June 19, 2008 by pmelcher.

When Brian Storm speaks, the world of photojournalism learns. The Poynter Institute, a journalistic school, has a 26 minute long interview with the founder of Mediastorm. The interview, being held in front of a boring backdrop by a girl who obviously needs some more courses in broadcast interviews could have used some visual pointers to go along Storm’s amazing insight.

Posted in multimedia, mediastorm, magazine, technology, newspaper, photojournalism, news, editorial, msnbc.com, corbis | Print | No Comments »

April 7, 2008 by pmelcher.

I will never understand the publishers stubbornness in designing magazine online. They literally replicate their print edition. Not just the content, but the layout. You have a cover/front page. You have sections, you have pages and along all that, a lot and lot of text .

Scrolling, for example, is much easier online. No need to change pages when all you have to do is scroll down. Why fix a limit on how far down you can scroll, when the majority of us have a wheel and can read down for ever?

One reason is that making you change page forces the page to reload, thus displaying new ads. Good for the publisher, not for the reader.

And what is it with this obscene amount of text? Since the launch of Netscape, back in the early 90’s, the web can easily display images, yet all publication use much more text than visuals. Yet the cost is practically the same.

One would have thought that, by now, all the news could have been delivered in a multimedia format. Instead of the linear print magazine format, the web offers video, sound, graphics and of course, photography, to give the readers a more three diminutional vision of a story.

Yet few, if none, use this ability. Its like driving a ferrari at 20 MPH all the time.

Magazine publishers, as we all know, are extremely resistant to change. If anything, they will do more of the same and copy their competition before they will innovate. They mostly believe that their content is so special, it cannot be brought down by the packaging.  They should think again.

With the coming of age of the internet generation, those who grew up in the 90’s and are about to hit college, this will change fast. Right now they are busy absorbing. Absorbing Youtube, Facebook, EW online, myspace. They currently take what is being offered to them. As somewhat passive consumers. But when they hit the work force and take charge, they will certainly create a new medium and certainly affect it deeply.

Online magazine will be more web friendly, mixing text, video, voice over, photography to deliver the story. Navigation will no longer be up and down, left to right.

Interfaces will more like the one use by Brightqube who sadly currently only uses it for delivering  RF images. You will be able to slide your way through a publication that will all reside on one page. Companies like MediaStorm will be able to produce more interactive multimedia, where one would be more involved in its unfolding instead of being a passive listener.  For example, on a report on the Iraq war, one could decide between the short or long version, the unrated or family friendly version, wether to read or listen. And much, much  more.

Magazine sites currently look like scanned magazines. TV sites, look like small tv sets. News site, depending on who produced it, look like their parent. Obviously they want to maintain their brand, and they will. But like microstock to the commercial stock world, they are leaving the door wide open for someone else to steal their readership.

And they will.

Posted in magazine, mediastorm, focus, technology, Piclens, multimedia, Search, msnbc.com, editorial, photojournalism, web 2.0, newspaper, news | Print | No Comments »

March 31, 2008 by pmelcher.

While photographers trade organization are wasting their time fighting issues like the Oprhan Work bill in order the save whatever they have left, and while photo agencies association seem violently silent, the world of editorial continue its downfall.

According to Radaronline, Newsweek magazine got rid of 111 staffers last week ( didn’t even know they had that many)  and the newspapers of America had the worst ad revenue in its 50 years history, according to E&P.Worst than the 2001 slump. While analysts seem to confuse Getty going private with Getty shutting down, it is quite obvious that the tide is retreating before the big hit.

As previously written here, the editorial world will loose its dailies and weeklies in favor of the internet. It is not a question of if, but when. Monthlies will continue to thrive as long as they keep away from time sensitive news. The old ways will not continue.

While this continues, photographers and agencies will continue to bear the heaviest load as they will be asked to support the biggest part of theit cost saving initiative. A lot of companies will sink with the ships they will be trying to save. Those who will survive are those who are, today, turning to the new market. Companies, like Getty, that have understood that the future is on the Internet and create for themselves opportunities to be competitive.

Istockphoto, and other micro/midstock agencies are a good example of internet savvy photo agencies. Lean, mean, fast, cost effective companies that have learned to both cut their costs and leverage technology to its fullest. They can reach wide and far accross the world and up and down the client ladder. Others have jumped into new licensing models like Gumgum which  allows them to operate like a microstock on but a RM model.

The issue will be the relenvency of content. Currently, the internet is replicating the print editorial world. Some are adding video or multimedia, but it is still very linear. But that will change too as “born in the internet” art directors will re -invent  the web page and how we consume our news. Photographers will and agencies will have to reinvent their offering to match it.

Getty, by going private, will certainly take advantage of this new situation. They have already by acuiring Istockphoto. The celebrity photo agencies have also initiated the switch by producing videos and embrassing new licensing models. Others will probablly decide that book publishing, exhibits, grants are a better way to go and try to carve a controlled market. But, with schools already using Wikipedia and other National Geographic sites as references, how long will this market survive?

More technology based solutions are peeking out of the horizon that can help this industry  make a succesful transition. It is, a little, heartbreaking to see how slowly they are being ignored by the guardians of the old temple who beleive that saving what they have is better than growing in new markets.

Posted in copyright, license, Midstock, celebrity, magazine, Newsweek, gumgum, Zymmetrical, multimedia, TIME, editorial, news, getty, transaction, CEPIC, photojournalism, msnbc.com, Microstock | Print | No Comments »

December 19, 2007 by pmelcher.

It has been a rather busy year in the photography business world but let’s not forget photography itself. For all those naysayer claiming that photojournalism is dead, that photography will soon be replaced by video, and for all the others that enjoy great photography, here is the msnbc.com year in review slideshow:

As usual, very biased towards American centric news ( one day they will expand their field of vision) , it still contains my favorite image of the year : a couple stranded on a california highway after their trailer has been blowned off by extreme winds while the fires rage behind, taken by David McNew. Since I do not beleive in fair use and do not wish to pay Getty for a license, you will have to see it in the slideshow.

sit down, take your time and enjoy. Slide show here 

Posted in copyright, magazine, multimedia, photojournalism, editorial, msnbc.com, news | Print | No Comments »

December 3, 2007 by pmelcher.

Photo agencies ( distributors) :
Getty Images: The already succesful company is under the gun to prove to investors it can continue to deliver on its historical growth. With not much left to acquire that would trigger a 30 % growth, it is left to its own demise to add fuel to its own engine. Already on the path to explore other revenue streams, like music (micromusic anyone ?) and video, it is about to launch itself into the B2C Eldorado and try to reap benefits from this ever promised land. All eyes are watching the giant at its second attempt ( remember the Art.com fiasco?) to cash in on this unknown territory. Also on the near horizon, hopefully, an accelerated effort to be as strong on international market than it is in the USA. The last quarterly report showed that Getty does  not even make 5% of its revenue in Germany which is, after all, one of the biggest market in photography. Does Getty have the right people in place to make this happen ?

Corbis: The overweight rich kid of the industry is trying to shed some fat. With one of the best content in world, will it be capable of showing, finally, a profit? Will it stop playing games with papa Gates’ money and enter adulthood? We heard the promises, now let see it happen.

stockthatdoesntsuck: Will high end stock photography survive? Their content is amazing, their intention pure. Will the market support them? 2008 will certainly let us know.

SplashNews: With one of the smartest management in this industry who has the keen ability to ignore risks, Splashnews goes for the jugular. They just concentrate their fire to those images that sell very well, and that is it. Combine with a true understanding of how to leverage technology, it is one of the most succesful photo agencies around. Let’s not be surprised if Getty or Corbis are knocking at their door.

Zymmetrical: Launched in 2006, this mid stock has everything to please creative professionals. With not only photography, but also fonts, video and graphic, it is the one sop shop for budget conscious creative professional. It also allows pros to compete with amateurs on the same platform without giving up on pricing. At the end, only the best image wins.

Tech Companies:

Idee Inc : Still the one to watch on the image tracking field and beyond. Extremely succesful and innovative, it is the kind of company that will keep on surprising the industry over and over. The Toronto base company has its ears to the ground and its eyes fixed on the horizon. We should see and hear a lot from them in 2008, and even sooner.

Mochilla, Britepic, Picsout and others: This will be the year of the user-generated revenue. Following in the footsteps of Corbis and soon Getty, other photo agencies will offer free ad supported images to 60 million bloggers worldwide. A few unknown remain: What will be the photographers cut ? Will people click on the ads ? Will it be a revenue generator or gobbler ? Will it prevent agencies to continue doing adequate business with professional website ? Finally, will it devaluate images overall by making them so easily available ? Hang on to your seats, photography is going for a wild spin.

Brightqube: Came out of the gate with a huge, and well deserved WOW effect. But, once passed the cool interface, it is just another royalty free platform. What’s next ? Knowing the team behind it, be ready to be wowed some more.

Picturemaxx and others: Portals where everyone dump their images into one central server is so 1990’s. The next generation of agency will be using virtual portals. Image database networked to each other will deliver the ultimate user experience to image buyers. One location to search any or all photo agencies worldwide is the ultimate image buying tool. For agencies, especially the small and medium, being part of a global offering makes more sense. Ultimately, it will change the way this industry works over the web. Sub agents and distributors, beware.

The Outsiders : Like istockphoto, Idee, Mochilla, the photo industry is being re invented by people outside of this industry. A lot of companies are currently in alpha mode and ready to revolutionized the way we do business. The success of Flickr has brought a lot of attention to our industry and brilliant minds are looking to cash in. New ways to license, to search, to retrieve. There is a lot of very interesting projects in the works. Some will stick, some will not. a few areas of development are:

- Image licensing : pay per view

- Search : Semantic search ( French company new phenix are already years ahead)

- Auto keywording : image recognition applied to tagging

- Auto editing : Data mining applied to cognitive results.

- Automated translation: Become local without any additional work. Years of development about to break open.

- Intelligent images : images will tell you where they have been, who has seen them, for how long.

and much,much more..

Media companies:

MediaStorm: The ones to follow. Set extremely high standards to how our images will be seen by our children. Offers a 3D emotional quality to still photography. Brilliantly succeeds in adding video, sound, text and stills into intensely rewarding experiences. Question is, will Mediastorm become a media company by itself or just license its content ?

Msnbc.Com : At the forefront of what can be done with still photography and the web, Msnbc.com keeps on re inventing itself, making it one of the most desirable destination for web surfers. They have never stood still, never took their success for granted. Furthermore, they pay a decent price for photography. We like that.

The New York Times : As respectful to photography on its web pages as they are on the print edition. The quality and placement of photography keeps on rising as they have realized how important it is. With newspaper like this, photojournalism will never die.

Yahoo/Flickr/Google: Will they or will they not? The whole industry is buzzing with the prospect of these mega players entering the photo licensing business and squashing everyone in their path. Flickr had announce earlier this year that 2007 will be the “licensing” year. It did not materialized. Will 2008 be the year where the flood gates open ?

( Partial) Conclusion: by no means exhaustive, this list is a good indication of the companies that will start or continue to amaze us in 2008 . Feel free to add. I know I will…

Posted in Search, google, web 2.0, multimedia, mediastorm, celebrity, Midstock, prosumer, flickr, getty, Royalty free, corbis, france, msnbc.com, editorial, Microstock | Print | No Comments »

April 13, 2007 by pmelcher.

Friday is a good day. It is a good day to review the week past. And for that, the first thing I do is head straight to the week in pictures from MSNBC.com. A great place to see some of the best images of the week and also vote and compare your choice with that of thousands of non-professionals. It should be a required exercise for photo editors around the world to compare their choices with those of viewers and see if they match. It should also be a routing exercise for photographers as well and see which images are appreciated the most and try to find out why? is it subject, is it composition?

Very hard, some weeks, to decide, which one is the best, as 2 or 3 images seem to be equally strong. I tend to vote for those that took some photographer thinking. Although there are many great “lucky shots”, I am a big believer in thought photography, the kind that yield great results because you can feel the actual photographer’s work, thinking about lighting, angle, composition, where chance is less a factor than professionalism.  One of the mental tools I use is asking myself the question:”If I was in the exact same circumstance, would I be able to take the same image?”. If the answer is no, than it is a winner for me. If the answer is yes, however, I then ask myself: “would I be able to put myself in such a position? be there at the right time ?”. Because being at the right place at the right time is also a key attribute of a talented photographer.

My winners are usually the images  for which I ask myself in complete bewilderment:” How did he do that?” . Where magic is perfectly synchronize with emotion, where what is going on in the image makes me feel that I saw it with my own eyes and was deeply touched by it, whether it was happinesses, sadness, compassion, or revolt. And unlike a feature story, these single shots might not explain a whole story, but when they do, they do become stuff of legends.

Remember when you had decided to be in this business because you loved looking at pictures? Go ahead: Happy voting.

Posted in photojournalism, msnbc.com, editorial, news | Print | No Comments »

April 11, 2007 by pmelcher.

Brian Storm Mediastorm has been nominated for the Webby Awards. “Hailed as the “Oscars of the Internet” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile Websites.”

It is free to register to vote and anyone can do it. So, if you are like me and think that Brian Storm’s production are the future of photojournalism, drop what you are currently doing, log in to People Voice Awards , select the Broadband and Magazine category and cast your vote. It will take you no more than 5 minutes and you will feel really good about it. If you want to feel even better, inform everyone you know, post it on photo bulletin boards, make some noise.

Isn’t time you did something for the photojournalism world ?

Posted in msnbc.com, slideshow, editorial | Print | No Comments »

March 23, 2007 by pmelcher.

Nina Berman, of World Press Award fame with her magnificent portrait of a severely burned Iraqi war veteran on his wedding day, has posted a multimedia on MSNBC.com. Not only does it gives more depth and information about the two protagonists, it is also a beautiful mix of images and voice over.

Like Todd Heisler’s images, the most compelling, the most telling, the most truthful images of the Iraqi war are not taken in Iraq, but right here in the USA. It is not about the violence of the combat itself but more about the profound impact that it has on American soldiers, their families and society if and when they return home.

Nina Berman story is here:

Scares from Iraq.

Posted in msnbc.com | Print | No Comments »

December 18, 2006 by pmelcher.

Like every year, MSNBC.com has put together a “best of..” for the year 2006. A bit too focused on wire service images and very U.S.A. concentric, but still an amazing sideshow:

MSNBC.COM Year in pictures.

Enjoy !!

Posted in msnbc.com, wire service, slideshow | Print | No Comments »