StockPhotoTalk | Special Interest Blog

QuickLinks For 2005-12-31

• Stockbyte signs landmark photo deal with software giant Adobe; Sunday Business Post Online

• Jason Calacanis has a follow-up on "Spam Blogs In The Small Stock Photo Industry: A Weird Phenomenon" here and here: "I agree with Om... splogs are out of control. How do we stop these people?!?!"

• Ode to Flickr: "Just came across this wonderful original song and video -- a musical ode to Flickr, using Creative Commons licenses, created by Jonathan Coulton." (JD Lasica)
  • Related: Flickr-Group 1st Photo of 2006

• Great story: Alamy's Unique Success...; "James West shrugs off a question about the likelihood that Alamy could be purchased during this current round of industry consolidations. "Nobody could afford us," he asserts. "Besides, how could they integrate us into their current collection?""; StockAsylum

QuickLinks For 2005-12-27

• VA Software Corporation sold the assets of its Animation Factory, Inc. subsidiary to the Jupiterimages division of Jupitermedia Corporation (NASDAQ: JUPM) for $9.35 million in cash; details here.

[Update later: I wondered why earlier today JupiterImages did not comment the acquisition; meanwhile they´ve also published a press release with more details]

• Related:
  • Meckler´s JupiterImages Acquires Bigshot Media and BBM.net
  • Merry Christmas! JupiterMedia Gets $100 Million Credit
  • The opinion of Alan Meckler: Just Another Acquisition
  • Jupitermedia Makes Another Image Buy 

• CAPL (Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon), a new project for culturally authentic license-free imagery. Initiator Michael Shaughnessy writes: "Do any of the stock photo sites ...

Merry Christmas! JupiterMedia Gets $100 Million Credit

Just when you think: "That´s it, there won´t be anything of importance happening today, it´s all done and said", Ron Rovtar over at the StockAsylum published today The Best of 2005... .

JupiterMedia (not JupiterImages) tops the news today with the message that it "has closed a $100 million senior credit facility" (details). The rest of the press release is somehow short and a bit blurry, but if I´m right on this (correct me if I´m wrong), the company, after repaying an indebtedness  of $53 million, "expects to use the remainder [that would be an extra cash of $47 million] for potential acquisitions."

And, if I´m right on this again, we´re not talking about acquisitions done by JupiterResearch or JupiterWeb, but by JupiterImages. But this leaves clearly room for interpretation. On the other hand, since JupiterImages has talked to a lot of the remaining big and mid-sized players in the stock photo industry, this is for sure an appropriate sum of money for proceeding the way like the company did earlier this year.

Technorati Tags: JupiterImages; StockAsylum

QuickLinks For Christmas: The Week In Review

This list will be updated continuously until tomorrow afternoon. And then: Merry Christmas!

• German footage giant Central Order, the footage brand of content mine international ag (Contentmine), is starting to digitize its huge footage library with the purpose to make it sellable through the internet. As to no surprise, Central Order is partnering in this matter with Munich-based Framepool which serves as distributor.
  

Since Idee Inc. is delivering the visual search technology ESS for Framepool and additionally presented recently at the PACA their new image monitoring technology EMS also for footage, Central Order might be able in the future to take advantage of this footage monitoring technology through Framepool and track down feasible illegal use of its material (just an assumption).

According to Frank Golomb, plans are to distribute about 20.000 hours of historical footage. More on that later in January 2006 when the official press release will be available.

Currently Contentmine/kpa photo archive is distributing its photo material through the Picture Alliance, Ullstein Images and the Süddeutscher Verlag Bilderdienst (and no, there is no way I´m not going to translate the latter into english!). Contentmine acquired recently the historic photo archive of Transglobe Agency in Hamburg, estimated 2 Million Prints and Vintages (now called “The Legends Archive”).

• Reuters´ Pictures of the Year

• Tell the Truth About the War Video - Unembedded: Four Independent Photojournalists on the War in Iraq; MediaChannel.org

Google PageRank and Alexa Traffic Rank: Numbers And Figures

Since some companies are demanding for these figures and I´m tired to copy´n´paste them over and over again into emails, here´s a shortlist of the Google and Alexa ranking for some resources (regarding Google, they are listed alphabetically, if they share the same ranking):

• Google PageRank (as of December 20, 2005):
  
  • Alan Meckler Blog:  7
  • Getty Images:  7  [only as a comparison value]
  • PDNOnline:  7
  • Pickphoto:  5
  • StockPhotoTalk:  5
  • Stockphoto.net:  5
  • Visuell:  5
  • Dimdump:  4
  • MacTribe:  4
  • StockAsylum:  4
  • StockIndexOnline:  4
  • AboutTheImage:  3
  • Hyperbio.net:  3
  • PhotoArchiveNews:  3


• Alexa Traffic Rank (as of December 20, 2005):
  • Getty Images:  842  [only as a comparison value]
  • Alan Meckler Blog:  35,856
  • PDNOnline:  42,880
  • StockPhotoTalk:  244,344
  • Stockphoto.net:  273,454
  • StockAsylum:  339,339
  • Pickphoto:  352,635
  • StockIndexOnline:  419,655
  • Visuell:  730,010
  • MacTribe:  996,954
  • PhotoArchiveNews:  1,046,183
  • Dimdump:  1,494,425
  • Hyperbio.net:  1,516,332
  • AboutTheImage:  1,915,930

So, if you like to sell ads, you should convince Alan Meckler to accept them for this blog, which will be difficult if you´re not a part of his empire.

More news what happened these days outside later this week.

Technorati Tags: Four days before Christmas in the Stock Photo Industry, and you´re reading blogs.

QuickLinks For 2005-12-18

• UpperCut Images and VP Ellen Boughn are separating. Ellen had been working for UpperCut since 2003. She can be reached at her office 206.780.8166 or boughn@gmail.com. You can access her recent resume via this link (pdf-file for download) [Update Dec. 2006: the file has been romoved, the link is dead].

• Pulitzer recognizes web journalism: After studying the evolution of online journalism, the Pulitzer Prize Board has just announced a revision to its guidelines and online-only content will now be considered; via APAD

• A website named Stock Photography Service Review 2006 has published more or less useful reviews of Getty Images, JupiterImages, Adobe Stock Photos and lots of other photoagencies like Acclaim Images and Inmagine, together with rankings and a comparison chart

• TIME: The Best Photos of the Year 2005

• "So I have a blog": The father of the internet, Tim Berners-Lee, started blogging. Rumours have it that Jonathan, the father of all photo agencies, will follow immediately later next week, after John observed with overwhelming surprise the fresh content Brent Phelps, the father of all stock photo industry news, is presenting.

Technorati Tags: The week before Christmas in the Stock Photo Industry

Kiwi News: Stock Image Group Sold To Photolibrary Group

After acquiring Oxford Scientific in May 2004 (Link) and the Garden Picture Library in June 2005 earlier this year, the Photolibrary Group, through its subsidiary Photolibrary Group New Zealand Ltd, has acquired the Stock Image Group, a provider of royalty free and rights managed collections. More details here.

Technorati Tags: Photolibrary Group; Stock Image Group; Oxford Scientific; Garden Picture Library

Grab, Copy, Steal: How To Do Stock Photo Business

Yet another interesting post from the StockPhoto email group. Andy Wee recently here:

Hi guys, I know it's kinda sort of the wrong forum to post this. But I had this coming to me from a client. A few huge advertising agencies have done this to me. They just grab web samples of RM images that works for their mock-up. And they showed it to me. I was asked to replicate the shots. Not just a few, but quite a lot. They had asked me to reproduce up to 95% of the web sample.

Licensed For $24.000, The Shot Was Done 15 Years Ago

Recently two discussions started at the StockPhoto email group. One was entitled "Declining Sales at Getty", another one "How do we break into Getty Images?" (Brian Yarvin).

Travel photographer Glen Allison responded in a nice and long answer to an earlier post of Fabian Gonzales ("I looked at your portfolio on Getty. While I admire your work, I wouldn't say that many of the images you have that were accepted by Getty are more unique than other photos I've seen of the same subjects, or that your subjects are rare and unavailable"):

Either Perfomance Problems Or Completely Offline: Is It Typepad Or GRIPEpad?

The trouble with Typepad started back in autumn this year, when casually but recurring more and more “server downtimes” occured, the whole application went out of order for hours (together with a downright awful page speed when online again) and even stored images disappeared. This perfomance problem was getting to be a serious nuisance.

Now the service seems to fail more or less regularly and went offline yesterday for about 18 hours. Results:

• Posts made in the last six or seven days vanished

• Subscribers to the FeedBlitz service received yesterday notification emails with strange content ("403 Forbidden")

Stock Photos With A Message: How To Showcase Yourself Today As A Professional Photographer

Let´s go back to the roots, to the producers of the goods the stock photo industry is living from, let´s forget for a moment the business blabla of Who buys Who and Our technological capabilities exceed those of your company by far and let´s observe how professional photographers today build their very own business websites with blogs and the help of technological providers like (alphabetically) Digital Railroad, PhotoShelter, topixx, and other systems.

Party On! After Goodshoot and PR Direct, JupiterImages Acquires Agence Images

After acquiring french image distributor PR Direct a month ago ("JupiterImages Acquires French RF Distributor PR Direct") and the french RF producer Goodshoot (Link) back in May this year, JupiterImages strengthens its position in the french market with the acquisition of all the shares of the french company Agence Images, specialized in the distribution of rights-managed images. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, Laurent DiCostanzo, founder of Agence Images, will lead the combined JupiterImages operations in France.

QuickLinks For 2005-12-13

• Outgoing AFP chairman Eveno named head of Lagardere's Hachette Filipacchi Photos ("Hachette Filipacchi Photos comprises the photo agencies Gamma, Rapho, Hoa-Qui and Keystone"); Forbes

• Inside Story: Rebranding the stars; The Independent about Martin Cribbs, Corbis' new director of rights representation, and his daily work
  

• He finds prints charming; The Seattle Times about Doug Rowan, former CEO of Corbis and his new start-up ZoomAlbum.

• With its non outspoken conclusions, a public execution: "Index Stock Still Having Cash Problems" (Daryl Lang, PDN), but not answering the question where disappointed photographers should turn to: IPNStock? I take it from the background rumours that even the top executives suffered a 20% paycut. - The company instead, with all its aggregated blogging "power", does not respond.

• OnRequest Images working together with AllPosters.com

Chris Ferrone Resigns As PACA President, Starts New Stock Photo Industry News Site

I had been writing back in June after the CEPIC congress that Retrofile was sold to Getty Images and PDN confirmed the story later.

Retrofile´s president Chris Ferrone said then that the deal with Getty Images "is really not going to change my lifestyle very much." (Link)

What he is going to start now will change his lifestyle a bit more. In a message floating around Chris Ferrone writes:

Getty Images: Probably Lower 2005 Results

When Getty Images announced the Q III/2005 Results, the company predicted that "for 2005, the company expects to report revenue in the range of $735 million to $739 million."

Today, as Getty Images (Quote, Profile, Research) announced the financial guidance for 2006 as part of its 2005 Analyst Day in New York City, the company cautioned that its fiscal 2005 results would probably fall at the low end "of both the revenue guidance of $735 million to $739 million."

For 2006, the company expects revenue of approximately $820 million to $840 million. Excluding the impact of year over year currency variations, revenue is expected to grow 14 to 17 percent in 2006.

Meckler´s JupiterImages Acquires Bigshot Media and BBM.net

With the intention to become the "number one company in the rapidly growing field of flash imagery for Web sites", JupiterImages -- the company owns already Flash Kit, a flash developer resource -- has acquired Bigshot Media ("the world's first and largest collection of stock flash footage") and BBM.net, the "world’s first searchable database of music for websites", offering "royalty-free flash music loops".

Meckler noted that "Bigshot's online sales operations complement our existing flash and stock footage operations" and that "BBM.net's royalty-free music loops in flash and other formats adds yet another dimension to our image and media offerings".

Overall, BigShot is selling/distributing footage collections like Rubberball and Thinkstock, royalty free footage CDs, flash movies and RF images.

Here´s a short BBM.net-overview "How it works" for royalty free music loop packages to be used in "corporate multi-media, Powerpoint, Flash and web projects". The company  offers also "custom music for broadcast projects."

Related:

• World Picture Network Partners With FilmLoop

More details here. [© Image here]

Technorati Tags: JupiterImages; Bigshot Media; BBM.net; Santa Claus

Getty Images Starts Blogging

This is Web 3.0 and Blogging 3.5 all in one place.

Deb Trevino and Jonathan Klein of Getty Images are entering the blogosphere with a very sophisticated blog and I´m proud to be a contributor:

QuickLinks For 2005-12-06

Blogging silly season just started (”the time between the US holiday of Thanksgiving, and roughly the end of the first week in January”) some days ago and, as I´m pretty busy elsewhere, there is not much to report except some gathered news:

• 3D4Medical.com announces strategic distribution partnership with Getty Images (details); recently one of their images showed up on the cover of Time Magazine

• SuperStock´s RF brand Purestock grows to 16,000 Images (details)

• Finally Canto goes Video and launches the Canto Video Suite, announced at the Association of Moving Image Archivists: "In combination with a streaming server Cumulus Video Suite enables instant play of videos and shots and the delivery of live broadcasts and multicasts."
  

• Avenue Images has launched a special subscription service with image offerings of Comstock, Liquid Library, AbleStock, Photos.com und PhotoObjects.net; Visuell

• After Jason Calacanis sold Weblogs, Inc. to AOL for for $35 million, shaky rumours are that Nick Denton is going to sell Gawker Media to the New York Times for $32 million; Duncan Riley

• When Black & White Fades to Color: How history is constrained by the technologies used to record it; Dennis Dunleavy

Middleware Technologies For The Picture Business: Who Cares?

After the printed issue of VISUELL "The News Magazine For the Picture Business" shipped last week with my five-page story about "Middleware Technologies", the story is now also available online (Link).

After a small introduction I´ve done some interviews with VPs and Execs of Getty Images, Mauritius Images, Laif, photo portal Fotofinder, etc. and the picture editing department of german magazines Stern and Spiegel.

The story focuses less on the technology itself, but more on the benefits (virtual photoportals for photo sellers and photo buyers) for the user regarding products like -- alphabetically -- the Communication Server (Confessmedia), opengate (picturemaxx) and The Missing Link (DiASystems).

The story will be also appear translated in the international issue of Visuell next month in December, but without the additional and marvellous comment (Link) of editor-in-chief Stefan Hartmann. As the Krauts are apparently sometimes strange people, no one outside Germany would probably understand the comment without heavy, heavy background information.

However, the story is online only availabe to regular subscribers of VISUELL.

Technorati Tags: middleware technologies; software; Confessmedia; Communication Server; DiASystems; The Missing Link; picturemaxx; opengate; Krauts

[Image via object plus; this company is not involved and has got nothing to do with this kind of middleware technologies]