There is no standard in photography captioning and metadata. That lossless group of taxonomist geeks who have been mismanaging the IPTC organization have made a mess of the whole thing and its getting worse. Someone should get fired for good. Not only IPTC is not a standard, it is now being implemented properly by anyone. … Read More →
Getty made a huge mistake in blocking Flickr to create its own stock outlet. All they were concerned about was not allowing Flickr to become the biggest commercial stock agency overnight. So they could keep there dominance on distribution. But just imagine, if you will, if Flickr had moved ahead. Everyone and anyone could … Read More →
There used to be something called “digital rights”. That is, when a publication wanted the right to publish a copy of an image to use in a digital format, it would pay an additional license fee. At first, like the internet itself or CD ROM (remember those ?) circulation, it was small. But everyone was … Read More →
Some people just do not know how to speak photo. You look at their images, and they are fine, properly exposed, nicely framed, perfectly lit. However, the images are just borderline of boring. They do not speak, do not convey any message, or meaning. They are flat as a line on the screen of heart … Read More →
Pro Photographers should organize themselves into a guild. It is past overdue. Back in antiquity, craftsmen who were proud of their art protected their trade by helping and protecting their future replacement. Clients would always know that hiring a guild member was a sure sign of guaranteed exceptional results. Unlike like the current “associations” whose … Read More →
There is something amusing about photography. You can see it mostly in “fine art” ( why is it called “fine”, BTW?.. as opposed to what “brute” art ?). It goes something like this. Take a seat and read on. If you shoot something ( it can really be anything) either over a long period of … Read More →
“In five years? Maybe the only stock businesses are companies that add value by scouring the web for the best work within a genre?.sort of back to photo research services.“ When the great Ellen Boughn speaks, the world of photography listens : read the whole interview here : http://learnaniche.com/blog/2009/04/22/ellen-boughn-and-the-future-of-stock-photography/
Seems that Google is pushing through some image search innovation lately. First, it was the color search, released a few weeks back. Thanks to a little color palette next to the search tool, you can specify which dominant color you would like to see in your search result. Not groundbreaking technology. Companies like Idee, Inc … Read More →
Great photographers are fundamentally unhappy people. Not in the suburban housewife way of unhappy and waiting for something tremendously beautiful to happen and be swept away, a la “Madame Bovary”. Not at all. They are unhappy with the world around them and how it functions. What bothers them is the way reality is commonly perceived … Read More →
Lots of people have asked what to do in a down economy ? Some answer with what not to do, like slashing prices, but no one really offers a solution. Yet, answers are everywhere. I know of at least 2 photographers that had a hard time selling their images who created a multi-million market for … Read More →