Reverie Photography

The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep Review

2013-04-20T16:23:00.001-05:00

I am here to take a moment out of our standard blog to talk about a new book by Dr. Harvey Karp called "The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep." As a new dad I figured this is a must read book as we got Dr. Karp's other book "The Happiest Baby on the Block". Both books are written for parents to help read the signs of their newborns and on.

A little background on Dr. Harvey Karp, MD. He a award winning pediatrician and focuses on unparalleled knowledge, experience and insight on solving the number one concern for new parents, which is lack of sleep. He became a child development specialist and assistant professor of pediatrics at the USC School of Medicine. He completed med school at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and worked at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. Besides working with thousands of patients in his practice he has also worked with superstars like Madonna Michelle Pfeiffer and Pierce Brosnan to soothe colic, boosting infant sleep, reducing tantrums and promoting patience to make a happy baby and parents.

The book is a great one to own as it has some very useful tips in it. Overall if you can only buy one book I recommend buying his first book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" as it has a more overall scope of what makes a baby happy. The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep expands on one or two chapters of the first book. As you are reading you will see several items that just make sense and are no brainers. With that said, there are several topics that he covers that make you look at the topic from another angle. Some such topics are how to train brand new babies to sleep better by teaching them to sleep an extra hour in the first weeks. He talks about what white noise machines are good and what to look for to avoid getting a bad white noise machine. One of the biggest and most important things I found in the book is the art of the Swaddle. Swaddling dramatically improves the baby's sleep as we have discovered with our new born baby. He will talks about the tips of correct and incorrect swaddling. Overall I think this is a great tool for any new parent and worth checking out. Its a quick and easy read so you can plow through it very fast or skim topics that interest you.

Get the book here at Amazon (about $12) or any major book dealer. Below are links from the author and other helpful info.

For more information go the following links:
The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep Site
Happiest Baby Website

Disclaimer: I am participating in a book review campaign with One2One Network. I received this book from Harper Collins for the purposes of reviewing it. I have not received compensation. My participation in the campaign enters me into a drawing for a gift card. All opinions stated are my own.

iStock Update - Google, Microsoft and more

2013-03-09T15:07:00.000-06:00

Large announcement on various news items over at iStock. To of the biggest subjects are the Google deal and Microsoft deal. Microsoft deal is done and the images are being removed while they are still working with Google Drive. Read all the important news below.

IP Wiki

The iStock and Getty Images teams are very happy to announce the relaunch of a new and improved IP Wiki. This is a guide for contributors (and customers as well!) to some of the legal issues that can affect what you shoot and what we can accept at each site. High Fives to Shaun Lombard, Benoit Beauregard and Jeff Feltmate for all your hard work! We will update this regularly so bookmark it and visit often!

Forum Shuffle

It’s been over 10 years since the forums launched and it’s high time we did some spring cleaning. In early March, we will be making some significant changes to our current format that we hope will make it easier to find the latest news and updates from Headquarters.

Illustration Updates

Raster News

We're beyond thrilled to announce the imminent launch of a project that is long overdue and has been on our collective wish list for years...moving rasters to the illustration category!

Starting in the coming weeks, when clients search for illustrations they will see every vector and JPEG illustration on the site. From there they will be able to filter their search results to view only vector artwork if they choose. Clients looking for photos will no longer see ilustrations in their search results. Bortonia has created a post in the forums that should cover most questions about rasters and how it effects you as a contributor.

Vector Thumbnails on Getty Images

We've been hard at work the past several months working on solutions to the vector thumbnail color shift and cropping issues on both Getty Images and the Partner Program sites (Thinkstock, Photos.com).

We've made multiple improvements to how our system handles the generation of vector preview images. These improvements include far more accurate colors, less visible banding and compression, and better cropping.

Moving forward, all vector files moved to GI and the PP sites will have their previews generated by this new system. We still have a large backlog of files to move so clearing these is our biggest priority, but at least we know that their previews will be far better than those we've made in the past.

We are also working towards reprocessing the existing thumbnails over the coming weeks. Once this is complete we will let you know however please understand that moving the backlog of files is still our main priority at this time.

Google Drive Update

First, we would like to thank you for your continued patience in this process. Getty Images and Google have been working very closely together over the past few weeks to resolve your concerns with the presentation of your content in Google Drive and we are in full agreement about the importance of protecting your intellectual property. We are in the process of working together to refine the messaging around end user rights and restrictions, as well as to ensure that the metadata is associated with the images in Google Drive. This work is in progress and we are looking forward to spelling out all of the changes for you as they are completed in the near future.

Pinterest

This month, iStock will be joining the ranks of inspired pinners around the globe. Similar to our other social media channels, we'll be inspiring a broader creative audience with the quality and breadth of our content, while also driving brand awareness and traffic.

You'll notice boards like Tips and Tricks, The World of Mobile, Design Elements and Free Images to engage creatives with iStock's current free image of the week. We will also be highlighting our exclusive artists and showcasing locally relevant work; all attributed and linked accordingly. In addition to this, we will only be using small, watermarked images that link directly back to the file close up pages.

We know we’ve talked at great length in various threads about Pinterest and specifically about copyright protection. Getty Images is taking steps to add all iStock content to Image IRC in 2013. This means that all your content will be “fingerprinted”.

ImageIRC is a technology platform that enables images to be identified and attributed to their creators wherever they appear on the web. Currently, the ImageIRC contains over 139 million premium still images from 200 individual partners worldwide.

If you’d like to read up a little more on Pinterest…
Pinterest Terms of Service
Pinterest Copyright

Follow us at Pinterest.

Microsoft Update
We are on track to have all of the iStock content on Microsoft removed by the end of March.

Fotolia New Office

2013-03-09T14:45:00.001-06:00

Quick news update from Fotolia. They have opened their 22nd office, with the newest location in the Netherlands. Check it out below.

Fotolia settles in the Netherlands!

Is Fotolia is the #1 stock photography in Europe? YES
Is it a reason to stop expanding our local markets? NO

Fotolia is opening a new office in the Netherlands! This will be our 22nd office worldwide, just as our image collection is about to reach 22 million files!

As always, we keep striving to be your go-to resource for all things creative!

123RF Adds New Features

2013-03-09T14:36:00.001-06:00

123RF launches two new features to their site. First up Audio is coming to the site and they will allow you to set your price points per a chart. See below for how to upload your stock audio and the royalty breakdown. Second they have announced a new image size of ML which will push everything up 1 credit from the Large price point. A full chart is listed below. Sign up for 123RF look for the link on the right size.

Adding 'Audio Stock' to its list of endless digital creative content, 123RF is inviting Audio Composers and Authors to send in their audio clips, sound effects, music tracks and compilations to be included in its all-encompassing collection.

You'll be able to access a worldwide clientele via the 123RF.com platform. 123RF can now be viewed as the ideal launch pad for audio professionals looking to market their projects to the creative industry.

Contributors get 30% to 60% of the selling price. And the best part is, you get to decide how to price your project using our 5-tier pricing system as showed below :

*Contributors can choose to price their creations to suit the complexity of their work.

Uploads are done via FTP and we will even provide a CSV import function for those with a large collection. We've even included a comprehensive audio content submission guide on 123RF.com’s blog:http://www.123rf.com/blog/blog.php?idblog=b1000254 for your reference. It doesn’t get more convenient than that!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are pleased to announce that ML sized images will be available for sale at 123RF.com. Thus, prices for all current images, L size and above will be revised.

Below is 123RF's previous image price list:

S size 1 credit
M size 2 credits
L size 3 credits
XL size 4 credits
XXL size 5 credits

And this is what it'll look like following the introduction of the new MLimage size:

S size 1 credit
M size 2 credits
ML size 3 credits
L size 4 credits
XL size 5 credits
XXL size 6 credits

The Royalty Commission (RC) requirements will remain in effect, with L sizes and above gaining an additional 1 credit as shown below:

ML 3 RC
L 4 RC
XL 5 RC
XXL 6 RC

Note : With the introduction of the ML size, we are offering our clients the opportunity to purchase images of L size and above at their original prices before the new price list is fully implemented. This promotion campaign will run until March 31st, 2013.

Shutterstock Goes Mobile with Sales

2013-02-25T14:38:00.000-06:00

Press release from Shutterstock that now allows downloading images directly to your tablet or cell phone on apple products. Check out the release below.

We know our contributors are always interested in getting their work seen by as many customers in as many ways as possible. With that in mind, here’s an update on what we’ve been doing to help you promote and license your images on mobile devices — and let you track your results on the go, too.

The Shutterstock App for iPhone and iPad — now with downloading!

We recently updated our award-winning app to make it available on iPhone as well as iPad. Both versions let users search and explore images, scroll through a seamless mosaic of options, add selections to Lightboxes, and share them with colleagues. The apps have been a huge hit with customers — to date, over 300,000 users have downloaded and begun using them!

This month, we released version 2.5 of the app, giving customers the ability to download images straight to their mobile devices. This new feature is available with version 2.5 for all photos and some illustrations. (Vectors are not currently included, as the Apple iOS doesn’t natively support .eps files). We’re thrilled to offer yet another way to license your images and help your earnings grow.

Track Your Sales from Anywhere with Shutterstock Contributor Mobile.

The Shutterstock iPhone and iPad apps are focused on the needs of customers, but Contributor Mobile is just for you. We spoke to a lot of contributors who check their downloads and earnings frequently — often multiple times per day — so Contributor Mobile is designed to let you quickly see your stats wherever you are. Also, because it’s an HTML5 app that works right in your mobile browser, it will function on nearly any web-ready device.

Just visit submit.shutterstock.com from your browser to access the app on the move. For more info on Contributor Mobile, including tips on adding the app to your home screen, click here.

Stay tuned for more exciting developments this year from the Shutterstock Mobile team. As always, we’re committed to your success, and to finding innovative and inspiring ways for people to discover and download your work.

YAY adds Partners

2013-02-23T15:21:00.001-06:00

YAY announces new partnership with Pond5, Zoomy & Photokore. Read about it below.

Hi, I hope you are doing well!

We at YAY would like to give you a short update on the latest news.

First, we're happy to announce three new partners in our partner program: Pond5, Zoomy and Photokore. You will find more information and opt-out at the API information page.

We know some of you would like to get more information about your sales at YAY, as well as your partner sales. We've been running a bit behind on this, but plan to update the pages soon. Therefore we would like to know what information you find most important, and what features you are missing on our sales- and api-page. Other suggestions are welcomed as well.

Sometimes it's a bit difficult to understand why an image has been rejected. To improve our review service the reviewers can now e-mail the photographer and explain the reason for rejections. If you have questions about rejections you can also e-mail us at support@yayimages.com. Our head reviewer, Irina, will help you.

Have a nice day!

Cheers,

Linda and the YAY team

iStock Mess Response

2013-02-10T17:19:00.000-06:00

iStock continues to upset their core contributors by devaluing their work and opening their images up for possible free use on Google drive. This whole ordeal spurred a massive movement of removing images to their site. This action has spurred a response from the corporation owned by Getty images. See the report below that basically says they are just working on it, but don't plan on providing changes right away. Will you close your portfolio on iStock?

Google Drive
You may have already read our last update in the forums but once again, we'd like to thank you for your continued patience. To reiterate from previous posts, royalties have been paid in connection with the Google Drive usage based on all consideration received by Getty Images under the licensing agreement. We understand your concerns relating to the deal and we are making progress in a productive dialogue with Google about these concerns and potential solutions. As many of you have pointed out Google is a big company, much bigger than Getty Images, and coordinating across the teams there that will help with any modifications is taking longer than we might have hoped, but things are still proceeding.

Microsoft Based on your concerns, we have also been working with Microsoft over the past several months to bring resolution to the license that was set up in 2007. Over the next 60 days all imagery licensed as part of this promotional arrangement will be removed from the online version of Microsoft Office. Keep in mind though that all licenses that were granted by Microsoft prior to the removal of the content remain valid licenses under the terms of the Microsoft EULA. As previously explained, if you see instances where your content is being used without or contrary to the iStock or Microsoft license terms, please let us know at ce@istockphoto.com.

Our contributors are extremely important to us. We take very seriously our obligation of representing your creative work. While every deal is not perfect out of the gate, we strive to license your content in a financially beneficial manner and believe we largely succeed in this effort across the millions of customers and transactions completed each year. We are also working hard to make your content available to new customers in new uses through investments in marketing, technology and new business models. At the same time, we are investing heavily in technology, education and industry efforts to protect your copyrighted work and license your content responsibly.

All content should be removed within the next 60 days.

Connect-A new category for Getty API sales
Last summer, you may remember that Getty Images announced their API product, Connect by Getty Images. We talked about it in the June newsletter . We are at a point now where we are going to begin reporting royalties as the various deals mature. From now on you will see an additional category on the royalty schedule labeled, “Connect.” Since Connect sales are small, they are aggregated and reported on a monthly basis. We are pleased to say that the first royalties we will be reporting include several pay-per-view agreements we have with customers including Yahoo!, For the first time, we are able to pay royalties on revenue that is triggered by views of images that appear on pages with advertising. We know it will take time for these deals to ramp up but we are very encouraged by the opportunities we see to tap new markets and benefit from high traffic platforms seeking visual content to enhance user experience. You can Learn More about Connect at the Getty Images site.

Forums Redux
It’s long overdue but we are going to re-organize the forums! We know that finding information can be challenging, especially when you are just looking for the latest news. Pop into the forums and send us any ideas you have to make the current layout better!

2013 Payout Schedule
The 2013 payout schedule has not changed from last year however, we are happy to include links to add your payout type to your own calendars.These can be found here.

Fuel
If you haven’t popped over to the Fuel blog lately, you're missing out! Every week, the Content Team updates it with eye catching imagery.

Shutterstock Referral Rate

2013-02-10T17:06:00.003-06:00

Shutterstock updates their royalty rate for referrals. Payout will increase by once sent and a referred person will be active for 2 years. See the info below and if you wish to join Shutterstock click here. SS is consistently one of the highest respected stock photography sites.

You are receiving this email because you have referred one or more contributors to Shutterstock. We'd like to make you aware of two upcoming changes to the referral program. The goal of these changes is to bring a wider variety of new contributors and content to our site.

To start, we're going to raise payouts from $0.03 to $0.04 cents per referred download. We’re also going to update the term so that payouts will be earned for the first two years that a referred contributor is active on our site. These changes will become effective as of February 28, 2013 and will affect contributors you have referred in the past, as well as those you refer in the future. There will be no changes to the footage referral program at this time.

If you haven't referred contributors recently or wish to generate more revenue, we encourage you to consider referrals as a simple way to boost your earnings.

Best Regards,

The Shutterstock Team

Bigstock Adds Subscriptions

2013-02-10T16:54:00.000-06:00

So Bigstock has announced that they are going to start doing subscription sales this year. Joining what seems to be a new industry standard they are setting their royalty base at only $0.25. Sadly this seems to be more and more common (Fotolia, iStock, 123RF, etc). The odd part of this announcement is that Bigstock was bought by Shutterstock so they could have pay as you go style site. So this begs the question of why start moving your site to the SS formula with lower royalties. How do you feel about the changes, comment below.

As you know, we already offer Bigstock customers the flexibility of pre-paying with credits. Next week, we’ll be offering our customers an increasingly popular way to buy images: subscriptions.

How will this affect me?

Subscriptions can generate higher download volumes, which can increase your total earnings from Bigstock. Here’s how you will earn royalties from Bigstock subscriptions:

Every time one of your images is downloaded using a subscription, you will earn a royalty.
The more downloads you’ve acquired in the previous 12 months, the higher your royalty will be, up to $0.38USD per download.

Here are the details:

Number of Downloads in Previous 12 Months
Royalty per Download
From To
In USD
1 199
$0.25
200 999
$0.27
1,000 1,999
$0.29
2,000 9,999
$0.31
10,000 19,999
$0.33
20,000 49,999
$0.35
50,000+
$0.38
Any Bigstock download will be counted to determine which royalty tier is applied, regardless of how our customers license the image.
Credit and partner royalties will remain unchanged.
Extended licenses cannot be purchased using a subscription, and will continue to generate a royalty of up to $29.70.

Are there any other updates?

Yes. We have put in place a 250,000 print run limitation on our Standard License. We believe this will increase demand for Extended Licenses, generating higher royalties for you from Bigstock.

We are also simplifying our Standard Image License terms to bring Bigstock more closely in line with industry standards for royalty-free licenses.

What if I have questions?

If you have any questions, just reply to this email. We're here to help.

Cheers,
Ben Pfeifer,
GM, Bigstock

iStock Royalty Rates 2013

2012-12-31T16:20:00.001-06:00

iStock announcement for their 2013 royalty rates. Very few changes, so read all about it below!

Royalty Rates for 2013

First, we wanted to say thanks to those of you participating in or following the continuing dialog of the past few weeks. We'll never be able to answer every question or address every issue as quickly or as completely as we wish we could, but we're working to improve in this area and will continue these efforts. As Rebecca has explained in her recent comments, the increased communication is something we're dedicated to and plan to continue.

There will be no changes for the Redeemed Credit targets for 2013, the targets will remain at the same levels as 2012. To review where these targets stand, please see: http://www.istockphoto.com/help/sell-stock/rate-schedule

Several key topics have surfaced through this dialog, there are specific conversations happening on many of these elsewhere in the forum and we hope you will continue to participate. One topic that's especially important to all of us is Best Match - we are listening to your comments and continue to work towards improvements and/or clarifications in this and other areas being discussed.

As I'm sure everyone reading this knows very well, the stock industry is in a constant state of evolution, and as a result iStock is too. But one thing that we've been reminded of through the recent discussions is the importance of our amazing contributor community here at iStock. We take responsibility for being neglectful on this front and we're committed to getting things back on track. We know it'll take time and we understand that actions speak louder than words. We also accept that things have never stopped changing around all of us since the old iStock days, so our goal is not to recreate that time, but to establish the new version of iStock – one that maintains as much of the original spark as possible while also making sense in the current and future states of the stock industry.

With all of this in mind we assessed additional actions we could take that would positively impact the greatest number of contributors, and would also make sense to the overall business. The answer we came to is rolling all current royalty rates as of December 31st into 2013.

This means:

If you moved up during 2012 by hitting new levels/targets you will stay at your new rate going into 2013
If you have not made it back to your 2012 level you will not move down on Jan 1, instead you will stay at your current level/rate going into 2013
RC counts will still reset as of Jan 1, the 2013 RC targets will remain as they are, and if you reach a new level target during 2013 you will automatically move up

We understand that not everyone benefits from this announcement, but as stated above our analysis showed this to be the most effective way to impact the largest number of contributors quickly and effectively. Thanks for your continued patience and commitment.

Fotolia Tweaks

2012-12-12T22:23:00.001-06:00

Fotolia did some minor tweaks this month that gives you two options for your portfolio. First up you can now exclude video files from subscription sales. Second they have changed the pricing for extended license files that now requires a minimum of 20 credits. It also can't be lower then your highest price offering, so you cant have a 24 credit Standard XXL license and get the Extended License under 24 credits. Log in and check out the changes.

Stock Site Changes

2012-11-20T15:16:00.000-06:00

A few changes to note that have gone into effect at a few sites.

Dreamstime:
Dreamstime has launched a mobile image section allowing you to submit cell phone photos and digital model releases. To celebrate this new feature their next assignment will be mobile shots. Also their is now a new category called "Mobile." Other requirements are 3 MP minimum resolution still applies and we will not accept upsampled images. DT is accepting model releases from: Model Release, ASMP Release and Easy Release (on both iOS and Android). Join today!

Shutterstock:
SS has launched a new features called Portfolio Pages that allows contributors to show off their work via personalized URL's. Another feature on your portfolio page is allowing you to create public sets. So log in and and set up your today or join Shutterstock here.

Bigstock:
Bigstock has launched a new partner system that will open their collection to other companies with the standard 30% commission rate. These new partners are groups such as email service providers, website design services, ad builders, etc. When you sell a photo through this new partner program it will say "Bigstock Partner" next to the image under the earnings page. This program will be live for all photographers unless you choose to opt out. Sign up for Bigstock today.

YAY Adds Distributors

2012-11-20T14:48:00.002-06:00

YAY has added some new distributors so go check them out, link below. Must give props to YAY for not only showing each distributor, but also shoing their commision rate and price range, etc. You can also opt out of all or just a few. Join YAY here.

You'll find details and the opt-out option under My Account > Photographer > API details.

Alamy Contract Changes

2012-11-20T14:28:00.000-06:00

Alamy has adjusted their contributor contract for the coming year. The biggest change was a 10% increase on commissions to Alamy from the Photographers side. Alamy still has one of the highest payouts rates to photographers, but still following the trend of dropping royalty rates in the industry. See Alamy writeup below.

The latest version of the Alamy Contributor contract, published on 20th November 2012, included some important changes to our terms.
For Contributors who registered before 20th November 2012, the new contract came into force on 5th January 2013, 45 days from the notification date of 20th November 2012.
For Contributors who registered from 20th November 2012 onwards, the new contract was in force from the point of registration.
What changed?
The most important changes to our terms were increased Alamy commission on direct and third-party distributor sales.
All key changes are summarised below, for easy reference:

Alamy commission on direct sales increased by 10 percentage points on all commission schedules
- Alamy Blue (current model): Alamy commission 50%, Contributor commission 50%
- Alamy Red (discontinued model): Alamy commission 30%, Contributor commission 70%
- Alamy Green (discontinued model): Alamy commission 40%, Contributor commission 60%
Alamy distributor commission increased by 10 percentage points

Contributor commission 30%, Alamy distributor commission 70% (comprised of 30% Alamy commission and 40% distributor commission).

A new version of the Alamy Commission table was introduced as per below:
Alamy commission models, rates, fees and payment Current model
Alamy Blue

50%
Alamy Distribution commission

For sales through our distributors
(30% to Alamy, 40% to the distributor) 70%
Alamy Novel Use commission

For sales through Novel Use 50%
Alamy video commission

For video clip sales 50%

Payment frequency - We will pay you monthly , if your Cleared funds exceed USD$175

Kylie Minogue New Album Hits Stores

2012-11-15T22:35:00.001-06:00

I want to talk a little moment away from out typical photography posts to talk about Kylie Minogue's new hit album "The Abbey Road Sessions." This is a stellar album with a staggering 16 songs including some great classics with some new hits. It's very rare that I find an CD that has as many good songs as this. Out of the 16 songs total, I only felt a 4 of them where just ok. To all my bloggers if you have not enjoyed Kylie's music in that past this is a great album to pick up, after all she was in the Olympics for a reason. Top classic song hands down on the album is "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" and my favorite new song would have to be "On A Night Like This". If you are a traditional fan of Kylie you notice a slight shift in her music as she has a lot more slow paced songs compared to her club hits of the 90's. This is just more of a showing how she can change with the time Her full line up of songs is as follows:

1. All The Lovers

2. On A Night Like This

3. Better The Devil You Know

4. Hand On Your Heart

5. I Believe In You

6. Come Into My World

7. Finer Feelings

8. Confide In Me

9. Slow

10. The Locomotion

11. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head

12. Where The Wild Roses Grow

13. Flower

14. I Should Be So Lucky

15. Love At First Sight

16. Never Too Late

You can get her new album at any major retailer that sells music or digitally at iTunes or Amazon

Follow Kylie with Twitter or Facebook

Flower Music Video:

I participated in this campaign for One2One Network. I received a free copy of the CD to facilitate my review. By posting, I am eligible for incentives. All opinions stated are my own.

3 Million Images for YAY

2012-11-13T21:47:00.001-06:00

YAY Images hit the 3 Million mark this past weekend. The image was by Wavebreak Media and is of three happy women. Great job to YAY for the continual growth and if you are looking to join click here.

Official post below by YAY:
This weekend we approved image number three million at YAY Images. Congratulation to Wavebreak Media! The image shows three happy women. With over 70,000 images added from Wavebreak the last couple of weeks it's no surprise that they managed to get image number three million. In total we got over 177,000 new images in the last 30 days.

Pocketstock Drops Payout Rate

2012-10-19T15:25:00.002-05:00

Great news over at Pocketstock!!! They have dropped their payout rate to $30 instead of the ultra high old rate. For a new company whose sales could be slow at first it is good to know that the $30 mark is in striking distance and more in line with the industry standard. Below is the write up of what is new at the company.

Here is your update on the latest news from Pocketstock.

Some of you may not be aware that although we have been actively seeking new content since April, Pocketstock was launched to customers in August, meaning our images have been available for sale for a relatively short time.

Since August we have been hard at work building our customer base, which takes time. Progress has been relatively slow but that is something to be expected when a new company enters into such an aggressively competitive marketplace that is driven by discounting, offers and subscription.

Over the last two weeks, as part of our drive to sell to the top global brands we have seen a promising increase in sales activity and in a few days time, we will launch the next phase of our sales initiative: Pocketstock Packages.

Pocketstock Packages will bring us in line with the most popular industry pricing models and will give us the ability to compete more directly with all of the top selling agencies.

The introduction of Pocketstock Packages also means that we will not currently be offering the bidder method of image purchase, as it no longer fits in with the new model.

Having listened to your comments and feedback, we have decided on two new changes that we hope will be of benefit to you.

Early next month, we will be implementing a new image review system that will greatly benefit you, as it will help your images move through our system in a matter of hours rather than days. More will follow on this in the coming couple weeks.
We have also decided, as part of an Industry review, to lower our contributor minimum payment to $30. This means as soon as your sales hit $30 you can get paid.

Our priority is to sell your images and we are working extremely hard to make that happen, but the fact is, no new agency can be successful in this industry in a short time period.

So, as a new agency, we won't promise a mass of sales straight away but with your continued support, I can promise that you will see your sales start to grow over the not too distant future.

As ever, I am always available if you need to get in touch.

Best regards
Tavis Wright
Head of Creative

Alamy Tweaks Editorial Content

2012-10-19T12:19:00.002-05:00

Alamy has tweaked its editorial images by giving buyer more options on how they can sort through the images to find the perfect content. See the full write up below and join Alamy here.

We’ve been working on a project aimed at engaging creative buyers while making life easier for our editorial customers. We want creative buyers to be able to see creative images without having to search through editorial images at the same time. But we don’t want editorial customers to lose the great Alamy experience they have always had, and so we have added some improvements for all buyers.

We have had internal and external teams of editors reviewing the images on Alamy starting with the existing creative collection. The aim of this is to individually highlight visually striking images that will appeal to creative professionals.
Customers now have three new search options; New, Relevant and Best of.
These search options provide new ways to get your images found and sold.

New – A way for editorial customers to freshen up a search. The option shows the latest images on Alamy. All images are sorted first by relevance and then by date of upload.
Relevant – Traditional Alamy, as our editorial customers know and love. All images sorted using our conventional sort which combines a number of factors including relevancy of keywords and your AlamyRank.

Best of – This option is specifically designed with the creative picture buyer in mind and is where Alamy’s creative imagery will stand out. This sort function combines the edited selection with customer data – this means images previously selected by our customers for that specific search. These ‘Best of’ images appear first and are then followed by the remaining images in relevancy order.

Our editors will continue to review the collection and as images are added and purchased, the idea is that the ‘Best of’ option will evolve.

Adding these new search options will help attract a different buyer to Alamy. When customers visit Alamy they will land on the appropriate search option depending on their customer profile. All contributors will be defaulted to the ‘Best of’ search option.

See what Alamy CEO James West has to say about this on his video blog.
Thanks

Shutterstock on NYSE

2012-10-12T15:36:00.000-05:00

Shutterstock launched on NYSE yesterday with a strong opening. As of closing today (10.12.12) it was priced at $22.00 with ticker as SSTK. See the write up below from the CEO/Founder Jon Oringer

Dear Shutterstock Community,

Today was a very exciting day for Shutterstock – a day that wouldn’t have been possible without each of you. This morning, Shutterstock became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. This milestone is the result of many years of hard work and innovation, and perhaps most importantly, the incredible talent of each of our contributing artists. Together we have built a thriving, diverse, global creative marketplace that spans more than 150 countries.

I can still remember the day I started Shutterstock in 2003, out of my apartment. I was trying to solve a business need I had for quality stock photos at an affordable price. Before I knew it, demand for these images surpassed what I could provide and I opened the site up to other contributing artists. Since then the collection has grown to more than 20 million photos, illustrations and video clips from 35,000 unique and talented artists. I’m proud to say that the quality of your images has far surpassed those that I used to start the company. In fact, I’m quite certain that if I were applying today, I wouldn’t be approved!

As we celebrate this milestone, I would like to extend a sincere, heartfelt thank you for making this all possible. It is because of you that our marketplace is truly spectacular. We look forward to the exciting journey ahead, and will continue to work at making Shutterstock a rewarding experience for contributors.

Sincerely,

Jon Oringer
Founder, CEO & Contributing Artist No. 1

iStock New Update

2012-10-12T14:29:00.001-05:00

iStock has some updates this month talking about its technology upgrades, updates to digital model releases and editorial images. Check out all the info below.

September Performance
Despite downtime related to the launch of our new way to pay, iStock's performance in the month of September matched our overall expectations. Early trends show that we are attracting more new customers with the option to download without purchasing credits. On the other hand, the calendar meant this September had fewer working days than recent years, which partially offset those gains.

Regarding individual contributor results, we've been seeing mixed reports in the September sales thread and other sources. We do know that technical issues are making it difficult right now for contributors to clearly track their performance. We are looking into the underlying numbers to see what other factors may be at play in the September results.

Technology Update
Today we released a fix to lightboxes that puts the "Save to lightbox" function back onto the file closeup page.

We continue working on contributor information pages to ensure that all reporting and stats numbers include downloads made with both credits and through shopping cart purchases. This is a high priority for our technology group and they will have any issues fixed as soon as possible.

We are also continuing work on bringing the image zoom feature back to the file closeup page.

Redeeemed Credits — Retroactive Payments
We are working on calculating retroactive royalties owed to any contributors who have already passed their next royalty level based on the Redeemed Credit targets we posted recently. This work has gone slowly after last month's releases and the need to focus on certain technology projects, but we still consider it a priority and will have these calculations and payments completed soon. We appreciate your patience.
Digital Model Releases
We began accepting digital model releases back in July. Last week we added another application to our approved list: we now accept releases from Top Model Release. You can read more about digital model releases here.
Editorial Images — Closely-cropped Logos
We recently revised our policy on images of logos, calling for images of brands with context, rather than close-crops on logos.

Due to concerns that some logos may contain a copyrighted element, we will be carefully reviewing and withdrawing some images still in the collection that are close crops of logos. In an effort to provide a better customer experience, and to protect you as a contributor, these images are no longer eligible for submission or for licensing.

Veer Launches Royale Collection

2012-09-26T21:12:00.002-05:00

Veer launched this week a new collection of highly stylized and eye catching images called Veer Royale. As several of the stock photography companies image count grows it is getting harder and harder to find some of those outstanding images. As a new trend companies are creating top class collections on their sites to help put the best of the best in front of their customers. Check out the info below.

Today we are excited to share with you some sweet news: the launch of Veer Royale – a new collection of images and illustrations designed to highlight the best of Veer.

Stretching across a variety of subjects, our editors have been on the lookout for content that is unique and highly stylized with strong aesthetic appeal. Royale is designed to help customers looking for eye-catching imagery find a filtered set of results with just a click.

Some of you may already see a few of your images in the collection, and if you don't, keep sending us your best and there's a chance your image could be selected. If you aren't sure what we are looking for, check out the Royale collection for a dose of beautiful imagery, unique concepts, and loads of inspiration.

2ten Goes After Low Subscription Sales

2012-09-15T18:11:00.000-05:00

CEO of Pocketstock launches an initiative to stop the race to the bottom on royalties for subscription sales to stock photographer. See his write up below and join the 2ten petition if you support its ideals.

I have just arrived in New York City and was in Starbucks very early in the morning a day after the latest 9/11 anniversary. Having parted company with $2.85 for a coffee for a colleague, I was further reminded how expensive coffee is compared with the best images as sold by stock agencies - in particular as part of a subscription plan.

95% of subscription sales are made by these companies, in order of power:

Shutterstock	33 cents per image
iStock	31 cents per image
Fotolia	33 cents per image
Dreamstime	32 cents per image
123RF	29 cents per image
Depositphotos	24 cents per image
Veer	38 cents per image

I thought to myself, I’ll see if I can get a similar deal from Starbucks. “Look,” I said “someone from our company will be back in here every day for the next month, so, can we do a deal on 15 coffees per day?” “What kind of deal?” they asked. “I thought you might do us a subscription deal?” I replied.

Needless to say they looked at me as if I was completely mad, but did kindly point me in the direction of a Starbucks reward card. To be honest though, I was looking for a deal in the region of 10 cents per cup, not a free refill every now and then. You win some you lose some.

We like your pricing
At Pocketstock we have our largest file size priced at around $53 or higher. Now if I take the average price of a monthly subscription of 31 cents and compare it to our pricing, subscription comes in at 17,000 times less expensive than ours per file.

That’s 17,000% less expensive than Pocketstock’s list price.

Maybe our prices are too high, but we don’t want to start selling images at 30 cents that’s for sure, we have therefore decided to continue to push hard for single image sales at a level we feel is right as well as try to help to do something about the rush to the bottom: that is the subscription price war.

2ten
So, we have now decided through the development of 2ten to try change the industry pricing structure, for new images at the very least, through a strategic 3 step plan.

Should you be supplying your best images to subscription plans? Well that’s your choice, but if you continue to do it in the way you currently are, expect the worst.

What is the worst that can happen?
You don’t want to know how bad it will get, but I’ll give you an idea of what will happen in the short-term - within months, subscription pricing per image will be in single figures – and I don’t mean dollars of course, but cents. Yes, that’s right your images will be sold for less than 10 cents if you don’t do something about it right now.

One of the leading subscription agencies is already offering your content for 13 pence per image in the UK and they are throwing in 1000 additional free credits for good measure as an incentive. Should 13 pence per image not be enough? I would have thought so. Is it worth producing for these prices? Only you can make that call.

Collectively we can make a change and stop the constant lowering of stock content prices, which will destroy your earnings, most of the single image outlets and any potential for new sales channels, but still line the pockets of those that sell your work.

$2 for the smallest file size and $10 for the largest
Having now set up 2ten to help support a fair deal for stock contributors, the objective is simple; get all contributors to refuse to allow any subscription agency to sell their new content for less than $2 for the smallest file size and $10 for the largest.

This way we hope to change the pricing structure that is currently so destructive for all contributors.

Sign up
Check out the latest low price subscription offers at www.2ten.info and maybe, it will convince you to sign up and help change the way your content is sold. You can’t do that on your own, but as a group the power is in your hands.

Spread the word
Please tell all stock contributors about this campaign and ask them to sign up. The more support we get, the more we will be able do about the pricing scandal perpetuated by big business, who are currently commoditizing your material into something that is worth less than a cup of coffee, much less.

www.2ten.info

We promise never to use your name or personal details. All information will be treated as confidential.

Best regards
Russell Glenister
CEO

2013 iStock Royalty Rates

2012-09-01T10:52:00.004-05:00

Below is the layout of iStock's 2013 Royalty rates. Overall there are very few changes from last year. All the percentages are the same, but some of the redeemed credit categories have dropped. For example for non exclusive last year the credits where 2,000 and are now 1,500. Where do you fall on the chart below?

2012 Redeemed Credit Targets

Below are the 2012 Redeemed Credit targets for iStockphoto contributors. We know that this news is behind schedule and we apologize for the long wait. Other projects and factors, both at iStockphoto and within the wider Getty Images business, have delayed our ability to definitively publish these numbers.

We are happy to announce that there is no increase in any of the RC targets over the previous year — all redeemed credit targets for all file types will stay the same for 2012. These targets will determine your starting/minimum royalty rate for 2013. If you reach a new target during the remainder of 2012 you will immediately move up to a higher royalty rate, otherwise your current rate will remain in effect until the end of the year.

Shutterstock Viewfinder Contest

2012-08-20T13:37:00.000-05:00

Shutterstock launches a Viewfinder Contest that focuses on photography challenges. For example the first challenge this month is "Celebrating Life" so any image that you feel captures that enter it in for a chance to win some great prizes. Check out their full write up below and join Shutterstock here.

Shutterstock contributors are some of the most creative in the business, and to us, that’s something worth celebrating. Cue the Viewfinder Challenge – a themed competition that gives you the chance to show off your best work and bask in the brilliance of your fellow creatives. You can even score some great prizes and major exposure while you’re at it.

The theme for the first challenge is “Celebrating Life.” Submit your best photos, footage, or illustrations that capture “a spirit of celebration, whether it’s personal, local, global, or universal.”

For reference, check out these collections of examples of “Celebrating Life” our curator pulled together:

Celebrating Life Lightbox

Celebrating Life Clipbox

THE STAKES
Our esteemed team of judges will review all the entries and choose their favorites. One grand-prize winner in each category – photo, vector/illustration, and footage – will then be announced and will receive an exclusive custom bag. (We’re still working on the designs, but trust us, they’re really cool.)
In addition to the three grand-prize winners, we’ll also be selecting two runners-up in each category, who will all receive some serious Shutterstock swag.
HOW IT WORKS
All contributors are eligible to enter. Simply upload your work to the Shutterstock site as with normal submissions, and include the keyword “Viewfinderchallenge1” in your tags.

You can submit up to 25 pieces per challenge, so stack the odds in your favor by maxing out those entries.

ONLY NEW WORK (work accepted on or after the official start date of August 14, 2012) IS ELIGIBLE.

The deadline for submissions is September 10, so get creative and prepare to go from Vision to Victory!

Getty Images Sold

2012-08-16T13:37:00.005-05:00

Getty (and iStockphoto) is sold to new investors, but contributors should notice very little change from the transaction. See below for the official writeup.

About the Sale of Getty Images:

Since they acquired us in 2008, Hellman & Friedman have been committed to our business. Their goal has always been to grow and strengthen Getty Images and then sell the company, when the time is right. We and Hellman & Friedman have identified a new owner to take the business into its next phase. We’ve now formed a new partnership between The Carlyle Group, the Getty family and Getty Images management to acquire Getty Images from H & F. We believe this new partnership is in the best interest of our Company as a whole, our employees and our contributors and image partners.

This new ownership is a positive move in the continued growth and success of Getty Images. Carlyle has an investment philosophy that is very similar to Hellman & Friedman, and we are confident that our partnership with them will be solid, supportive and beneficial to our Company’s long term success.

What does this mean for iStockphoto and Getty Images Contributors?

Day-to-day, this transaction won’t change anything for contributors.

We are continually transforming our technology and websites to deliver better customer experiences; evolving our sales and marketing strategy to find new markets and new uses for your content and helping you develop new revenue streams and new ways to submit and distribute your content. Our change of ownership will not impact these efforts in any way, and of course, our business continues to honor our agreements with you.

Getty Images continues to be led by a Co-Founder and CEO who has been with the company since day one, and his team has on average been with the company more than 10 years. Change in ownership will have no impact on our strategy or management.

You should also take comfort in the fact that we are not simply going from one of the premier private equity owners in the world to another. The Getty Family and Getty Images management have increased their ownership in the business, as well, in a new partnership with Carlyle that demonstrates their long term commitment to growth and success.

Getty Images continues to be a market leader for your content. We are adept at innovating, navigating and creating new technologies, products and services that grow the business over the long term. This dynamic creates an exciting environment for contributors and image partners who understand that change, growth and innovation, drive opportunities.

Number of Downloads in Previous 12 Months		Royalty per Download
From	To	In USD
1	199	$0.25
200	999	$0.27
1,000	1,999	$0.29
2,000	9,999	$0.31
10,000	19,999	$0.33
20,000	49,999	$0.35
50,000+		$0.38