STOCK
PHOTO NEWS from A-Z FOTOS
No.
36-37
The
first Modern eZine combining Stock Photography and
Marketing - Published since 1999
'Equally
important for picture buyers and image providers.'
September - October 2009
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CONTENT
* From the Editor
* Blog posts need pictures to look attractive and to generate traffic
* New outlet for stock photography - 2D and 3D resources
* Reminder about long term marketing of your products
* Picturehouse New York 2009 for picture buyers and distributors
* Keywording software for photographers and photo agencies - KIM Keywording from Kursiv
* World Press Photo Contest Archive Available Online
* How to find pictures online freely available
* Blog about Photo Achieves
* Since Last Stock Photo News
* White-list Stock Photo News
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Archive of earlier issues of Stock Photo News at
http://www.StockPhotoNews.com
>>> >>> Subscription information at the end of this ezine.
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FROM THE EDITOR
No words about the melancholy of the financial and general economic crises. Just read on to look forward and to gain an edge of advantage in a difficult time.
As usual I have tried to make the issue of SPN relevant for image providers as well as for users of pictures, from the individual webmaster and creative professional to the biggest publishing house.
Especially for stock photographers it is recommended to diversify your stock outlets to different stock photo distributors, take a look at the new options of The 3D Studio, see below. They place their pricing policy between micro stock and traditional agencies and claim to give very fast response, which is also my experience.
- so read, print and keep.
Enjoy reading Stock Photo News!
Soren Breiting, Editor.
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A-Z FOTOS
"Find Stock Photos from most of the World"
http://www.azFotos.com
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Comments, tips and relevant articles are appreciated.
Send email to sb@TAKETHISAWAY-azfotos.com (please remove
the inserted part added to avoid email harvesters).
*** Important note: I will not sell or rent the email
addresses belonging to our subscribers - I respect your
privacy. This mail list will only be used to send you the
monthly ezine. - This ezine uses opt in addresses.***
Soren Breiting
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BLOG POSTS NEED PICTURES TO LOOK ATTRACTIVE AND TO GENERATE TRAFFIC
Blog options are offered from free sites like Blogger.com and Worldpress.com and the most successful blogging software for blogs on publishers’ own domains are free WordPress scripts and maybe with inexpensive professionally designed ‘WordPress themes’.
No wonder that blogs have taken the web with storm. Blogs now come in many shapes and styles and thousands of templates and add-ons are free and easy available. Combine this with the easiness that you can post on blogs and even get exceptional rankings in Google and other search engines with your posts.
As Google is very keen to update blogs especially fast the indexing of new stuff on blogs is often done in less than 24 hours – in fact often during a few hours. The indexing mechanism is done by means of the words of the post including the title tag and other tags, as often underlined in previous issues of SPN. But anyway – pictures are really important in most types of blogs for several reasons:
- Pictures add to the attractiveness of a blog, the home page (index page) as well as the individual posts each with their individual web page.
- New pictures add to the freshness of a blog and that is very important. Successful blogs will normally have to be updated nearly every day with new and interesting posts and here the new pictures will be an important element. This means that even an attractive header image isn’t enough to accomplish what pictures should add to a blog. When the blog becomes well established with many links pointing to it from other websites and a growing number of core readers these requirements might not be that strict and important. On the other hand it takes a long time to build a loyal readership and not that long time to give your old readers disappointments when visiting your blog if the last post is still the old one.
- Impressive pictures at the beginning on the latest post will help the blog to look attractive and professional when seen as a thumbnail image which is used in some scripts and add-ons at other blogs as part of exchange of traffic.
- As pictures will be indexed separately in the picture search engines they will add extra traffic to the blog.
- Finally it should be mentioned as a concern for the best possible ranking in Google and other search engines that pictures give more options for adding tags and precise information about the theme of the post and including keywords in a natural way in the ALT text and caption.
The above reasons will be more or less the case for websites in general, but to what I see it is especially important to underline the quest for attractive pictures or at least interesting or challenging pictures for blogs. This has partly to do with the visitors expectations. If they visit a blog they will expect to find new and up to date information, and different from last visit. When visitors return to a traditional website they might be happy just to find the information or product they found there at last visit.
Just one picture visible over the fold, i.e. visible without scrolling down on the page, is enough. Keep your other pictures for future blog posts. The blog is doing better with many rather small and to the point posts, each with a relevant picture, than with occasional large posts with many pictures included.
I admit these demands are something of a challenge for the publisher, but despite my own limited achievements concerning the question of frequent and consequent publishing I should give you the best advice.
These points of view should apply equally well for image providers as well as for users of pictures for whatever reason to market products, services or ideas online.
Especially for stock photo agencies and photographers the trend of a growing number of blogs (also attached to traditional websites) should be seen as a special growing market at a time when several traditional markets are difficult or in sharp decline. Creativity in how to market especially for bloggers might pay off.
Here are a few examples of blogs:
A blog not using pictures as much as should be done:
http://www.sorens.org
and another blog, in fact a ‘photo blog’ but without that many pictures:
Scott's Photo Blog at http://www.scottsphotoblog.com
- Imagine how much a few pictures would add to the attractiveness of the blog posts.
A neutral grey blog design showing the positive effect of just one picture at the latest post in a simple and clean layout:
http://educationforsustainabledevelopment.com/blog/
A very successful blog about fitness using pictures with great concern:
http://fitnessblackbook.com
A blog writing about magazines and using the cover pictures as the attraction – does it work?
http://www.blogmagazine.com
And finally a blog with much traffic and a Google Page Rank 7 because of the blogger’s reputation as a WordPress theme designer etc., and not that many pictures:
http://www.pearsonified.com
The tips above and concern for using pictures in blog posts are meant as a general advice. Tips for successful photo blogs and the best WordPress themes for these are another concern not included here. You can read about this in the former issue SPN 34-35 under the headline: ‘Free Web design for Wordpress blogs and websites’ at
http://stockphotonews.com/34-35-stock-photo-news.htm
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NEW OUTLET FOR STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY - 2D AND 3D RESOURCES
500,000 Resources & Member Loyalty Program
The 3D Studio has 500,000 Resources and Member Loyalty Program
Mesa, AZ—September 30, 2009: The 3D Studio .com, Inc. (see http://bit.ly/3EwHpK ) announces their collection has reached a new milestone—500,000 royalty-free 2D and 3D resources are now available on the web site, and more are being added each day.
The company, one of the oldest and largest in the industry, also unveiled a new Member Loyalty Program. President Matt Anderson says: We’re always looking for ways to give our authors the highest royalty rates possible and we think our new Member Loyalty Program is the answer.
Many authors want to form long term partnerships with us, so we will pay a 70% royalty rate (10% more than our standard rate) to those who commit to working with us for a five year period.
When combined with our affiliate program authors can earn 90% in royalties on affiliate orders, an unheard of rate.” Additional details about the Member Loyalty Program can be found at: http://bit.ly/3EwHpK
The new Stock Photos and Images category continues to grow as The 3D Studio changes the way stock photos are sold. There is no prepaying for credits or subscriptions; images are available for instant download after payment is made using a major credit card or PayPal.
The 3D Studio is a one-stop shop for a wide range of free and priced resources including 3D models, textures, tutorials, plugins, and software, as well as stock photography and images. Expert custom work and free file conversion are available. The large collection of 3D models include vehicles, weapons, architectural elements and much more, and are used by architects, game designers, ad agencies, and others.
The 3D Studio provides the best customer service possible, with fast and personal responses seven days a week via email. Customers never receive an automated or canned reply. The company offers many benefits to buyers and sellers and there is no cost to become a member or to sell resources at The 3D Studio.
Take your work with stock photos to the next level at http://bit.ly/3EwHpK
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REMINDER ABOUT LONG TERM MARKETING OF YOUR PRODUCTS
In last issue of SPN I recommended you to look at a very cheap help for your long-term achievements online. For me it has made my efforts much more successful and easy to overview and I expect it to fit all kinds of online business and service.
The beauty of it is that it doesn’t need to cost you anything to benefit from this information. You find it here: http://bit.ly/HKnB0 (Don’t be scarred by the occult design of the info page).
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PICTUREHOUSE NEW YORK 2009 FOR PICTURE BUYERS AND DISTRIBUTORS
October 14th, 2009
From the programme:
Digital University Seminar and Free Sessions for professional picture buyers only
10am-12pm: Copyright/Copywrong in Image Licensing (sponsored by PACA): Nancy Wolff, Counsel to PACA, author, and leading authority on copyright, will talk and answer questions on copyright issues relevant to picture buyers today. Registration fee applies. More details
1pm: Pricing Models Explained: Subscription, Rights Managed, Royalty Free, Microstock: a group of image providers and distributors discuss what exactly these terms mean.
2:30pm: Imagine It! Footage, Music, and Multimedia Tools for your Publication: Ever wonder what other applications could enhance your publication? Want to find ways to creatively engage your audience and increase your product’s value? Find out here!
4pm: Search! New Tools Revealed: In our quest to find faster and more accurate ways for picture buyers to track down the right image, we have some new arrows for your image-search quiver.
5pm: Re-invention and Resources in the New Economy: Discover how the new economy has strengthened the freelance market, creating valuable resources for art buyers, and career alternatives for former art buyers, photo agency editors, art directors and producers.
See more at http://bit.ly/CM2pQ for image buyers.
and http://bit.ly/vZIqS showing gallery of participants – a fine overview of present picture resources.
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KEYWORDING SOFTWARE FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS AND PHOTO AGENCIES - KIM KEY WORDING FROM KURSIV
Translation of up to 10 languages (Mac and Windows)
KIM Keywording 1.6 released,
Press Release, 22.09.2009
The swiss keywording software "KIM Keywording" just received an update. The new version 1.6x fixes some bugs of version 1.5 and now has additional functions to repair databases and keyword structures. The search function has been enhanced and several workflow improvements were implemented. This free update is recommended for all current users.
» Review the history of the latest improvements
» Download and installation remarks http://www.kursiv.com/index.cfm?id=466
KIM Keywordingis offers databased keywording of images. Keywording with KIM Keywording is extremely efficient and allows you to work with up to 10 languages simultanuous. Flexible import and export options help to handle large sets of images and metadata easily, for example for further use on websites.
KIM Keywording has been developed by Kursiv photoagency especially for the needs of photoagencies and photographers. The development is based on many years of experience in handling metadata and consistant workflows.
Former Press Release: KIM Keywording 1.5, 02.07.2009
Keywording is tedious toil. Good keywording is crucial for both photoagencies and photographers. Without keywording, your images will not be found, and no sales can be expected. KIM Keywording has been designed to take the pain out of keywording and to make the process both fast and reliable.
Improved functionality
With the launch of KIM Keywording 1.5, Kursiv integrated feedback from users worldwide. "The feedback of our customers has proved to be invaluable to us", says Karsten Risseeuw from Kursiv. "While the basic workflow was well defined, we learned about many special usages, for which we could implement improvements or develop complete new options."
Prioritizing keywords
One of the major improvements is the new prioritizing function. With its help it is possible to dynamically mold and reduce the set of keywords applied to images. Why is reducing important? KIM Keywording is so efficient, that within minutes between 100 and 200 keywords can be applied to a single image. To avoid adding non-relevant keywords, the unique prioritizing option uses the main themes (categories) of an image to limit the number of keywords. This is an intuitive process, based on flexible settings and results in a better quality of the keywords used.
Other enhanced functions
The new version includes many other improvements, like:
* simplified translation interface (support for up to 10 languages)
* enhanced search options for the image database
* moving around keywords and keyword strings in the hierarchical keyword database
* improved import- and export-options
Free upgrade and test versions
For current users, the new version is a free upgrade. It is also possible to download the free test version, which offers full functionality for 30 days for a limited number of images.
Summary and contact
Product name: KIM Keywording 1.5
Supplier: Kursiv, Switzerland
KIM Keywording Download
http://bit.ly/2aQsxf
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WORLD PRESS PHOTO CONTEST ARCHIVE AVAILABLE ONLINE
Press Release - Amsterdam, 1 October 2009
World Press Photo is today launching a major new photojournalism resource by publishing its entire contest archive online. The website includes prize-winners going all the way back to the foundation of the World Press Photo contest in 1955, and offers a variety of search options. It is intended as a tool for media historians and for students interested in the history of photography, and as a facility for the photojournalist community, showing trends in the profession and developments in countries around the world.
The contest archive can be accessed on the World Press Photo website and at: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/archive.
Involving the Community
Michiel Munneke, managing director of World Press Photo says: “Our aim is to provide a showcase that will promote top photography and its authors. Until now, the only way to view past winners has been in the contest yearbooks, but these do not cover the entire period and most of them are out of print.”
The Archive Website
The World Press Photo contest has a history that goes back more than half a century, and the winning photos make a unique collection that is not only a record of world events but also of developments in photojournalism. The archive has been established to share this record with the profession.
The range of photos is enormous. Over the decades, juries have awarded some 2,100 prizes. At present, the archive includes just under 10,000 photographs, by 1,372 photographers of 79 nationalities. The new archive website has been designed to be as intuitive and user-friendly as possible. Winners are arranged in chronological order, year by year. It is up to the users to decide whether they would prefer an overview for a particular year, or a breakdown according the category in which a prize-winning photo was registered. In addition, images may be accessed through an alphabetical listing of photographers’ names, or through further search options such as photographer’s nationality, photo agency, publication that commissioned the work, or specific awards.
Photos in the archive are further classified into eleven themed categories. Contest categories have changed over the years. Back in 1955, there were just three groupings: News, Sport and Stories. These days, the contest itself is arranged into ten categories. Along the way, such classifications as Happy News and Personality have arisen and disappeared. At one time the phenomenon of Color Picture Stories was so novel as to warrant its own section. The archive website outlines these developments, and also offers further information on the contest, such as details of contest entry statistics, as well as list of jury members for each year.
Work in progress
The contest archive project has taken two years of preparation, but it is still far from complete. Says Munneke: “To maximize the potential of the archive, however, we need help. There are still gaps to be filled – pictures missing and, in isolated cases, even the photographer’s name unrecorded. We are therefore also appealing to the photography community to contribute additional information, which we can then use in regular updates. The archive is intended as a research resource rather than a source of photos, but we will of course be happy to mediate and put anyone interested in using the pictures in contact with the photographers or their representatives.”
The World Press Photo contest archive team can be contacted for queries and feedback by email at: archives@worldpressphoto.org
The contest archive project has been made possible with the support of the Mondriaan Foundation and the VSB Foundation.
World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon and TNT.
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HOW TO FIND PICTURES ONLINE FREELY AVAILABLE
Google Blog (again a blog!) announced 7/09/2009:
‘Today, we're launching a feature on Image Search to help you find images that you can use for free, while respecting the wishes of artists and creators. This feature allows you to restrict your Image Search results to images that have been tagged with licenses like Creative Commons, making it easier to discover images from across the web that you can share, use and even modify.
Your search will also include works that have been tagged with other licenses, like GNU Free Documentation license, or are in the public domain.’
See more at http://bit.ly/9iwzh
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BLOG ABOUT PHOTO ACHIEVES
A blog about news related to photo archieves and stock photo agencies: http://www.photoarchivenews.com
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SINCE LAST SPN
Since last issue of SPN the private sphere has been bogged down by serious illness of my father in law with two huge operations but now looking to be slowly recovering. Despite he just turned 88 he is still very fresh mentally and in most respects in fact – his memory is much better than mine has ever been even for the latest news.
Because of his illness my travels have been set on a standby for three months and a very promising travel to the northern parts of India had to be cancelled in last minute among other activities.
In Denmark we are very focussed on the issues of climate change and the coming top meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009. To get an international serious agreement to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gasses substantially is what we all are looking forward for. Hopefully the financial crisis and general economic down tour aren’t prohibiting the needed results to be achieved. That would in fact be an even more costly outcome in the long run.
As a part of a strong democratic society I feel we should all give our five cent contribution to the awareness of hazards coupled to climate change. By the way it reminds me of the recent rating of corruption in different countries when Denmark was appointed the least corrupt country in the World. I am very happy for that but would be even more happy to learn that some of the countries that have suffered severely from corruption had moved far op the rating in recent years.
See you in next SPN.
Soren
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WHITE-LIST STOCK PHOTO NEWS
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Copyright 2009 by Soren Breiting, A-Z FOTOS.
http://www.azFotos.com "Find Stock Photos from most of the
World" Email me at: sb@ azfotosTAKETHISAWAY.com (email
spaced etc to avoid email harvesters).
You are welcome to forward this newsletter to a friend or
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Stock Photo News is 'in principle' a monthly newsletter
edited by me, Soren Breiting. Due to many travels abroad
it is impossible for me to keep the schedule of the issues
strictly fitting to each month. My intention is to bring
quality information that isn't outdated a month or two
later.
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