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Key words in this issue: Digital Delivery | Cliches | Royalty Free | Advantage | Moving | Negatives | Analyzing | Cover Photos | Corporate Giants | On-Line Publishing | Auctions | Verticals | Copyrightable Property | ASPP | Sell It On Ebay | Clone | Business Vehicle | Model Release Required | Stock Photo

NEWSWORDS: SECURITY THREAT | GOOGLE | PEOPLE | AD REVENUE | PICTOMETRY | AFRICAN DIASPORA | WATERMARK | INJUSTICE | OCCUPATION's | BANGLADESH's | PICTURE-TAKERS | SCAM | ALLEGHENY | SEPARATIONS |

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## PhotoAimLite monthly newsletter for May ## 405

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PhotoAimLite, the monthly newsletter from PhotoSource

ISSN 1530-0511

If you no longer wish to receive PhotoAimLite, see the instructions at the end of this newsletter.

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Stock Photography: The New Way

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The page has turned, and with it has come a new chapter in the annals of stock photography. If you’ve considered entering the stock photography field, the first and most productive thing you can do right now is to clean your mind of everything you’ve learned so far about the field and prepare to start fresh. Even my own book, "Sell & ReSell Your Photos," has had to be revised 5 times to keep up with the Internet/Digital roller-coaster.

I’ve also added a companion book, "sellphotos.com," on how to utilize the new tactics. (Its has recently been translated and published in China.)

To apply last-century stock photo business principles to the current era of stock photography is akin to allowing yourself to operate on an unlevel playing field. The odds would be against you. It might sound blasphemous to veterans in the field who have invested a lifetime of producing vibrant and money-making film stock photography, for me to suggest their operating methods are passe, dead, gone.

And, this might come as an audacious statement from someone who has been involved with stock photography for over 35 years.

But what else is new? Every other facet of commerce today has had to face the same realization: the Digital Era is upon us. Regards photography, the omnipresent Internet has accelerated the production, delivery, and payment for images.

How did this come about and what effect does it have on the operation of the stock photography industry? From down in the trenches we hear the "Them Against Us" complaints, and how big business has stolen the market from the little guys. In a sense, this is partly true, but certainly inevitable, given the on-line world that’s now available to people in the graphics industry.

In the last century, photographers were using antiquated methods of moving their pictures back and forth between prospective buyers. Transparencies were lost, mishandled, or sometimes destroyed. Only the patient and courageous stock photographers survived.

Today, in the digital world, sending advance scans to potential clients (photobuyers) has made stock photography more user-friendly. There’s no "fear of loss" on both the photographer and photobuyer’s part. We have noticed here at PhotoSource International that more, not fewer photobuyers are using our PhotoDaily and PhotoLetter market letters. They’re quicker, and there’s more variety available to the buyers-- especially when they’re looking for hard-to-find specific images.

THE INTERLOPERS

What with the introduction of digital delivery, scanners, e-mail, the World Wide Web, and digital cameras, entrepreneurs who knew little about stock photography but a lot about how the public craves images over text, put two and two together and came up with a new model for stock photography. The model is "customer driven" and that means, "go with the flow."

The venerable marketing adage, "Find A Need And Fill It," took over. That phrase has never sat well with creative photographers who do not wish to conform to taking what agency art directors say will sell. These photographers traditionally have wanted to pursue their own visions of meaningful images.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/gen447.html

MOVING?

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Permanent e-mail addresses are available if you have your own domain name or use a national e-mail service such as AOL, Juno, etc. This comes in handy if you move and your previous Internet Provider (IP) does not have a presence in your new location. You can circumvent this by taking out a free web-service e-mail address such as Hot Mail or Yahoo. >http://www.hotmail.com< >http://www.yahoo.com<

CONTEST

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WORKSHOP

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LIGHTING: COMPACT AND CREATIVE, with Charles O’Rear. July 18-24, 2004. Lectures, demonstrations, assignments, and lots of experimentation fill each day. The week includes hands-on applications using small strobes, flashlights, multiple exposures, portraits, gels, and action demonstrations. Participants are guided through assignments suited to their own interests. Cost: $775 tuition; $110 lab fee; $30 location fee.

IN SEARCH OF THE SPIRIT: ITS LAND AND PEOPLE, with Chris Rainier. July 18-24, 2004. Participants explore the deserts and mountains of northern New Mexico, the traditions of the native American culture, and the spiritual communities of Santa Fe and Taos. The focus is on the documentary approach to photographing cultures and their environments. Cost: $795 tuition; $110 lab fee; $40 location and materials fee.

"Analyzing Magazines"

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The #1 key to successful stock sales is to find the photographic subject you’re passionate about and the markets to fit that passion. The key to knowing what the buyers in those markets need is to study what they’ve been buying. In a recent posting on PhotoSource International’s Kracker Barrel forum (http://www.photosource.com/board), Ted Bratton asked "How does one analyze a magazine to determine what kind of pictures they are looking for?" We replied that "Some of the things to look at are:

• Types of topics/subjects
• Proportion with/without people, wide angle/telephoto, color/bw, etc.
• How much they use your area(s) of specialization
• Ratio of horizontal to vertical
• How much caption info they include
• Geographic location (if relevant to your specialization); etc., etc."

Track these factors for two or three issues of the magazine, and then submit photos that match what they’ve been using.

But that’s only half of it. Editors, art directors, and photo researchers aren’t simply looking for photographs—they’re looking for solutions. The #2 key to successful selling is to make the customer’s (editor’s) life easier. This means not making photobuyers do their own caption research or call you for the necessary information. The more on target your photo submissions, and the more complete your caption information, the more likely they are to buy.

One final tip: if you’d like to sell cover photos to the magazine, also analyze the placement of type on its covers; then submit photos that match their preferred layout. – David Arnold & Gail Rutman

CORPORATE GIANTS taking over the stock photo industry?

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No way. The evidence is in your own community. Your local Ma 'n' Pa general store may have succumbed to WAL-MART, but specialty stores continue to flourish.

How can you survive? Use the same business secret. Whether you are a small stock photo agency or an individual photographer, don't build a general collection of photos of the world and try to compete with the corporate giants in our industry. Instead, specialize in a haven where you have personal interest. Build a vertical file of photos that can serve as an important resource for photobuyers seeking pictures in your field: fly fishing, nursing, trucking industry, dairy farming, etc.

The Digital Age is showing us that your customers no longer will be "walk-ins," but cyber-visitors from as far away as Thailand (unless you live in Thailand). If you zero in on supplying photos to buyers who need photos in the subject areas you specialize in, they will not only appreciate your deep selection of images, but these specialty buyers will come back to you often. -RE

KEEP AN EYE on on-line publishing.

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A few years ago best-selling author Stephen King took his words directly to readers, posting the first installment of a novel, "The Plant," on his website. By entirely bypassing the publishing industry, he struck a blow for artistic freedom. "My friends, we have a chance to become Big Publishing’s worst nightmare," he writes on his site. King’s high-profile status makes his Internet experiment unique. Which brings up this point: Can authors, musicians, filmmakers and photographers avoid the stranglehold of media conglomerates and go straight to consumers via the Web? To give you an idea of how big BIG publishing is, Simon & Schuster, a popular publisher (where we often sell our photos), is a division of a larger and more powerful publishing company called Viacom, which is wealthier than eighteen of the fifty states of America, all of central America, and wealthier than all of the former Soviet Republics combined.

AUCTIONS:

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The Memory Card

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by David Arnold & Gail Rutman

Is It Vertical?

In Rohn Engh’s book, Sell & Re-Sell Your Photos, this quote from one editor reflects the thoughts of many: "Printed matter is usually a vertical format, yet photographers persist in sending me horizontal pictures. I could use many more verticals than what I get."

Why don’t we shoot more verticals? A major reason is that every SLR camera on the market, film or digital, has a horizontal bias. Pick up your camera: the base rests comfortably and solidly on your left hand, while the grip and shutter release are perfectly placed for your right hand. Then rotate the camera 90-degrees. The left side of the camera, now at the bottom, wobbles uncertainly on your left hand, while you’re right elbow flaps in the breeze, offering no support whatsoever.

The solution is to attach a vertical grip, which lets you grasp the camera as solidly in the vertical position as in the horizontal, and puts the shutter button—and usually other controls as well—in the same relative position as when shooting horizontally. With one of these grips you’ll take more vertical photos, and because you’re holding the camera more securely, the photos will be better.

The vertical barrier is just as bad when using a tripod. You shoot a scene horizontally. Now you want a vertical version. Loosen the head and rotate the camera to vertical. Now you have to stoop down. Raise the tripod. Now the image isn’t aligned properly. Rotate the head a bit, move the tripod a bit, or just say "to heck with it." Not only is this a hassle, making you less inclined to supplement your horizontal compositions with vertical ones, but it places the entire weight of the camera and lens off the center line of the tripod, creating instability.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/mcard3.html

 by Joel L. Hecker

  In 2000, Radio City Entertainment created a doll, which it named the "Rockettes 2000" doll, to celebrate its widely renowned Radio City Rockette Chorus line of dancers.  The doll was "quite similar" in several respects, to two of Mattel's copyrighted Barbie Dolls, including central features of the face.

  In the initial United States District Court decision in 2002, the Court dismissed the copyright infringement action on Summary Judgment, concluding that something as common as a youthful, female doll with elements such as full faces, pert upturned noses, bow lips, large widely spread eyes and slim figures, are just not protectable.

  The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has now reversed that decision, concluding that, indeed, Barbie's eyes, nose and mouth, as contained in her various faces registered with the Copyright Office, is protected.

  The Court specifically stated that "the proposition that standard or common features are not protected [under copyright] is inconsistent with copyright law."  To be protectable under established law, a work need only to have been independently created and possess some minimal degree of creativity.  It need not be particularly novel or unusual. 

  Since this appeal arose on a motion for Summary Judgment, for purposes of deciding the motion only, the facts must be viewed in the light most favorable for the defending party (or Mattel).  The Circuit Court pointed out that there are "innumerable ways of making upturned noses, bow lips, and wide-spread eyes," and that Mattel met its burden of proving its "face" was independently created.

  However, the Court also appears to have limited the protection available when it referred to the overall controlling axiom of copyright law that copyright does not protect ideas; it only protects the expression of the ideas.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/legal111.html

START YOUR OWN MINI-MALL

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Set up a "mini-mall" or Gift Shop of your images.

CORBIS has discovered this.

In addition to supplying the professional photobuying world with images, CORBIS is also targeting the consumer market.

Based on research, they have remodeled part of their business strategy to include the general buying public. Click on "Presentation and Personal use". You can follow suit by setting up your own.

The Internet marketplace opens up new markets that never existed for you before.

Here's how CORBIS advertises its wares:

"Buy a value pack and get more for less. Value Packs save you 40% and more off the cost of single-image or template purchases.

"Search our extensive collection using the tools at left. Find just the right image or template for your PowerPoint® Web and Print Projects. (www.corbis.com)

GOODSTUFF

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COLOR CORRECTION AND ENHANCEMENT, with Adobe Photoshop, by Michelle Perkins. This book will show you how to: Understand the terms and concepts of digital color; identify color problems and develop strategies for fixing them; use levels, curves, and other color-correction tools to perfect your images; work with selections and adjustments layers; and fix common problems, such as poor white balance, underexposure, faded images, and more. (ISBN: 1-58428-123-5; $29.95; 128 pages; 300 full-color images) Contact: Amherst Media, 175 Rano St, Ste 200, Buffalo NY 14207. Phone: 1 800 622-3278. Fax: 1 800 622-3298.

Tell a Story

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by Jeremy Hoare

As with many things in life, the rules of photography are made to be broken. So go ahead and take pictures any way you think is interesting, but always try and remember one thing - tell a story with your camera. This should help you to come back with potentially saleable pictures. A catalog picture "clone" rarely tells your story.

Just as the sun is about to set you have arrived in a new country after a long flight across several time zones, and you're jet lagged. That doesn’t stop you from shooting around the aircraft as soon as you get off the plane, if you're at a smaller airport where passengers are bussed or walk to the arrival concourse. I do this even with a splitting headache as I know the shots will not show my headache. Then you get to your hotel and sleep. You’re going to need to build up your stamina -- after all this is not a holiday!

MAPS ARE USEFUL

The next morning get hold of a good map which has a scale on it; some maps don’t and are worse than useless. Make a list of locations and things to be covered in conjunction with the map so you know where the sun will be should it be out. Plan some interiors if it is raining, although tropical torrential rain pictures are good to take. (Better yet get a map and do much of your planning before you leave, in preparation. You can always revise your basic schedule once you're on-scene and discover additional things you want to check out and cover.)

If you find yourself in a downpour, use a plastic bag over your camera and keep it simple by starting with a new film and just one lens. If the camera does get wet, go back to the hotel, open it up as much as possible, then blast a hairdryer onto it. I rescued three camera bodies this way in Brunei when I got caught out by a seemingly wonderful sunny day which changed to sheets of rain in minutes!

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/trvn31.html

It’s your business vehicle…

It’s not your family car

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Julian Block

In your stock photography operations, do you use your car for business reasons? ("Car" can mean an automobile, van, pickup, or panel truck.) Say, trips to see clients or customers, or to attend meetings, or, of course, to take photos or purchase photo supplies? If you do, you’ll find the tax code allows you to use one of two methods to figure your deductions: actual expenses, or a standard mileage rate.

The list of deductible items includes gas, oil, tires, repairs, license tags, registration fees, insurance, garage rent, lease payments, parking fees, tolls, and depreciation. (Commuting to and from your place of work is not deductible.) The interest portion of car payments is not a deductible car expense if you are an employee, but it is deductible if you are self-employed.

Opting for the actual-expense method in the first year the car is used for business requires you to stick with that method as long as you have that car. Moreover, there are restrictions on depreciation deductions for cars used less than 50 percent of the time for business driving. Another limitation applies to cars used for both business and personal driving. You have to divide total costs between the two purposes; the cap on your deductions is the percentage of costs attributable to business use.

The standard mileage rate encompasses depreciation, as well as insurance and other car expenses. The standard rate spares you the bother of tracking actual expenses; you only need records of business miles driven for the year. For tax year 2003, the standard rate is 36 cents a mile.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/txtct65.html

The Myth About Model Release Required

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Q: In Rohn's book, "Sell & Re-Sell Your Photos," he says in Chapter 15 under 'Rights & Regulations,' that in most cases you do not need a model release. But I notice that in "The 2004 Photographer's Market," almost every listing says, "Model release required."

Can you submit photos without a release even if they say it is required? Would the photos still be considered for print? -William Schledd

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A: William, your question is very legitimate, and very familiar. The rule of thumb is that editorial usage (book and magazine illustration) does not require a model release; but advertising, promotion, endorsement usage always requires a model release. It's understandable why there is confusion, when in spite of this, so many editorial photo editors in the Photographer's Market directory say that they need a model release.

First, it helps to understand it from the photo editor's point of view.

(Photographer's Market is published by Writer's Digest, the same company that publishes my two books, "Sell and ReSell Your Photos," and "sellphotos.com.")

Any photo editor signing up to be listed in the Photographer's Market directory feels they’re well-advised to check 'yes' in the query square that asks, "Do you require model releases?"

Why?

There are two main reasons for this.

1.) Photo editors do not like to receive an avalanche of amateur photos. By checking the Photographer's Market 'model release' square with "Yes," they figure this can be a preventative measure for them. Their time is valuable.

It can eliminate much time-consuming and expensive work reviewing tons of scanned images and CD's and processing and returning inappropriate submissions from window-shopping amateurs. And the editors have a legitimate case. Most amateurs are not familiar with their First Amendment rights and the fact that model releases are NOT required for editorial use. Photo editors, by stating that they require a release, are in effect eliminating extra work. The pro stock photographers know what's what, concerning editorial usage. They ignore the reference to model releases and submit their photos, with or without model releases.

2.) Photo editors like their jobs. They choose to work with familiar and well-established stock photo professionals. But they're also always on the lookout for fresh new faces, with fresh material, from photographers who have educated themselves on what photo editors need and expect.

Photo editors who advertise in Photographer's Market can eliminate any legal hassle (imagined or otherwise) that might place their job in jeopardy, by checking the "Model Release" square to "cover" themselves.

Here's a secret, William. You'll find that photo editors at editorial markets will welcome any non-released photo that matches their current need (when they are going to use it for editorial purposes).

Since photo editors at most publishing houses rarely deal with advertising or other endorsement-type assignments, it's rare that they ever need a model release. If they do ask for a release, it's usually because they are working on a project of a particularly sensitive nature, such as drug abuse, mental retardation, sex education, etc. In those cases, it would be appropriate to ask for a model or property release.

Want to read more of this article? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/cb30.html

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This month's featured photographer on PhotoSourceFolio: Ian Vorster:

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Watch for developments in the field of stock photography in PhotoAimLite's

PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE NEWS

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You'll be the first to know…

Note: If the URL is long, it may extend to two lines. In that case - clicking on it won't work. Instead, "copy and paste" the URL.

Ban on Subway Photography Prompts Underground Protest - The photographers - about 100 of them - gathered to express their outrage at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's proposed ban on taking pictures in the subway system. They rode the trains for upward of an hour, shutters clicking, flashes popping, in a filmed rebuke to the idea that photography is somehow a national SECURITY THREAT.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/07/nyregion/07subway.html?ex=1087272000&en=6114d97aeb45ec63&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

Why PEOPLE Pictures It Is A Passion For Participation – It’s really much more than just photographing people—it’s meeting them, talking with them, learning about them and their culture. It’s about engaging with people.

http://www.shutterbug.net/columns/0404sb_passport/

May Magazine AD REVENUE +12.8%, Pages +4.8% - Total magazine

rate-card-reported advertising revenue for the month of May 2004 increased +12.8%, compared to May of last year.

http://www.creativepro.com/story/news/21486.html

Pinpointing Crime - Monroe County is the first one in the nation to fight

crime with some new technology known as "PICTOMETRY.", a form of

aerial photography. In pictometry, still images are stored on the deputies'laptops.

http://www.wokr13.tv/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=9228EA2E-6CDC-42A0-9584-A3A822EA4924

Underground Railroad project brings photographer to Detroit – Arizona

photographer Stephen Marc couldn’t complete a series of digital montages depicting the AFRICAN DIASPORA without coming to Detroit.

DropWaterMark Version 2.0 -- Watermark Images With Ease -

LAJ Design today announced the release and immediate availability of

DropWaterMark version 2.0. DropWaterMark is cross-platform application that creates allows you to easily WATERMARK images allowing you to protect your images. http://www.creativepro.com/story/news/21484.html

Nikon Photography To Appear On TiVo - Beginning today, TiVo Series2

subscribers can view images NIKON "Legends behind the Lens"

through the home media features.

Cameras as Weapons Against INJUSTICE :

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/11/movies/11CHOI.html?ex=1087876800&en=5a5ee9f33b6ade21&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1

Israeli veterans show OCCUPATION's ugly side

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/chitribts/20040614/ts_chicagotrib/israeliveteransshowoccupationsuglyside

Aerial photographer on mission to improve BANGLADESH's image

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040614/wl_sthasia_afp/afplifestyle_bangladesh_040614061235

PICTURE-TAKERS, Noisemakers and Evil-Doers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/11/nyregion/11nyc.html?ex=1087704000&en=c94487b089757d8b&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1

Angry Parents Say Photographer Took Pictures, Money - A group of parents are outraged after paying a professional photographer to take pictures of their children at the Granite Hill Mall. The problem is that the photographer, their money and their pictures are missing. The Pennsylvania State Police are looking into the case because the say the SCAM may be more widespread than originally thought. http://www.nbc10.com/news/3411188/detail.html

Photographer focuses lense on ALLEGHENY River - Roston has traveled the world, surveying the depths of oceans with his trusty stock of video and still-photography cameras. But it's fresh water environments he prefers exploring most of all.

http://www.thederrick.com/stories/06142004-1002.shtml

Photoshop How-To: Printing SEPARATIONS in Color - Making color separations in Adobe Photoshop is easy, printing them in color on your desktop printer isn't. You can preview your separations in their CMYK representations by following this handy how-to.

http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/21479.html

Want to read more "Photography in the News"? Go to: http://www.photoaim.com/pitn.html

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