Photography iPad Apps You’ll Really Use

Posted on 29 June, 2011 by guru

The iPad wasn’t built for photographers. The in-built lenses are punier than those on most smartphones, memory space is limited, library functions are poor, bulk processing is impossible and upload a RAW image from the iPad to another device and you’re going to lose noticeable quality. When we asked one photographer what surprised him the most about using a borrowed iPad during a shoot, his reaction was a blunt “how useless it is.”

Maybe he wasn’t trying hard enough. The iPad isn’t a replacement for a Macbook or a desktop and it certainly can’t function as a camera, but with the right apps it can make a useful and mobile tool for photographers on the move. These are some of the most important apps that a photographer should pack into their iPad.

Image Editing

Adobe Photoshop Express

Image editors of one sort or another are among the most popular iOS apps but for serious photographers, they’re also among the least useful. Image editing is the kind of work that requires attention to detail, a large screen and software with a wide range of options running on hardware powerful enough to offer them.

Adobe Photoshop Express isn’t that software; Photoshop is. But the company’s free companion to Photoshop.com does allow for some simple procedures such as exposure, color saturation, soft focus and borders. It’s not going to save you all that time in front of your computer but it can let you make some simple changes before you get back to the studio and get on with the real work.

Library Management

Photo Manager Pro

The iPad’s in-built Photos app is fine for simple photo-showing but it doesn’t allow for organization and there’s no place to add information such as captions and metadata. A number of apps do offer better image management. Most are based on folders, allow for easy importing and exporting, and protect access with a passcode.

Photo Manager Pro provides all of those functions, as well metadata, drag-and-drop folder management, geo-tagging and custom sorting. It’s also worth looking at Photo-Sort, Photo Shack and, for Flickr users, Portfolio to Go. Most of the apps are similar enough to make choice based largely on personal preference rather than unique features, but Photo Manager Pro has a particularly long feature list.

Payment

Square

Photographers shooting on commission are unlikely to take payments on location, and pros with their own studios will probably have their own payments systems set up as part of their business. But portrait photographers who like shooting outside or art photographers selling at fairs can certainly make use of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s billion-dollar company to accept credit card payments on their mobile devices. It might not be an app that’s on the need list of every photographer but for those who do sell when they’re outside the studio, Square is both unique and invaluable.

Paperwork

Easy Release

You could just carry a stack of model releases with you when you’re shooting models or photographing stock but it’s not very convenient and you’d still have to file and organize them afterwards. Easy Release from ApplicationGap was designed by Robert Giroux, an editorial and commercial photographer who has shot for Newsweek, Time and Getty Images. The app has been approved by both Getty and Alamy.

The app comes with industry-standard releases, but allows photographer to add their own text if they want, as well as brand the release with their own logo and details. On the iPad 2, you can even shoot an ID picture of the model to include with the release, and the organization is pretty simple too, allowing photographers to find the releases they need easily. Signatures can be made on-screen with a finger or written using an iPad-compatible stylus.

It’s not the only app offering this service; rivals include mRelease and Photographer’s Contract Maker, both of which are cheaper. But Easy Release has more functions and fields.

Light

Daylight

While Sunlight, a rival app, will give you the time of sunrises and sunsets around the world, Daylight provides localized information that’s both more focused and more functional. Set your location and the app will tell you times for civil, nautical and astronomical twilight, but more importantly, according the blurb it’s also “Perfect for photographers who want to prepare for the ‘Golden Hour.’”

As well as providing a single moment of time to mark the sunset and sunrise, the app also visually marks a period allowing photographers to know when they need to be ready to capture the best light at the best time of day.

For anyone who likes shooting outside and wants to know the best time to do it, Daylight is a great reminder — and it’s even free.

Accessories

DSLR Camera Remote

So with the right apps, the iPad can do a bit of light editing, manage some of your images, take payments, provide and store model releases, and even tell you when to shoot. It can also take the pictures for you. DSLR Camera Remote lets photographers control a long list of compatible cameras from a distance.

You can remotely adjust the white balance, shutter speed, aperture and exposure. You can look at images sitting on the camera’s memory card. And you can even look through the viewfinder to see what the camera sees when you’re on the other side of the studio.

Again, that’s not going to be something that every photographer is going to find useful. But it’s easy to see how it can save commercial photographers from running back to their viewfinder after every small adjustment, how sports photographers can leave a camera behind the goal while they shoot from the stands or how art photographers can create self-portraits without having to stop posing.

Of course it’s possible to shoot efficiently and well without an iPad, and Apple’s tablet is never going to replace the laptop. But a few well-chosen apps can make life easier for photographers.

But maybe there are better apps out there. Let us know which iPad apps you’ve found the most useful in your photography.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PhotopreneurBlog/~3/ZebqHkfaxwg/photography-ipad-apps-you-really-use

Facebook Fails Stock Photographers

Posted on 22 June, 2011 by guru

Photography: Todd Arena

For photographers selling their services directly to the public, the benefits of maintaining a business Facebook page are clear enough. Face tagging pushes pictures of brides and wedding guests to clients and their friends, showing off their work to potential leads for free. Paid advertising lets them focus their deal on demographics as targeted as engaged women aged 25-40 within 50 miles of their studio. But what about stock photographers? Does Facebook offer anything for professionals and enthusiasts whose buyers are more likely to be businesses than individuals? According to the experience of at least one stock photographer, if the aim is only to sell licenses, then the answer may well be no.

Todd Arena started his career as a graphic designer, using stock images to create custom magazines, ads, websites and corporate identities for large corporations. Realizing that many of the contributors whose images he bought were selling the same work hundreds of times, he began producing his own pictures, beginning with graphics and art elements before working his way up to photography. He upgraded his gear, improved his photography skills and in mid-2008, after being laid off from his graphic design position, switched to full-time stock photography, shooting mostly lifestyle images, food and sports. In addition to promoting his images primarily through microstock companies, he also now runs his own stock site at Arena Creative.

Keep Your Page Active

Todd created a Facebook page almost five years ago, when he first started dabbling in stock sales, and has now picked up more than 4,000 followers. Not all of them are active. Todd knows about 400 of his readers, and only a small fraction of them contribute to his page, placing comments after his posts and complimenting his images.

His wall contains a combination of RSS-fed blog posts, comments and interaction. The info section allows him to introduce his photography and place his links, and the photos area contains a selection of carefully chosen and watermarked images. Regular activity is important to both build and maintain an audience, says Todd, and participating on other Facebook pages can also help to attract new readers.

“It’s important that you structure your online activity into a plan of action, so that your page doesn’t lay dormant,” says Todd. “Joining different groups, participating in discussions in other public areas of Facebook also helped me to get a lot of new fans.”

By one measure then, Todd Arena’s Facebook is successful. It has a large following, a steady stream of content and even if only a fraction of his 4,000-plus followers do more than lurk, the page is lively enough to show that it has interest. The commercial benefits that the page has generated though are a little less clear.

The page does generate traffic to Todd’s website. Facebook pages, he says, are ranked higher in Google search results than most personal portfolio sites. Even face tagging, a practice that might appear less useful for stock photographers than for event photographers, can generate some viral marketing and some extra visits.

“Posting a few low-resolution, usually watermarked selects from a recent photo shoot and then tagging the models in them, definitely helps drive new people over to your page,” explains Todd. “If they like what they see, they just might inquire about their own photoshoot, or at least click the like button. That activity shows on their wall and their friends’ news feed.”

The branding is important too, and the Facebook page shows potential buyers what Todd shoots and what they can expect from his own site.

Lots of Hits, No Sales

But despite that extra Google love, the viral effect of face tagging and the brand awareness that his Facebook page has helped to build, Todd has yet to see any significant effect on his bottom line. He can count on one hand, he says, the number of times he has managed to produce license sales from the extra traffic his social network efforts have generated.

“I’ve been able to accomplish building the traffic of my website by leaps and bounds, and I’m sure that having a solid participation in social networking have contributed to that. Has the added traffic caused me to license many stock photo sales? Very few,” he says. “As a stock photographer, I’ve pretty much concluded that the majority of my social networking efforts have been mostly in vain.”

Even advertising on Facebook hasn’t worked for him. Todd recently used a $50 credit to test a banner campaign. He found that he generated lots of views and plenty of website hits. He might have pushed his brand and logo a little deeper into the minds of buyers, he thought, but none of those hits produced so much as a single sale.

Facebook then can generate traffic to a stock site but if Todd Arena’s experience is typical then it’s unlikely to generate much in the way of revenue. Most of his sales are the results of the promotional efforts taken by the stock companies rather than his own work on Facebook.

So perhaps it’s better to look for a different kind of benefit that stock photographers can pick up through social networking. Todd created his page as a “fun, social thing,” seeing it as a kind of forum that contained some additional cool features. It allowed him to communicate with models and photographers, and bring an interactive element to an otherwise lonely profession which tends to involve shooting objects, editing them on the computer then uploading them to a stock site. As a platform that provides social interaction for self-employed photographers then, Facebook might well have something to offer.

“I work from home. My two dogs don’t say much,” he says. “I find social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and my own blogging efforts to be a nice break from the everyday monotony of my daily workflow.”

Overall then, Todd Arena still recommends that photographers — even stock photographers — create a business page on Facebook. Just don’t spend any of your own money on advertising and don’t expect your posts, comments and pictures to actually produce any sales.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PhotopreneurBlog/~3/5fFxMLgQwPU/facebook-fails-stock-photographers

Photopreneur’s Big List of Stock Photography Sites (categorized)

Posted on 16 June, 2011 by guru

The Internet now contains thousands of stock photography sites, giving editors a huge choice of image sources, and photographers a wide range of outlets for their images. We’ve checked sites and pored over lists to produce our own guide to stock photography.

We’ve broken the sites down into subject categories but it’s likely that many overlap. Certainly, the large sites will also include niche subjects. Not all of the sites accept contributions but many do.

Entries are arranged alphabetically and should not be considered as recommendations. Be sure to read the terms and conditions carefully, and let us know about your experiences with the sites on the list and any that you think we’ve missed.

The Giants

Two stock companies dominate the industry. They’re big enough to set the prices, determine styles and lock in buyers with subscription fees. Many of the sites listed here are now subsidiaries of one of these firms.

Corbis

Getty

General

Both Corbis and Getty accept images of every topic imaginable. Lots of other sites offer general images too.

Unique Payment Models

Stock companies generally license images on a royalty-free basis or a rights-managed basis, taking a (large) commission for themselves. Some stock companies though are pushing back against that model with payment plans of their own.

fotoLibra

Photographer’s Direct

PhotoShelter

News

News and editorial images generally need to be delivered quickly to reach markets and generate sells.

Regional News

Local news services, even national rather than international ones, may offer targeted sources for buyers and contributors.

Kyodo News

Landov

Celebrity

Some of the highest paying editorial images are shots of celebrities. Paparazzi images in particular have to be sent in very quickly.

Microstock

Microstock companies accept images from everyone but charge and pay small amounts on a royalty-free basis.

Artistic
Art rarely makes the best stock, which needs to functional rather than artistic. Some stock companies though do specialize in art images.

Independent Photography Network

Lens Modern

Panos Pictures

Redux Pictures

Stock That Doesn’t Suck

Trunk Archive

Environmental

Images of the environment have become more important as interest in climate change has grown.

Aurora Photos

Eco Photo Explorers

Ecopics

Global Warming Images

Green Stock Media

Science

Science images, including astronomy, can have strong demand but they often require access to laboratories and specialist tools.

Custom Medical Stock Photo

Nature
With the right agency, it’s even possible license your shots of landscape, nature and animals.

Animals Animals

DRK Photo

EarthWater

Mangelsen: Images of Nature

Minden Pictures

Nature Picture Library

Sports

Sports photography can be as topical as news or as general as portraiture. Some sites cover every sport; others focus on just one activity.

Travel

Making money out of your vacation photos isn’t easy. Create travel images of exotic locations though and you can license them on specialist stock sites.

Photo-Africa-Stock.com

Picturesque

Scandinavian Stock Photo

Tropical Pix

Travel Library

US Regions

The United States is big and varied enough for images of different regions to have their own outlets.

Accent Alaska

Alaska Stock

Idaho Stock Images

Pacific Stock Photography

Photo Resource Hawaii

Photohouston

Salmon River

International

Photographers in countries around the world can try to sell their images through sites that use the country or region as a brand.

Music

Images of musicians, instruments and performance can make a particularly valuable niche.

Lebrecht

Music Pictures

RedFerns

Industry

Images of industry and transport can be both valuable and difficult to produce. If you can arrange access, some specialist sites will be happy to take your targeted, quality images.

Alvey and Towers

Construction Photography

Food

Food pictures might need the help of a professional food stylist but they can make for a useful niche.

Fabfoodpix

Food-image

Stock Food

Aerial Photography

Aerial photography requires some special equipment and is usually commissioned. Some stock companies though do sell images shot from a height.

Airphotona

Aerolist Photographers

Aeronautic Pictures

AirView Online

Ireland Aerial Photography

Add Yours here, in the comments. Include the category.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PhotopreneurBlog/~3/aZpA9pPAbao/stock-photography-big-list

What’s Wrong with Image Copyrights on Social Media Sites

Posted on 7 June, 2011 by guru

Three years ago, we noticed a clause in Facebook’s terms and conditions that worried us. The clause appeared to grant Facebook the right to create derivative works out of members’ images, to license members’ photos and even to transfer the rights it claims over those pictures to others. We alerted Bert Krages, a legal expert who specializes in the laws relating to photography, and he confirmed our suspicions. Facebook’s terms did indeed allow the social media site to do pretty much anything it wanted with the pictures uploaded to the site. In fact, Krages told us, the clause was written in such a way that Facebook could even build a stock library out of its members’ contributions if it wanted. That was three years ago. Things have changed and Facebook has updated its terms. That clause though, and the rights it grants to Facebook, remain.

Facebook isn’t the only site to place its hand on the intellectual property owned by its users. TwitPic’s recent kerfuffle over copyright ended in a muddle with the photo-sharing service declaring clearly that users “retain all ownership rights to Content uploaded to Twitpic.” But echoing Facebook’s rights grab, the terms then go on to state that:

“by submitting Content to Twitpic, you hereby grant Twitpic a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Content in connection with the Service and Twitpic’s (and its successors’ and affiliates’) business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Service (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels.”

Other publishers who wish to use content posted on Twitpic “for any commercial purpose or for distribution… whether online, in print publication, television, or any other format,” are informed that they must obtain permission from and provide credit to… Twitpic. It’s as though the photographer — the same person that Twitpic has said owns the copyright — just doesn’t exist.

What’s Yours is Yours

Twitter, at least, was a little smarter. When the microblogging company announced that it would allow the incorporation of images into tweets using Photobucket’s servers, it made clear that Twitter’s users owned those photos. As company representative Sean Garrett put it in response to someone who had wondered whether Twitter would claim the right to sell their photos:

“You own your tweets and photos will be part of your tweets.”

When it was pointed out that Photobucket’s terms aren’t quite so clear and, like Facebook and Twitpic, allow the site a broad freedom to republish users’ images, Garrett repeated that as far as Twitter is concerned, users’ property remains users’ property.

“I work for Twitter and am telling you how we will apply rights for photos (that happen to be hosted by Photobucket).”

None of this is to say that Facebook, Twitpic and Photobucket have a secret plan to steal and resell their members’ photos. Facebook might have the legal right to set up a stock library but in the three years since we noticed that clause in its terms and conditions, it hasn’t done so and doesn’t appear to be planning to. Passing on user images might not be restricted by law but it is likely to result in a mass removal of content from the site, a more powerful penalty than anything a court would impose. The aim of the rights that social media sites claim over user images then is more likely to be the freedom to advertise their services and promote themselves. It’s their heavy-fisted approach, which gives them more rights than they need, that’s the problem.

Or rather, it’s one problem because although photo-sharing sites might be greedy with rights they don’t plan to use, at least they’re consistent in their approach to user content. That can’t be said of publishers.

When event planner Stefanie Gordon snapped a shot of the space shuttle Endeavour taking off during a flight over Florida recently, her image and video went viral. According to Mashable, some news organizations contacted her and asked if they could use her footage. She agreed, provided they gave her credit. CNN and NBC both did. The Washington Post and The St. Petersburg Times went further, paying Gordon $100 for each image they used. The Associated Press paid $500 plus royalties. But ABC News and CBS both used her video without any credit at all.

It’s possible that a court decision will now put an end to the worst of those abuses: the treatment of user images as a free resource. Photographer Daniel Morel had sued a number of news organizations that reprinted images he had taken of the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. The pictures had been copied by Lisandro Suerto of the Dominican Republic who had sold them as his own to Agence France-Presse, Newsweek and other news agencies. The court dismissed Agence France-Presse’s argument that Morel had lost copyright exclusivity by sharing the images through Twitter, informing publishers that tweeted images are not fair game.

Twitter Should Copy Flickr’s Licensing Program

So there are two problems: on the one hand photo-sharing sites are claiming more rights than they need or want in poorly-written terms that spook contributors; on the other hand, publishers want to publish user images but are unclear about the rules that govern usage of images placed on the Web by members of the public who may or may not be willing to see them published. The best solution may be to adapt the way that Flickr sells stock licenses to social media’s editorial photos.

Flickr’s partnership with Getty allows publishers to license users’ images through the stock company. Once users have opted in, they don’t need to do any more than collect the royalties, while publishers are clear about Getty’s usage rules and payment terms. It’s not a great deal for photographers, who only receive 20 percent of the sales price and are probably better off selling their images themselves, but it is simple and clear for both sides.

Twitter (and Twitpic) could do something similar. Users could opt in to a licensing program, perhaps managed by a news agency, that allows publishers to reprint their images for a fee. News organizations that need to move fast would be able to get crowdsourced images quickly and from a source they know. Contributors could be sure that they’re getting the credit and payments they deserve. It’s not difficult to implement and the model already exists. All it would take is the will of Facebook, Twitter and their friends to put the program together and give photographers what they deserve.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PhotopreneurBlog/~3/OKCD4MGjNgs/whats-wrong-with-image-copyrights-on-social-media-sites

Media Professional Crosses Boundaries, Hits the Big Time with Engagement Film

Posted on 1 June, 2011 by guru

Wedding photography provides plenty of scope for creativity. Although it’s not as free as photographic art — which itself is only as free as collectors and gallery owners allow — it does leave plenty of room for experimentation. So some photographers have long combined the formals with photojournalism while others have gone as far as Trash The Dress photography, a style that takes the bride’s glamour to extremes. But what happens when you add video to your repertoire? How creative can your results become when you think outside your usual boundaries and what effect can the creativity that allows have on your business?

One professional who’s now discovering just what removing a job label can do for his work is Michael Escobar. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Escobar rejects the title “photographer” and offers creative media work that covers photography, videography and even Web design. He’s self-taught in all of those fields so his business should really have failed. It’s hard enough to master one competitive discipline but to cover three and to do it without professional training should be a stretch of ambition too far.

And yet Escobar has not just been in business for the best part of a decade, he’s currently enjoying some impressive exposure generated by a creative approach to a wedding client that made use of his videography skills.

“The Greatest Marriage Proposal Ever!”

His seven-minute footage shows a young woman settling into a cinema seat. The trailer starts but instead of running a preview of a forthcoming attraction, it shows an unidentified man asking another man for permission to marry his daughter. The young woman, whose reaction is seen embedded in the bottom of the video, wonders aloud whether that’s her boyfriend talking to her father. Having received the father’s blessing, the young man is then shown racing to his car and driving to the cinema where we see him — after stopping to buy some popcorn — proposing to the young man and receiving a round of applause from the audience.

Modestly titled “The Greatest Marriage Proposal Ever!” the engagement film has been discussed in outlets from the Washington Post to Time Magazine and has now picked up over 15 million views on YouTube.

The idea for the video came from the client, Matt Still, a former high school classmate of Michael Escobar’s wife.

“He had this elaborate idea to propose and I just brought it to life on the big screen,” explains Escobar.

Still approached the cinema, which loved the idea, agreed to show the footage and allowed Escobar to mount a small camera to the seat in front of Matt’s soon-to-be fiancée, Ginny.

The film itself is moving and funny, and hugely successful — and not just for Still. Ginny, not surprisingly perhaps, said yes and Escobar has been hired to shoot the wedding. But for photographers looking to make a living photographing wedding clients it also raises interesting questions about the limits they place on their work.

While every wedding job is unique, most tend to be fairly routine, a combination of formals, family shots and candid moments that combine to make the client happy and pay the bills. Photographers who think outside the box and try to make their work a little different though don’t just have the opportunity to enjoy their work more, they can also enjoy more opportunities. For Christian Keenan, for example, a former Asia-based photojournalist who once won a World Press Photo Award (and is one of the photographers featured in our book The Successful Wedding Photographer) that means a career based on telling documentary shots that have made him one of the UK’s most sought after event photographers.

Keenan’s work, which is witty, evocative and unusual, is one example of a photographer standing out with a creative approach that remains within his field. Michael Escobar’s film is similarly unusual and takes him across creative boundaries. But what should photographers consider before they put down their still camera and reach for a video camera in the hope of finding an additional creative outlet?

Should You Shoot Video Too?

The cost will certainly be one factor. Still photography equipment is expensive enough and while much of your gear can serve a double-use, you can expect to be laying out more money on video equipment instead of adding to your studio tools. Escobar notes how surprised he was after buying his first camera when he discovered how much time and money he would have to invest to offer photography as a service. Move into videography and you’ll have a load of new expenses covering everything from hardware to software.

And there’s a new learning curve to overcome as well. Although some of the approaches used by still photographers can help them to become excellent videographers, there are some important differences between freezing a moment at an event and documenting it.

“Photography requires certain equipment and skill sets and video requires a completely different set of equipment and skill sets,” says Escobar. “However someone in photography would have great advantage over someone who isn’t because there are principles that apply to both.”

Michael Escobar though is unusual. Most photographers find that they prefer to specialize in one field rather than spread their skill sets, their training, their equipment budgets and their marketing across multiple fields. And not all have the desire, let alone the talent, to be filmmakers as well as photographers. But for those who are interested in stepping beyond the traditional distinctions between creators of still images and producers of video imagery, there are plenty of opportunities to be had — both in terms of the jobs themselves and the new creative outlets those jobs deliver.

“It is really up to the individual and what they want to do and if they want to take the time to make both their business,” says Escobar. “Understand what you are getting into… but if it is something you love and want to do, it is possible.”

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Photo Video Blogs

Handpicked Photo / Video blogs and articles

Monthly Archives: June 2011

Photography iPad Apps You’ll Really Use

Facebook Fails Stock Photographers

Photopreneur’s Big List of Stock Photography Sites (categorized)

What’s Wrong with Image Copyrights on Social Media Sites

Media Professional Crosses Boundaries, Hits the Big Time with Engagement Film