Selling Stock Video Footage.

[Doug Jensen]

Well, I already had mine go into the water and sink 3' into a pond the first week I had it. The only open space at the location was a dock and I landed on the edge of it . . . the drone teetered for a second and then dropped into the water before I could get to it. That was my lesson not to wear reading glasses while flying (to see the controller) because it distorts your view when you look at the drone itself. Now I have a cheap pair bifocals so I can see near and far.

The soaked drone would not power up at first but over the course of two days I recovered by running a clothes dryer until it got hot, then turn it off and put the drone inside for about 30 minutes, then heat the dryer up and repeat about a dozen times. It created the best hot, arid, desert environment I could make. Gradually the drone would give me fewer and fewer error messages until finally all was good again. Lesson learned.

[Steven Digges]

I was not as lucky as Doug. One year ago I bought a DJI Mavic Zoom. Last spring during run off time here in the desert I went out to shoot a river with high water flowing. I have very little time flying it. On my first flight down stream about 100 yards I turned it around to bring it back and made the rookie mistake of pushing the control the wrong direction for the new orientation. It hit some tall reeds and went down into the river like someone throwing an anchor out of a boat. i had the DJI insurance but finding it is mandatory for a claim. It did not seem possible but I had to try. I was in an Isolated part of the river I hiked a couple miles into. The afternoon air temp was about 75 degrees but the water was freezing. Off came my backpack with an FS5 in it and the rest of my gear. Off came the long sleeve shirt. I went for the swim in jeans and boots. I was able to wade with my knees to shoulders above water most of the way except when my boots would slip in the current on the mossy rocks. I must have looked like a total fool because even though I left everything I could behind I did take the controller and attached phone. So every time I went down my priority was to keep that above water with one hand. Being in the river was my only way to it, the shoreline was impassable. When I got close to where I thought it was the Find My Drone feature confirmed I was at least close to the drones last signal. But how far had the current taken it? After i had all the cold water I could take I was about to give up the search when I spotted it. It had not been swept away, it was in a deep spot close to where it went down. I had to rest the phone/controller in the reeds because I had to dive for the drone. The two mile hike out soaking wet and cold to the bone was brutal. I was not a happy camper!

DJI care refresh did replace the drone for $179.00. They make you jump through hoops and it is PITA but they did it. So....Lesson learned, hell yes. I still don't have enough time on it to be a good pilot. The water crash took some of the good MoJo away. I'm working on it when I have time.

Fly safe and have fun Doug!

Kind Regards,

Steve

[Donald McPherson]

Steven, I bet you are not the only one that has done similar. Would have made a good UWOL "Save the drone"

[Doug Jensen]

That's a great story Steve! I've done the exact same thing plenty of time where I panic and push the wrong control. On an airplane you pull back on the stick to climb, but on the drone it is oppositve. And when the drone is facing towards me, the side to side controls are flipped which I have trouble getting used to.

I'm glad you had the protection package. Don't think I wasn't kicking myself for not having signed up for it three days before mine fell off the dock. Fortunately I ddin't need it anyway, but if I'd had the chance to sign when the water was still coming out of the drone I'd one it immediately. I think it is a really good idea for people who are new to flying -- as I was. Now I feel a little more experienced and I hope I won't need it. Not an expert by any means, but I feel more confident.

[Bob Safay]

And that gentlemen is why I will continue to happily film from the ground. Bob

[Bob Safay]

Doug, just out of curiosity which drone/camera did you get? The aerials are very clean and the color is great. Bob

[Mark Williams]

Well, Shutterstock just came out with its new payment schedule. A bit of a shocker. Will probably disable my account until the last payment is made then have it deleted. https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/co...arnings-update

[Andrew Smith]

For the uninitiated, just how bad is it with the coming changes?

Also, don't forget to tell them why you are closing off your account. Every drop of water can have its voice.

Andrew

[Mark Williams]

I am currently at 30% commission. The change will be to 15% and increasing based on the number of sales. I will have to sell 251 clips to get back to the 30%. Performance based systems are nothing new. But I like what Pond5 did several years ago which was to delete clips that had poor performance and did not change their commission rate. I am deleting my account because they solicited me directly to be a contributor and reneged on the agreed upon commission rate.

[Andrew Smith]

Makes sense.

Shame you don't have a profile page on Shutterstock where you can mention you are leaving soon (get in quick, closing down sale, etc). Definitely tell them why you are leaving per them reneging on an agreement when *they* were the ones who recruited you to their platform.

Andrew

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Mark Williams

I am currently at 30% commission. The change will be to 15% and increasing based on the number of sales. I will have to sell 251 clips to get back to the 30%. Performance based systems are nothing new. .

Yeah, that's pretty much the way I understand it. Everyone starts at the bottom on January 1 and has to claw their way back up, all the while making 1/2 the normal commission until you get to that 251 mark. That would take me about 2-3 months, so my commissions for the first quarter will be half of what it has have been in the past, or about a $4K hit. Total bullshit. The change would be easier to swallow if they started you at January 1st at the ranking you had in the prior year. This starting at the bottom every time is utter nonsense.

Fortunately, I'm already at 251 for 2020 so these changes won't really affect me for 7 months. Hopefully in that time they will come to their senses and undo this catastrophic change. I won't delete my account, but I'm not going to be submitting anything new for the time being.

[Andrew Smith]

I think you have a compelling public interest reason to go to relevant media with the issue.

Talk to stock photo news sites (angle = "the best photographers are about to leave Shutterstock, so start looking elsewhere for the best pics and video) and also pro-video/photographer news sites (angle = "you may not have noticed but pros are about to be shafted by unfair changes, Shutterstock now rigged against you).

Do this well and not only does the word get out as it urgently needs to, but the suits at Shutterstock will proverbially wet themselves when they realise what the purchaser and supplier aspects of their marketplace are learning. Both ends of their business model starting to evaporate is a nightmare scenario.

Mark, you have a good personal story to go with the factual side: not only planning to leave Shutterstock and your actions to date to make your migration to another service happen, but also that you were targeted for recruitment by Shutterstock in the first place.

Doug, you have incredibly good standing as a broadcast professional who both shoots video and trains the industry on how to do so, but who also sells top quality stock clips. Your voice carries weight.

Reckon you two are in a superb position to do something about this.

Andrew

[Mark Williams]

Andrew, a disappointment for sure. But I mirror all my Shutterstock clips for the past 5 years on Pond5 so I think I am going to go "exclusive" with them for the higher commission rate. I have no desire to fight with Shutterstock as I don't feel they are worth my time.

[Andrew Smith]

Don't fight with them, but do alert others. It's a public service announcement of sorts.

It's understandable that we all just want to get on with our lives, but we need to get the occasional message out so that others can't also be taken for a ride. A small amount of your time will make a world of difference. It's a bit like posting here about the issue, but a much bigger audience.

Andrew

[Bob Safay]

Well, I haven't been in this game as long as some of you, but when I got that notification I started to think that 15% commission on a 4k clip would be about $26.85 and commission on an HD clip comes to about $11.80 per clip if I got full price. By my calculations that is about a 50% drop in commission. I don't think it would take that long to upload all my clips to Pond5, after all, I do have a lot of time on my hands. My question to you all is, is it better to switch to pond5 as a Exclusive contributor and drop Shutterstock, or continue to contribute to both Pond5 and Shutterstock?