I think all the lovely photo buyers out there have finally realized that there are so many amazing quality images here on Dreamstime, that they really shouldn't waste their valuable credits on my snaps anymore!

So, from the person who wrote blogs about "try not to check DT too often and the sales will come...", and also about finding the time to shoot more, etc... it seems that the bubble has finally burst and I am never going to sell another picture!!!

Don't feel sorry for me, I've pestered the poor admins about keywording and my last batch of submissions (otherwise known as 'rejections'...) so much that I wouldn't blame them if they kept all the profits from my sales for themselves.

Can you tell that I've been working almost non-stop since last Thursday, including ...

This is so frustrating!

I have some shots I want to do for this months assignment. I have managed to get hold of the props I need, which are not common everyday objects in 99% of households...

But the frustrating part is I am so busy with work that I can't find time in the 24 hour day to shoot!!! Being self-employed is definitely a double-edged sword...

I get to be my own boss... but why do I have to be such a slave-driver?!

--sigh--

Enough typing. Back to work...

Since joining Dreamstime and being bitten by the bug, one of the biggest problems I have come across is a very simple one... time.

I don't know what the proportion of amateurs to professionals is here on DT, but I suspect that the majority of people selling images are doing so as a hobby, or at least a part-time addition to their regular job.

This obviously raises the problem of time. Shooting images, processing RAW files, retouching, and for that matter creating illustrations, all take a significant amount of time. Which is sometimes hard to find when you are holding down a full time job and doing all the things which occupy our day to day lives.

One solution is to let the house get dirty, buy takeaway meals and paper plates, and hire a gardener!...

Whenever I want to check out some new items of equipment, be it lenses, flashes, tripods or bags, my first port of call on the internet is always fredmiranda.com

I like this site because it is not just about lab testing the equipment, it is all about personal opinions of many users, all of whom use the kit in different ways and therefore can give you a good spectrum of experience on how it performs.

All items are scored for several different criteria and often people post comments and sometimes example images. Also, the average price paid and overall rating are excellent quick indicators of items which are proving to be particularly popular or disappointing.

I recommend having a look over it when considering a new purchase, especially ...

Try visiting strobist

I find this site particularly inspiring, and it is one of those sites which makes you want to grab your camera and get shooting.

The idea is basically about using hotshoe flashes as strobes, by adding stands, remote triggers and various ingenious additions to create various creative lighting effects. There is a guy who contributes to the site's Flickr images who takes shots of expensive designer watches using this kind of setup, and the results are fantastic.

I'm still struggling to get my head around the setup of equipment required, as the 'creator' of the concept is using all Nikon equipment, and adapting this to suit my Canon stuff seems to be a little more complex... ...

I don't know about other photographers, but since I joined Dreamstime and started to receive sales, my outlook on my photography has changed drastically.

Before Dreamstime (BDT!) I would describe my approach to my photos as being 'impulsive'. If we were out somewhere, say a safari park, I would snap away taking pictures, maybe looking for shots which may look good on the wall, but more often than not I would just be recording the day. 'This is where we went, this is what we saw...' etc. etc.

After Dreamstime (ADT) this approach changed completely... and arguably not for the best. To explain, I was now struggling to look at taking any pictures OTHER than those suitable for DT. Where before I would take shots with people in the frame without a second ...

Waiting for sales on Dreamstime is a fascinating thing. I am beginning to think that the old English saying of 'a watched kettle never boils' could have been created with DT in mind.

For those unfamiliar with peculiar English sayings, this one alludes to the belief that the act of watching a kettle boil will actually make it seem to take longer to do so!

Today was very much a case in point. Tuesday was a massive day for me in terms of sales here. I had 7 sales for a total of nearly $14, which for my portfolio of 234 images was very surprising and exciting.

But then, yesterday and today have been completely dead. Not a sniff of a sale all day yesterday... nothing overnight, and it wasn't looking good today either.

But then as soon as I leave ...

Well, my thread about the copying of keywords seems to be getting a good debate and discussion going. Some interesting ideas are being bounced around, and not surprisingly some less sympathetic comments too, although these are very few and far between. No names mentioned, but no great surprises...

Hopefully the new reporting system will yield some good results. It will be interesting to see how effective it is. I would ideally like to be able to hide my keywords, but it looks like this may never be an option.

We shall see!!!

This is my first blog post! Another interesting new feature for Dreamstime!

Now we can all pretend to be writers and publish articles like Ellen. Let's try putting in a picture...

How does that look? I guess I should try one on the other side now...

Great, how cool!

Thanks for the preview option too, that's really useful. ;)