SellPhotos

NIKON PHOTO IN ADVERTISEMENT — Samsung Sorry. Michael Zhang: “Samsung found itself in an embarrassing copyright infringement controversy recently after the company published a street photographer’s work without permission as an advertisement on its Facebook page. It wasn’t just the unauthorized use of the image that was embarrassing; SOURCE: http://petapixel.com/2013/05/08/samsung-sorry-for-using-photographers-nikon-photo-in-advertisement/

60 years in the making… THE NEW PHOTOJOURNALISTS If cameras had never been invented, history, events, and remembrances would be documented by the medieval methods of drawings, statuary, tapestry, and unreliable arbitrary text. Thankfully, photojournalism has been around ever since photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorthea Lange and W. Eugene Smith discovered you could record history by clicking a shutter. In the 40′s and 50′s, the glory days of freelance photojournalism, brilliant photographers with their newly-accepted 35mm cameras, captured and interpreted the world around them. The results got published in the popular magazines and periodicals of the day, Life Magazine, LOOK, Saturday Evening Post, and major newspapers.

Eventually, television’s nightly news took over as consumers chose that medium to get their interpretations of daily happenings. Freelance photojournalism in the 70′s and 80′s, took a back seat. and was superseded by paparazzi, TV cameramen, amateur freelancers and staff photographers at major newspapers.

In the 90′s, marketers discovered that nostalgia and history were profitable. As the massive numbers of Baby Boomers arrived at middle age, early photos of Elvis, the Beatles, Chicago and Watts demonstrations, Marilyn, Vietnam, have become marketable. TV documentaries about WWII, or the Civil Rights movement, or the various Ken Burns series on baseball to jazz, have demonstrated that still photos that had been relegated to the attic trunk are now again valuable.

Veteran photojournalists are scrambling to their dusty archives to catalog photos they thought forgotten and useless.

What we once thought were photos that had lived their lives and were ready for cremation are now emerging as valuable assets to both photographers and publishers, who have realized that the Internet/web can be used as a tool to easily search out obscure documentary photos hiding in blogs and nooks and crannies across the USA.

The new kid on the block, the commercial stock photo industry, has correctly realized that the web is an important vehicle for getting to sources of collections of generic photos that can be used for multiple purposes in advertising, promotion, education, and human interest. Now the photojournalism world, having been in a cocoon for a couple of decades, is just beginning to realize that the web offers a superb opportunity to broadcast the whereabouts of millions of photojournalistic pictures that can now be called “editorial stock photos.” Evidence points to the total of such photos to be 325 million or more. It was Bill Gates, of Corbis, who originally gave credence to the notion that we ought to preserve and commercialize these historical photos, when he originally founded his “CONTINUUM” back in 1989 (which morphed into “Corbis Images”). The purpose of Continuum/Corbis was to find, catalog, and disseminate “all of the important images extant.” Of course, these images had been languishing in important collections and catalogs all over the world, but were generally available only to scholars and researchers. Gates’ vision was to position himself to own, or be in a position to partly-own, a massive amount of images that were hidden away in dusty archives, such as yours. The market would be what he called, the “New Media.” Under the initial leadership of acquisitions manager Charles Mauzy (now departed from Corbis), Gates acquired impressive numbers of important photojournalistic images. Mauzy’s mission got temporarily sidetracked in 1997 when the bean counters at Corbis Corporation convinced him that just collecting nostalgic photos had no short term profit, and they catapulted themselves onto the gold brick road of RF (“Royalty Free” – now generally known as “microstock”) photos. Although RF/microstock photos won’t bring high prices at a Sothbey auction or be featured in a traveling exhibit, they will undoubtedly help pay salaries at Corbis. Gates’ vision is not unlike the mission of the great Library at Alexandria in North Africa (7th century A.D.), where Hellenistic scholars could benefit from the accumulated knowledge of the time. Despite Corbis Corporation’s current romance with microstock images, Gates’ original mission for Corbis will no doubt prevail. If it does, like a jumbo NFL offensive lineman, he will pull out and lead interference for you and me as we move into an age of New Media, that recognizes the commercial benefits and vitality of traditional photojournalism.

As an editorial stock photographer you are going to find much more enjoyment when you are photographing subject matter that you like to take. Learn more about how to sell those pictures at PhotoSource International and the PhotoSourceBANK, Pine Lake Farm, 1910 35th Road, Osceola, WI 54020 USA. Rohn Engh is director of PhotoSource International and publisher of PhotoStockNotes. E-mail: info@photosource.com; Fax: 715 248-3800; phone: 800 624-0266; www.photosource.com

FILTER BE GONE! — Rod Chester: “Instagram filters abandoned by photographers who opt for purity. Michael Ernest Sweet: “For most of us, an Instagram filter is a way to turn an ordinary photo into ”ordinary but better”. But there is a growing backlash to the filter craze, with purist photographers increasingly posting their images with a #nofilter hashtag or, even better, with a pledge of SOOC straight out of the camera.” SOURCE: http://www.news.com.au/technology/instagram-filters-abandoned-by-photographers-who-opt-for-purity/story-e6frflwi-1226635244451

STRICT PRIVACY LAWS — French Photog Could Go to Jail Over Topless Pictures – David Walker: “A French magazine could be shut down and a photographer sent to jail over the publication last year of photographs of Britain’s Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, sunbathing while on vacation in France. The magazine, called Closer, published topless images of Middleton that were allegedly shot by photographer Valerie Suau. http://pdnpulse.com/2013/04/french-photog-could-go-to-jail-over-topless-pictures.html

This is a recipe for disaster. The Boulevard of Broken Dreams is strewn with bodies of creative people who never learned: “Find the market first (in the area that you like to work in) and then create for that market.” GENERALIZE

When you try to be all things to all people in the publishing world, the photobuyer’s reaction is: “No one can be that good!” Discover your photographic strength areas, and go for them. Become a specialist.

Writers rarely publish their poetry, and even more rarely get paid for it. Don’t expect your ‘artsy’ pictures to sell. Consider them your poetry. Ask yourself next time you’re taking (making) a picture, “Is this for sale or is it for soul?”

Many creative people have a tendency to change their address every few years. Photobuyers shy away from the vagabond, the wanderer, no matter how talented they might be. Buying photos is a business and they want you to be businesslike in their dealings with you, and that means being ‘reachable’ two days before deadline. Make sure you maintain a stable, dependable email address and cell phone number.

If you appear to be ‘just starting out,’ photobuyers will pass you on by. They don’t have the time to hold your hand or “train” you. They’d rather spend their time with someone who is “hassle-free.” You should give the appearance of looking like a pro. As Muhammed Ali, the famous boxer, once said, “If you aren’t a champion – fake it.” Your first step is to correspond with professional-looking emails or with quality stationery, labels, and envelopes. The photobuyer will set your material in their “priority TO DO” folder.

Photobuyers expect technical excellence from you. And it should match their particular guidelines. No matter how excellent your image may be, if it does not meet the reproduction quality for the printing and publishing industry, you’ll fail.

Do your homework. Know what your strengths are, and then photograph in those areas that you love best, where you ‘speak the language’ of specific photobuyers who need photos in those areas. They will welcome your knowledge and your photographic expertise and deep coverage of the subjects they need. Do your homework to find such buyers through Google or specialized search engines. You’ll find scores of powerful directories awaiting you, listing photobuyers who, at this moment, are searching for your talent, special skills, and subject coverage that matches the content needs (the theme) of their publishing operation. As an editorial stock photographer you are going to find much more enjoyment when you are photographing subject matter that you like to take. Learn more about how to sell those pictures at PhotoSource International and the PhotoSourceBANK, Pine Lake Farm, 1910 35th Road, Osceola, WI 54020 USA. Rohn Engh is director of PhotoSource International and publisher of PhotoStockNotes. E-mail: info@photosource.com; Fax: 715 248-3800; phone: 800 624-0266; www.photosource.com