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Articles from October 2009

Income Calculator Projects Microstock Earnings

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 110 Words | Posted 10/30/2009 | Comments (3)
Traditional photographers contemplating trying microstock may benefit from a new tool: a free online income calculator released by German stock photographer Robert Kneschke. Available via Kneschke's blog, the title of which translates as "Daily Life of a Picture Producer," the calculator projects future income based on user-submitted information.

BAPLA: fotoLibra "Completely Mistaken"

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 289 Words | Posted 10/30/2009 | Comments
The British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies has issued a formal response to what it calls "potentially destructive and libelous accusations" by member company fotoLibra. According to a statement posted on the BAPLA Web site, fotoLibra is completely wrong in its perception of BAPLA's future plans.

LookStat Offers 25-Image Trial

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 62 Words | Posted 10/30/2009 | Comments

Microstock Inspectors: Outsourced to Eastern Europe

By Jim Pickerell | 863 Words | Posted 10/29/2009 | Comments
One of the things that is a mystery to most photographers, microstock and traditional, is the inspecting (or editing) process. Every microstock agency has slightly different standards that it rigidly enforces. Microstocksolutions founder and managing director Mark Milstein shares the workings of his micro-inspection company, which operates in central and southeastern Europe and services a growing number of microstock agencies.

BAPLA Elects New Board, Comes Under Fire for 'BAPLA Academy'

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 615 Words | Posted 10/29/2009 | Comments
At this week's annual meeting, the British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies elected several new members to its board. It also announced a new business endeavor, which is not meeting with the approval of at least one BAPLA member company: Wales paid-membership stock Web site fotoLibra says the forthcoming BAPLA Academy is a rip-off of the fotoLibra business model and will be its direct competitor. BAPLA executive director denies the charge.

Axiom Reps Rough Guides Travel Collection

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 121 Words | Posted 10/28/2009 | Comments
U.K.'s Axiom Photographic Agency has announced an exclusive image partnership with British publisher Rough Guides, which has been publishing travel and reference books for over 25 years.

Fotolia Releases Microsoft Office 2007 Plugin

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 215 Words | Posted 10/28/2009 | Comments
Fotolia has created an add-in ribbon for market-leading word processing and presentation applications Microsoft Word and PowerPoint 2007. The ribbon (Microstoft's new term for what used to be called a toolbar) allows customers to log in, search and purchase images at fotolia.com.

Correction: Hellman & Friedman To Own Getty Images Longer Than Typical

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 34 Words | Posted 10/28/2009 | Comments
"Klein Interviewed By Timesonline.co.uk" incorrectly stated that Hellman & Friedman is ready to sell Getty Images. Hellman & Friedman will own Getty Images for longer than the investment company's typical period of three-and-a-half years.

Stock Photography Sucks

By Allen Murabayashi | 807 Words | Posted 10/28/2009 | Comments (2)
At the time we shut down the PhotoShelter Collection (and probably still), many photographers felt duped, and hurt that we did not give it more time to mature. But now that we are many months away from that traumatic event, I can restate the following: Stock photography sucks. I am not talking about the people who shoot it. I am talking about the state of the industry.

SPL Updates Web Site to Broaden Focus, Showcase Footage

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 86 Words | Posted 10/27/2009 | Comments

New Fotolia Program Encourages Contributor Migration

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 346 Words | Posted 10/27/2009 | Comments
Fotolia has launched Operation Level Ground, a program designed to attract seasoned microstock contributors to the New York-based Web site by allowing them to keep hard-earned download rankings and the search-return placement these drive.

Getty Expands RM Opportunities for iStock Exclusives

By Jim Pickerell | 617 Words | Posted 10/27/2009 | Comments (2)
In a letter signed by Jonathan Klein, iStockphoto's exclusive contributors have been invited to contribute to Getty Images' rights-managed collections Stone and The Image Bank. Klein said, "We've been dreaming about this one for years and today we are proud to call it a reality."

Capture 2.1 Released

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 177 Words | Posted 10/26/2009 | Comments
U.K.-based Capture Ltd. has released version 2.1 of its flagship photo-library management software by the same name. This month, the company demonstrated Capture at U.S. events including the Miami conference of the Picture Archive Council of America and pictureHouse New York.

Circle Stock Launches Travel Agency

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 136 Words | Posted 10/26/2009 | Comments
Circle Stock Images is a new Web-based collaboration that unites individual contributor archives into a searchable image collection.

Picade Launches Photographer-Owned Agency

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 85 Words | Posted 10/23/2009 | Comments (1)

Proposed Legislation Aimed at Your Wallet

By Edward Greenberg | 329 Words | Posted 10/23/2009 | Comments (1)
U.S. Senators Al Franken, Sherrod Brown and Sheldon Whithouse have introduced legislation to disallow the federal tax deduction for all advertising and marketing expenses for prescription drugs. If enacted, this bill will hasten the final demise of independent assignment photographers, illustrators and those whose livelihoods are directly dependent on such creatives.

ImageSpan Offers LicenseStream Business Edition

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 288 Words | Posted 10/23/2009 | Comments
During this week's PhotoPlus Expo, Sausalito-based ImageSpan announced that its flagship product LicenseStream is now available in a business edition. This allows content owners to license and track their content through branded online stores.

6 Trade Groups Agree to Collaborate

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 212 Words | Posted 10/22/2009 | Comments (1)
As attendees were gathering in Miami for last week's conference of the Picture Archive Council of America, representatives of six trade organizations that unite more than 50,000 photographers and 800 American and European agencies met to discuss common goals.

ImageRights Demos at PhotoPlus

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 203 Words | Posted 10/22/2009 | Comments
The image-protection space gets another player with the launch of ImageRights, a new Web-based service designed to track image uses and recover fees for unauthorized reproductions.

Getty Images Shutters Wholly Owned Program for 2010

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 210 Words | Posted 10/21/2009 | Comments (1)
Getty contributor Greg Ceo disclosed this bit of Getty Images news on his blog: the Seattle company will no longer produce wholly owned imagery. A Getty spokesperson clarified that the program is only shuttered for 2010.

Framepool Provides Footage to Sony Music Project

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 61 Words | Posted 10/21/2009 | Comments

PantherMedia Expands to Poland

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 49 Words | Posted 10/21/2009 | Comments

Micros Step Up Legal Guarantees

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 330 Words | Posted 10/20/2009 | Comments
This month, microstock segment leaders iStockphoto and Shutterstock announced legal guarantees for the user-generated content sold through their Web sites. Such moves answer customer demand and make doing business more difficult for traditional agencies and micro newcomers that have focused marketing efforts on the legal hygiene of their collections.

Klein Interviewed By Timesonline.co.uk

By Jim Pickerell | 398 Words | Posted 10/20/2009 | Comments
Jonathan Klein was recently interviewed by Dan Sabbagh of London-based TimesOnline, where Klein revealed that Hellman & Friedman will own Getty Images for longer than the investment company's typical period of three-and-a-half years. Another revelation: On a non-remarkable October Thursday, Getty-owned iStockphoto did $850K worth of business.

Lost HOPE? Fairey Admits Using AP Image

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 216 Words | Posted 10/19/2009 | Comments
Shepard Fairey has, apparently, lied about which photograph he used as a reference for the HOPE poster.

Agency Revenues Down 21%

By Jim Pickerell | 235 Words | Posted 10/19/2009 | Comments (1)
A survey of attendees at last weekend's Picture Agency Council of America's 14th Annual International Conference in Miami, Fla., found that, on average, stock agencies and production companies have had a 21% decline in 2009 revenues compared to 2008.

PicScout Provides Image Recognition Technology to PLUS Registry

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 90 Words | Posted 10/19/2009 | Comments

Reflex Introduces 14-cent Images

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 114 Words | Posted 10/19/2009 | Comments (1)
Reflex Stock has relaunched its Web site with a collection number over 15 million images, some of which are now available for as little as $0.14. The company bills the offering as recession-busting.

Microstock Lessons

By Jim Pickerell | 1601 Words | Posted 10/16/2009 | Comments (3)
There are some who have been in the stock photo business for a long time who would like me to say that nobody can make any money selling microstock, or something along the lines of, "If you'll just license your images as rights-managed like I've always done, you'll get rich like I am." Such assertions are patently false and irresponsible to the next generation of photographers.

ASMP Contributes $150K to PLUS

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 86 Words | Posted 10/15/2009 | Comments
The American Society of Media Photographers has awarded $150,000 to the Picture Licensing Universal System Coalition.

SAA Completes Merger with AVA

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 212 Words | Posted 10/15/2009 | Comments
As planned, the Stock Artists Alliance has merged with the Alliance of Visual Artists, which now unites six photo industry groups and their 45,000 members. SAA's own membership now stands at over 400.

Masterfile Launches Referral Program

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 123 Words | Posted 10/14/2009 | Comments
Toronto-based Masterfile has announced the launch of an "Ambassador Program"--a North American referral program that pays fees.

Dreamstime Introduces Decor Offering

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 77 Words | Posted 10/14/2009 | Comments

Lookstat: Overcoming The Microstock Submission Headache

By Jim Pickerell | 605 Words | Posted 10/14/2009 | Comments (1)
The microstock submission process is an issue that frustrates many photographers. Lookstat simplifies this process for those more interested in spending their time taking pictures than sitting in front of a computer.

Microstock Sales: Top iStock Earners

By Jim Pickerell | 738 Words | Posted 10/13/2009 | Comments (10)
Kelly Thompson recently said: "Today, some artists are finding they can make a good living exclusively selling microstock. iStockphoto has many contributors making anywhere from $40,000 to $500,000 a year." Let's examine the earning potential based on the figures of some of iStock's top earners.

PicScout Image IRC: Industry Bodies, Agencies Enthusiastic

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 194 Words | Posted 10/13/2009 | Comments
Following last week's announcement of a new services platform, PicScout released a statement full of enthusiastic testimonials by managers of professional associations and agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Tom Grill to Launch spAmerica

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 71 Words | Posted 10/12/2009 | Comments

Social Network, Blog Site Ad Spend up 119%

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 190 Words | Posted 10/12/2009 | Comments
Latest Nielsen Company figures estimate that online advertising spending on the top social network and blogging sites has increased 119% to $108 million since August 2008. Such sites' share of overall online ad spending has more than doubled during the same time period, rising from 7% to 15%.

What Does One-Time Rights Licensing Mean?

By Jim Pickerell | 1083 Words | Posted 10/12/2009 | Comments (1)
To most, "one-time rights" licensing means the customer gets the right to use the image only once, not multiple times, for the purpose specifically outlined in the invoice. Any use beyond that is viewed as copyright infringement. However, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is currently trying to argue in court that "one time" means the publisher can print any number of copies of one edition of a book, so long as they do not use the image in other unauthorized editions.

False Premise: Innovation Makes Things Better

By Jim Pickerell | 839 Words | Posted 10/9/2009 | Comments
In "Adding Microstock as a Revenue Stream," Kelly Thompson argued that "technology and innovation perpetuate our ability to lead better, longer and healthier lives." Unfortunately, this is a false premise. Technology and innovation MAY do these things, but not always, not automatically and not necessarily for all stakeholders.

BAPLA Reveals PBF Plans

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 206 Words | Posted 10/9/2009 | Comments
The British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies has announced a change of venue and a new program for the May 2010 Picture Buyers' Fair.

iStockphoto Sales History

By Jim Pickerell | 546 Words | Posted 10/9/2009 | Comments
The story provides a rough estimate of iStockphoto sales and revenue growth since the company was acquired by Getty Images in early 2006. The figures for the years 2006 and 2007 are reasonably accurate because Getty Images was a public company during this period and reporting a great deal of detail about their operations. After the company went private in early 2008 it became more difficult to accurately estimate downloads and revenue.

Keedup Updates Blog

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 67 Words | Posted 10/8/2009 | Comments

Fotoglif Adds Creative Stock

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 96 Words | Posted 10/8/2009 | Comments
Toronto-based ad-supported image site Fotoglif expands into licensing creative stock photography.

Blend Supports YPA; YPA Holds First Benefit in NY

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 85 Words | Posted 10/8/2009 | Comments
Young Photographers Alliance gains new sponsors, momentum.

Jim Erickson: A Contrarian's Approach

By Jim Pickerell | 992 Words | Posted 10/8/2009 | Comments (3)
Jim Erickson breaks all the stock photography rules and yet is one of the world's most successful sellers of stock images. Pick any strategy that everyone agrees is the key to success in stock, and Erickson is probably doing the opposite.

Framepool Reps Austria's ORF, France's AFP

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 133 Words | Posted 10/7/2009 | Comments
Growing European stock-footage business Framepool now represents content by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation Österreichischer Rundfunk and Agence France-Presse.

PicScout Launches ImageExchange

By Jim Pickerell | 922 Words | Posted 10/7/2009 | Comments (1)
PicScout has announced a strategic shift from a single source product company focused on finding unauthorized image uses to a services company based upon the PicScout Image Index Registry Connection. One of its initial services will be a product called ImageExchange, which provides a connection between image users and licensors. ImageExchange makes it possible for potential users to easily identify the creator of an image and instantly connect with someone who is authorized to license rights to use it.

Corbis Trend: Green Moves from Aspiration to Expectation

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 127 Words | Posted 10/7/2009 | Comments
According to the latest information from Corbis, eco-consciousness has become so mainstream as to flavor every decision.

Microstock Sales: Top iStock Earners

By Jim Pickerell | 1389 Words | Posted 10/7/2009 | Comments
For most of this year I have been tracking the number of downloads for 117 of the 150 most productive contributors on iStock. (I have been unable to identify the other 33 in the top 150.) Total downloads of the 117 during the last seven months represent about 17% of all iStock contributor downloads. Sixty-five of the 117 contributors have seen a slight decline in average downloads-per-month since March.

Billboards: A Place For RM

By Jim Pickerell | 365 Words | Posted 10/6/2009 | Comments (12)
An Atlantic City billboard that uses an image shot by Jon Feingersh illustrates a discouraging trend in stock-photo pricing. Feingersh produced the image two years ago, as part of a $35,000 Venezuela shoot. A decade ago, The Stock Market probably would have licensed one of Feingersh's images for billboard use at between $4,000 and $5,000; the photographer would have received 50% of the sale. Today, however...

PicApp Strikes Deal with WordPress' Automattic

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 235 Words | Posted 10/6/2009 | Comments
PicApp just went a step beyond releasing a plugin for the world's most popular blogging platform. The company has announced that Automattic, the company behind WordPress, is integrating PicApp's embed code on WordPress.com.

moodboard Reports Upsell Success for Micro Shooters

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 57 Words | Posted 10/6/2009 | Comments

Fotolia University Launches at Photoshop World

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 65 Words | Posted 10/5/2009 | Comments

PACA Reports Publisher Misuse of Images

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 254 Words | Posted 10/5/2009 | Comments
The Picture Archive Council of America has released a statement claiming that many book publishers use images in ways that exceed the scope of licensing agreements. The organization says that a number of its members have reported instances of print runs exceeding the initial license terms by the millions, largely due to poor record-keeping on behalf of book publishers.

Danita Delimont Named ASPP 2009 Picture Pro of the Year

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 91 Words | Posted 10/5/2009 | Comments (1)

iStock to Sell Logos

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 73 Words | Posted 10/2/2009 | Comments (1)

ASPP Updates Web Site

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 44 Words | Posted 10/2/2009 | Comments

Dinodia Launches Micro Collection Pixeazee

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 69 Words | Posted 10/2/2009 | Comments

Microstock: Abundance, Client Viewpoints Drive Prices

By Leslie Hughes | 527 Words | Posted 10/2/2009 | Comments (2)
We all can agree with Kelly Thompson's sentiment that technology and new business models have a huge impact on this industry. Microstock, however, is not really a new technology but a new way to sell royalty-free images cheaper--a repackaging of sorts.

Creating Value in Travel Photography

By David Sanger | 809 Words | Posted 10/1/2009 | Comments (3)
With the ever-increasing supply of travel images, declining prices and a fixed amount of attention in the consumer universe, what are the best options for travel photographers to create uncommon value?

PhotoShelter, Graph Paper Press Partner to Integrate Archives with WordPress

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 168 Words | Posted 10/1/2009 | Comments

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This stock photography news site focuses on the business side of photography with a special emphasis on stock photography. Our goal is to help photographers maximize their earnings based on the quality of their work and the commitment they are prepared to make to the trade. The information provided will be applicable to part-timers as well as full time professional photographers. We’ll leave it to others to teach photographers how to take better pictures.

Jim Pickerell launched his career as a photographer in 1963. In 1990 he began publishing a regular newsletter on stock photography. In 1995 the information was made available online as well as in print and was gradually expanded to a daily service. Click here for Pickerell's full biography.

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