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Articles from June 2009
Flickr continues to be the testing ground for appropriate user practices when it comes to images. When
The New York Times' contributor Sonia Zjawinski wrote about her penchant for printing out images she finds on the photo-sharing Web site and using them as wall art, readers' reactions were far from favorable. Yet some of the rules for such image uses remain confusing.
Photopreneur, a blog dedicated to sharing money-making opportunities for photographers on the Web, has released
99 Ways to Make Money with Your Photos. The 340-page print book, which took over a year to produce, is billed as a comprehensive guide to making money with photography for both seasoned professionals looking to reinvent themselves and hobbyists that want to learn the basics of part-time stock production.
The recently launched Flickr Collection has entered the second phase of its marketing campaign, which Getty Images refers to as the social networking and creative inspiration experience.
Many stock photographers are looking for new directions and ways to reinvent their businesses. Jonathan Ross is putting some effort into shooting video with the Red One camera.
The following is a list of general categories of imagery that are often used by educational publishers. This list is used by the Universal Images Groups and by Encyclopaedia Britannica in categorizing images for their purposes. In one sense the list might be viewed as covering all types of imagery, but if you think of each category in terms of images that might have an educational application you see that many images that might broadly fit into the category will have little or no education value.
In the inaugural year of the Getty Images Grants for Good program, photographers Stephen Ferry and Karen Kasmauski have been chosen from over 400 applicants to receive $15,000 grants each. Grants for Good are designed to support photographers in helping non-profits communicate more effectively.
If the figures in "Getty Images: Why Are Photographer Revenues Dropping?" are reasonably representative, there are at least two major and closely related issues to be considered: the downward trend of royalty-free pricing and oversupply.
In March, iStockphoto chief operating officer Kelly Thompson told
Selling Stock that the company was working on a new search algorithm and a premium image collection. This Wednesday, iStock launched both. Thompson also confirmed that the Getty-owned microstock leader is on track to break another revenue record this year.
Teams from Portugal and Australia have won the print and media Young Lions Competition at the 56th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Getty Images has sponsored Young Lions for 12 years. The company was the exclusive content provider and provided technical support to competitors throughout the process.
First previewed during last year's PhotoPlus Expo and in beta since then, The Copyright Registry has announced the addition of two new functions: bulk upload of URLs and image recognition. Both help identify content owners and usages online.
Earlier this month,
Selling Stock published statistics showing that many of the leading microstock sellers have begun to see substantial drops in the number of images licensed. Rumors abound that traditional sellers have been experiencing similar declines. Several of Getty Images' leading photographers have provided
Selling Stock with detailed breakdowns of their March 2009 sales, which offer some insight into the current state of the industry.
Las Vegas-based Blend Images has launched a product it calls Flex Packs, designed to simplify and offer more flexibility in licensing rights-managed imagery for commercial uses.
Given the rather pessimistic predictions of "Opportunities for Professional Stock Photographers," photographers and stock agents ought to consider several career decisions.
More and more young people aspire to a career in photography. They sell some of their images and believe that, if they work hard, they can be successful. Often, they hope to become full-time stock photographers, so they can shoot what they want, when they want, and eventually achieve fame and fortune. Yet the hard reality is that opportunities for professional stock photographers are in a decline, which will continue in the years ahead.
Last week, I made the statement on my Facebook page that opportunities for professional stock photographers would decline in next few years. Several of my friends and colleagues responded.
The corporate movement toward social responsibility is not a passing fad, says the latest Creative IQ Trends Report from Corbis. Businesses are increasingly embracing philanthropic programs and practices that embody consumer attitudes, which center on the environment, education and ethics.
Footage boutique Global ImageWorks has struck a deal with Direct Holdings America/Time Life to represent the motion content of Soul Train, which currently holds the record for the longest first-run nationally syndicated U.S. TV show.
Deutsche Telekom, the thriving German telecommunications leader and owner of leading global mobile phone service T-Mobile, has launched a microstock business. Operating since the first week of June, Polylooks combines a microstock media store with an online community and a photography magazine.
Munich-based footage company Framepool is touting new high-profile accounts in the North and South American advertising, film and television markets. The deals follow the company's recent expansion into the region.
Corbis and Retna have announced a partnership that adds 250,000 red carpet, film, music, fashion, celebrity and news images from the Retna archive to the Corbis offering, with additional images to be added weekly.
New Zealand keywording company Keedup has announced the launch of a streamlined keywording service aimed at the microstock market segment. The service relies on a 15-word standard that captures the most important technical, literal, thematic and conceptual keywords.
Those selling images to big business at traditional prices must develop a different strategy for addressing the B2SB (small business) market. The strategy needs to embrace the idea of pricing based on value received, so big businesses that receive greater value from the images they purchase continue to pay reasonable fees for that value.
New York microstock company Shutterstock says a recent survey shows that over 40% of traditional buyers are using more stock photography this year compared to last. The survey was conducted by Pennsylvania-based International Communications Research.
Traditional stock-photo sellers wonder why there does not seem to be any growth in demand for their product. The 2006 U.S. Census Bureau statistics of U.S. businesses could provide some clues.
Following the recent election of Image Source founder Christina Vaughan as its new president, the Coordination of European Picture Agencies has announced a seven-member executive committee that will head its work for the next two years.
As of June 4, iStockphoto has modified how it displays the number of downloads for each file and contributors. Rather than exact numbers, downloads are now reported as approximations, such as >20, >300, >1,000 or >10,000.
Veer Marketplace, the Corbis-owned microstock brand that replaces SnapVillage, is now accepting submissions from photographers and illustrators. Unlike its ill-fated predecessor, the Marketplace offers contributors all of the features that have become standard for microstock Web sites, including FTP capabilities and bulk-upload tools.
Last in a string of increasing activity out of AP Images, the image division of the Associated Press, is an enhanced commercial Web site targeting professional image buyers.
A new fee schedule for copyright services will take effect on August 1, assuming Congressional approval. The new rates reflect the 2007 reengineering and increased automation of the U.S. Copyright Office, general economic factors and the fairness and accessibility of the copyright system.
While others providing similar services are stepping away from Flash, Virginia-based FolioLink has announced new scaling technology available in its latest Flash-based photographer Web site design. It allows photographers to upload large images that will display equally well on large monitors and iPhones.
Christina Vaughan, the founder and chief executive of leading royalty-free producer Image Source, has been elected president of the umbrella industry group Coordination of European Picture Agencies Press Stock Heritage. The announcement was made during this week's CEPIC congress in Dresden.
One thing microstock has done for all stock photographers is give them access to better statistical data than has ever been available in the traditional industry. Getty Images, because it was a public company, used to provide the industry broad statistical data that was helpful, but that changed when the company went private in early 2008. Now, Alamy is the only traditionally priced company that gives image producers useful information beyond the individual's personal sales.
The new product category from London-based Image Source combines multiple still images and footage clips that use the same models, styling and location under one royalty-free license.
Getty Images has promoted Roxanne Motamedi to the post of vice president of entertainment for North America. The former executive director of entertainment has led the division since 2001. Motamedi is responsible for the North American entertainment divisions of Getty Images, WireImage, Film Magic and Getty Images/WireImage Video, as well as their worldwide activities, such as assignments, distribution and production.
Leaving out iStock shooters that prefer to remain anonymous, 124 of the 150 top iStock contributors licensed 431,708 combined gross units in March. This number dropped to 380,934 in April and went slightly up to 387,500 in May. These totals suggest that iStock sales may have reached a plateau, but several more months of data is needed to help determine the level and why.
Stock-industry executive Tim Lund and Début Art founder Andrew Coningsby have announced the London launch of contemporary illustration collection Ikon Images.
The newest image publication-tracking service, PixTrakk, has French-American roots. Image-search and recognition company LTU Technologies, operating out of Paris and Washington D.C., French photo portal PixPalace and leading U.S. research and information provider TNS Media Intelligence have partnered to provide to the photo industry a new system to track print and Web-based image uses.
The chart in this story provides details of the number of image downloads in the last three months of images belonging to 124 of iStockphoto's most productive contributors. Based on the statistics supplied by
istockcharts, I have tracked sales for the last three months of the top 150 producers. Of the 150, twenty-six have asked to remain anonymous, so it was only possible to see specific figures for 124 contributors. The combined gross units licensed in March by this group was 431,708. That dropped to 380,934 in April and was 387,500 in May.
"In refreshing the site, we wanted to provide the best customer experience possible," says Pablo Supkay, product owner for Corbis.com. Corbis has redesigned all of the user interactions across the site, from price check to lightbox functionality, in an effort that took an entire year.