Archives: August, 2005
Press Release: Photolibrary Acquires Anthony Blake Food Collection
London – August 2006: Leading global stock image group, Photolibrary, are excited to announce its further expansion with the acquisition of Anthony Blake Photo Library – the UK’s leading specialist in food and drink related images. Founded by Anthony Blake, the library now holds over 200,000 images, representing the work of 100 of the best talents in food and drink photography.
From fast food to haute cuisine, from paddy fields to supermarkets – ABPL cover absolutely everything relating to food and drink from every corner of the world. In addition to the best range of subjects covered, the collection offers an extensive choice of photographic styles; from simple ‘cut-outs’ to beautiful still-lifes and evocative location shots.
Glenn Parker, Photolibrary Group CEO, says: “ABPL is another unique addition to our group. The freshness of the imagery and the passion with which the collection has been put together sets it apart and Photolibrary Group are excited to be able to offer our customers this incredible range of modern, unique photography.”
ABPL Managing Director Clare Parker says “Photolibrary’s acquisition of ABPL is really exciting news. Being part of such a dynamic and well-resourced group will mean that we can open the collection to an international market, achieve the full digitisation of the library, and further enhance our services to clients. We look forward to delivering these considerable benefits to both our photographers and customers. ABPL has always enjoyed a strong reputation for the unrivalled depth and quality of our images and for ensuring strong client satisfaction. The Photolibrary Group shares this focus, together with our passion for inspirational imagery. Photolibrary’s energy and dedication to creativity, will ensure that ABPL continues to serve up the freshest food images available.”
About Photolibrary
The Photolibrary Group gives customers access to over 2 million images and over 2,000 hours of footage, available online via http://www.photolibrary.com and its specialist websites http://www.osfimages.com, http://www.osffootage.com , http://www.gardenpicture.com and http://www.monsoonimages.com. With offices in 9 countries around the world, the group is able to deliver superior customer service and support. In addition to a unique set of wholly owned brands, the group offers customers over 100 partner brands representing over 1,000 photographers from around the world.
The Photolibrary Group has offices in the United Kingdom (London and Oxford), the USA (New York), Australia (Sydney and Melbourne), Singapore, India, Malaysia, the Philippines New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.
Contact:
Kathryn Meekings
Marketing Director, Photolibrary Group
Email:
News
Money found on Jupiter
Jupitermedia released the Q2 numbers revealing that they have something in common with Getty images. They have both had a record breaking 2nd quarter. Revenues for the Q2 05 were $33.8 million compared to revenues of $17.8 million for the same period last year. Net income for the second quarter was $7.0 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, compared to net income of $3.5 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, for the same period last year. "We are pleased with our financial results for the second quarter, with record revenues and net income," stated Jupitermedia's Chairman and CEO Alan M. Meckler. "We have been emphasizing the development of our JupiterImages division and the second quarter illustrates continued organic and overall growth in the sales and distribution of commercial images.”
News
Jupiter sells Search Engine Strategies and ClickZ
Jupiter announced the sale of Search
Engine Strategies trade shows and its ClickZ.com Network of Web sites, including
its well known SearchEngineWatch.com, for $43 million in cash, to Incisive
Media plc. The transaction is expected to close in August 2005. Why would Alan Meckler
sell off his Baby? According to his Blog he wanted to raise money without selling
off more shares of the company.
News
Corbis gives away a new car!
Corbis has announced the winner to the Keyword mania promotion and the winner of a new Mini Cooper. The lucky winner is Jon Willard of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in California.
EditorialsFeatures
We are not evil
Not long ago my homeboy Mike from Garagespin extolled the virtues of a new record label called Magnatune. Magnatune has adopted a business model where they allow you to download an album and you can decide to pay what you think it is worth. You have the option of paying as little as $5. The interesting thing is that CEO John Buckman claims that the average price paid is $8.93. Now why would somebody pay more than the minimum requirement for an album? The answer is simple – Magnatune makes it clear that 50% of the money paid goes to the artist. Buyers seem to be happy to pay a little extra to support an independent artist. To take this a step further Magnatune’s slogan is “We Are not Evil” which capitalizes on the popular view that most of the recording industry is out to rip off both artists and consumers.
Now why would I write about Magnatune on About The Image? First, I love music and particularly new music from independent musicians. Second, I wonder if a similar approach could work for image licensing. I wonder if stock agencies like Getty, Jupiter, and Corbis are developing a reputation as “The Man” or evil faceless corporations out to squeeze every last bit out of the poor independent artists. Perhaps the smaller niche agencies can capitalize on that perception and develop a marketing plan that is openly treats artist’s fairly. It also seems reasonable to expect that a “set your own price” concept would likely yield similar results where buyers would choose to pay extra for a great image especially when they know it will benefit the Artist. What do you think - Could it work?
News
Stock photography tailored to fit your needs
OnRequest Images just launched a new product called Custom
Assignment Services. This product differs from traditional
assignment photography because OnRequest has utilized technology to deliver custom
images in less than half the time of traditional assignment photography, while
remaining competitively priced with other traditional commercial photography
options. OnRequest’s Custom Assignment Services offers customers a choice
over the amount of control you want to have. Customers can be intimately
involved in every aspect of their commissioned photography – or not involved at
all.
Click here to review the Press Release from OnRequest.
Features
What’s in the bag?
I recently came across an interesting story on
SportShooter.com written by Dan Powers a sports photographer for the Appleton
Post-Crescent responsible for covering Green Bay Packer’s home and away games. In the story
Dan talks about his equipment and some of the techniques employed to consistenly shoot high quality images to delight of all of the cheese-heads in Wisconsin.
Click here to check out the full story from Dan Powers
Click here for a similar story by Steve Apps
News
Brooks Institute made to wear dunce cap
PDN has recently reported that Brooks Institute (one of the
more prestigious photography schools) located in Santa Barbara, CA has been ordered to pay restitution to former
students for promising they could expect to earn from $50,000 to
$150,000 immediately after graduation. Apparently many of the students bought
this line touted by recruiters even though Brooks Institute’s own records do not support these
claims. Too bad Brooks wasn’t honest about having to pay your dues before you make the big bucks. I doubt this information would have surprised many students and I’m sure it would
have better prepared them for the meager earnings of a photo-assistant (the typical
job of a recent graduate).
Click here to read the full story.
Features
Is your iPod getting lonely?
I was just checking out iPod Lounge (an iPod lover’s
paradise) and I came across the ultimate accessory for the iPod that has
everything. Tiger toys has recently introduced the i-Dog, a $30 companion for
your iPod. Not only does i-Dog look great but this robotic dog puts on a
light show, and dances to music connected through its body. I’ve heard rumors that it can also be trained
to get the paper and attack on command. However, you should be careful not to
leave the i-Dog home alone for too long otherwise he may wet the rug and dig
through the trash. Ohhhhh the joys of pet ownership!
Features
Rafat Ali interviews Caroline Little
Rafat Ali of paidContent.org has just launched a new series
where he interviews top media executives. The first interview with Caroline
Little, the CEO and Publisher of Washingtonpost. Newsweek Interactive (WPNI), offers an insider's view into the issues facing many of the nations top newspapers while many consumers are migrating to online news sources.
Here are a few quotes from the interview with Caroline Little.
“We've really invested resources and people behind multimedia. For example, after 9/11, Web site traffic was going crazy, and we found that a number of people on our site would spend a great deal of time in the photo galleries.”
“It is early in figuring out how blogs will work out, but there's no doubt that our readers expect to participate in the conversation. We're also thinking about incorporating links to bloggers on a particular subject.”
“We do have paid archives, but we're pretty happy with the model we have now. We're not inclined to charge for content at this point.”
Click here to read the full article
News
Getty launches subscription
Sorry for not posting in a couple of days. I was shooting on-location in a small town in western Pennsylvania and kind of lost touch with the world. Upon return I hear from PhotoTalk that Getty images has finally launched a subscription product called ”Creative Express by Getty Images”.
Getty is offering 50,000 images. While searching I saw many images from the Digital Vision, PhotoDisc Green, and PhotoDisc Blue collections. Users have a choice of a 1 month or 1 year subscription as a lo-res (1-3 mb) or print resolution (10-16mb) with the option to upgrade to a higher resolution image (30-50mb+) with a 10% discount off list price. All subscription users are limited to a maximum of 50 downloads per day. Pricing for the product is much higher than competitors (Photos.com, Ablestock, Photospin, Comstock 1700k, Shutterstock, Index Open, Etc.) so it seems that Getty is positioning their subscription as a premium product.
Pricing for a single user
(1 -3 mb) 1 month $399
(1 -3 mb) 12-months $1599
(10-16mb) 1 month $499
(10-16mb) 12-months $1999
News
Canon announces new digital SLR’s
Big news for anyone shooting with Canon Digital equipment. Canon
introduced two new models.
EOS 5D (12.8 Megapixel) – Features a full
frame CMOS Sensor for just over $3000.
Of course the 16.7 Megapixel 1Ds Mark II
is still the king of the line but the high cost has kept many photographers
away. These new entries (especially the 5d) should allow more photographers to
step up to a higher quality full frame sensor without breaking the bank. I
currently have a EOS 20D
the 5D. Or maybe my loyal readers will contribute to the About The Image “Buy
me a 5D cuz I’m broke right now” fund.
Features
Inside the Studio with David Norris, CEO of OnRequest Images
In the recent past there have been many changes in the stock licensing industry and one of the more notable changes cited by photographers (see ASMP, CreativePro) and stock agents (See Dimdump, PhotoTalk, Mactribe) is Custom Stock which has been pioneered by David Norris and his company OnRequest Images. The idea of Custom Stock is simple. Much like doing a photo shoot, a customer can layout the exact image needed and OnRequest Images will work with selected artists from its global network of photographers to shoot Custom Stock images to meet the need. This idea however seems to straddle the line between stock licensing and assignment photography and many industry veterans have been watching closely to see what this new idea means for their business and the industry. I asked David Norris if he would complete an e-mail interview to get his view on some of the questions being asked about Custom Stock and OnRequest Images. David graciously accepted.
EditorialsFeatures
Jupiter opens the gate with JupiterImages Unlimited
Yesterday Jupiter Images announced the launch of the granddaddy
of all stock photo subscriptions JupiterImages Unlimited. This photo subscription
product features over 300,000 images
from many top tier collections like Brand X, Comstock, Creatas,
Goodshoot, IT Stock Free, Thinkstock, Photos.com, AbleStock and
PhotoObjects.net. The image quality of some of these collections compares to
some of the best photo collections in the industry (Rights-Managed or Royalty-Free). Alan Meckler has also opened
the floodgates by allowing users unlimited downloads of the product (most
subscriptions limit to 25 or 50 per day to prevent abuse). Pricing for the JupiterImages Unlimited subscription is not posted on the site but has been reported as $2,500 per year for lo-res access and $10,000 per year for hi-res.
News
Getty boots PictureArts
As many predicted when Jupiter purchased PictureArts, Getty Images has decided to boot the 40,000 PictureArts’ images from its collection by Dec.16th. Jonathan Klein (Getty's CEO) was recently quoted saying “Getty should not support its major competitors by distributing their images”. Jupiter Media seems to have been expecting this and almost immediately released revised financial guidelines accounting for this change and the sale of Search Engine Strategies. This change will no doubt hurt Jupiter Media but does not seem to be a crushing blow and may provide further incentive for Alan Meckler to keep buying and building his stock licensing business in order to compete. In the past, Corbis has benefited from these moves by Getty as they have been willing to market the Jupiter collections spurned by Getty.
