With new digital technologies, how old do you have to be to become a professional photographer? Not even 10, according to one experience.
As prices for stock photo uses drop, the joke has been that pretty soon, publishers will start asking photographers to pay for publication of pictures. That idea may not be as ludicrous as it sounds.
How much longer will we need photos for commercial projects?
Stock images, creative stills in particular, have a steadily declining value in the eyes of the buyers. If stock is all an individual has to sell, it is beginning to look like that individual should expect to see steadily declining revenue going forward.
A previous article in this "Business Planning for the Future" series noted that future growth in demand for images is a widely debated subject among stock industry professionals. In my view, traditional customers do not seem to have any growth potential, and there are also indications that growth in demand for low-priced imagery might have reached its natural level. Industry veteran Leslie Hughes has offered an alternate point of view.
Dirck Halstead's perceptive two-part analysis of the photojournalism business is a must-read for photojournalists or anyone considering this career. It should also be a wake up call for stock and advertising photographers hoping to sell their images for use in print publications.
Graphic Design USA has previewed the results of its 23rd Annual Stock Visual Survey. The full report, which will be published in the September edition of the magazine, shows prevalence of royalty-free and microstock imagery among professional designers, but the magazine does not think this means rights-managed licensing is on its way out.
Alamy plans to follow Getty Images' lead in offering affordable prices for Web and mobile products. The U.K. company will be creating new small file sizes and lower prices that are basically identical to those introduced by Getty last week.
In his blog
Thoughts of a Bohemian, Paul Melcher argues that "the future of photography is exclusive content," particularly for pros who used to specialize in shooting stock.
Earlier this year PhotoEdit, Inc. surveyed Southern California high-school students to learn their views on the images in their textbooks. Based on the survey results, the company has created a new collection: Images That Teach.