Q    Can you tell us about your background and what led you to found PhotoShelter?

I was a founding employee of HotJobs.com in 1995, where I was the SVP of Engineering. That company grew from 4 people to over 675 people with thirteen offices in four countries at its peak. We survived the onslaught of traffic from three Super Bowl commercials, and spent a lot of time designing and building cost-effective, scaleable sites.

I left HotJobs in 2001, and rekindled my love of photography. And during this time, I came across SportsShooter.com, and met the guys who built that site, Jason Burfield and Grover Sanschagrin. We started talking about the photo industry, while I was simultaneously talking to some HotJobs friends about the concept of online storage. It became clear that there was an opportunity to combine the ideas of online storage with the needs of the modern, digital photographer. Thus PhotoShelter was born. We�re very proud of creating a low-cost solution that can benefit all photographers regardless of their level and/or type of photography.

Q    How much customization is allowed within the PhotoShelter service? Is it possible for a photographer to set up an e-commerce website branded as the photographers own site?

We�ve just released a customization option, which allows a seamless integration of PhotoShelter a photographer�s website, using their own domain name. Unlike other services, our customization doesn�t simply consist of changing colors. It actually allows you to preserve all the graphical elements and page geometries of a website, while providing the PhotoShelter back-end functionality to make your archive searchable, saleable, etc. For a lot of photographers, preservation of their �brand� is a key concern, so we didn�t rush to market with the customization option until we thought it was a meaningful and functional product.

Q    What are the fees associated with your service?

The base product is 10GB of storage with the ability to create galleries, public search, etc for $5.99/month. From there, we have a la carte options for customization, high-resolution download for your clients, Virtual Agencies and a few other features. We are operating under the assumption that each photographer has a different set of needs, and therefore they should be able to choose and pay for the options that they will use.

Q    Does your service support different licensing types to offer both Royalty Free or Rights Managed images.

We support automated sales and delivery for print and royalty-free electronic download. We�re currently working on automating rights-managed sales, but in the interim, we have an inquiry form that photographers can assign to various images.

 

Photographers can sell their images using either a Merchant Account, or a PayPal account. In both cases, the photographer collects the funds directly � we don�t collect on their behalf, nor make them wait a month to cut them a check.

Q    Does your service support other stock photo products such as Subscriptions, Royalty Free CD Stores, or print services? If not, any plans to add this in the future.

As I mentioned, print sales are already supported with our e-commerce system. Photo buyers can add images to their cart, and when they check out, the images are automatically fulfilled by our printing vendor, requiring zero intervention by the photographer. We�re planning on beefing up the options to support self-printing, or choosing boutique shops to handle the printing. The Internet has altered the distribution landscape, so it remains to be seen if more traditional mediums like CDs will continue to be requested by clients.

As for a subscription-based service, I think it�s something to consider. Photo buyers like the notion of a one-stop shop, and that�s a major reason that the larger agencies have thrived so much. I think adding a subscription service where photographers can opt-in is somewhere in our future.

Q    You claim that images stored in your service offer more security for the photographer than portable hard drives and other storage solutions. Please explain why your service is more secure and what you are doing to ensure that security for the future.

We view security in broad terms. First, can people steal the images? We have avoided using FTP because it offers no encryption, so username, password and all image data are transmitted in �clear text.� We solve this by using the secure web protocol (https) to upload images.

We provide watermarking options, which offer a different level of protection. We disallow dragging of images onto the desktop. This doesn�t circumvent a screen capture, but it makes it much more inconvenient to do so, and a watermark would generally render the image unusable.

Out network security is managed by Jeffrey Arnold who was part of Yahoo!�s elite networking group, where he was responsible for over 100,000 devices on their network. So we have a level of experience and expertise that we feel is unique.

 

When you talk about an external hard drive, the issue of �security� is different because you�re not dealing with theft or hacking by another individual, but rather you against the machine. A drive is a mechanical device, and it will eventually fail. So chaining hard drives to your computer is not a long-term solution to the burgeoning digital archives of today�s photographers.

 

Some photographers have gone out and purchased expensive RAID systems, but RAIDs fail too, and if you�re out in the field shooting when the RAID fails, you can lose data as well. DVDs and CDs have questionable life spans and are prone to scratches, so we cannot realistically consider these an archival solution.

 

PhotoShelter is a managed solution, meaning we have multiple data centers with RAID arrays that are monitored constantly. When we see an issue, we can proactively manage it, and because the data is copied to two physically discrete locations, we are mitigating risk to a level that the average photographer cannot achieve.

 

The added benefit, of course, is that the images are also online and therefore accessible anywhere there is an Internet connection. The images are searchable, distributable, saleable � having them securely online creates many more opportunities for photographers.

Q    How much technical skill is required to take advantage of your service?

Very little. Like any software application, there is a level of familiarity that has to be gained. But we�ve tried to use familiar paradigms, like drag and drop to sequence images.

Q    Does your interface include a keywording solution to help the artist add metadata to the images after they are uploaded? Can keywords and captions be imported and exported to and from other applications?

Yes, PhotoShelter automatically extracts IPTC and EXIF data from images when they are uploaded. Alternately, you can keyword the images in batch or singularly. We�ve spent a considerable amount of time using various web technologies to make editing this data as easy and quick as possible.

 

Q    You recently added PayPal service to allow your artists to accept PayPal as an additional form of payment. Are there any advantages to the artists to accept this payment method?

We received numerous requests to integrate PayPal into our e-commerce system, and we felt that it was a known payment system that people were comfortable with. Adding support for PayPal gives our users another option to sell images.

As far as a fiscal advantage, it really depends on volume since the fees with third party payment processors like PayPal vary with the amount of money you collect in a given time period.

 

Q    You have kept your pricing down to as low as $5.99/month for up to 10GB of storage. How have you managed to keep pricing low and do you expect to increase pricing in the near future?

I think it�s partially a reflection of our collective experience building heavily trafficked sites � namely, we know how to design scaleable, low-cost systems. But the flip side is that we know how difficult it is for photographers. They spend so much money on equipment, budgets are being slashed, day rates have remained largely static � being able to provide a great tool for the price of lunch was a goal for us. We always want to have a low-cost entry point � raising the price is always a possibility, but it�s not something that we�ve even broached at this point.

 

Q    PhotoShelter's Virtual Agency allows a group of photographers to form their own "agency" by linking their collective PhotoShelter archives to market themselves together through a shared public webpage. How has this been received by contributors? Can you point us to an example of this?

The most obvious example is the SportsShooter Virtual Agency. SportsShooter has become a potent brand in the online photography world, but prior to the introduction of the Virtual Agency (VA), there was no way to search for specific image, yet there was a enormous conglomeration of talent.

 

So giving the SportsShooter members an opportunity to link in their archives to the VA gives SportsShooter a way to maintain its brand, while providing exposure for its members in a very tangible way. Sports editors know the type of talent on the website, and now they can search for specific images on a daily basis.

 

Q    Can you share any success stories with us?

My favorite is Logan Adams, a small-town photographer in Kansas who shoots local youth sports. He�s used PhotoShelter almost since launch and has made $42 for every $1 he�s spent on PhotoShelter. It has provided him with both a marketing and distribution platform which has paid for his archive many times over, and it didn�t require him to be a big shot photographer in a large market.

 

Q    How would you compare PhotoShelter to others in your space, such as IPN Stock, 20/20 Software and Digital Railroad?

At a fundamental level, we consider ourselves an archival solution, and for various reasons we don�t consider these other products to be in the same category. Archival to us means being able to 1) handle a wide variety of image formats including RAW and Photoshop, and 2) providing a level of redundancy to reduce the risk of image loss. Most of the products that you mentioned are concerned with the marketing and sales of images, which PhotoShelter obviously does, but they do not concern themselves with the long-term archival storage of the images. That isn�t to say that they aren�t successful in their niche, but it does mean that the focus is different.

 

Almost all photographers tone their images in Photoshop. So when they do, we consider those files to be archival because the use of adjustment layers preserves the original file plus the layers that make the image pop. Other sites generally only deal with JPG, so your Photoshop file still has to sit on your hard drive. That isn�t an archival solution.

 

Q    Any plans to offer distribution services to contributing photographers? Perhaps a deal with Getty, Corbis, or Adobe to accept and distribute content submitted through photoshelter?

We have talked about providing export capability through PhotoShelter into various stock systems. This idea falls inline with our thought that once you have your archive situated in PhotoShelter, you can move specific images anywhere you want to with ease � whether it�s to an agency, affiliate site, printing service or your own website.

 

Q    Have you found mostly professional photographers interested in your service, or do consumer photographers use it for their family snap-shots as well?

We�re marketing to the professional photographer, and I think the notion of the consumer spending money to archive is a few years off, but it will happen. But we do occasionally see professionals putting up some of there personal shots, which is fine by us. We don�t want to mandate that anyone use the system in one particular way. Some photographers are using us strictly as an archive, and have no intention of marketing or selling through the system, while others only upload select images. PhotoShelter is a flexible system for many types of photographers.

 

Q    You have experience as a professional photographer. Do you still have time to shoot? If so, what subjects do you generally go after?

PhotoShelter takes up the bulk of my time, but I still try to shoot some portraits and other miscellaneous work on the weekends because I think it�s important to deal with some of the same issues that our clients deal with.

 

I know what it�s like to shoot 1GB of RAW images then upload it to PhotoShelter. I know what it�s like to send a gallery of images to a client, and allow them to leave comments online, and give them high-resolution download access. Using the system means we can honestly advocate its use, and also deal with the issues that are users are encountering.

 

Q    What are you most proud of?

It�s extremely gratifying to all of us when we hear from someone that says they�ve been waiting for something like PhotoShelter for a long time. We really believe in empowering the photographer, and I think we�ve done a good job of creating a useful toolset at a reasonable price that has a real potential to benefit the photographic community.

Oh, and dragging your images into a custom sequence is pretty cool.

 

Q    Aside from business what are you passionate about?

I was a music major at Yale, and decided never to pursue it professionally, however, it continues to be a source of passion for me. I try to play the piano everyday even if just a few minutes, and I consume gummy bears voraciously.

 

Q    Favorite band/musician?

Favorite is difficult. I�ve been listening to a lot of �The Cardigans� recently � something about Swedish pop that I can�t get enough of. Sting, Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau. My guilty pleasure is John Mayer, who is a fabulous musician, even if he�s a teen heartthrob.

 

Q    Favorite book?

I read a lot of non-fiction, and usually just mainstream stuff like Freakonomics, and The Tipping Point. Both books were entertaining, but I�m not sure that I would necessarily consider them as favorites. I need to read more.

 

Q    Favorite movie?

I think I watched �Primer� about five times. I thought it was the truest sci-fi movie I�ve seen in a long time that explored man�s relationship with the science he discovers, rather than laser beams and aliens.

 

Q    Favorite photographer?

So many photographers have inspired me for different reasons. I have a David Hilliard print called �Rosemary�s Dock� in my apartment. I like what he does with color, perspective and his narrative. I find it very different from the �traditional� bigs of the industry. The giants of the industry see the world in a very different way than I do, so I always find it refreshing and inspiring to see exceptional photography.

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