QC and Byron bay time

[Phillip]

I have visited Byron Bay a few times, the first time was when I encountered Byron Bay time. I was thirsty and entered an empty cafe to order a drink, it took a while before anyone emerged to serve me, and then even longer before my smoothie was ready. By this time there was a bit of a queue behind me.

 

The reason I bring up Byron Bay time is that I have had a few images sitting in QC for a number of days. I am reluctant to upload too many, just in case like the last shamoozle (made-up word) they were all rejected.

 

It is much easier to watch grass grow whilst waiting for QC to accept or reject.  

[Cal]

it is one of the slower sites yes, but my experience is that they are also pragmatic on QC. So far, I don't get fails here for stupid reasons such as night street scenes being too dark, or "noise" where there clearly isn't any. Some other sites seem to use AI and it is beyond frustrating trying to get perfectly saleable work submitted.

[Steve F]

Hi Phillip. I failed my first submission in 2014 - think I didn't understand about the file size requirements and I was trying to upsize or something. I got hold of Adobe Lightroom and spent a year learning about editing. I tried uploading in summer 2015 again - I've only had 1 QC fail since then. I'm still only 3 stars on QC, but my submissions almost always go through in 24 hours.

 

Agree with Cal, I do a number of night time handheld shots and they always seem to pass QC (although I reject some myself if they have too much colour noise).

[Brian Yarvin]

Phillip, it's only a few days; not much when you think about it. And if nothing else; you've taught me about a place I'd never heard of before; Byron Bay, AU. 

 

For the record - the entire stock photo industry runs on Byron Bay time, it's only Alamy that doesn't hide that from you.

[Phillip]

3 hours ago, Brian Yarvin said:

Phillip, it's only a few days; not much when you think about it. And if nothing else; you've taught me about a place I'd never heard of before; Byron Bay, AU. 

 

For the record - the entire stock photo industry runs on Byron Bay time, it's only Alamy that doesn't hide that from you.

Whilst Byron is on the tourist map, there is a town Lockhart that is off the tourist track, what is unique about Lockhart is that it is known as the Verandah town and I plan to visit just to show the uniqueness of the town. It may not be high on the saleability scale but who knows?

[Brian Yarvin]

Phillip, location often has nothing to do with salability. Your picture of a cresting wave, a glass of water, a rack of bicycles, or people boarding a tour bus may be exactly what a buyer is searching for.

[gvallee]

1 hour ago, Brian Yarvin said:

Phillip, location often has nothing to do with salability. Your picture of a cresting wave, a glass of water, a rack of bicycles, or people boarding a tour bus may be exactly what a buyer is searching for.

 

I wouldn't agree with this statement, at least for the Australian market which is very small.  My target is the travel market. I had numerous licenses purely showing what a particular tourist spot looks like. Covid changed travel habits in Australia, people travel less abroad, domestic travel has exploded, in particular caravans and motorhomes crawling from one scenic spot to the next.

 

Having said that, I have 58 images of Lockhart, none has ever sold. Perhaps they're not good enough. Over to you Philip!

 

[Brian Yarvin]

15 hours ago, gvallee said:

 

I wouldn't agree with this statement, at least for the Australian market which is very small.  My target is the travel market. I had numerous licenses purely showing what a particular tourist spot looks like. Covid changed travel habits in Australia, people travel less abroad, domestic travel has exploded, in particular caravans and motorhomes crawling from one scenic spot to the next.

 

Having said that, I have 58 images of Lockhart, none has ever sold. Perhaps they're not good enough. Over to you Philip!

 

 

Very interesting. Is your Alamy collection part of a broader effort to work with the Australian travel industry?  

[gvallee]

4 hours ago, Brian Yarvin said:

 

Very interesting. Is your Alamy collection part of a broader effort to work with the Australian travel industry?  

 

No Brian, i just combine my two passions: travel and photography. I've never been in it for the money or made any particular effort at marketing. I am permanently on the road, away from big cities. It doesn't mean I point my camera at everything I see. Before pressing the shutter I ask myself 'is it of interest to the travel industry?'. 

 

I am lucky to have a heavy duty 4x4 vehicle that allows us to get to very remote places. Many times we heard the comment 'you guys see places that us Australians will never see'. So I document them. While checking on possible copyright infringements, I was thrilled to discover that I had been published in National Geographic with this image. This gives me pleasure.

 

 

Ironically, location wise, sometimes it licenses because an event happened there: drowning, murder...

[Brian Yarvin]

You are very lucky indeed. 

[Marianne]

Gen, I want your life! 

 

And I want to visit Australia some day. It seems like such a fascinating place. If my husband ever retires (he's younger than I am and a workaholic), we'll have the time to make the trek - I figure a month is the shortest time possible and with such a huge place we'll only get to see a bit. When the time comes, I hope you can help me plan an itinerary. 

 

That's a gorgeous photo - congrats on Nat Geo! I have one image in a National Geographic book. I know what page it's on but don't know what photo it is! 

[gvallee]

29 minutes ago, Marianne said:

Gen, I want your life! 

 

And I want to visit Australia some day. It seems like such a fascinating place. If my husband ever retires (he's younger than I am and a workaholic), we'll have the time to make the trek - I figure a month is the shortest time possible and with such a huge place we'll only get to see a bit. When the time comes, I hope you can help me plan an itinerary. 

 

That's a gorgeous photo - congrats on Nat Geo! I have one image in a National Geographic book. I know what page it's on but don't know what photo it is! 

 

I can't complain. We're currently camped by a beach of the Coral Sea. There are king tides this week, 'lapping waves' expression keeps coming to my mind. Are we going to get wet feet? We're that close, about 5m away from the waves. From my bed, I can see the sunrise which can be spectacular with the monsoon clouds. I either rush to the beach with my camera or have breakfast in bed. The French way. With croissants. Then I check my sales and swear: another blank screen for the day 🙃 So yeah, no complains.

 

But what I really like is travelling in the Outback with red dust flying, crossing creeks and washouts, wondering what we're going to break this time. Then sitting under the awning contemplating the wilderness and its sounds with a glass of chilled wine in hand. No one else around. That's what makes me tick.

 

I would agree with you that a month is a minimum stay for Oz because of huge distances. It will be either a lot of driving or flying. I don't actually think that driving all the time is feasible, or at least perhaps rent a vehicle after each plane hop. I'm happy to advise but as you can see, I am not a city person. Things are also made complicated with reverse seasons between the north and the south. Anyway, if you ever make it, there is no question that you will enjoy it. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Marianne]

34 minutes ago, gvallee said:

 

I can't complain. We're currently camped by a beach of the Coral Sea. There are king tides this week, 'lapping waves' expression keeps coming to my mind. Are we going to get wet feet? We're that close, about 5m away from the waves. From my bed, I can see the sunrise which can be spectacular with the monsoon clouds. I either rush to the beach with my camera or have breakfast in bed. The French way. With croissants. Then I check my sales and swear: another blank screen for the day 🙃 So yeah, no complains.

 

But what I really like is travelling in the Outback with red dust flying, crossing creeks and washouts, wondering what we're going to break this time. Then sitting under the awning contemplating the wilderness and its sounds with a glass of chilled wine in hand. No one else around. That's what makes me tick.

 

I would agree with you that a month is a minimum stay for Oz because of huge distances. It will be either a lot of driving or flying. I don't actually think that driving all the time is feasible, or at least perhaps rent a vehicle after each plane hop. I'm happy to advise but as you can see, I am not a city person. Things are also made complicated with reverse seasons between the north and the south. Anyway, if you ever make it, there is no question that you will enjoy it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm an hour from NYC, and aside from college, I've either lived in the city itself or within an easy commute my entire life. Yes, I want to see Sydney, but to me Australia is about the Outback - all those unusual birds and other creatures. And vast beautiful open spaces. That's what draws me there.