A Picture's Worth

Shoot! The Day Salable Images Winners

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:43:10 -0500

With only 31 entries to win 4 prizes, this was probably the easiest contest in the world to win! We would have preferred having more choice, but that's ok, we're happy to give away prizes to the community for participating!

"Most salable" is an elusive concept, so we picked the winners by consulting with our sales team. Part of the decision is being able to conceptualize how an image could be used commercially, and some of the essays were interesting because many people have very literal or stereotypical conceptions of their images. Scenics were often described as "calm" or "peaceful," and yet our sales people were hard pressed to think of how such an image would be pitched to a client.

Some images had obvious problems with production values -- Blurry, poor contrast, unnatural color cast, objects coming out of people's heads (i.e. not paying attention to your backgrounds). Remember that you need to look objectively look at the elements that make up the photo while divorcing yourself from the emotions that you feel looking at the photo. Training yourself to have a critical eye is one of the most important attributes you can have as a visual artist.

Some people believed that having something "quirky" equated with most salable. Although it's common to see quirky images on a greeting card some times, quirky images are usually more associated with a "feature" image in a newspaper -- i.e. an image that isn't about news, pe se, but rather something that's visually interesting. On slow news days, photographers often are tasked with finding a "feature" image to run on page 1. But enough chatter...

The Winners

Michelle Lane
JPG Magazine Subscription

Michelle's image was on the "contemporary" side of the fence, but we thought it could be used on a Valentine's Day card, or maybe even a book cover.

F McKenty
Nikon Capture NX 2.0

Our sales people thought the goose that was looking the other way was a good conceptual illustration for an annual report ("One of these things is not like the other," "doing it our own way", etc). The fact that all the geese have one leg in the air was a bonus.

Jan Klier
Apple Aperture 2.1

Jan had a straight-forward, highly usable coffee shot. No trademarks present, and the beans on the ground provided some texture to the image. And in case there was any doubt, "coffee" is what's for sale.

Ryan Cardone
Lowepro Flipside 300

The addition of the model into the shot gave this image a nice feel. It allows us to transport ourselves to the end of the dock, and instead of being a scenic shot, it's more of a lifestyle image.

Congratulations to the winners, and we'll be announcing a new contest soon!

Shoot! The Day Casting Call

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:23:17 -0500

Twenty photographers are being selected to "Shoot! On Location" as a part of July 20th in our five shoot categories with teams being led by people like David Hobby and Kareem Black. Part of producing a full-blown stock shoot is to cast people for the shoot, so we held a casting call at the office today, and here's how it went down.

Harjot, our producer, placed ads online and with a few agencies here in the city giving the details of the casting call and Shoot! The Day. We fully disclosed the project details and made it clear that it was for stock since some models do not do stock.

We wanted to see everyone in person because photos often "lie" -- especially those that have been retouched, and it was important to see how they interacted because they need to be able to take direction from the photographers on July 20th.

Between 3-5pm, we had a steady stream of people of all ages and ethnicities per out casting requirements. Our producer observed them while we shot a head shot, a 3/4 body shot, and then an "attitude" shot. The goal was to see a smile and a non-smile so we have a sense of how they carry themselves. The models held up their info form with a number so that we could easily correlate their image with their information.

The more experienced models brought a comp card and "book" with them. People that were more from the actor-camp brought a headshot. And some people didn't bring anything at all.

We used a medium Photoflex softbox connected to a Profoto Acute-B 600 pack dialed to the lowest power setting since we were indoors.

Our producer made notes and separated the forms into "yes" and "no" piles, and after we have a chance to review photos and images, we'll call or email the models to let them know if they've been selected.

And that's how we are casting Shoot! The Day!

PhotoShelter New York Buyer Cocktail Party

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:05:00 -0500

We held a little Summer cocktail party the other week to get a bunch of our buyers together and have a drink. And to up the ante, we raffled off some images from the PhotoShelter Collection that were generously printed for us by the good folks over at AdoramaPix. Big thanks to the photographers that helped us make this event a success: Thomas Boyd, Gus Butera, Jason Florio, Kevin German, Julie Kuceris, Vincent Laforet, Nicholas Lorden, Matt Nighswander, Stacey Pittman, Matthew Porter, Gus Powell, Robert Whitman.

The check-in line to the swanky Stay Lounge. Photo by Josh Gerritsen.

Joel Barhamand and Kelly Phillips from Better Home and Gardens. Photo by Josh Gerritsen.

Ilene Cherna Bellovin Photo Editor. Production & Research and Susan Jones. Photo by Josh Gerritsen.

George Pitts from Latina magazine speaks with Liane Radel. Photo by Josh Gerritsen.

Research Request System Feedback #2

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:40:04 -0500

Watch our Research Request system video. (12.9MB Quicktime)

Production value continues to be the main problem with the images that we're seeing for the Research Request System. Before we get into the specifics, we encourage you to read our School of Stock article on production values, and then pay increasingly more attention to the way that images are used in the publications you read. Developing a critical eye to discern the differences between pro-quality images and amateur images is crucial.

The grades provided are for all the images we saw, not for the images that we're using as examples.

Doctor in an office setting
Grade: C-

With HIPPA laws and the problems of general accessibility to a doctor's office, the challenges of shooting medically-related imagery start before you even pick up the camera. Once you gain access, make the most of it by planning your shoot and ensuring that the production value of the images is high in every frame. This means paying attention to lighting, composition, styling, and casting (where applicable).

Although it's difficult to tell at this size, this photo isn't quite in focus, so off the bat, it shouldn't be submitted.
There is an obvious hard shadow around the woman, which leads us to believe that this is an on-camera flash. This could be easily alleviated by using a flash cord so that the flash can be moved higher.
Sloppy composition. The doctor's back is cut off for no particular reason.

Pay attention to backgrounds. There's a piece of paper sticking out of the bookcase on the right. The books are tilted and sloppy.
Pay attention to styling. The choice of glasses is too "trendy," and will significantly impact the longevity of this image as stock.
Doesn't quite match "office setting" part of the request. This is more like "Doctor in a library."
Casting is slightly questionable in that the model looks like he is 16 years old. In many respects, our visceral reaction to the image is the only one that matters, so if people think this is "Doogie Howser" instead of a "Doctor in an office setting," then we haven't succeeded.

Images of finance, job market (successful businessman/woman) and food
Grade: B-

This is a "believable" image -- not overtly posed, and you can buy that this guy is an actual businessman.
Shine on the forehead should be reduced either by powder (pre), or with Photoshop (post)
Ringflash is a gimmicky lighting style, but it's not so objectionable here.
Background is a bit distracting. Would have preferred either a white/gray background, or eliminating the "hang" of the fabric.

Mixed lighting sources. When you have a completely controlled environment like a bathroom, there is no reason to have imperfections. Everyone knows toilets are white, and yet there is an orange glow on the left hand side of the photo from an incandescent light.
Conceptually, the image is ok, but the lighting is poor.

Rule #1 of food photography: The image should make you want to eat it. In that respect, this image fails.
Lighting is mixed again. Make it "light and airy," and white balance needs to be totally neutral.
This is an obvious case of needing a food stylist (or at a minimum pay attention to detail). There is melted cheese strands on the right of the plate. The cabbage and main dish really look unappetizing. Pick up a copy of Gourmet if you want to see contemporary food imagery.

It's a little "stocky" but it'll work well for an article on job interview or how to write an resume
There's a slight orange cast to the image. Neutralize the white balance a little better.
This is a great example of thinking globally. "CV" is used a lot in Europe but not so frequently in the US. If you have the model and location all set up, you might as well have another document that says "Resume" on it.
We're assuming the contact information on the CV is fictitious

Travel, Leisure and Golf Spec Lightbox Request
Grade: D

Unless the request specifically states "photo illustration," you shouldn't submit them
This image doesn't make me want to play golf. It just looks a little silly.

Good composition, good exposure
FYI: Most full-time golf publications shy away from the silhouette because they consider them dated.

Shoot! The Day Community Contest #2: Salable Image

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:46:13 -0500

The word "salable" always looks funny to me, but I looked it up in the dictionary, and indeed, it is an adjective that describes that which someone can sell.

Which brings us to our next S!TD community prize. In case you missed it, you can get up to speed here and here. This week, we want you to:

Create your Shoot! The Day community account (if you haven't already done so)
Go to my profile page
Leave me a comment with:

In 200 words or less, tell us about the image that you consider your most salable and why (grammar and spelling are always a consideration!). If you've already licensed the image, let us know!
Leave a link to the photo (obviously, it'd be great if it's already in the PhotoShelter Collection)

Prizes!
Next Thursday, we'll announce the winners generously donated by some of our partners! This week's prizes include:

Apple Aperture is a fantastic image processing and asset management system, and version 2.1 has a ton of speed enhancements that make it feel like a totally different program.

I processed the photo below with Capture NX. It makes my Nikon RAWs look like a million bucks.

I'm a Lowepro camera bag user myself, and as I get older (and my back has gotten gimpier), I've moved to using backpacks. Sure they don't look as cool as slingbag, but sometimes you gotta go with the ergonomics. The Flipside is a cool little backpack that holds a ton of stuff.

And our lead Media Sponsor, JPG Magazine, is a very cool photo rag built solely from user generated content. It's the type of thing that could only exist in the 21st century with the rise of inexpensive digital cameras, the Internet and the resurgence of photography.

My Sloppy Example:
Here's a little example, but don't feel compelled to follow my format. I'm sure we have some closet authors out there. Show us what you've got!

My friend Richard was celebrating his birthday at home in Pennsylvania, and while I walking back from the detached garage, I saw the moon hanging just above his house. I didn't have a tripod with me, so I put my camera on the top of a car and fired off a single frame at f/2.8 at 1/2.5s. With the snow and the lights in the house, it looked like an idyllic scene that I can see used on a greeting card or in a "winter wonderland" article. The contrast of color between the blue sky and the orange of the house create a really nice composition.

I think we're going to glean a lot of useful information from a wide range of photographers about what they think is salable. Then we might go back to some of our expert buyers from the School of Stock and ask them what they think is salable. See, we turned a contest into something educational!

Shoot! The Day Community Winners: Best Avatar

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:27:39 -0500

In case you missed it, we set up a community site for Shoot! The Day and decided to have a little pre-shoot day contest. So we asked a few of our cool friends (Nikon, Lowepro and Apple) to pony up a few prizes, and just like that, we had ourselves a contest.

But why make it so competitive? Why not have a little fun and make it creative? Avatars have become iconic (literally) of the hours we spend online, so we figured that "best avatar" was as good a competition as any.

The fun thing about having a totally silly contest is that you don't need strict rules and you don't need Price Waterhouse audting your selection. Instead it's just me with no pants on IMing a few other PhotoShelter peeps about what we like. But before we announce the winners, let's talk about some trends that we saw.

You holding a camera
I don't want to be a debbie downer, but in the annals of photography creativity, this particular trend ranks near the ground. And the ground is down low. Now, now. That doesn't mean the photos are bad, I'm just saying...sometimes you have to step it up a creative notch. Here's a little pupu platter.

Adam Scott

David Neely

Kari Husby

Sabrina Weisz

Clowns scare me
I'm fairly certain that it was Poltergeist that made me this way.

Diane Davis

...And so do scary Medusa heads
I'm not sure why. It wasn't a movie (although I do recall Clash of the Titans with a dapper Harry Hamlin)

Who let the dogs out?
Pets (and animals) were a common theme. I guess it means you love your pet. Arf.

Mark Gilliland

Carole Lloyd

L. Inli

Baby say what?
If you love your pet, you'll love your kid even more! Plus, kids are funny.

Nathan Barrett

Pam

Don Cudney (I'm assuming this is Don. Smart choice, always makes the girls go "AWWW")

I might have a dirty mind, but....
I'm sure there was no inuendo intended.

Paula Roberts

Christey

The ole' Photoshop Filter trick

Brad Campbell

Nando

My hair is crazy!
Gravity-defying hair was a common theme. It's like Patti Labelle in the 80s.

Cheryl Lemanski

Christian Harberts

I wish I were a pinata

Ana

Most disturbing use of the "mirror" function in Apple's Photobooth

Laura

Cradoc's Keyword Harvester

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:12:53 -0500

Photography, like any industry, is filled with those who talk and those who do. There are those who talk about the decline of the industry and point the fingers at others, and then you have guys like Cradoc Bagshaw, who for years has been an advocate of the photographer and sought ways to educate and empower them.

It's no secret that I'm a fan of the creator of fotoQuote, the industry standard for pricing rights-managed imagery. And many of our 33,000 photographers know that fotoQuote is the engine that powers rights-managed licensing in the PhotoShelter Personal Archive and the PhotoShelter Collection. So I'm happy to announce that Cradoc has developed yet another tool that should be considered by photographers -- particularly those selling stock.

Even though photography is a visual medium, the only widespread and reliable method of finding images is through keyword searching. And yet keywording images is really difficult. I'm pretty good at getting the first 5 keywords, but after that it's like pulling teeth.

Cradoc also makes a very good point: "Keywording is a language which is defined by people looking for images, not the people supplying them." So you have to think the way buyers do.

The Keyword Harvester is a stand-alone software program that Cradoc developed to make the process of keywording easier. No, it's doesn't keyword for you. But it groups keywords logically, provides an easy method to build concepts, provides similar terms and synonyms, and allows for keyword template creation. (Disclosure: Kate, our linguist, was a beta tester for the program). You can use it as a part of your image preparation workflow with nearly any other software because it uses standard IPTC meta data.

You can try the Keyword Harvester with a 30-day money back guarantee, and he's got an introductory discount of $50 until July 14, 2008. But don't listen to me. Listen to Cradoc and watch him demonstrate the Keyword Harvester on his demo video.

Tearsheet: PhotoShelter Photographers in New York Magazine

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:37:10 -0500

Photo by Brian Auer

I'm in a tearsheet mood.

New York Magazine is my guilty pleasure, and Rachel Hulin loves Jody Quon ("she's the baddest badass"), their DOP. I read it on the subway to work, scanning everything from Eliot Spitzer to the best eats in town -- It's also a great resource if you're visiting the city (even my San Diego-based sister has a subscription).

Tearsheet: PhotoShelter Photographers in Time Magazine

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:48:30 -0500

Usually a tearsheet consists of a single photographer's work, but this week, we're very happy to congratulate a bevy of photographers for snagging a number of spots on a political chart on page 17 of the June 30, 2008 issue.

A hearty huzzah to Stephen Voss, Gordon M. Grant, Mark Goldman, Josh Reynolds, and Jason Cohn for their, ahem, timely photos.

PhotoShelter's Shoot! The Day Community Prize

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:38:25 -0500

The interest in Shoot! The Day -- our killer day to replenish stock photography -- is growing daily, so instead of just waiting until July 20 to start having some fun, we approached some of our friends and partners and came up with a little weekly contest idea.

So on Thursday June 26, we're going to pick three people in the Shoot! The Day Community Site who have the best avatar as judged by us! That's right, all you have to do is create your community site account and upload a square photo that represents you. Next week Thursday we'll pick the ones that tickle our fancy the most.

THE PRIZES
Nikon Capture NX 2.0
Nikon's just released RAW processing and workflow tool. I don't think you can even buy it yet (although there is a free trial download here). I use Capture NX to process all my NEF files from my D3. So does Darrell Young and Ed Rooney.

Apple Aperture 2.1
Grover loves this software. Vincent Laforet loves this software. And version 2.1 is seriously awesome -- much faster than its predecessor, and still with all the great image processsing and batch processing capability that defined this category of software.

Lowepro
I've been using Lowepro bags for years starting with their Reporter bag, then a Stealth Reporter, then a big Photo Trekker backpack, and currently I use a Computrekker because it's better for my back and holds a laptop. The stuff works, it's durable, and we're psyched that they joined us as a sponsor for this prize. This week, they're giving out the just announced Lowepro Nova 190 AW (that's "all weather" to you).

Could it be any easier to win a cool prize? Big ups to our friends at Nikon, Apple and Lowepro for helping us support the community!

The Shoot! The Day Photo and Other Musings

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:56:51 -0500

I'm not quite sure what caught our eye with this photo. Before we even thought of Shoot! The Day as an event, we had been talking about this photo. It almost looks like the girl is walking on the moon or some other exotic locale. The silhouette of the camera, the strange bokeh, the hint of green tone in the dress....it all comes together fabulously.

Photo by Sean Marc Lee / #PSC000118425

I decided to ask the photographer, Sean Marc Lee, out in Los Angeles about the photo (Can't let Rachel "The Glove" Hulin have all the fun in her blog).

Where did you take it?
This was taken in Malibu right off the Pacific Coast Highway at one of the really small coastal reserve beaches (can't remember the name). I believe it was during golden hour a little before sunset. January sunsets tend not to be so warm in tone. I remember that day because it's the exact day the Malibu fires started and I managed to take a picture of the smoke from a distance and had submitted to CNN as a reader submitted "breaking news" picture.

[ed note: ooh! The old CNN rights grab! They got lucky this time!]

Who is the subject?
The subject is my girlfriend Yumi, who seems to appear a lot in my photos for some reason... :)

What were the circumstances for the photo?
We like to do a lot of exploration and try to find interesting places you wouldn't expect to find in Los Angeles. She recently received a Nikon D70 at the time and wanted to try it out. She's very curious by nature so we kind of just wander around places on our own but together. I believe it was low tide at the time, so we walked out where that pool of water is. As she was
walking out I just liked the way she was carrying her camera and by instinct crouched down and took the picture.

Oh, and if I know we're going out to explore or something where potential photos can happen, we go through her wardrobe to find something photogenic.

There's a weird bokeh, were you using a doubler? Or is something else
causing that effect?
I like using really shallow depths of field. On the 5D, I usually kept it wide open at f1.4 at all times with the center focus point selected. It's similar to using old cameras, focus in the middle and reframe instead of letting the camera decide what point to focus on. As far as technical specs, it was shot at f1.4, 1/1000 at ISO 100 with exposure compensation set to -2/3 on Aperture Priority. As the subject is backlit, I believe it's causing some weird effect with where the light is meeting the horizon!

And are some other photos from the day...

Photo by Sean Lee

Photo by Sean Lee

Totally awesome. Sean Shoots! The Day every day.

Everyone loves acronyms
Acronyms sure are handy.

PSC = The PhotoShelter Collection
PA = Personal Archive
RRS = Research Request System

When we started planning our newest announcements, a few more acronyms were born:

SOS = School of Stock -- our cool new resource on stock photography from the mouth's of buyers

However, "Shoot! The Day" provided some challenges for obvious reasons. Had we planned the event 30 years ago, it wouldn't be a problem because back then STD didn't have any strange connotations that I'm aware of (we called them VDs back in the day), ah, but here we are in the 21st century.

I was pleased to find that the Strobist solved the problem for us by referring to the event as S!TD. Now, that's a creative solution. When I saw his post this morning, i shouted, "SEXUALLY, transmitted disease" and heard a few tentative giggles around me. But in fact, it stands for "SHOOT! The Day."

Ok, go take some pictures.

Introducing PhotoShelter's School of Stock and Shoot! The Day

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:19:39 -0500

There is a pretty simple formula for selling anything: Give the buyers what they want.

It seems pretty obvious, but knowing what buyers want requires actually talking to buyers. Knowing isn't built on assumption or anecdote.

Selling stock imagery is no different, and it should come as no surprise that most stock sales are lost because the buyer simply can't find the image they are looking for. Selling stock photography is speculative in nature, yet seasoned stock shooters approach the market with certain trends and topics in mind to optimize their chance of success.

We've had the privilege of speaking with thousands of photographers and buyers to learn what's on their mind. We think there's a major disconnect between these groups, and we're resolved to close this loop so that photographers make more sales and buyers get what they want.

A few weeks ago, we launched the first phase of our efforts by creating our Research Request System (RRS). Our photo research team received several hundred research requests per month from top advertising agencies, publications and graphic design firms, and we publish them to you. We figured that photographers have a lot more images in their archive, which they might not have considered as stock. The RRS allows photographers to use the Personal Archive to submit images into the PhotoShelter Collection, and the best part is that it's all free.

To gain more intelligence, we conducted a survey amongst photo buyers of all different types about a month ago. We asked them a slew of questions, and tabulated the data for you. The good news is there is a huge opportunity to create a whole new generation of stock photos. Here's an exerpt:

"We asked our buyers how they felt about the following statement: "When it comes to the images I search for most often, I think I've seen all of the content available within the major stock houses."

Three-quarters of the buying population (399 of 536 people) agreed with this statement."

Armed with all of this information, we decided that we were going to push education even harder than we have in the past. But rather than try to teach people about photography in general, we thought we focus specifically on stock photography. And rather than compile information about how a few photographers shoot stock, we decided to talk to the people that do the buying to understand where the opportunities lie. The result, our newly launched School of Stock.

The School of Stock is an ever-growing repository of information, quotes, tear sheets, and visual examples designed to help photographers create better stock and increase their sales. We threw together a pretty kick-ass group of experts, and we're really excited to see how it will grow.

But the Research Request System and the School of Stock weren't enough. Reading stuff on a web page is cool and all, but photography happens offline. And for pros and amateurs alike, photography can be an intensely social endeavor. We all seek to get feedback from others about our photography. We enjoy the camraderie of like-minded artists. So we made a few phone calls some friends like Nikon, Adorama, Shoot Digital Studios, and this cool computer company whose name is a fruit, and they all got really excited.

The result? On July 20th, thousands of photographers around the world are going to change the stock photo industry for good. And not only can you create imagery that could sell, but you could also win a cool prize for doing so. We're calling it "Shoot! The Day"

In the next few weeks, we're going to be posting a lot more information on this very cool event. A bunch of really awesome photographers, like David Hobby from Strobist, have consented to lead groups on that day. Get the word out, but more importantly, sign up and take some great photos.

Are Photographers Really a Threat?

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:26:53 -0500

Photo by Stefan Postles

Rachel "The Glove" Hulin posted about the photo fracas at Union Station, so I figured we could coordinate our outfits today.

So here's a post from The Guardian that Jim Colburn posted on Sportsshooter entitled "Are Photographers Really a Threat?"

"Since 9/11, there has been an increasing war on photography. Photographers have been harrassed, questioned, detained, arrested or worse, and declared to be unwelcome. We've been repeatedly told to watch out for photographers, especially suspicious ones. Clearly any terrorist is going to first photograph his target, so vigilance is required.

"Except that it's nonsense. The 9/11 terrorists didn't photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid subway bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn't photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn't photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Photographs aren't being found amongst the papers of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IRA wasn't known for its photography. Even those manufactured terrorist plots that the US government likes to talk about -- the Ft. Dix terrorists, the JFK airport bombers, the Miami 7, the Lackawanna 6 -- no photography."

Garnett-Sanschagrin: There Can Be Only One

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:25:36 -0500

The NBA's wildly popular "There Can Be Only One" campaign has entered a new phase by encouraging fans to pair up their own faces with those of the NBA superstars. You can actually download split images from the NBA site, composite your own photo, and upload the images for other fans to see. There's no prize for doing so, just the glory in being humiliated online for having the gall to compare yourself to a highly trained, professional athlete. (But really, I think it's all in good fun as that's the point of being a fanatic).

Of course, like most sites that allow photos to be uploaded (e.g. Facebook), you essentially grant a huge swath of rights to the NBA to use in perpetutity. So we won't be doing that today. Instead, you can enjoy Grover in all his glory because there can be only one.

Photos of Barack Obama on PhotoShelter

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:28:20 -0500

Are you voting Barack Obama for President of the United States?

Or are you voting for John McCain?