Vivi's Bridge Camera Challenge: Stock Photography

Have you heard of Yuri Arcurs? He is one of my idol, a very cute guy and my forever crush (that's me blushing.. haha ) kidding aside, Yuri Arcurs is the  world’s top selling microstock photographer AKA the "King of Microstock" and sells around 2,000 images a day and around 2 million a year. Imagine that!

So what is Stock Photography? Simply put, it is defined as royalty-free images taken by  photographers and posting these photos online for sale. When your photos are sold, they may be used without limits on time or the number of copies printed. Royalty free means  the customer may use your photo in multiple applications including advertising, marketing materials, press releases, articles, business documents, packaging, websites, and blogs. Therefore once sold, they have unlimited use for it.

photo taken from a Church in Assisi, Italy, one of my photo reviewed and approved by Dreamstime

How to sell your photos online? You can submit your photos to Stock Photo Agencies like  Dreamstime, Fotolia, Getty Images, IstockPhoto, Shutterstock, etc. They make your approved images available online for their clients to see and in return they have a share or cut in every image that they can sell from your portfolio.

Can Bridge camera users join and sell their photos? Yes, every agency has a list of camera qualified to be used, check if your camera is one of them. I'm a bridge camera user and I chose Fotolia and Dreamstime for my pictures.

How to submit photos? Submission though is not as easy as 1, 2, 3 because approval is not as easy as you think, you have to have the "guts" for this. Rejection is flying left and right, the "perfect" picture for you and your friends will be under a microscope before they get approved! You need to submit your photos and it will undergo a thorough review from their experts to check if your pictures are of the best quality. And on top of that is the stressful thought that you have to maintain a good approval rating for you to be able to continue being represented by their agency. So it boils down to you, criticizing your work first before submission for their review.

Selling images also requires strict adherence to the agencies' terms and conditions:

• You must be at least 18 years old
• You must be the author of all the files you upload
• You must own, or have authorization for all the rights to the elements represented in your files (products, people, property ...)

my Photo of Pillars at Vatican, Vatican City, reviewed and approved by Fotolia

Most common reasons for photo rejection:

1) Technical problems:

• Bad Composition
• Blurry or out of focus
  
• Over/Under exposure
  
• Framing problem
  
• Over or under saturated colors
• Poor lighting setup, poor contrast or incorrect exposure.
• Poor optical performance due to low lens quality, such as lens fringing, chromatic aberrations, uneven sharpness in focus area. 
• Distorted pixels, image was interpolated, poorly scanned, upsampled, oversharpened or JPG was not saved at the highest quality.
• Problems with contrast
  
• Noise or Pixelation
  
• Quality of routing
  
• White balance parameter was not correctly assigned
• for a very helpful tips on checking the quality of your photos check this link from Dreamstime. 

2) model release,  if your image includes recognizable faces secure a model release
3) copyright issues, anything that has label, logo, characters from cartoons or movies, are protected and are not accepted. Also some buildings are protected by a trademark, new sculptures, cars like Ferrari and Porsche, Harley Davidson motorcycles, the Coca-Cola bottle, the Olympic logo circles, etc.
4) offensive content like explicit nudes, drugs, people in offensive positions, racism

For stock photography, it is supplying the needs of possible buyers of your pictures, it could be a blogger or those running their corporate websites or those running a publication companies or any printed materials. Your subject is endless but of course everything boils down to what sells well. Every photos you see in this post are few of my pictures that were approved by either or both Dreamstime and Fotolia, check some more of my shots:

The picture that made me stop submitting my work:

Reason for stopping: After the reviewer keeps on returning my photo not for rejection but for me to "enhance it more", one thing I am bad at is post processing, I only use Picasa photo editor. The officer returned my picture like 5 times for further editing it gets too frustrating that I finally gave up!

I may have stopped submitting photos, but it doesn't mean I gave up on my photography. My aim in joining is to "learn" and learning from the professionals and them criticizing each of my photo for free and telling me how to improve my shots more is enough for me.. Who needs photography schools and paying tuition fees when you can get a free lessons from the professionals for free right??  So, is stock photography for you? There's no harm in trying it out.. so go! and goodluck!

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Petronas Twin Towers - Kuala Lumpur's crown jewel

Selamat Datang ke Kuala Lumpur! Have you visited this city? According to World Tourism Organization, Kuala Lumpur ranks 6th as the world's most visited cities in the World by International tourist arrivals for 2011 with 9M visitors (hotel guests only). Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia, it is a part of the Federal Territory and their most populous city.

Tourism for this country is driven by the city's cultural diversity (Malay, Indian and Chinese) which is reflected in their food so expect affordable and  wide selection for your gastronomical adventures. The city is a shopper’s paradise too and a great place to appreciate architecture. 

The #1 must see in KL? of course their Petronas Towers, KL's famous landmark.  Petronas Towers were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 with the height of nearly 1500 feet  and 88 floors but remains to be the tallest twin  buildings in the world.

The towers were designed by Argentine architect César Pelli and Filipino-Malaysian Engineer Deejay Cerico under the consultancy of J. C. Guinto, and Filipino Designer Dominic "Minick" Saibo.

Have you watched the 1999 film Entrapment?  The climax of the movie was filmed at the Petronas Tower's skybridge.

Petronas occupies Tower One, while the office spaces in Tower Two are mostly available for lease to other companies. At the bottom of  Petronas Towers is Suria KLCC, one of the largest shopping mall in Malaysia. It is an high-end mall that also offers other attractions like an art gallery, a philharmonic theater, an underwater aquarium and a Science centre. Outside the building you will also find the 17 acres KLCC Park.

The KLCC Park view from Suria KLCC

The Petronas's height compared to some other well-known tall structures:

photo taken from wikipedia

Please check also my post about Burj Khalifa, the World's tallest building here .

Petronas Tower's Operating Hours

Operating Days: Tuesday to Sunday (closed every Monday)
Visiting Hours :  9am – 9pm (closed from 1pm – 2.30pm on Fridays)
Ticketing Counter Concourse level, PETRONAS Twin Towers

Note: Issuing of Tickets starts at 8.30am, their tickets are limited so please come early , the tickets are issued on a first come, first served basis). Advance purchase is available.

Ticket Price

Adult RM80
Adult (MyKad) RM25
Child RM30
Child (MyKid) RM12

Official Website: http://www.petronastwintowers.com.my/

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Vivi's Bridge Camera Challenge : Flower Photography

Are you a nature lover? The site of a blooming flower, the beautiful play of colors, the smell of fresh air and just the feeling of being one with nature.. priceless right? If you are a photo enthusiast, just capturing the color of these flowers will satisfy your appetite to snap, snap and snap more! The best part of it is that you don't have to travel far, you can do this in your own backyard. 

Challenges with Flower Photography:
1) Lighting- natural light is always the best but if the light is restricted it would be a problem, you need to improvise.
2) Weather - if it's too windy it would be hard to get a good and clear picture.

For flower photography you are required to have :
1) Any camera with macro mode or settings
2) Tripod may come handy
3) Patience.. patience.. patience and take as many photos as you can!
4)  Post editing, just minor editing will do, cropping, minor color  adjustment like saturation or lighting it up a bit or trying it out in black and white or sepia. Just basically a trial and error.

Check some of my shots:


For more shots please check this link.

So, did my camera got a passing grade? How about me the photographer?? Be kind to me please..  

Like what I always say, we don't need an expensive camera to enjoy photography so try it out, have fun and enjoy!!

Camera used: Lumix DMC-FZ35
Photographer: Vivi

Check also my other camera challenges!
- Macro Photography

-Photography: A Self Expression
-Love Through my Lens
-Pet Photography
-Portraits
-Landscape Photography
-black and white photography

-Night Photography

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Dream Big and Make it Happen

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ~ Andre Gide

My 10 year old nephew asked me once out of the blue, "Tita bakit ka mayaman?" (Tita why are you rich?).  I was caught off guard and I told him how can he say I am rich? He replied because I'm still young and yet I have several properties, I have my own car and I can go anywhere I want. It's not easy to explain to a 10 year old the value of money. I just told him I am not "rich"; I just know how to control my spending with the money that I have.

Which is actually true. It's not how much you are earning, it's how you live your life knowing your financial limitations and goals. At a very young age, while I knew I could move mountains, I was also aware that we didn't have the financial resources of others. In spite of that, I also knew that there was nothing impossible to accomplish if you have a strong faith in God and the desire to better yourself. I set a goal in life and I vowed I would achieve it or die trying. I wanted to travel the world when the time came and I knew then that I would and to date, I've traversed throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe and I vow to see so much more... oh yes so much more!

my travel to Dubai's Global City, and our Boracay Island

A lot may say I am successful career wise. I won't contradict that because everything that I have in my life I have worked hard for. I was not born with a silver spoon. In fact it's the exact opposite. In grade school I would go to school most of the time with mis-matched rubber slippers. In front of our house during weekends, I used to sell green mangoes or black plum (duhat) or whatever I can harvest from our backyard for extra funds. My mother wouldn't give me cash as "baon" (school money) but instead she will buy me nougats to sell to my classmates, then the proceeds will be my cash.

Even during college I had a very limited allowance. I used to sell Avon or Sara Lee products to my classmates who could afford it for my extra funds. I wouldn't go out with friends or join school affairs simply because I couldn't afford it. Whenever I aced an exam I would treat myself at Jollibee and that would be the only "luxury" I gave myself. I stayed in the cold city of Baguio for 4 years owning only one jacket and the color is light blue. (My aim is to graduate so it didn't matter that I was wearing a jacket that didn't match the color of my t-shirts.. Hehe) I ate mostly sayote tops and sayote fruits simply because in Baguio it grows anywhere and therefore, free. The payoff in the end was that I graduated with flying colors because I knew first-hand the hardships and sacrifices required for "me" to achieve it. That made the victory so much sweeter.

exploring the ruins in Rome and trying to decipher the wall carvings in Cambodia 

I grew up with simple needs and a simple life. I believe as we go through our trials in life, it shapes and molds the person we eventually become. With that said, I choose not to partake in alcohol, smoking, or even make-up. I enjoy the comfort of my practical outfits too, I just don't care about branded clothing or expensive gadgets unless I consider them a necessity. The only thing in my life I don't mind spending for is life's daily necessities, my collection of books, my family and my travels.

In time, I am sure I will travel the world. The desire and passion which emanates from my soul is fuel and motivation that will assist me in exploring the beauty of this world with my naked eye. This would be the final culmination of my dream to satisfy my wanderlust... It will take a lifetime but I live for this.. oh yes I live for this..

So do you have that dream that you think you can't achieve? In life there is nothing impossible.. If you can dream it, you can make it happen!

Vivi shared this post for  Pinoy Travel Bloggers' Blog Carnival.

An entry to PTB June 2012 Blog Carnival  hosted by James Betia | Journeying James on the topic "How to Fund Your Wanderlust".

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The Lost Chambers, Atlantis - a gateway to discover the Legend of the Lost City of Atlantis

Have you heard of the legendary Atlantis? The continent of Atlantis disappeared into the ocean which scientists generally believed was caused by an earthquake related to gigantic underwater volcanic eruption. The famous Greek Philosopher Plato introduced Atlantis through his works around 360BC. Whether Atlantis is a myth or a fact is still a mystery up to now but it won't stop historians and scientists to continue their research with the hope to uncover the mystery. For the whole story please check this link: The Story of Atlantis.

While the resort (Atlantis The Palm) was under construction they were able to discover secret passages, their investigations revealed that in theory these could be a part of the Atlantis. Whatever they were able to recover they put them in display at 11 million litre marine home which they called The Ambassador Lagoon.

The Ambassador Lagoon- displays rare artifacts from a long lost civilization and home to more than 65,000 marine animals.

For more photos of the Ambassador Lagoon please check this link.

The Lost Chambers - Atlantis The Palm, Dubai made it possible for us to explore the mysterious ruins of Atlantis., it comes alive within the passageways and tunnels of The Lost Chambers.

The Lost Chambers is divided into 10 Chambers including the Navigation Room, Knowledge Room, The Abyss, Red Sage Chamber, Seven Sages Chamber, Blue Sage Chamber, The Workshop and the Generator Room.

Left picture: Navigation Room where the Sages will plot their travels for research.
Right picture: Knowledge Room Telephone is used by the Sages to communicate with the outside world, interesting right?

The Abyss - The Sages use this room to prepare for mining, it is the gateway to the mine that held rich minerals and treasures.  On the left is their Leather suit used for mining and on the right is the bronze and leather elevator to transport them to the mine which is at the center of the earth.

Technology Center- you are looking at their very interesting banking system! Yes you got that right. Through this equipment  the Atlanteans would conduct their business, depositing and withdrawing blue crystals which was their standard currency.  Cool huh! For a CPA, I find this so amusing!

Red Sage Chamber- The Sage used this room for astronomical studies.

Seven Sages Chamber -  you are looking at Atlantis' Organic Computer! Yeah you read that right. The Sage goes to this chamber to upload data from their exploration.  The computer was powered by the energy coming from the surrounding crystals.

Blue Sages Chamber- is the Atlateans martial arts training centre for self defense, this is where they prepare for battle. In the picture is few of their battle weapons, the Bone-Sword, Bow of Anshan and Might of Heroes Axe. 

Some amazing displays inside The Lost Chambers:

For more pictures please check this link.

The Lost Chambers may not own the largest Aquarium in the world but the drama behind it and us closer to Atlantis made it so special.

Ticket Price:

Adult: AED 100

Child: AED  70

Opening Hours Open daily 10.00am - 10.00pm

For further information please call +971 4 426 0000 or check their website.

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