06
PRESS RELEASES 27
December 15, 2006
Action Images To Be Primary Provider for WTA Tour
Action Images, the specialist sports arm of Reuters, has signed a contract with the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, the governing body of women's professional tennis, to be its primary photographic provider, covering Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments.
The contract starts on January 1, 2007 and will run for two years. Benefits will also be available to tournament organisers, key sponsors and other partners worldwide.
Larry Scott, Chairman and CEO, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour said: "We're thrilled to be working with Action Images, which is one of the foremost sports photographic agencies in the world. Action Images' global expertise in sports photography, in addition to its role as part of the Reuters family, will allow us to take the promotion of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to the next level."
Monique Villa, Chairman, Action Images said: "It is an enormous privilege to be working with the leading organisation in women's tennis. This deal allows Action Images to play to its strengths, supporting Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events globally on and off the court, and providing photography and related services to the Tour itself, the tournaments, sponsors and partners. It brings our involvement in tennis to a new level both in the editorial and, increasingly, commercial market."
The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour will also benefit from access to Reuters extensive worldwide tennis coverage - both photographic and editorial. As the primary photographic provider to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, images will also be available to the Tour, its tournaments, sponsors and partners via a constantly updated online photo archive.
Tim Lund Joins Masterfile to Direct Global Image Production
Tim Lund has joined Masterfile as Director of Creative Production will lead teams in Europe and North America and be based in London.
Mr. Lund's mission is to direct Masterfile's talented image production teams in Düsseldorf and Toronto, working with freelance photographers and art directors around the world, to accelerate growth of the collection and expand the company's Radius royalty-free product line. He will operate out of Masterfile's London office and will report to the Vice-President of Content Management, Susan Morissette, who has been instrumental in building the Masterfile and Radius collections.
Tim Lund joins Masterfile following a period with Getty Images where, as director of photography, he was responsible for producing wholly-owned content. Previously, he was creative director at Digital Vision, producing premium royalty-free images and prior to that at VCG in London, producing rights-managed stock photography. He has managed production teams in London, Munich, New York, Paris, Sydney and Tokyo. He brings the exact skill set Masterfile needs to accelerate the growth of its collection.
"I have known Tim personally for more than 20 years. I have always respected his talent and envied his employers," said Masterfile President Steve Pigeon. "He is a professional manager with the creative eye of a brilliant, rebellious artist. He will be instrumental in our continued efforts to build the finest stock collection in the world. We are delighted to have him on board."
Tim Lund adds: "In today's crowded creative space the challenge of producing truly outstanding imagery has never been greater and I am relishing the opportunity of working with the energetic team at Masterfile to realize this goal."
Pigeon said Masterfile is investing millions of dollars in creating images targeted at local markets in major international centers. Besides funding its own content, the company works closely with a roster of freelance contract photographers who produce their own world-class images for Masterfile's discerning clients.
Dreamstime.com Provide Keywording Help
Micropayment site Dreamstime.com (DT) has introduced its newest community interactive sectors (Keymasters and In the News) making it the most hands-on, intermutual site in the industry.
"What makes Dreamstime.com the most attractive is that it is organic and public by design," said Serban Enache, CEO and co-creator of Dreamstime.com. "By opening the door to our visitors and contributors to actually add to the site's content and infuse their input as to how the DT site is formatted, adds a new freshness daily and provides a communicative effectiveness and efficiency that is intercultural."
DT has a variety of sectors to encourage member interaction and participation, which in turn, enhances the site's content-making Dreamstime.com a "community" effort. Including:
DT Keymasters: Dreamstime.com [the only micro stock agency that provides keywording services] introduces Keymasters, a crowd-sourcing opportunity for members and non-members to become part of the "Dream Team." Upon application approval and a successful training session (provided by skilled DT editors and techs) the newly appointed Keymasters will work directly with the contributing photographers to load and "key" their images. The Keymasters will effectively "keyword" the information surrounding the new photo submissions by title, description, keywords and categories. "This will enable those members who are photo enthusiasts or who are just really interested in the stock photography industry to become part of it; and it will enable the hurried photographers immediate personal assistance in loading their photos expeditiously and with little time consumption," said Enache.
Keymaster earning potential is .20¢ per image (after successful keyword submission and upload). Interested persons can find more information as to application criteria and apply online at Dreamstime.com.
In The News: A section specifically designed to initiate interest and participation by skilled and talented photographers, Dreamstime.com is seeking out the amateur and semi-pro photographers who wish to elevate their exposure as a photojournalist--introducing their photo stories in In The News. This DT exclusive section will feature photos that "tell a story" or are of news relevancy or interest (surrounding an event; community, national or worldwide; past or present). A five-dollar ($5.00) commission will be awarded for each accepted* submission.
"In the News will afford the Dreamstime community of novice and intermediate photographers to act as photojournalists--to make headlines with their photo stories worldwide while making this sector of DT.com one of the most resourceful," says Serban Enache "...by media (print & television), historians, researchers, students, teachers, journalists and many others."
*All submissions will be carefully selected by the Dreamstime.com personnel.
Online Photoshop CS2 Course
The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) -- the world's leading educational and training resource for Adobe® Photoshop® -- has announced the release of Photoshop CS2 for Beginners, a 21-day online training course on www.photoshoptraining.com (www.photoshoptraining.com) . Hosted by the Senior Developer of Education and Curriculum for NAPP, Dave Cross, the class takes you through a full range of Photoshop functions, tools and techniques; from creating workspaces, to making Selections, to working with Layers, and more.
"There are a number of core techniques every Photoshop user needs to know," said Dave Cross. "Learning these skills right up front is the key to working efficiently and creatively with Photoshop."
Photoshop CS2 for Beginners is perfectly designed for busy students learning the basic fundamentals of Photoshop, as well as working professionals looking to touch-up on their skills, as it takes only 5-minutes a day to go through each training session. Cross teaches his online students how to get up and running quickly with CS2 and offers an excellent way to focus on the essential tools and techniques. Cross focuses on real-world, practical information that students can start using immediately, and with efficiency and creativity. He does all this without delving too deeply into technical details and boring theory, and with no confusing jargon.
Dave Cross' co-hosts the popular Adobe® Photoshop® TV podcast at (www.photoshoptv.com) and is an Adobe Certified Expert and Photoshop World instructor.
Pricing for the 21-day class is just $69.99. NAPP members receive a $30 discount paying just $39.99. To become a member of NAPP visit (www.photoshopuser.com)
The Creative Group Provides Hiring Insights to iStockphoto Members
The Creative Group, a specialized staffing service providing creative, advertising, marketing and web professionals on a project basis, has signed an agreement with iStockphoto, the world's leading community-powered marketplace for stock images and video. Under the agreement, The Creative Group will provide career and hiring information, as well as industry research, to iStockphoto's network of artists and designers. In addition, clients and freelancers registered with The Creative Group will be entitled to 10 free images from iStockphoto's library of more than one million high-quality stock images and video clips when they register at (www.istockphoto.com)
The Creative Group's information will be useful to iStockphoto artists and designers, many of whom are employed in the creative field. Meanwhile, The Creative Group's clientele will benefit from membership in the world's first and largest community-generated marketplace for stock imagery and video.
"The Creative Group is pleased to provide iStockphoto artists and designers with industry information and exclusive articles that will help them advance professionally," said Dave Willmer, executive director of The Creative Group. "We also look forward to encouraging our clients and freelancers to sample iStockphoto's impressive collection of images."
"iStockphoto has always provided educational articles and information to our passionate and ambitious community," said Garth Johnson, vice president of business development for iStockphoto. "We are sure our members will be interested in the trend information, salary data and other insights The Creative Group can provide as a leading resource on hiring and career trends within the creative field."