Martin Carlsson

I've voiced concerns tied to this argument elsewhere many times. Put ourselves as photographers and lack of licenses to this sector to the side, the decrease in proper journalism/photojournalism at local level, regional level, national level and worldwide is a very dangerous path - power wielders low to high need to be held accountable by "public" scrutiny, when this decrease and in some places/cases disappears it results in ill-informed citizens and it can then in turn "run wild" essentially, with considerable less risk of repercussions. I find this very worrying.

haha - I didn't mean that we were going to argue. I meant we all know the arguments for/against RM and RF etc. I agree, neither license is on par with today's technology. Hopefully some blockchain wizardry will enable your longtime wish for "small use - small fee" i.e. that actual use can actually be measured and paid for - the more accurate the fairer it would be. Fingers crossed. However for the time being the buyers without doubt are firmly in the RF camp, unfortunately.

Shifting old RM to RF. I don't like it, nobody but buyers like it. Some of us succumb/hope for the best - we been through those arguments. If you look around you see quite a few people saying things such as "RF only makes up 10% of my portfolio, but 50% of my revenue" (paraphrasing).

Sorry to hear your about your diagnosis. Excellent recommendations with Go Fund Me - as much unfairness there is in the world, there is even more kindness. For "advertising" don't really know what you're after, but in general now-a-days it is multiple revenue streams that are required. Niche stock libraries, direct selling, product shot assignments (can be done from home), blog, vlog, affiliate links, adsense All the best.

2018 overall (not just Alamy) up about 100% over 2017 at the halfway point i.e. achieved on par with 2017 earnings before end of June. Healthier prices, probably a lot to do with major shift from RM to RF - succumbing to buyer pressure I guess, but also "rewarded".

You're not putting anyone down. If I cared enough about these "pop up and gone in an instant" newbies I could take it as an insult to the profession, but their naivety is almost cute. You don't get anywhere in this industry, especially in this particular cut-throat field unless you have real passion and I mean passion to the point of obsession, an enormous drive and tenacity, as well as adequate amount of knowledge, skill and some resources to get started. Not just passion for photography that it seems that everyone but Adam has had at some point in their life, but passion and interest enough to care about the whole industry, about licensing, law, infringements, about how to run a business, taxes, VAT and admin, about tech and how to make sales, cultivate business contacts etc. Very few make it into the level of being anything meaningful, even fewer for it to be part-time and only very very few to be a full time gig measured by the western world standards. Photography as we all know is a not one job, it's a constant hustle, ability to adapt, willingness to work extremely hard and be inventive - multiple revenue streams, gift of the gob to get access, to get hired, talent enough for someone to part with cash money for an image when it very often it can be found "good enough" for free or for $0.25 or cut price weekend warriors when it comes to assignments, weddings etc. It isn't a job, it's a lifestyle - there is no vacation, no time for hobbies - photography and family, that's it. It takes real passion to stick it out, to the point that you don't have a choice, you need it, you need it to work out and you need get paid. One has to be able to cope with living month to month, with a sharp knife held to your throat - how many can actually cope with that year after year? The real competition is in fact very limited. So let these cute newbies come with their unrealistic dreams, if one have the time, answer them, if not, just don't - not worth getting stressed/feel insulted or wasting energy on or let's all agree to send them to the best most suitable forum (which is?) and learn to hone their craft first. I'm glad that I never got any help (I'm stubborn as hell and always want to figure stuff out myself), because it has made me confident, confidence to cope or figure out just about anything. The hard way is the right way. However, we all need to start somewhere, but I've never understood the displayed audacity to even think "my stuff is good enough" when you know nothing. Personally I spent years reading, reading, reading, practising, practising, practising you all know the drill - never crossed my mind to earn from it, I just wanted to know EVERYTHING. In the end "they" came to me, which made me start to dare to think the thought. Then in 2002-2003 I left (I actually handed in a letter of resignation and people thought I've gone mad) my job, my very well paid job as an investment banker to follow my passion, with the full backing of my wife. Obviously not for financial reasons, but because when you have real passion for something you almost don't have a choice. Since then, 16 years now, I've hustled, adapted and done whatever it takes, never resting, always learning, always practising - loads of assignments and of course loads of licenses. I will never ever stop learning, because proper passion doesn't fade and I've just about warmed up.

With the best of intentions - if taking time out from uploading, time spent on adding keywords might prove beneficial as IMHO you are way too stingy with keywords - relevant, but way too few. This of course is relevant both here and elsewhere.

Because the "linear curve" in Photoshop ain't straight.

I get your reasoning - but most of the mentioned softwares are contributor/user developed. The free photo sharing sites are no joint-effort for a common goal. The disguised goal is to line the pockets of the website owners - and don’t buy into the oh we need to cover our server/hosting costs. Everyone wants and needs money, some try to disguise it as kindness, good for masses etc. BS. Beggers belief why someone of right mind would allow commercial licenses for nothing - I just don’t get that part, infuriated me. I get nothing for free.

As with most things in life there is no simple black and white. We all answer to ourselves and I'm all for people not agreeing with me. On this one though we're at different ends, which is absolutely fine. The most "upsetting" is not that images are available for free, but that the owners/creators of the website are dishonest, not forthright about that it actually is making them money (albeit not been paid out yet). It is easy to forget that our presence on the web, increasingly so, is a commodity worth real money - so it is a moneymaking enterprise disguised as happy coincident. At least have the spheres to say that they are facilitating a platform for exchange of images for nothing, but they are of course monetising the user base, coincidence or not. I would love a "free" world, no money etc. I'm a secret communist dreamer idealist and all the rest, also big on honesty, thank you for yours! BTW - don't worry about red arrows. I didn't give you any but green. Best!

Well Brazilian seems to have a different zest for life and smiling more than most - if it's because of the weather I gladly take it whatever the temperature, although I find it hard to smile when I'm "forced" to move sofas about at about 28-29 degrees...Happy wife, happy life..

Ian - take care in the heat, going to be hotter than in Brazil today apparently. In it's defense, at least microstock help putting more than just bread on people's tables - free in this way is just a new stoopid and don't give me the exposure argument...being part of community...give and take...sigh my guess that they mainly attract gullible naive snowflakes needing their egos rubbed, as well as the "pro" wannabees with big fish in small pond syndrome.

Jill - not wanting to offend you, the following is in the interest of a civil, polite, respectful discussion. All IMHO of course. 1.Quality is not a valid argument - if it is good enough for you to use it has enough quality and worth. Or are you being charitable? Range of quality covers the entire spectrum here at Alamy and most other libraries. 2. You are paying, you collectively with all other users are paying - see through the veil. You are unearthing a mighty goldmine for the owners of the website. Don't ever doubt your worth. 2b. Our society is built on the premise that we pay for things and services. That payment can then in turn be used again for another thing (item) or service. I love the utopia thinking of a society where everything is free and we don't have to pay to be able to live - we're not there yet though and this type of behaviour is disruptive, anarchistic, most of all it is done in a spineless, dishonest way. On the few occasions in my life that I've licensed images for business purposes I've always paid, I paid well. Why? Because I respect the craft, the artist and the industry - I don't want to shoot myself in the foot, I have integrity. I also don't download movies or music illegally - again, integrity, respect and support. I teach my children the same thing. Treat others how you want to be treated yourself. So I pay and value professionals, because I want to be paid and valued, I work hard, harder than most.

All IMHO and trust me I'm holding back...No wish to offend anyone, but good lovely people for the love of of all things good, think, don't be naive -- everything is money. The Unsplash story is apparently a myth, to make them sounds sympathetic. Hell, my business would be toast without my earnings for three months - where is the sympathy for me?? Please don't be fools and believe the sob stories, they are made up justifications to do something fundamentally wrong without the guilt - spineless dishonesty is what it is. To a 99.8% extent (Martin's fact) there isn't anything worth having that is free. The other 0.02% is genuine kindness - a rare commodity in today's world, even rarer is our industry. Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean that you are not paying or being taken advantage of, at the same time that you are doing a huge disservice to those that work hard to put bread on the table for themselves and their families. The popularity of these sites show the demand. Demand is money, internet traffic is money, user bases are big money, user behaviour is money . A website with enormous traffic and loads of users can be sold for gazillions - the current business model doesn't have to be sound or profitable. These sites are disruptive and calculated, taking advantage of the ignorance of the people that submit to the glee of the people downloading, to the even bigger glee of the people owning it because they are sitting on a goldmine. So to the people submitting to these type of places and to those that download from it - congratulations you are helping yet another bunch of dishonest, spineless soon to be millionaires. Do people not think for themselves anymore? Here it is spelled out for you a bit; Why Unsplash is Hurting Photographers (PetaPixel) Unsplash is (Still) Bad for Photography (Photoshelter) *you = the fools that fool themselves to thinking that using these sites in either capacity, as a contributor or consumer, is ok/supporting a good cause/doesn't hurt anyone/whatever BS reason that makes it ok. Then for a real in-depth video on the subject.

On a good day I find keywording to be an artform, always trying to improve, can give one an edge at times (niches) and is part of work - I rather make a mistake myself then paying someone else to do it for me. Think we're on the same page.