As the photo industry struggles with pricing and licensing structures to accommodate digital uses, such uses keep growing. Every month brings new evidence of advertising, marketing and communications budgets steadily moving in the direction of the Internet, with predictions that 2010 will see digital spending surpassing print.
The Obama administration, through the offices of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel, has recently requested input from interested parties as to how piracy and copyright infringement is affecting the economy. The deadline for filing was March 24. Virtually all photographer trade associations and many other interested parties submitted reports and made recommendations for change.
Houston-based Inmagine has relaunched its microstock property 123RF as a mobile-enabled site catering to owners of iPhone, iPod and other 3G devices. The mobile site makes 123RF content available on the go.
Brian Storm of MediaStorm is giving the keynote address at the Reinvention Weekend, co-sponsored by the American Society of Picture Professionals and the Picture Archive Council of America. Storm's presentation, say the organizers, will offer insight on how to reinvent and save their careers by publishing stories across multiple platforms and markets.
Getty Images and Major League Soccer have announced a multi-year extension of the 2004 agreement that names Getty the exclusive commercial photographic partner to the U.S. professional soccer league.
There seems to be a misunderstanding as to why a two-tier pricing system is in the best interest of all photographers regardless of whether they currently license their work as rights-managed, traditional royalty-free or microstock. The two-tier pricing system is not just another pricing model. Its whole purpose is for all images to be made available to all customers at appropriate prices, depending on how the customer intends to use the image.
The previously free Fotolia-owned stock Web site PhotoXpress has relaunched with millions of new images and a new paid subscription option.
U.K. consultancy Electric Lane has announced the availability of Javascript Photoshop plugins ImageVisa and ImageText. Compatible with Adobe Creative Suite 2 and later versions, the easy-to-install scripts can be customized to suit photographer and agency workflows.
I am tired of seeing rights-managed sellers refer to microstock as $1 images. That is not what most people are paying, particularly those personal users who buy very few pictures. Actual prices are substantially higher, even for the smallest, Web-use only file sizes.
As buyer budgetary pressures and competition continue to drive prices downward, production companies and solo practitioners are increasingly looking to maximize their earnings by cutting out the middleman.
There is a persistent idea among many image creators that a photographer somehow devalues his work if he ever licenses it for low prices. Yet recent years have shown that volume can be as significant a factor as price, and there are numerous other considerations.
New iPhone App ID Release aims to change the way photographers and filmmakers obtain model and property releases. Available through the Apple App Store, the app was designed by photographers Jay Corbett and Hans Neleman, both with substantial experience in stock imagery.
New York-based stock, archival and news footage search engine Footage.net has announced the relaunch of its Web site, complete with a new footage industry directory.
If stock photography as a profession is going to survive, we are going to have to find a way to develop a two-tier pricing system. One tier would be for commercial use of images, and the other for personal and small use.
More and more still photographers are getting into video because of the
appeal of the hybrid still cameras that also shoot video.
Photographers love the visual coming out of these big chip cameras –
what’s not to love? But they quickly find out that if they aren’t just
going to be laying visuals down to a music track, they will need to
start thinking about their audio – specifically a narrative track or
one driven by sound bites from interviews. I work in the corporate
sector, as well as create documentaries, so I do a lot of interviews.
The interviews, along with a scripted voiceover comprise my audio track
and drive the story.
I was in Chicago a couple of weeks ago and stopped by
Zacuto.
Zacuto
is a business that has made outfitting DSLR cameras for video a
specialty. They have cleverly engineered an assortment of their party
add-ons that take these cameras to a higher level. They have also
provided solutions to overcome some of these cameras shortcomings.
Depending on the genre you are working in, documentary work, corporate,
indie films or photojournalism will ultimately determine which way
you’ll need to “trick” these cameras out.
In the investment world it is a proven strategy to diversify your portfolio. The same is true as a professional photographer. This article explores different ways to diversify your income from printed coffee mugs to fine art prints to pay-for-click advertising...and the time to start is now!
Tom discusses his strategies for success in stock photography with advice for both new and established stock photographers. He discusses what to shoot, the importance of RPI, selecting agencies and even what gear he uses.