StockPhotoTalk | Special Interest Blog

Cinemagraphs: Not Quite Videos, Not Quite Photos

Washington Post: What It Looks Like When A Photo Moves.
Great idea. More work from Jamie Beck + Kevin Burg on From Me to You. (More)

 

"We've already taken Berlin, let's take Manhattan!"

This Galaxy, Planet Earth, a little to the right, Latitude 40° 42' 51N, Longitude 74° 0' 22W, then a soft turn to the left, Latitude 51° 4' 60N, Longitude 114° 4' 60W .
 

July 6th/7th: Are you iStuck?: "Check out our first ad, now running in some of the best design magazines in the world. We’ll be adding more of these ads" (Bigstock blog).

July 8th: We've already taken Berlin, let's take Manhattan!

(Whatever your particular brand of Vodka is, Joe Cocker supersedes Leonhard Cohen).

(Screenshots below =>)

 

QuickLinks For 2011-07-12

• 2010 Photographer Social Media Survey:
  Takes 10-15 minutes of your time.
  Survey created by Jim M. Goldstein (G+) together with Miki Johnson (G+) - she was formerly with American Photo.
  Data from this survey will be compiled and shared later this summer here.
  Now good-bye blog again and back to G+ during summer.
  A mean survey question: how many time on average do you spend on social media?  :-(

Google+ For Marketing, PR, BizDev, Microstock Google+ Replacing Blogs (Some Early Mixed Thoughts)

A few hours ago Kevin Rose came up with the idea of simply forwarding his blog to his new Google+ account.

 

Kevin Rose is not anyone, he is the co-founder of Digg, and he only received a few hundreds comments and shares for this sentence.

Shutterstock Preparing To Go Public In 2012? Tim Bixby Joins Shutterstock As New CFO

Does anyone remember a company called Jupiterimages, owned by Jupitermedia, and their conference calls in previous years? Does anyone remember the conference calls with Jonathan Klein of Getty Images in all those years?

All gone, good-bye and Farewell, My Lovely.

But maybe instead we´ll soon have some real Microstock Conference Calls. Why?

Following the departure of Adam Riggs in his function as President and CFO of Shutterstock, Thilo Semmelbauer became new President of the microstock agency, and now another hire on executive level could indicate that Shutterstock might go public anytime soon:

QuickLinks For 2011-06-27

• A Brief History of Time The Stock Industry:
  The "coming-of-age" moment for microstock photographers arrived when the market leader announced a dramatic reduction in contributor revenue sharing, with the ironic flourish of citing "the success of the model" as the reason for the changes. Thousands of contributors felt betrayed, flooding the contributor forum with expletives and threats. It was a wake-up call that the party was over, and that they are just as vulnerable to the desire of the distributors to increase profits at their expense.
  Despite proof to the contrary, some full-time professionals still believe they are entitled to be primary image providers. It is time to stop the blame game and re-focus on the challenge – how to earn a living by making pictures. Photographers can no longer afford to hang out a shingle with the moniker "good photography at a reasonable price". The differentiators for success are as follows: highly distinctive imagery reflecting a clear and compelling aesthetic vision, marketing savvy, sharp business skills, adaptability and persistence. Today’s professional photographer must deliver nothing less.
  Betsy Reid in Stockpiling trouble: How stock industry ate itself? on BJP.

iStockphoto Releases New Price Filter

In a small industry, even quite ordinary news are meanwhile big news.

Details, more here and here.

And by the way, still many, many images in the Agency Collection, given the ratio of quality/price, are just a bad joke.

 

 

QuickLinks For 2011-06-16

• Google muscles in on Canadian startup:
  As the creator of TinEye [Idee´s Leila Boujnane] had a feeling Google would one day add similar functionalities to its flagship search engine.
  On Tuesday, Google took the wraps off a series of upgrades which included Search By Image, an extension of the company’s Google Goggles image recognition technology.
  Amit Singhal, a Google Fellow who led the search upgrade announcement, said in an interview that some of the technology contained in Search By Image came from the company’s Google Goggle project and that Google wasn’t aware of TinEye’s service [yeah, dream on].
  "If there are small, intelligent technology startups that can reduce the time to development, we clearly talk to them and we look at their innovation out there, and we acquire numerous companies. In cases where we feel we can just do a much better job of building something that we want to build, and we just put together a team and build it."
  Matt Hartley/Canadian Financial Post.

• Finally some greetings on the new editorial collection EdStock.

• News from PhotoShelter, btw >"70,000 photographers" is a very successful number.

• Thought Equity Motion gets into cloud computing.

EdStock Collection by iStockphoto, with Editorial Content from Getty Images

Another week, another opportunity for iStockphoto to push some news about a new product called EdStock.

Tomorrow iStock is adding to its Editorial Collection more content from:

"a collection of news, location and entertainment images from Getty Images photographers. You´re going to see unreleased images of famous people and iconic locations. By adding this content we hope to draw more attention from traditional consumers of editorial imagery.

At the outset we said we would be leaving politicians and celebrities to our colleagues at Getty. There is still no plan to get into current, timely news – none of the new content we are adding will be more recent than 180 days."

Initially 7,000 images will be displayed. After last week´s news about the new redeemed credit targets, comments from contributors were, how to put it, unsurprisingly not too overwhelming, with one of the very few exceptions being Nicolesy:

"This [looking at this move as a positive one with the hope to have more customers in the future] was my take on it when I first read the email. Photos of celebrities and "difficult to release/get access to" locations won´t compete with my content and is likely to bring in new customers. As long as BM placement is fair/relevant and changes according to how the files sell, then I don´t see the problem."

Prices for the new EdStock Collection have yet to be announced. Tomorrow. 

 

[Update June 09, 2011: Edstock images "will all be priced at Exclusive+" - level.]

[Update June 10, 2011: The link to EdStock and the EdStock Collection]

iStockphoto´s New Redeemed Credit Targets

Facts below, announcement/discussion, open discussion, comparison (also after the jump).

It is just that for people used to partly live and die with large calculations in even larger excel sheets this represents the biggest challenge, the ultimate kick to undertake some further fine-tuning from time to time.

Note the RC-changes for image and audio files Y-o-Y.

QuickLinks For 2011-06-03

• Getty Images Completes Acquisition Of Photolibrary:
  "The global upheaval this past year, including the Japanese earthquake and resulting tsunami and nuclear catastrophe, along with the Middle East democracy movements, have led to greater demand for professional photography."
  What a sentence. The rest is just the usual Blablabla:
  "We´ve seen an increased demand for digital content in both our editorial and creative businesses, Kurschner, Getty Images’ VP of sales for North America, said in an e-mail, declining to provide specific revenue numbers."
  David Kaplan/paidContent.

QuickLinks For 2011-05-13

• FotoFringe Exhibitor WENN Seals Deal With Twitpic:
  "WENN has concluded an exclusive worldwide arrangement with TwitPic to represent images posted by celebrities on Twitter. Twitpic is the largest and most popular image sharing service on Twitter and is used by hundreds of celebrities to post their candid photos online.
  With about 500 million page views and 50 million uniques per month, Twitpic continues to grow exponentially.
  Lloyd Beiny, CEO of WENN comments, “In what was a hotly contested tender, we are extremely pleased to be selected as the exclusive photo agency partner. The belief by some that any photo posted on Twitter is available at no cost is completely wrong, anyone wishing to publish celebrity photos posted on Twitter via TwitPic will be able to do so legitimately via WENN."
  Will Carleton/PhotoArchiveNews, similar in "Agency signs deal to sell celebs' Twitpic photos" by Press Gazette UK.
  
  [Update May 16] Some updates on the legal consequences:
  
  • Your photos? Not so according to many popular photo-sharing apps (TNW)
  • All your pictures belong to YOU (Picuous)
  • TwitPic Plans To Sell Your Images So It Can Profit (APE)

 

QuickLinks For 2011-05-07

• +++ HOLLEREE +++ The next new collection from iStock +++ HOLLEREE +++
  Called Photo+, it´s open to non-exclusive contributors, with "the best files from the Main collection selected by the artists, available at a slightly higher price point" and the pricing for Photo+ being the same as for iStock´s Exclusive collection.
  The usual suspects in the iS forum are yodelling: "I can't understand why you would increase the price on files that are already much cheaper else where" and "exclusive collection prices with non-exclusive royalties".
  Some other opinions, and also more positive ones, over there.

iStockphoto Makes More Than 10 Percent Of Its Revenues with iStockvideo

• "Though stock photos account for the bulk of iStock's business, video is its fastest-growing category, and last year it surpassed 10 percent of revenue, Thompson said.
  In 2010, revenue outside North America surpassed 50 percent, he said.
  The company also expects it eventually will offer high-end "2K" and "4K" video, which has roughly quadruple the resolution of mainstream 1080p video".
  Starting today, iStock is making the shift with [the introduction of] Vetta video.
  Editorial videos will come too, though Thompson wouldn't say when.
  
  Strongly compiled, more over there in a long & smart report from Stephen Shankland.
  As of November 2010, 65% of the video files on iS were exclusive content.
  On the quoted revenue numbers above ... you do your own math.

QuickLinks For 2011-05-05

• ASMP to Getty Photographers: Time to Bail.
  Mopsik told PDN in a telephone interview that he's not telling Getty photographers what to do. "I say evaluate your relationship. If it works for you, stay there. If it doesn't, now is the time to look elsewhere."
  "I see this as a strategic move on Getty's part to cull out their contributors," to focus on those who actively produce and those who are willing to go along with Getty's marketing strategy, Mopsik says. But he hardly faults the agency, adding, "If images haven't sold in 36 months, what would you do?"
  David Walker/PDN, original statement from Mopsik/ASMP here.

Stipple And Editorial Microstock: Would It Work?

PicApp, GumGum, Fotoglif ... they all had their stories and histories. Stipple launched today officially (press release; TechLunch), right now with a clear focus on editorial and celebrity imagery, and it`s still early days to tell whether or not it would work together successfully with editorial microstock images, as there are many things to consider.

Admittedly editorial microstock never really took off in a way comparable to simple micropayment stock, and it truly remains to be seen how things will work out with iStockphoto´s recent editorial offer (where things might be different because of additional sales and distribution channels).

In a first statement Dreamstime´s CEO Serban Enache said they will watch Stipple closely, "the technology is interesting and there could be many possibilities", but noted understandably that he can't comment right now more in-depth because "there are too many factors involved."

Stipple´s VP of BusDev Paul Melcher said: "Micros, why not ? We do not get involved in the licensing aspects of images, we just tag them for publishers who would like to add value to their offering and for viewers interested in going beyond the image.

Since the display of photographs and tags is ultimately controlled by the publishers, there is no reason why we cannot include micro, if they so request it. Right now, we are launching with a strong focus on editorial celebrity but we will certainly look into it very soon."

Getty Images On A Shopping Spree: Acquires PicScout, Photolibrary

For those which were on easter vacation at the end of April and the beginning of May, Getty Images announced one minor and one mid-sized acquisition within a few days:

1. The takeover of PicScout, on April 27th.


2. The transfer of Photolibrary (which once bought the remains of Index Stock)/PhotosToGo) today.

While the financial details of the deal with PicScout were not officially announced in the press release, a few facts finally leaked out elsewhere.

Given the hiccups, the discussions, the back and forth over at iStockphoto since September 2010 with respect to (simplified) reduced photographer/videographer* royalty rates and higher product prices, the acquisition of heavyweight Photolibrary, once a few years ago in the golden ages estimated to exceed yearly revenues of way over $30 million, represents the next, but not the last move in making Hellmann & Friedman´s property Getty Images more attractive for potential investors and media partners.

(*For videographers, Simon Krzic was a major force recently in negotiating a better deal)

Image: © gregrublev - Fotolia.com

Getty Images Buys PicScout for $20 Million

• "Getty Images Inc. has acquired image copyright solutions developer PicScout Inc. for $20 million.
  The company's annual turnover is estimated at $5 million, and it is believed to be profitable.
  PicScount filed a prospectus with the Israel Securities Authority to raise $5-10 million at a company value of $20-30 million in an IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) in September 2010, but withdrew the plan.
  PicScout will continue to operate independently following the acquisition, and no major personnel changes are expected. The Herzliya-based company has 60 employees.
  PicScout's technology identifies the digital fingerprint of images appearing online, even if they have been blurred or edited. The company has two products: ImageTracker, which locates the use of images online and reports it to the copyright owner; and ImageExchange, an add-on to Firefox and Explorer browsers, which can identify in real time copyrighted images and offer the users an option to buy them."
  
  (Noa Parag, Globes, Israel´s Business Area)
  
  (Similar, with a note on PicApp: Getty Images pays $20mm for PicScout, Israel21c)

A Few Words With Professional Image Buyer Alexander Karst on Microstock in The German Speaking Countries

Alexander Karst is an old stager in the picture business.

He started his career in 1998 as Web & PR Manager at PhotoDisc where he first met his now partner at Die Bildbeschaffer, Michaela Koch, worked later for Getty Images and Digital Vision, and co-founded Strandperle in 2002.

In 2008 Alexander founded "Die Bildbeschaffer" in Hamburg, again together with Michaela Koch: a new venture which offers the outsourcing of the complete process of buying RM/RF/MS/CC images, rights clearance and pricing as a service to ad agencies and corporates. Now, "Die Bildbeschaffer" not only do the fulfilment – but also do pre- & after-sales jobs: image databases, filling images into the databases, trainings and seminars for all purposes.

As an image buyer, Alexander has been involved from Day One in buying and using microstock. I wanted to know more about Alexander’s buying experience with microstock since the beginning and how it and also his perception about microstock have changed over the years.

 

Pixxport (Fotostation) Goes Online, Microstock Included

FotoWare´s FotoStation and FotoWare´s additional software modules are widely implemented in the GSC in publishing and media houses, and anywhere where companies work with images on a professional level, worldwide.

Integrating additional image middleware technology, professional image buyers can now download (also microstock) images directly from within the FotoStation application, without having to leave the application and switch to the web browser for downloading images. Launched today, the new service for a smarter and time-saving inhouse workflow in publishing and media houses is called Pixxport, and was created by the largest distributor of FotoStation in Germany, Xenario; it is currently only available in the GSC.

Actually you can see and experience Pixxport only within your FotoStation application, not on the web. The website Pixxport.de is a product and service information page, not more. To see an early developer screenshot how Pixxport would look like within your FotoStation application, click on the image below to enlarge it.

The first microstock agency which was integrated was Fotolia (see screenshot below). Of course other sources for editorial, traditional and archival imagery are included. The website of Pixxport is currently only available in german language.

Michael Leis vs. Microstock (and Daryl Lang with Dyed Hairs)

OK, this below and this one below are not images from my old acquitance Michael Leis - and it is barely not the task of microstock to make this happen - but this from Fotolia US runs like hell.

[Images: Vetta Provocateur Collection by Fotolia (George Mayer/konradbak) and pshek]

Actually even this one below looks distantly like Daryl Lang with dyed hairs & 5 years younger ... .

Can you imagine the power of an excel sheet (in the end it all comes down to this) making this happen to many people outside for free and for ever?

 

 
 

 
 

Fotolia Offers Free Microstock Subscription To Bloggers

How many times in the past years have people puzzled around with their excel sheets trying to create and calculate the free blogger flatrate for microstock images?

Those excel sheets all went Jamd fubar, and even PhotoXpress does not offer any free images to new users anymore.

Fotolia´s new offer to some bloggers (a few selected ones of course from the design and media world) instead now gives to these bloggers the possibility to download up to 5 images per day from the Standard Subscription (not the Premium Subscription) in L-Size - limited to a full month nota bene.

The images are coming from Fotolia, not from PhotoXpress.

[Update Apr. 10, 2011: To make things clearer for some, I extended the 3rd paragraph]

[Update Apr. 11, 2011: Related: "Amazing free photo subscription offer for Bloggers"]

 

Dreamstime: New Level, Features and Licenses

"Three new weekly subscriptions are added today for designers with short-term projects to complete. With the weekly option, subscribers are able to download up to 10, 25 or 50 images per day. While the product is almost identical to our current monthly subscription, the abbreviated subscription is available at a lower cost."

And while Serban excpects that "most files continue to sell at better pricing under the new level, while any additional downloads will bring better revenue to the contributors", Dreamstime decided "to offer all our imagery free of charge for" this "day", today: "Designers or simple members will be able to download any images for free ... This is available only for a 24 hour window on April 1st 2011 and should allow everyone to adjust to the new price structure."

- Remember, today is the day for the April Fool's joke. 

 

More details below (also on increasing subscription royalties - click on the image below to enlarge), the rest over there and on the Royalty Chart.

See also this thread here on the new Geotagging feature.

 

QuickLinks For 2011-03-22

• How Much Technology is Too Much?, or poor Allen and Grover:
  To be sure, I.T. now offers the opportunity to increase interactions with customers, thanks to Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social networking tools.
  Allen Murabayashi and Grover Sanschagrin, co-founders of PhotoShelter, have no misgivings about having to spend, respectively, 25 percent and a hair-raising 80 percent of their time working on the company’s blog and social networking presence.
  NYTimes.

Stock Artists Alliance Closes Doors

Below an "Open Letter" from five of the Stock Artists Alliance past leaders "to the broader photographic community."

It provides "a personal take on the changes occurring" and their "plans for the future with regard to SAA`s former member publications and resource archives."

Plans are "to make SAA`s assets available to the entire photographic community over the next few months."

-So now more entertaining public fights like here and there.