Stock Photo News by mystockphoto.org

Version 2.0.5 is released – Mac OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, Snow Leopard supported

2013-06-15T12:06:57Z

The new version brings in full functionality, including the thumbnails display for all versions of Mac OS X – Mountain Lion, Lion and Snow Leopard.
Note that prior installing PSM on Mac OS X you have to install [free] ImageMagick.

If you have ImageMagick installed but PSM still can not show any thumbnail, do the follow:
1. Exit PSM if you run it

2. Open a terminal window

3. In the terminal, type in

which convert

if you got ImageMagick properly installed you should see something like

/opt/local/bin/convert

in the response.

4. Copy the path to ‘convert’ to the clipboard, including the trailing slash (i.e. in the above case copy ‘/opt/local/bin/’)

5. In any text editor open the following file:

~/Library/ProStockMaster/ProStockMaster.properties

6. find a line showing

im_path=<some-path>

and replace <some-path> with the path to ‘convert’ you saved on clipboard (e.g. /opt/local/bin/)

Verify trailing slash in in place.

7. Start PSM and check the thumbnails

Center of the storm

2013-06-18T16:09:36Z

I was perusing through photos of the 2013 CEPIC congress who just completed its annual festival in Barcelona. Like every year, photo merchants from all over the world gathered around tables and four chairs to trade, exchange, redistribute content they mostly did not create, like kids playing with sets of collectable cards. I’ll … Read More →

Prefabs - Palaces for the People

2013-06-18T11:50:29Z

Latest Photofusion exhibition features multimedia content by Elisabeth Blanchet

The image of the week… is all about enjoying your photography!

2013-06-16T22:11:42Z

The image is protected by copyright but is is available for sale and use at:
http://yaymicro.com/stock-image/male-carer-pushing-woman-in-wheelchair/8357166

From all the images I reviewed this week, one definitely made me stop and this is usually the moment when I realize this might be the image of the week. It’s called Male carer pushing woman in wheelchair and it’s been uploaded by Peter t.

He uploaded more and I had to reject several pictures for Trademark issues. I sent him a short message about the need to remove the brand names. I am a contributor myself and I know how it feels to have images rejected, after spending valuable time with uploading and keyword-ing. But Peter t answered politely asking for more information. Then I realized what stood behind the image of the week: good manners, a different attitude and a will to do things better!

Obviously, I wanted to know more and I found out that Peter t is actually Peter Titmuss, featured in the British Press Photographer of the Year award and World Press Photo Exhibitions!

He has been a photographer since leaving college, working in Fleet Street for many years and has been concentrating on producing stock images for the last ten years. His library extends beyond 40,000 images.

But let’s see the way he describes this image:

The plan was to shoot the female model sitting in a wheelchair, alone and looking out into empty space. It was shot on a hilltop within parkland in Hampshire England.

Planning the shoot was easy for me, the male model, a friend and chairman of a charity which loans and supplies equipment for disabled people wanted some images for a brochure. These were shot , and in exchange he loaned the wheelchair for the shoot.

The female model, Susan Parks, and I have worked together for many years and she knows just what I am thinking setting up a shot (must be woman’s instinct)! Best model in the world!

Arriving at the location the shoot plan started to change, for the good. Spotting a ‘disabled’ only car parking space was too good an opportunity to miss. We were able to shoot the model erecting the wheelchair from the boot of the car, then with the disabled markings on the ground, disabled markings without model were taken also. A few shots in the can already.

Male model then starts to push wheelchair to the designated site, it was uphill and quite a climb. Another opportunity for some shots, man exhausted pushing woman in wheelchair were soon obtained, oh joy! The shot that we had struggled up this steep hill went without a hitch, I used a low camera angle to keep the ‘empty space’ feel.

Swapping the model’s roles, shots of the female model, now a carer, pushing the man in wheelchair were also obtained.

We had some fun, took lots of pix and had a great day, that is just what it is all about, enjoying your photography and earning a living at the same time.

Peter Titmuss

What’s so great about this picture?

It is a great lesson about what means to live with disabilities and even with people with disabilities.
It uses an unusual angle, letting our imagination free to read a life story. The faces are not really visible letting more space to the feelings, just perfect for this kind of topic.
The background gives us a feeling of serenity and hope but it speaks also about the loneliness of the disabled persons and about their dreams and their aspirations.
It’s simple and natural. The models don’t seem to pose at all!
It really makes you stop and think too!
It has copy space in order to allow adverts or inspirational quotes.

How could we use it?

Adverts for professional medical services dedicated to people with disabilities.
Inspirational posters about marriage, suffering, illness, determination, unity and not only…
The very image of a campaign for a charitable project or a foundation where more volunteers are needed.
Outdoor billboard advert for health and life insurance.
Cover book for publishing useful information about care-giving.

Online Design Magazines Free for Download

2013-06-15T20:23:32Z

We invite you to discover some of the best free online design magazines that share great information in the design trends. Unfortunately, the lack of financial support leads to sporadic publication dates. Anyway, here is a selection of inspiring online resources.

We hope you find them useful!

Artz Magazine

Artz Magazine focuses on 2D and 3D illustrations, avangard design and photography. The great thing is that they feature new designers every time.

Breed Magazine

Breed Magazine hosts articles about designers, portrait photography, graffiti and illustration. The magazine has both an online and a print version, with free subscription and appears every three months.

Veckr Magazine

Veckr Magazine se concentreaza pe ilustratii vectoriale, dar si pe tendinte si produse noi de design. Daca esti interesat de ilustratii, vectori, moda, tehnologie si arta, te invitam sa accesen aceasta revista online!

Veckr Magazine covers vector illustrations, but new design trends and projects as well. If illustration, vector, fashion, technology and art are your interests, we advise you to visit their site.

Castle Magazine

Castle Magazine is an interesting publication because it features a wide variety of subjects: classic and urban art, industrial design and so on. New artists get showcased here and they can provide great inspiration for the readers.

Carne Magazine

Carne Magazine is an independent publication dedicated to contemporary art and design. They carefully select their content and they present the most interesting photographers, illustrators and designers worldwide. They cover a broad spectrum of topics.

Clutter Magazine

Clutter Magazine offers exposure to designers. They hand pick the subjects from portfolios they receive.

Root Magazine

If you are passionate about typography, vector illustrations, photo manipulations, digital retouching, anime and comics, read Root Magazine.

The Warhol Magazine

This magazine has a broad subject palette: it covers music, illustration, photography, digital retouching, exhibits and interviews.

Woof Magazine

This magazine is almost exclusively photography oriented. It has very interesting articles on the subject; it showcases new and inspiring portfolios of renowned photographers and designers. It comes out twice a month.

Do you follow any of these magazines? Do you have others to recommend? Please leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Mary Evans Announces New WW1 Collection

2013-06-14T09:50:43Z

Exclusive representation of David Cohen Fine Art

Bridgeman Acquires Engaging Portraits Of Lucian Freud At Work

2013-06-13T08:46:30Z

New collection is photographs of great artist by model and assistant David Dawson

Celebrate World Oceans With NaturePL

2013-06-12T11:24:35Z

The waters of our world have untold riches

Coming soon - Search engine tweaks - pseudonym and location field

2013-06-12T10:09:00Z

We've made a couple of tweaks to the search engine to help improve results and lessen the percentage of erroneous results.

Firstly, we've now made the location field an 'information only' field which means it is no longer searchable. For images where the location is important, you should also list it within the keywords in order for the image to still be returned in relevant results. The reason we have made this change is because there were too many images coming up for location searches where the location simply was not important. For example, an indoor still life shot of a bowl of fruit where the location was listed as 'London' would be returned in searches for London. This will no longer be an issue.

The other tweak we've made concerns the pseudonym/photographer name. This is no longer searchable via the main search box. The reason for this is that for those of you who's name contained a search word, eg 'David Bridge', your images would also be returned for a search of "bridge", thus harming your Alamyrank and giving the customer many irrelevant results. However, because we understand that for some people having your name searchable is important, you can still search by pseudonym/photographer name via the advanced search options link located next to the main search bar.

This will be live as of next week.

Scala Celebrates 150th Anniversary of Henry Ford's Birth

2013-06-11T13:11:39Z

US industrialist who revolutionised car production born in 1863

Blooming Marvellous!

2013-06-11T13:11:39Z

Bridgeman explores the fascinating history of flowers in art

Toy Photography Lets Hobbyists Work While They Play

2013-06-10T21:35:05Z

Chris McVeigh didn’t reach paid photography through any of the usual routes. He didn’t study photography, didn’t work as an assistant and he didn’t even have photography as a goal. His background was in writing for technology magazines and providing illustrations and animation for online advertising. It was only when the economic downturn left him with less demand from his regular employers, and more free time for creative experimentation, that he turned towards picture-taking. His images have since become regular additions to Gizmodo, they’re sold on RedBubble and Society6, and Lucasfilms has even put one of his photos on the front page of StarWars.com.

His success has been helped by the fact that Chris skirted around the competition for landscape photographs and wedding shoots. He produces a nearly unique set of pictures that he calls “toy photography.” He creates sets out of Lego figures and uses them to illustrate scenes.

Chris’s interest in Lego started as suddenly as his interest in photography. Like most people, Chris had left playing with plastic bricks in his childhood. Some friends, though, bought him some Star Wars Lego sets for Christmas… which he then ignored for about a year before assembling them.

“When I did finally break open the boxes and put them together, it was like a spark ignited within me,” Chris recalls. “However, it would be another few years and a dozen Star Wars sets before I was really hooked again.”

At the same time, Chris was playing around on Flickr, creating a series of comical self-portraits as part of a daily photo challenge. That series built an audience, won plaudits and gave him the confidence to buy his first DSLR.

Photography: Chris McVeigh

Each Set Takes Two to Three Weeks to Build

It wasn’t long before his growing interest in photography met the fun he was then having with Hasbro Star Wars figures. Lego, though, offered a more flexible platform, with parts that were interchangeable, allowing Chris to reuse pieces from any Lego theme from Batman to Harry Potter.

The props might be toys but creating the images isn’t child’s play. Chris usually has plenty of ideas but he starts designing using a Lego CAD app called Lego Digital Designer. That allows him to experiment with the build without spreading all the bricks in front of him. Once he’s happy with the design, he creates a test build in the real world then works to optimize the parts usage.

Some designs, he says, take as little as 24 hours but most require a development of two to three weeks before they’re ready to be photographed.

The shoot is a whole different challenge. Legos’s bricks are highly reflective, especially the darker colors, says Chris, so he has to be very careful about how he uses light and where he positions his panels. It’s no surprise that he typically builds and photographs new models just once a month at the moment, although he might produce a number of models concurrently and photograph them at the same time.

The result is a mixture of whimsy and smart photography. Scenes include a version of American Gothic, a reconstruction of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video (complete with dancing zombies) and a bowl of milk filled with floating stormtrooper heads. Reconstructions of early technology, including a Leica M9-P Hermes and a (sort of) working Polaroid Land Camera are popular too.

Chris’s intention when he began creating and photographing his models was little more than to enjoy some creative experimentation. But when he uploaded them to Flickr, the pictures continued to win attention, including from buyers.

“One of Gizmodo’s editors was a contact of mine on Flickr, and was impressed both with my capacity to design my own models and my ability to present those models with my photography,” Chris said. “So he contacted me through Flickr to see if I’d be interested in contributing to Gizmodo.”

From Lego to Kozik’s Mongers Menthols

The technology website has published dozens of Chris’s pictures using them to illustrate articles about water pressure as well as explanations of the difference between GSM and CDMA. The site made a point of linking to Chris’s Web pages and even mentioned that he was able for commissioned work.

His work for Lucasfilms also came about as a result of his presence on Yahoo’s photo sharing site. Bonnie Burton, formally of the Official Star Wars blog, contacted Chris on Flickr after seeing his Star Wars action figure/chipmunk photography on Digg.

Chris isn’t the only photographer who has managed to make money setting up toys and taking their picture. Ryan Roberts paints with a slightly different canvas, using collectible figures from Japan and China’s urban vinyl toy culture that was popular in the 1990s. They might include the Kozik’s Mongers Menthols series that contained a smoking pile of poop, Domo’s Acid Sweeties, or Pete Fowler’s Monsterism.

“These figures went way beyond my childhood toys with so much color and attitude,” says Ryan on his website. “They were already tiny works of art by giant artists from other genres such as painting, illustration, silk screening, and street art.”

Ryan’s broader choice of figures gives his scenes a greater freedom of expression even if the models themselves are less familiar than the Lego characters used by Chris McVeigh. He sells his prints from his websites, has a DVD of toy-based shorts and markets a calendar of his images that costs $45.

What both these photographers have in common is the combination of a passion for a hobby — in this case a particular kind of children’s toy — and a knowledge of photography. Bring those two together and add the kind of photography-loving networking that can still be found on sites like Flickr and while you might not find yourself traveling down the usual route taken by professional photographers, you could well find yourself winning commissions, landing sales making some money doing a photo-based activity you love.

Ask James. Your chance to ask our CEO a question

2013-06-10T15:34:00Z

Next week, Alamy CEO James West will be taking to his webcam and recording a short video to update you all on some of the goings on at Alamy HQ.

As part of the recording, he’ll be answering some questions from photographers and it’s your opportunity to ask the CEO of one of the world’s leading stock photo company’s a question.

You can submit one question and although we won’t be able to answer everything, we’ll do our best to answer as many as possible. You can submit questions in the comments below, via our Facebook page or by tweeting @alamycontent with the hashtag #askjames.

To get things going, here are a few suggested topics for you:

New photographers / just starting out

So you’re new to the game and want some answers. Maybe you’ll have questions on where the industry is going in general, what works, what doesn't and what is the next big thing going to be? Maybe you’d like to know more about Alamy? Why should you be selling images with us? How does image licensing work? Aside from that perhaps you need things clarifying on the submission process and quality control at Alamy?

Sales and trends

We all know there isn’t a magic wand that can give you a sure fire way to riches via selling images but you might want to know where the emerging markets are, how healthy is the business and where should you be focusing your efforts? Is editorial the way to go or is commercial imagery where the money is? How important are channels such as live news or video going to be in the future?

Alamy regulars

Been submitting to Alamy for a while? You've probably got questions about what is in the pipeline, how our license and pricing structure works and how can you best utilize the tools Alamy offers to get the best from your work. You may want to know what we have been investing in since our recent commission changes or perhaps just some questions regarding the new site design?

The list of topics is endless – but your time to submit questions is not. If you've got a question for James then you’ll need to submit it by Monday the 17th of June. That’s just 7 days from now. Remember, you can comment below, comment on our Facebook page or by tweeting @alamycontent with the hashtag #askjames.

The image of the week: Be the winner!

2013-06-10T08:35:44Z

The image is available for sale at: http://www.yayimages.com/stock-image/winner/8180784

We’re all born winners, some of us just don’t know how to tap into that power of winning yet. We have our wins and our fails and the attitude to fit both situations. Winning give us that boost to continue fighting while struggling with life’s challenges. The key to a winning attitude is determination. As soon as you realize this is absolutely necessary, then you have to think about getting yourself tuned up for competition. Humans are competitive animals and driven by a constant need of power. Of course there should always be some kind of a balance to keep, in order to succeed without losing your morals. Make plans of what you are going to make out of your life then work as hard as you can to achieve that goal. Ronald Reagan said: “We never lose – somehow we win out.”
What i most liked about this image made by Adam121 is that it has a positive message, but shows also that the road to success is a difficult one (the hands are dirty from the struggle). One thing i try to remember each day is that if you don’t win, you are already a winner because you gave your best and the experience made your life richer with knowledge.

What i so great about this image:

1. It shows the hands of the people dirty, not hiding the fact that to win means you have to try hard, make sacrifices and struggle with yourself to keep going.
2. It has a positive message that helps you focus on determination.
3. It has plenty of copy space. You can write your own message/slogan on the sky.
4. Great isolation, the hands with the trophy can be cut out from the background and used separately or put on a different background.
5. The colors are bright and warm.
6. It’s simple yet it hides a very complex message and process.

How could we use it:

Inspirational posters to put in offices in a multinational company, but also in your own house as a constant reminder to never giving up.

Motivational campaigns.

As a main image in an advertising campaign for the services of a bank/stock market investments. Using their services you will be the winner.

As a layout/background for a company that offers training on personal development.

As part of an advert for all kinds of products from cars to pharmaceuticals, etc. Choose this brand/product and you win.

As a billboard for any sports competitions.

As an advert for the national lottery.

As part of an advertising for casinos.

For a recruitment company/website.

As book covers and also interior of magazines, etc. I can already picture it as a cover for a very familiar business magazine.

Rafael Angel Irusta Machin, the Explorer

2013-06-07T18:15:12Z

Rafael Angel Irusta Machin is a freelance professional photographer and a Photaki contributor. He started his portfolio in July 2010 and he has uploaded 6.367 wonderful images so far. As the Spanish photographer likes to say, photography is all about “exploring and exploring…when I think I have the photos of my dreams and go exploring some more”.

Rafael Angel Irusta Machin lives in Trucios-Turtzioz, Spain. Beside his activity as a microstock photographer, he loves taking long voyages and he never forgets his camera. As he says, photography is all about exploring. Rafael Angel also teaches photography classes about landscape photography and useful techniques to improve the images.

Check out a selection of photos from his portfolio on Photaki or browse his entire portfolio here:

Landscape Photography

Free Desktop, iPad and iPhone Wallpaper from Crestock – Week 45

2013-06-07T13:00:40Z

Summer has arrived with this week’s desktop wallpaper from Crestock artist horatio. Enjoy!

Wallpaper: Daisy and clover field

Crestock Image ID 4704119

© horatio

View all images by horatio »
Buy this image »

Check your display resolution

640 x 960 iPhone® 4
1024 x 768
1024 x 1024 iPad® 1/2/mini
1280 x 1024

Instructions: To download this wallpaper, click the size above which corresponds to your desktop display resolution or device. (Not sure what resolution to get? Click “Check your display resolution” to find out.) If using a Windows PC, right mouse click on the wallpaper displayed and left click “Set as Desktop Background”. Mac users, hold “Control” and click the image once, then choose “Set as Desktop Background”. Browsing with a mobile device? Please click your device of choice to be taken to a third party website with step-by-step instructions for configuring wallpaper: iPhone® or iPad®.

Please note: This wallpaper is provided free of charge for personal use as a desktop wallpaper/background for your monitor, laptop or mobile device only. Use of the image for any other purpose, on screen or in print, commercial or non-commercial, is a breach of copyright law. You may acquire usage rights for any of these images from Crestock by following the buy this image link.

iPad® and iPhone® are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

New Free Photoshelter Guide

2013-06-07T09:54:41Z

Pricing Your Work: Corporate & Industrial Photography

Downtime on June 13 for site updates

2013-06-13T14:44:47Z

The Crestock website will be unavailable from 3:00 to 4:00 PM (15:00 to 16:00) Eastern Time on Thursday June 13th 2013 due to site updates.

During this time it will not be possible to access www.crestock.com. Service is expected to resume by 4 PM. Updates and bulletins will be posted here if needed.

We apologize to our clients and visitors for this inconvenience. As always, assistance and information will be available through help@crestock.com.

Footage Secrets: 3 Extreme Time-Lapse Techniques

2013-06-06T16:00:56Z

You know time-lapse videos are a crowd-pleaser. But once you’ve mastered the art of capturing time-lapse clips of clouds and sunsets, you may be itching to try something more exciting. Why not amp up your Shutterstock footage portfolio with a few advanced techniques? Here are three extreme time-lapse tricks to try.

1. Go days, not minutes

Time-lapse is a really fun way to compress time, so why not take it to the extreme by capturing events that take days or weeks? Turn your leftovers into art by capturing their slow descent into fungus! Or if you’re more the romantic type, you could shoot the life of a plant from seed to sprout.

To do this right, you are going to need an external power source for your camera, consistent lighting, and a lot of patience. Also, make sure your intervalometer is set appropriately. The interval will depend on the intended length of your clip and how long you intend to record your subject. If math is not your strong suit, there are a number of helpful calculators online that will do the work for you, including this one from time-science.com.

2. Add a little movement

One way to add a little panache to your time-lapse is to introduce movement. The easiest way to accomplish this feat is to channel your inner Ken Burns and execute some pans, scans, or zooms in post-production. This method can produce surprisingly good results and requires no extra equipment.

Better yet, ditch the tripod, forget your locked-down shots, and create time-lapse magic with a motorized slider. If you want dynamic videos with real movement, then this is the way to go. Have something in the foreground for an eye-popping, surreal, time-lapse.

3. Warp time and space

This next technique is not for the casual time-lapser. The term ‘time-lapse’ can’t even be used to describe it. We’re speaking of the hyperlapse! A hyperlapse combines the compression of time and space. Unlike a slider, the movement is extreme and covers much larger distances. The most common form of a hyperlapse is to strap a camera to a car or train, but this technique can also be done on foot. The trick is to frame your subject consistently for each shot and making consistent adjustments to your position.

A hyperlapse can be done handheld, but you will get better results with a tripod, monopod, or dolly. The hyperlapse will likely need to be stabilized in post to fix slight changes in perspective, but the results are truly impressive.

Like a lot of footage production, advanced time-lapse techniques require creativity, patience, and probably some trial-and-error. But as you can see in the examples above, and in the clipbox below, the results are worth the extra effort!

– Brian Lucy, Shutterstock Footage Coordinator

Choose the Right License for Your Images: Royalty-Free and Rights-Managed

2013-06-06T13:55:14Z

Rights-Managed or Royalty-Free? Under what license should you choose to sell your images on microstock? What do these two concepts mean? What are the differences between them? These are the questions we answer in the next blog article so you can decide what type of license suits you best! Check it out:
Many photographers have doubts about what license to choose when they upload their work to microstock websites. So let’s say you have uploaded your images and now you have to decide between the two license types:
“Royalty-Free” (also known as RF): We recommend you to submit your most regular photos under this license (the ones that you think are less effort consuming to produce). A royalty free image means that the client only has to pay once for the photo in order to use it whenever he wants all within the terms of the contract.
Your advantages are:
- Images will be easier to sell with RF (the photographers can sell the image as many times as they want, there are no exclusive rights on a RF image)
- Images are more “commercially-flexible” (the photos will meet a large range of needs the clients might have)
- Images are managed faster
At Photaki it is very easy to recognize a Royalty Free image because there is a small green RF icon under each photo.

“Rights-Managed” (or known as RM): We advise you to use this license with your best images, that are the most creative or the most time consuming to produce. The high quality graphics or photos that are under a RM license have a value that is determined by the use of the image: its size, the circulation, the time duration of use and the geographical distribution. In order to use the image again, the client has to pay for a new contract.
Here are the advantages:
- More exclusive images
- You can sell the rights for specific uses, so you have more control over your work.
- The price depends on the usage of the image.
The Rights-Managed can be easily recognized by the blue DG icon.

If you still have some questions to ask about the license types, feel free to mail us a