise. Obviously, play with noise reduction too. You can use it in spots if the rest of the image is good. If you're just raising the shadows, try dropping the black a bit at the same time - they can work together to ease some of the noise if there is any. If you're shooting manual try to work with your aperture to find your best setting. If you're using over 11 or 12 it can create noise which is much more noticeable when you lighten the image. Also, keep your iso as low as possible for the shot. Also, the reviewers have been a little crazy lately so if you look at 100% and you think it looks good, just submit again.

You have to be the exception to the rule. I've only see one other person say the same. I'm about 60% off.

That area has been down or inaccessible for months on my page, too. I'm sure it's the same way for everyone. You need to go to portfolio/catalog manager and then the sets will appear on the left of the page.

Don't forget that members can hover over a name and click "Ignore user". Just in case some new member comes onboard acting like a pompous, pontificating, gloating ass.

I thought he was referring to stats per day, not a month, but you may be right. 94 downloads a month with 25,000 photos does not make sense though.

Those are great numbers but with 25,000 photos, it's hard to tell unless you compare it to last year. June is historically busier than May.

It could be that they are selling the company and part of the deal is that they do the dirty work of lowering commissions/rates and then the new company management is the good guy by raising them a little bit. Very common for companies to lay off workers before a sale so the new owners aren't the bad guy. Bottom line in this scenario would be that we still get less money. I have no proof - just a guess - but I've seen this happen with businesses when changing hands.

I would love this but I still see that it says you must have 1000 downloads to submit illustrative editorial at adobe. I hope you're right though.

Interesting and sounds like a positive thing. Thanks for the answer.

Just curious - how is this group going to help? Is it just more of the same (justifiable) complaining, or is there a specific purpose? Why is it different than this board. Just asking, not being rude...

This makes a lot of sense. Very likely scenario.

I believe this to be true. Combine that with the proliferation of free use sites like unsplash, pixabay, etc. (who have images comparable in quality to ss), and the increase in quality of cell phone cameras, and the profession of "stock photographer" will be a thing of the past. Very sad, but the world is changing quickly. 10 years ago who would have thought taxi drivers jobs would be threatened by uber, and small hotels would be crushed by the influx of airbnb's. There are even more examples out there, but stock photography is definitely going in that direction, both for the photographers and for the sites who sell their photos.

I think you've made your point many, many times, so you seriously should consider stepping away from the forum for awhile as someone suggested. You're probably a nice person and you have a great port, but you're starting to appear a little hysterical and you seem to be getting more angry with each post. You aren't going to change anyone's mind so just let people here vent and stop trying to "correct" them. I'm sure you won't take this advice, but I'm hoping you give the boards a break for awhile if not for everyone else, but also for your own sanity.

It seems the text from their facebook page is slightly different and maybe more promising: "We recently announced a change to our contributor earnings structure which has raised concerns from our community. We are actively reviewing all feedback and addressing contributor questions directly. Please contact our contributor support team via submit@shutterstock.com with any questions you may have."