Archives: February, 2009
News
The Image Works now representing CandidatePhotos
The Image Works,a stock photography company based in Woodstock, NY, has announced that it is now representing a new image collection called CandidatePhotos featuring images of politicians shot by photographer Chris Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald spent the past two years traveling from state to state to photograph the primaries, the candidates, and the people. The image library portray’s the candidates (nine Democrats and eleven Republicans) including a unique view of the ‘GOTV’ (get out the vote) activities of grassroots volunteers largely ignored by mainstream media. In the end Fitzgerald traveled more than 55,000 miles in 30 states, covering 20 candidates.
News
Reflex Stock open US office on Wall Street
Reflex Stock, a stock photography company based in Northern Ireland, has announced that it has ventured across the Atlantic to open a new office in New York City servicing North American image buyers. The office, located on Wall Street, adds to the company’s existing operations in Northern Ireland and Great Britain and brings the total headcount of the business to twelve. Reflex Stock currently markets a collection of more than 12 million royalty free and rights managed images.
News
Getty Images closes citizen journalism photo agency Scoopt
Getty Images (NYSE: GYI) has announced that it is closing Scoopt, a citizen journalism photo agency based in Glasgow, acquired in March 2007. Molly McWhinnie, a Getty Images spokeswoman, explains the decision “We definitely believe there is a demand for this type of material as an editorial product but there are so many other avenues out there right now for citizen photo journalists.” The company has stated plans to keep the website Scoopt.com active until March 6 but the business will stop accepting new content from February 6.
Features
Interview with lifestyle photographer Jay Reilly
Recently we caught up with Jay Reilly, a commercial, advertising, editorial, stock photographer based in Oceanside, CA (in between San Diego and LA). Jay primarily shoots lifestyle imagery and some of his past clients include Nike, Sony, Hyatt, Conde Nast among many others. Jay Reilly has been kind enough to take some time out of his schedule tell us a bit about his life and his work as a professional photographer.
News
APA-PictureDesk appoints Klemens Ganner as CEO
The APA-PictureDesk, a photo agency located in the newsroom of the Austria Press Agency in Vienna, has announced changes in several key management positions. In Nov 2006 APA-PictureDesk had acquired Contrast photo GmbH, one of the most well-known picture agencies in Austria and since that time the business has been managed by Michael Vogel, the leader of APA images, Gerhard Hinterleitner, the managing director of the Contrast photo GmbH, and Edith Dörfler, who managed the accounting department at APA images. As of January 1st 2009 Klemens Ganner (32) has been appointed to the post of CEO of APA-PictureDesk with sole power of representation. Ganner has been charged with the main objective of setting up of a new sales structure and to work closely with the editorial picture desk of the APA-news Agency.
FeaturesNews
Corbis closing SnapVillage offering micro-stock under Veer brand
Corbis has announced that it has decided to do away with SnapVillage by the end of this year and move its micro-stock offering onto Veer.com under the name Veer Marketplace. That the company has decided to shut down the seemingly ill-fated SnapVillage comes as no surprise. By all appearances, the site has made no dent in the micro-stock sector, where Getty’s more dynamic iStockphoto dominates and several other brands – Dreamstime, Fotolia, and Shutterstock – are the presumed runners up.
News
BAPLA calling on members to reject publishing rate cuts offered by The Times and The Sun
Recently two major newspapers in the UK, The Times and The Sun, proposed cuts in publishing rates offered to publish imagery supplied by contributing stock photography agencies. In response, The British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies (BAPLA) has issued a press release calling for members to ban together in order to reject the proposed cut in royalties. BAPLA currently represents nearly four hundred members from the picture industry, including all the major news and production agencies in the UK.
Features
Mr. Stock Smarty Pants, what sort of stock photography should I be producing?
I’d be the first to admit that melancholy, sentimentality and jingoistic patriotism are emotions that Mr. Stock Smarty Pants rarely indulges in. However, the inauguration of Barrack Obama in Washington, D.C. a few weeks actually did get MSSP all choked up, mainly because he realized that he had missed out on a terrific opportunity to flog his patented “I Saw The Barrack Star!” T-shirts to a throng of several million potential customers scattered in and around the city many locals like to think of as Murder USA. Damn: another blown opportunity! So, in an act of unselfish generosity, as he wallows in the throes of self-loathing over the pile of cash he failed to rake in from the tchotchke-seekers, MSSP has selected this e-mail from an almost equally forlorn photographer who, like Mr. Stock Smarty Pants, just wants a chance to succeed in life.
News
AP Images to distribute NCAA Championship photography
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and The Associated Press (AP) have announced three-year content distribution partnership making AP the worldwide distributor of NCAA Championship photography. Under the agreement, AP Images (the image licensing division of The Associated Press) will serve as the NCAA’s exclusive photo licensing agent, including retail sales of archival photos, for all NCAA Championships and events. “In partnership with Rich Clarkson and Associates, the NCAA has compiled an archive of photos representing the greatest moments in NCAA Championship history,” said Greg Weitekamp, NCAA director of broadcasting. Rich Clarkson and Associates, LLC, has served as the NCAA official photographer since 1994 and will continue to provide the NCAA with photography services for all 88 NCAA championships for the next three years.
Features
Interview with advertising & editorial photographer Garfield Hall
Garfield Hall is an advertising and editorial photographer who works from his studio in Jersey City, New Jersey. His client base ranges from pharmaceuticals to ad and design agencies. Garfield believes that through his photography he is able to express who he is, which keeps him excited and interested in his work. Let’s give a warm welcome to photographer, Garfield Hall (applause). We know you’re busy and working hard, so let’s not waste anymore time.
News
BAPLA announces organizational changes for a 21st century recession
The British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies (BAPLA) has announced plans to implement changes that both reflect today’s economic climate and build on the strengths of the organization. BAPLA is aiming to concentrate on three areas; business support, business opportunities and increasing lobbying. The proposed plan has been brought forth by BAPLA’s new Executive Director Simon Cliffe who assumed the reigns for the organization after the former CEO Linda Royles resigned last year. “The business model has changed. Actually, the business model is changing every day, and with that change comes fear but also opportunity and we need to ensure it’s the latter that BAPLA concentrates on. We can’t give members business, but we can do everything within our resources to help them help themselves develop more revenue opportunities,” states Simon Cliffe.
News
National Geographic appoints Thought Equity Motion as exclusive worlwide stock footage agent
The National Geographic Society (NGS), one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world, has announced that it has appointed its long-time licensing partner Thought Equity Motion to handle all National Geographic stock footage licensing worldwide. According to the terms of the partnership all National Geographic stock footage, including stock footage purchased from the National Geographic Digital Motion website, ngdigitalmotion.com will be managed by Thought Equity Motion allowing National Geographic Digital Motion to focus its content sales efforts on short-form programming and long-form programming for the non-theatric market.
News
ITN Source contributes to Aernout Mik‘s Raw Footage installation at The Hayward
ITN Source, a division of ITN and a leading provider of stock footage from the UK, has announced that it has supplied approximately two hours of footage to artist Aernout Mik‘s Raw Footage installation, which opens at The Hayward, London on February 18th and runs until May 4th. The video piece features discarded news footage that depicts the disturbing normality of day to day fighting and living in a war zone. Shot by ITN cameramen during the war in former Yugoslavia, Mik’s installation shows people going about their lives when gunfire and shelling seizes. Raw Footage includes a collage of animals during wartime, kids imitating the gunfire and exhausted soldiers taking a nap on the street. “It was really interesting for me to work with ITN Source making Raw Footage, because I got access to hours and hours of raw material from the war in former Yugoslavia. And with raw I mean really raw; completely unedited, not pre-selected or whatsoever, all the original footage that was inside the camera. This raw material enabled me to go in a completely new direction with my works,” stated Aernout Mik.
News
PicScout promotes Offir Gutelzon to CEO
PicScout, a technology company with offices in San Francisco and Herzelia Israel best known for their Image Tracker product utilized by stock licensing companies to monitor online distribution of their content, and PicApp a platform offering free images to bloggers, has announced that it has appointed company co-founder and General Manager Offir Gutelzon to the post of CEO. ”I look forward to this challenge and am confident in our team’s abilities to continue to build innovative solutions. We will be using our technology platform to enhance our Software as a Service (SaaS) offering and create new applications and tools for our customers and partners to help them solve their copyright issues. I want to thank PicScout’s co-founder, Eyal Gura, who as founding CEO was instrumental to PicScout’s success from initial vision to market leadership,” Gutelzon commented.
News
PhotoShelter releases survey of more than 550 global image buyers
PhotoShelter, an online storage and archiving business for photographers, has released a survey entitled ‘Photographer Websites: What Buyers Want Now’ detailing the results of a recent survey of including 550+ commercial and editorial image buyers from around the world. The survey features insights about what image buyers love and hate about photographers’ websites.
Features
Interview with NYC photographer Glenn Glasser
Introducing photographer, Glenn Glasser. When asked to describe himself Glenn issued the following statement “i always wait for others to get off the subway car before entering - - my grandparents introduced me to moby by buying me ‘play’ - - in grade school we got a day off for the first day of deer hunting and trout seasons - - i will travel anywhere on a rumor of good sweetbreads,” and he also just happens to be a professional photographer with his own unique sense of style. Read on to get an idea of what Glenn is all about.
News
PantherMedia partnering with ProStockMaster to allow streamlined image uploads
PantherMedia, a growing micro-stock image agency from Munich Germany, hyas announced a cooperation with ProStockMaster to allow photographer to upload images directly to PantherMedia just in a few clicks using ProStockMaster’s desktop upload and management software for microstock contributors. “Adopted by thousands of amateur and professional photographers around the world, ProStockMaster is the top application dedicated to ease the process of working with stock photography agencies. The software automates the tedious tasks of tagging, managing and uploading stock photos to online stock agencies, freeing photographers up to do what they love - shooting pictures”, said Robert Walters, CEO of PantherMedia.
News
Aurora photos launches new media production company Aurora Novus
Aurora Photos, a stock photography agency headquartered in Portland, ME, has announced the launch of a west-coast video and motion production company called Aurora Novus. The new business will focus on creating motion picture and interactive content for current and potential clients seeking to brand an online identity through visual storytelling. “Embracing the current shift towards online storytelling seems clear. Providing high-quality content for this community is a natural linear extension of what we already do as a top-tier visual provider.” Stated Jose Azel, president of Aurora Photos.
News
Jupitermedia finalizes sale of Jupiterimages to Getty Images and changes name to WebMediaBrands
Last October, Jupitermedia Corporation (NASDAQ: JUPM) announced that it had reached a deal to sell its JupiterImages division for $96 million to Getty Images. The company has today announced that it has completed the sale. In connection with the Sale, Jupitermedia terminated its Credit Agreement with KeyBank National Association ("KeyBank") and applied approximately $82 million of the proceeds from the Sale to repay all outstanding indebtedness. Jupitermedia’s existing interest rate swap arrangement with KeyBank will remain outstanding.
News
Shutterstock reaches 6 million images
Shutterstock, a New York City based micro-payment stock photography subscription service, has announced that it has grown to more than 6 million stock images. In Nov 08 the company was touting that it had reached 5 million images and in less than four months, Shutterstock has added another million images to its offering. “We continue to experience tremendous growth in both the size of our library and in the volume of images that our subscribers download,” said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock. “Thanks to more than 144,000 submitters who contribute to our library, our customers can depend on us for a steady source of fresh, high quality content.” Shutterstock’s broad, diverse selection of stock images, user-friendly website, and sophisticated search engine enables subscribers to quickly and easily find the perfect images for their creative needs”.
News
Interview with underwater lifestyle and beauty photographer Tracy Kahn
We have a special treat for you today. We are speaking with photographer, Tracy Kahn. She is going to let us know a little bit about her career, underwater. Tracy has a unique specialty of shooting people underwater. She uses state of the art underwater digital equipment, as well as a variety of lighting techniques to create stunning, high quality underwater images. After years of experience shooting people underwater, Tracy has mastered the art of casting and working with models in the underwater environment, making them feel comfortable and at ease. She is PADI diver certified, and loves to shoot sea life in the ocean as well!
