Istock milestone:

Moving swiftly on from the Veer news, I today passed my first personal milestone at istockphoto.com when my online portfolio increased to 101 images. Small, compared to istock veterans, but a good start given their 15 a week upload limit and stringent reviews. I guess 250 is the next one to aim for. Latest images accepted were of Hastings beach and pier. Regards, David

Progress Veers off course:

A very dissapointing set back yesterday. Having waited in anticipation for my Snapvillage portfolio to be moved over to the new Veer Marketplace site I (and many others) got an email saying our portfolio hadn't been selected for Veer. That's 883 photographs uploaded and keyworded over the last couple of years. What a waste of time Snapvillage has now proved. My photos will remain available on SV until they wind it up later in the year so I might get a few more 30c subscription sales but that's it. On a cheery note the Veer email invites me to start uploading direct when their contributors site goes live on June 8th. Right, so I just start uploading my SV portfolio all over again then? Thanks. Needless to say the forum at http://microstockgroup.com is buzzing with both those delighted at being accepted and even more from us who received the "loser email" as one poster amusingly described it. Bitter? Me? Yup! Regards, David P.S. How many days to June 8th?

Forum Found:

Call me stupid (well, actually please don't) but despite contributing to http://bigstockphoto.com since last year I have only just discovered that they have a members forum after all. I'd always wondered why they had "Members Forum" on the home page followed by "for photographers", "for buyers" etc. Clicking on the "for photographers" (as I always tried) brings up some information but no sign of a forum. What I hadn't realised is that you need to click the main "members forum" heading -and there it is! You need to register again to post there but that takes seconds. A lot of good info and advice to be found there. I mentioned in my first postings that I had only just found the forum and was relieved to get a response from another photographer who had been with BSP for ages without finding it. Not just me then. Check it out. Regards, David

Yay! First sale on Yaymicro

I have spent the last few weeks uploading a lot of my portfolio to http://yaymicro.com/ as I have a feeling this site could start to lift off this year. They only launched last year so are still really new in business terms. They have a number of new developments including the all important views counter and say they have new funding which they are putting towards marketing. Uploading and editing is fast and easy so I have been readily able to up my online portfolio from the 38 files I had to nearly 700. Was it worth it? Well I had my first sale yesterday, netting commisssion of 2.5 euros. Hopefully, the start of good things to come! The picture? A Tamworth pig. Quite possibly purchased in connection to the Swine flu epidemic. Regards, David