The new era of stock photography challenges photographers to evolve and develop alternative ways to sell their images. And while there are still benefits to selling through the big agencies, accepting licensing models that let you keep just 30% (or less) of the revenue probably isn’t going to cut it.

In The Stock Photographer’s Tour of PhotoShelter, we demonstrate how it’s possible to set out on your own with our feature-packed websites and tools, which can help you get found by new clients and sell more images. This guide is designed for photographers whose main business is stock photography, as well as those with a large archive looking to license past work.

This specialty tour of PhotoShelter will show how our services help you:

• Customize your website so it’s easy for clients to search your archive
• License your images for rights-managed and royalty-free sale
• Rank higher on Google with the best SEO in the industry
• Stay organized with our client management tools

At PhotoShelter, we know that perfecting your craft is important. But these days, you need to have business savvy as well. Running an efficient business is what helps you rise above the competition and be the go-to photographer in your specialty.

PhotoShelter In-Depth: A Tour of Our Product & Services gives you a detailed overview of our websites and business tools, so you can see how photographers are leveraging them to create a strong online presence, market their work, and build lasting relationships with clients. These are the features that photographers love about PhotoShelter – the ones that help them get business, do business, and keep business.

This specialty tour of PhotoShelter will show how our services help you:

• Build a customizable portfolio website that lets you stand out from the crowd
• Organize your image archive & easily share your work with your clients
• Quickly set up e-commerce for selling prints, products, rights-managed & royalty-free licenses, & personal use downloads
• And more!

Thanks our modern age dependency on email, getting your work in front of potential buyers has never been easier. E-blasts, e-promos, and e-newsletters are all part of what we’re talking about when we say “email marketing.” And it’s something that has become a key piece of many photographers’ overall marketing mix, regardless of the type of work you do. But just like every marketing strategy, there are certain do’s and don’ts that can optimize your efforts and avoid common pitfalls that doom many email promos to failure.

So today we’ve partnered with Emma to bring you our latest free guide, Email Marketing for Photographers. This guide provides extensive research into what works and what doesn’t for photographers and their audience.

Use these tips to ensure your next campaign is a success. We talked to photographers who are using email marketing to stay top of mind and get their work in front of buyers. Email Marketing for Photographers also has advice on how to good an Email Service Provider (ESP), as well as:

• 10 questions to ask yourself before pressing send
• Why keeping your brand consistent is so important in email marketing
• How to send an email that buyers will actually open
• Ways to write and design emails that people will look forward to receiving

Download the free guide and get email marketing tips to grow your photo business and reach new clients!

Moving forward, all new images uploaded to your PhotoShelter account will be processed this way, resulting in the highest image fidelity. The next step is to process all 100+ million images that live in all PhotoShelter members’ accounts over the next few months.

Some of the benefits of this new image processing include:

• JPEG quality: We use the highest JPEG quality possible while still keeping image size manageable, so your images’ fine details and colors are preserved.
• Gamma correction: We also preserve fine details, micro contrast, and high contrast areas when resizing your images so that they have the correct brightness. Specifically, we use sRGB gama curve (2.2). Geek out on Wikipedia over gamma correction and how it affects our perception of color.
• Color management: Our entire image pipeline is still sRGB, meaning that any image uploaded will be tagged as sRGB – this is the de facto standard for viewing and compatibility on the web.

Overall, you should see an improved sharpness and quality of your images as displayed on your PhotoShelter website.

You might not notice the difference off hand, but check out these before and after examples. Read the notes below for more information and then mouse over each image to show the improvements.

Note the improved sharpening of fine details, the removal of artifacts around the trees, and overall better highlight separation.

Note the more pleasing rendition of the out of focus areas and skin texture, more accurate representation of fine detail, and overall better highlight separation.

Note the much improved highlight separation and sharpening, and the lack of artifacts in low contrast areas like the center artists’s face.

Note the improved sharpening of the building, better highlight separation in the foliage, and removal of artifacts in areas where the mountain meets the sky.

Note the improved sharpening and micro contrast in the artist’s glasses

Note the improved sharpening and highlight separation and a more pleasing rendition of the out of focus areas.

For more general tips on color management and your digital workflow, check out this video with photographer Martin Bailey. Also feel free to contact us with any questions at support@photoshelter.com.

You wouldn’t buy a new camera without reading the manual first, and it should be the same for setting up your photography website. So we’ve put together a step-by-step guide to help you get started with your PhotoShelter account, and also take advantage of all the ways PhotoShelter can help build your photography business.

PhotoShelter 101: The Playbook for New Members is designed for both new PhotoShelter members and those who want to make sure they’re on the right track with their existing PhotoShelter account (given the recent Image Browser upgrade, everyone is still a bit new here). PhotoShelter 101 focuses on defining the key components of your PhotoShelter account and  important steps for setting up your website. Get answers to the most common questions, unlock the power of the Image Browser, and receive advice straight from our Client Services specialists.

In PhotoShelter 101 you’ll learn your way around the back-end of your PhotoShelter account and get easy-to-follow, basic instructions for building out your photography website. This includes:

• How to efficiently create galleries, upload photos, and customize your PhotoShelter website.
• Best practices for organizing your work within the Image Browser.
• Specific workflow advice from our Client Services specialists.
• A user-friendly glossary of PhotoShelter icons.

Both written instructions and links to video tutorials are provided to answer many of the questions that come up as you’re getting started. PhotoShelter 101: The Playbook for New Members is a must-have for anyone looking for a guide on how to set up their account and get the most from our service.

Many of you already know Andrew from seeing him at various events, talking with him on the phone about your business, social media, or even stopping by the office to say hello. But now we want to give the entire community the opportunity to learn more about Andrew — his background, his commitment to PhotoShelter, and his vision for the future.

So here you have it: 10 questions with PhotoShelter’s new CEO, Andrew Fingerman.

1. Can you give us some brief background on what you did prior to PhotoShelter?

The road to PhotoShelter for me has been long and filled with lots of great experiences, so I’ll try to hit the key facts.

I went to the University of Michigan for undergrad. I studied political science there, and became convinced I’d pursue a career in politics or journalism. So after Michigan, I headed back home to the east coast and found a role in a small political campaign consulting firm. Looking back, I was fortunate to get started here, working on a diversity of campaigns. This job taught me valuable marketing skills, most notably the critical need to have empathy for the audience. I’ve taken this with me ever since. Above everything else, it helps to see things through the customers’ eyes.

From there I did a brief stint in corporate communications for tech companies at a large PR agency, and then I got the startup itch. I helped start a company called Venture Architects, doing business plan consulting for emerging companies. This was another great learning experience, getting exposure to hundreds of innovative companies. Wanting to formalize my understanding of business strategy and finance, I took some time to pursue my MBA from Columbia University.

After Columbia I was recruited to work for American Express, specifically in OPEN, the small business division. This was an incredible experience for me. I have so much respect for the way American Express has built and sustained a service brand, and how the people who support that brand truly live the values of the company and drive that into their jobs. During my time at Amex, I managed product marketing projects for a full spectrum of charge cards for small business.

And then five years ago the call came from PhotoShelter, looking for a leader for the marketing team. I jumped at the chance to do something more entrepreneurial and work in a creative community.

2. You’ve always been a photography enthusiast. When did you start getting seriously interested in photography and how has that developed since you’ve been at PhotoShelter?

As a kid, I used to take a ton of pictures, especially at sporting events. My grandpa had two incredible NY Giants season tickets in the third row and I would bring my (crappy) camera to every game, take dozens of photos from a position still too far away, and pester my parents to develop roll after roll. Starting in high school, I started to get more into photography and really enjoyed darkroom work as a creative outlet. I saved up and bought an SLR, the Nikon N2000, which I still have. I had two great teachers in high school – one of which happened to take photos part-time for the Giants. When I joined PhotoShelter in 2008, I found him through the SportsShooter community.

PhotoShelter has obviously given me a platform to expand my love of photography, and work on my own technique too, inspired by photographers who are one million times more talented than I am. These days, I’m nothing more than the nutty dad who doesn’t put the camera down at events with family and friends.

3. What went into the decision for Allen to take on the position of Chairman of the Board, and to transition you from VP Marketing to CEO?

PhotoShelter is about to turn 7 years old. Looking around, we’ve seen some companies “grow up” and lose touch with their original goals and ideals, and then their product loses its soul. So, for several months we’ve been thinking about exactly that – how to keep growing PhotoShelter while focusing deeply on solving problems for working photographers and maintaining our brand as an approachable, fast-moving thought leader. This thinking touches on product evolution, marketing, our role in the photography community, and on our leadership within the PhotoShelter team. We arrived at the very honest notion that at different stages, companies will require different kinds of leadership. Allen has been a driving force behind the evolution of PhotoShelter for years, and he will continue to do so. As the demands of running the day-to-day business grow, we feel that it is important for us to create space for Allen to think about vision and product strategy, and keep talking to photographers. This move frees him up to do just that.

As for my promotion, the selection was about continuity. I’ve been working within the photography community for almost five years; I understand our culture and our role in the industry, and I’ve built some incredible relationships with photographers.

Andrew at PhotoPlus 2009

4. What about PhotoShelter makes you want to work here and take on the role of CEO?  

That’s easy. 1) Our mission to use technology to help photographers succeed. 2) Our people, who give me the pleasure of working on a team where not one person simply treats their role like “just a job”. That’s a real gift. 3) The photography community, through which I’ve developed some incredible friendships and on a daily basis give me the opportunity to see images of this world and current events in ways beyond the imagination.  That combo may sound ridiculously cliche, but I really thrive in environments where everyone is excited about the bigger picture, and the double bonus is that we work in a creative business.

The people who work here at PhotoShelter care so much about how we can help photographers run and grow their businesses. It’s easy to lead a group of people who take that much passion and drive it into everything they do. Showing up for work every day, this massive print by Guillaume Gaudet is the first thing that I see, and I’m reminded of how lucky I am to be here.

Photograph by Guillaume Gaudet

Now would be a very appropriate time to mention that we’re hiring.

5. What can members expect from PhotoShelter in the next three months? In the next year?

In the immediate term, we’re razor-focused on product optimization. We recently overhauled the internal photo management area in an effort to streamline the workflow for photographers and modernize the interface. We introduced new capabilities like nested collections, QuickSend of high res downloads, and more powerful permission capabilities for client galleries and downloads. Quite candidly, we feel like there’s work to be done to ensure that the tools meet the initial promise of a simple, streamlined workflow. So our product team has been digesting member feedback, executing several new rounds of user testing, and we’ve planned a series of short release cycles that focus on usability and small feature enhancements. (The first of which is happening this week – see the latest system update post in the forums.)

We are then turning our attention to the next generation of PhotoShelter websites and photography display tools. Because many members have asked, I’ll note that for this next major leap forward we are planning to build in an optional beta period that will emphasize user testing.

6. What do you think differentiates PhotoShelter from similar services in the photo industry?  

We’ve always distinguished PhotoShelter with our commitment to pro photographers. It’s easy enough to get a simple website these days, but you can’t get one that’s built for professional photography and backed by the set of powerful tools that we’ve assembled over time. I don’t see another service out there that offers website customization (templates or manual design) plus the full spectrum of tools that can support a photography business online, including the ability to upload and store a wide spectrum of pro file types, an internal and external archive search, the wide variety of image sales/licensing options, marketing tools to attract new clients, inbound and outbound FTP capabilities, and so many other ways to deliver images to clients. The breadth of pro tools are really what makes us different, and we’ll continue to look for ways to introduce more of these for our members.

Beyond the product itself, I think that we occupy a unique space in the industry thanks to our efforts to help educate photographers and push their careers forward. Our team is a contributor to the photo community itself with our educational resources and in-person events, and we’re approachable – this makes a difference to working photographers. When you call PhotoShelter you get a Client Services representative on the phone who’s excited and prepared to help you out until you’re all set.

7. As CEO, how do you plan to continue establishing and growing PhotoShelter’s relationship with the photography community?

We can always stand to deepen our relationship with photographers. My plan is to do this through a mix of large and small opportunities.

On the larger scale, we have our Luminance event in September, which I’m really excited about because it creates a TED-like gathering where a bunch of very smart people can come together and discuss their ideas about the future of photography, and those of us in the audience (including me) will have a chance to learn a lot from them. Attached to the Luminance event is a workshop where photographers can work on technique alongside Joe McNally, Zack Arias, Corey Rich, and Robert Seale.

We’ve also gotten a lot more aggressive on the education front. Our schedule calls for us to release at least one new educational guide per month in order to continue growing our library of free business guides for photographers, and we’ll be hosting at least one new guest webinar every month, including more from our “What Buyers Want” series (check out the webinar schedule for more). The positive feedback we’ve received on our educational efforts has been very rewarding.

The photo industry associations have always been a great conduit for us to further our relationships with photographers. For the second half of the year, we’re sponsoring the APA Photo Assistant Basic Training and the ASMP Photographers Helping Photographers series – both regional U.S. events taking place at different times throughout the year.

In a less structured sense, we will stay very open to working with smaller organizations that have similar goals. Last night, for example, I (along with several members of the PhotoShelter team) attended the Friends of Anton photojournalism auction at Christie’s, where the work of some of the world’s greatest photojournalists was auctioned to support the family of Anton Hammerl, who was killed in Libya last year. PhotoShelter made a donation last week to help support this event. It gives me great pride to be involved in the community in ways like this.

Finally, I think there is huge opportunity for us to get better acquainted with the pro photo community outside the U.S. We’ll be looking at ways to better understand the needs of photographers abroad so we can be thoughtful about fashioning the service to solve problems for them as well. This will likely involve a healthy mix of travel, surveys, and Skype.

8. What major photo industry trends do you see that contribute to your thoughts and planning?

Mobile is one of the most significant industry trends I see that has the potential to influence our planning going forward in terms of photography websites. Video, of course, is another. But beyond specific technologies, I see the biggest trend impacting photographers to be the influx of “less pro” alternatives in every specialty – like Instagrammed photos appearing on magazine covers and ads, snapshots by citizen journalists used as part of news articles in major media outlets, etc. What does this mean for us?  We need to continue producing solutions that help photographers cement their client relationships and continue to be relevant, important players for whoever their clients might be – because happy clients will remain the best safeguard against competing alternatives.

9. You’ve said that “listening” to photographers is going to be the cornerstone of your leadership at PhotoShelter. Can you tell us more about what you mean by this and how it’s going to influence what members see in the product?

Listening, for me, is the primary way we will unlock new opportunities to improve PhotoShelter and make our tools even more useful. We have a huge, diverse community. Not one single specialty is more than 10% of our photographer base. So, it is critically important to me that our entire team really understands how individual PhotoShelter photographers are using the system, and how they work outside of PhotoShelter as well. We pay a ton of attention to the suggestions and feature requests that come in, but I want to push well beyond these. So we’re organizing a series of deeper conversations that dig into individual photographers’ workflow and business challenges. We’ve already started booking these, in the form of lunches and Skype calls. For those interested in participating and don’t mind getting poked by engineers, product managers, client services reps, and marketers – let us know in the comments below.

10.  And just for fun – when you’re not at PhotoShelter, what are you doing?  

I squeeze every bit of scarce free time into being with my family. I run a startup civic association in my community. During football season, I get a little crazy over fantasy football. And, I cook, preferably on the grill.

Andrew and his son Lucas at home

In some respects, innovation came easy early on. We listened to pro photographers of all specialties, understood the challenges they faced as the industry changed around them, and from there our developers worked around the clock to build solutions to their problems. This approach to rapid feature creation helped us amass an incredibly loyal base of photographers who have been with us from the start. They grasped the merits of maintaining an online image archive before anyone else, and have been our partners both in driving improvements to our service and in spreading the word to help grow our business. I’m really proud of the way we’ve evolved the PhotoShelter service, our role in the photography community, and the way we’ve been able to innovate in support of our original mission.

We’ve created a service that thousands of photographers rely on daily for their websites and to solve major business problems – attracting clients, managing photos, generating sales, and getting images to clients in a hurry. We’ve also built a team that cares about photographers, and puts a tremendous amount of pride into being helpful. It isn’t easy to be an independent photographer today, but we like to think our efforts in sum have helped make the job just a little easier and more profitable. And while our technical innovation has helped thousands, our educational efforts have helped hundreds of thousands face the changing photography industry and adapt to use web marketing techniques to create new, sustainable businesses. Our opportunity to keep growing will always be a product of our ability to keep innovating, and also to do so in a way that is highly respectful of our core user base and the variety of ways they rely on the product.

My personal pride in what PhotoShelter has become in the seven years under my leadership is only surpassed by my desire to see PhotoShelter become something even greater. So, how does a more mature PhotoShelter continue to innovate to help photographers stay ahead? We keep listening, and we adapt to change.

So, today I’m stepping aside as CEO to become the Chairman of the Board. This move will enable me to focus on our strategic vision, travel to more speaking engagements, and talk with more of you. I’m going to fill up my schedule with as many opportunities as possible to keep listening, and I’m starting with a trip to London in May at CEPIC and a cool evening with Blurb, the Flash Forward Festival and the Creative Freelancers Conference in Boston, and of course, don’t forget our awesome conference, Luminance, this fall.

I’m also very happy to say that we’ve named Andrew Fingerman, our VP of Marketing for the last 4.5 years, as the new CEO of PhotoShelter. Although Andrew came to us from the corporate trenches of American Express, he has entrepreneurism in his blood and a love for helping small businesses grow. More importantly, he is passionate about the photo industry and the opportunity to strengthen our relationship with our customers while continuing to build a better product. Andrew is a familiar face to many (that’s him on our Twitter avatar). Over the years, Andrew conceived and oversaw the development of PhotoShelter’s library of 20+ free photography business guides, our very popular webinar series, and has strengthened our relationships with the major photography industry associations like ASMP, NPPA, APA, and PPA. Behind the scenes, he’s been responsible for the evolution of the PhotoShelter brand and the strong, continuous growth of our customer base. He has an uncanny knack for remembering specific PhotoShelter photographers, their best work, and even the specific PhotoShelter features they’re using to make their websites stand out. There isn’t a stronger advocate for the PhotoShelter customer experience, and there isn’t a more responsible steward to guide the evolution of PhotoShelter’s service as we dig even deeper into the community and continue to solve problems for photographers. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more from Andrew very soon.

This is the new golden age of photography. We’re excited to have Andrew lead us through it, and glad to have you aboard for the journey.

The old concept of PhotoShelter’s Archive Area required you to first upload your images to the Archive as kind of “holding place” before you could do anything with them in your PhotoShelter account. But why require you to upload images to a secondary location if you’re ready to publish them to your website or deliver them to clients right then and there? The fact is, all images uploaded to PhotoShelter are automatically backed up in our system, no matter where they live; plus, we automatically resize images for the web. Meaning, the Archive was a somewhat unnecessary feature.

That’s when we decided it was time to cut out a step.

So whether your personal workflow includes publishing images on your website or sending them off to clients, you can now get it done in 3 easy steps. Here’s how:

1. Prep your Image Browser

One of the most important changes in the first phase of a brand new PhotoShelter was eliminating the need for a separate Archive.

Now when you’re ready to upload new images, the first step is to prep your Image Browser by creating a new gallery. Decide where you want it to live: the Unlisted on Website section contains all collections and galleries that are not listed on your website; the Listed on Website section is literally just that – a direct reflection of what is displayed on the gallery list page of your website. (If you’re unsure what this means, you can take a full guided tour of the new Image Browser here.)

The new Image Browser divides your collections & galleries into Listed on Website and Unlisted on Website. Your original Archive can be found in the Unlisted on Website section.

Highlight the desired section (or collection if this new gallery is going to live in an existing collection), and then click the red gallery icon at the top of Pane 1. You can name the gallery and set the visibility here.

Add a new collection or gallery by clicking the icons at the top of Pane 1.

Now your gallery is created, prepped, and ready for uploading.

2. Transfer images from your camera

This part you already know how to do. The second step is to transfer images from your camera to your desired location – computer desktop, Lightroom, Photo Mechanic, etc. Take care of any editing or post-production work to get your final files ready for uploading.

3. Upload to PhotoShelter

The third and final step is to upload your images to PhotoShelter. You can choose from one of six uploading methods, depending on your personal preference. But may we suggest the new, super sleek HTML5-based drag and drop uploader? To access the new uploader, simply locate the destination gallery and click the red upload button in Pane 3:

The upload button can be found in Pane 3.

Clicking this button will bring up the HTML5-based uploader, and from there you can either drag-and-drop or select files from your computer. Remember that you can use the Control (PC) or Command (Mac) keys on your keyboard to drag or select multiple files are once – you just can’t select entire folders from your computer. The upload initiates automatically and processes three images at a time for max speed performance.

If you’re more of a visual learner, watch this 2-minute video on Uploading Images to PhotoShelter.

The new HTML5-based uploader is sleek and fast.

Should you want to upload many images at once or have a shaky Internet connection, we recommend using the traditional PhotoShelter Desktop Uploader. The Desktop Uploader allows you to send images to your galleries without using your web browser. Why would you want to do that? Some reasons include: file queuing, pause and resume functionality, and bandwidth throttling to rate limit your uploads.

PhotoShelter also supports upload plugins from the following photo editing software (click on the link for more info and the latest plugin versions):

• Photo Mechanic
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom using Pact Software
• Apple Aperture
• Incoming FTP

What now?

Now that you’ve uploaded your images to galleries, the options are endless. If the gallery is in the Listed on Website section, then your images are live on your website and ready for public viewing. If you’re not ready for public display, or intend to make them password-protected or grant access to specific clients – go for it (learn more about visibility and download access here). The images are ready to show off.

Below is a comprehensive overview of the new Image Browser, which outlines where you can find all your images and pro tools that you’ve used for years. Plus, some new goodies and workflow ideas that will help get your images uploaded, online, and off to clients faster.

The first thing to know about the Image Browser is that it is divided into three panes. From here on out, we’ll be referring to Pane 1 (left), Pane 2 (center), and Pane 3 (right). Each has a core function and holds the resources to carry out specific functions within your PhotoShelter account.

An overview of the new Image Browser.

Pane 1

Pane 1 is where you will find the most organized and complete display of your collections and galleries. It’s important to note that your full Archive as it stood before the updates on March 24, 2012 is located in the Unlisted on Website section in a collection named “Archive (2012-03-24)”.

Your original Archive can be found in the Unlisted on Website section.

In addition to your original Archive, the Unlisted on Website section contains all collections and galleries that are not listed on your website. These might be private, unlisted galleries that you share with clients but don’t want to be publicly displayed on your website. The Listed on Website section is literally just that – a direct reflection of what is displayed on the gallery list page of your website.

For organizational purposes, a collection can hold other collections and galleries; a gallery can only contain images. To add a new collection, first decide if you want it to be on the Listed on Website section or the Unlisted on Website section. Highlight the desired section, and then click the red folder icon at the top of Pane 1. You can name the collection and set the visibility to “Everyone”, “Those with permission”, or “No one but me”. You can follow the same process for creating a new gallery.

Creating a new collection or gallery.

Depending on how you set the visibility for your collections or galleries, there will be either a small lock or “no” symbol on the icon.

Collections and galleries have different icons depending on their visibility.

You can also do a search in the Image Browser for any collection or gallery, and all instances will appear in the dropdown.

Searching for collections and galleries in the Image Browser.

Infinite gallery nesting is also available by simply creating a parent collection that sits at the root level, and adding additional collections underneath. Remember that galleries cannot live inside of other galleries – they must live inside collections. So when you want to create a deeper level of nesting, you must create a new collection.

Infinite gallery nesting is easy, just create new collections at the next level and add your galleries.

Creating nested galleries is the best way to get organized and allow your Image Browser to run at its optimal speed. You can always create new collections and then drag-and-drop existing galleries into those collections.

Wedding photographers, for example, might want to create one collection per client, and then create sub-galleries for the engagement shoot, ceremony, reception, etc. Or if you’re a travel photographer, try creating collections based on location and then organizing them by city. If you choose to do so, you will also make it easier for people to navigate your website and easily find the images that they’re interested in.

Pane 2

This is by far the meat of the Image Browser and where things look super sexy. You will likely spend the most time looking in Pane 2, so let’s get started.

First, you have to know how to sort your collections/galleries and images. This is particularly important for the Listed on Website section, because how you have them sorted in the Image Browser is how they will appear on your website. Simply locate the second dropdown in Pane 2 and choose from the sorting options:

• Name
• Last modified
• Date created
• Custom

You also have the option to always display your galleries first or your collections first. Once you choose a sorting option, you can use the arrows to the right of the dropdown to sort in the opposite direction (for example, A-Z vs. Z-A).

Sort your collections and galleries in Pane 2.

If you prefer to custom sort your collections/galleries or images, choose “Custom” and then click the small pencil icon next to the dropdown. Then you can drag-and-drop your collections/galleries into the desired order. Don’t forget to save!

To custom sort, choose "Custom" and then click the pencil icon.

If you’re finding thumbnails too bulky to work with, you can always switch between larger and smaller thumbnails at the bottom of Pane 2. Or toggle to list view for an even more streamlined perspective.

Switch to list view for another perspective.

So where’s the time-saving component in all this? The Actions dropdown, which has a ton of tools and features that you can apply to the entire gallery or specific images. The best part is that you don’t have to navigate to another page or load up each individual image to get things done. That in itself should save a few unnecessary steps, and it allows you to see it happen instantly on one screen. Actions available here are:

• Make searchable
• Batch download
• FTP
• Price
• Batch edit IPTC
• Add/move to another gallery
• Copy to lightbox
• Remove/delete images

Pane 2 is where the action is.

When you want to get things done, come to Pane 2 – it’s the place to see all your images beautifully displayed before you. To get more specific gallery and image detail, just look over to Pane 3.

Pane 3

We know that even the most minute details can make or break a business, so that’s why we’re hosting all your collection, gallery, and image details in one place. Pane 3 is where you can edit your gallery names and descriptions; add image captions; and perhaps most importantly, set visibility and download permissions.

When you select a collection or gallery in Pane 1 or 2, you will automatically see the details appear in Pane 3. The first thing at the top is the collection or gallery name, and below is its direct link. You can share this link with clients even if the collection/gallery isn’t 100% ready for view, as the link always stay the same.

Edit collection/gallery names in Pane 3.

You can also set a cover image for your collection or gallery by dragging one of the images to the graphic under the Descriptions area. To learn how, check out this 50-second video on Setting a Cover Image.

Directly below the name and link is where you can set visibility and download permissions – arguably the most important component of making your clients happy. Click the links next to “Who can see this?” and “Who can download this?” to edit permissions. You’ll have the option to make the collection/gallery visible to:

• Everyone: publicly visible
• Those with permission: visible to specific people by making it password protected or grant access to specific people
• No one but me: not publicly visible

Once you indicate visibility permissions, you can add download access and send out email notifications. For more on visibility and access, check out this help document.

Setting visibility and download access in Pane 3.

Once you have your collection or gallery set up, you can look into image specifics. Selecting an image and Pane 3 will instantly display all its information, and you can expand any given section to see the details.

Select an image to view and edit its details.

For example, expand Stats to see how many times the image has been viewed on your website, or Located In for a sanity check on the collections/galleries where this image actually lives. You can also click the pencil icon next to IPTC Meta Data to edit and more specifically, to add captions to your images.

You’ll also notice some new icons under the image’s file name to help you stay organized. You can hover over the icons for their description, and when “turned on” (i.e. highlighted in green) they indicate something specific about the image:

Pane 3 is all about getting your collections, galleries, and images where you want them to be. When you start thinking about download access, captions, cover images, and other details, head over to Pane 3 – just be sure that you have the right collection/gallery or image selected in Pane 2 before you start working.

Takeaway

The new Image Browser is a powerful workflow tool that’s optimized to make both batch and image-specific actions faster and easier. After some initial exploring, you’ll find a way to navigate around that works best for you. For visual learners, we have 4-minute video on Image Browser Basics. Also check out our comprehensive help tutorials, particularly on finding your way in the new PhotoShelter.

If you’re not a PhotoShelter member, sign up for our 14-day free trial.

And although taking a picture is still as simple as pressing a button, the creation and consumption of images at all levels has changed drastically in the past decade, year, and even months.

Most photo conferences focus on gear and technique. But something more significant has been happening around us. Digital cameras have become ubiquitous, camera phones capture more photos than stand-alone cameras, social networks have become the largest and fastest growing repositories of photos on the Internet. The impact of photography has become more significant than ever before.

We created Luminance to ask the question of how photography is changing and how society is responding to that change.

What is it?

Luminance 2012 is a fresh new conference that will bring leading voices from across industries to explore the intersection of business, technology, culture, and photography. Luminance is a 2-day conference featuring two dozen top speakers from a variety of organizations that help to create, consume and define photography in a myriad of ways. Each speaker will present a 20-minute TED-style talk on a topic relevant to their area of expertise. A brief Q&A will follow each session.

When is it?

September 12-13, 2012 in New York City. An optional, limited attendance photography workshop will also be held on September 11, 2012 at Root Drive-In Studios, with renowned pro photographers Zack Arias, Corey Rich, and Robert Seale (learn more).

In addition, the Luminance #ilovephotography Party will be held the evening of Wednesday, September 12, 2012.

Who should attend?

Photographers, technologists, designers and those who care about the direction of photography should attend. It’s a chance to engage in a dialogue with others who are creating the technology that’s driving massive shifts in the photography landscape, to learn from each other, and get inspired about what is still to come for the industry.

Who’s speaking?

Industry leaders from the photography, technology, design, social media spheres and more, including:

• Zack Arias, commercial photographer
• Chris Chabot, Manager of Google+ Developer Relations, Google
• John Maloney, CEO of Tumblr
• Eileen Gittins, CEO & Founder of Blurb
  
• Srinivas Narayanan, Engineering Manager of Facebook Photos, Facebook
  
• Eric Cheng, Director of Photography at Lytro
• Scott Belsky, Found & CEO of Behance
• Jen Bekman, Founder & CEO of 20×200
• Robert Seale, photographer
  
• Lucas Allen Buick, Co-founder & CEO of Hipstamatic

See the full and most up-to-date list of speakers here.

Where is it?

Luminance will take place at BMCC TriBeCa Performing Arts Center in the heart of TriBeCa, New York City. The Center has been home to a variety of productions including the TriBeCa Film Festival.

Find out more about the conference location and logistics.

How much is it and how can I register?

Conference tickets are $299. Admission for the 2-day conference plus full day workshop is $399. We also have discounted prices for students. Find out more and register - space is limited.