Two years ago, Flickr partnered up with Getty to allow Flickr users to sell photographs, and today Getty announced that its “Flickr Collection” has grown to over 250,000 images. Getty also revealed that the above image titled “Rock Concert” by Flickr user Michael Bodge is their best seller. No word on how many copies it has sold, though.
(via AllThingsD via Geeky Gadgets)
P.S. Brownie points to anyone who can find the original Flickr page for this photo.
Update: Michael Bodge himself wins the brownie points. Here’s the original Flickr photo.
Amateur Photographer is reporting that stock photo agency Getty Images added the Leica X1 to its “Approved Cameras List” last month. A quick Google search turned up this submission requirements document with a now apparently outdated list:
If you are shooting on a 35mm digital camera it must an approved camera from this list: Canon EOS: 1D(Mk1,2&3), 1DS(Mk1,2,2n&3) 5D, 30D and 40D; Nikon: D2X, D2Xs, D3, D200, D300 and the Leica M8. All medium format backs (e.g. backs by Phase One and Leaf etc) produce sufficiently high quality images to be accepted by us.
The 12.2 megapixel X1 has a fixed 24 mm/2 lens, which gives it a field of view equivalent to a 36mm lens on a 35mm camera. It started shipping in January of this year with an MSRP of $1,995.
Any guesses as to what other non-DSLR camera might soon make the list?
Update: The list above is indeed extremely outdated. There is an updated version of the list that includes the X1
Freelance photographer Marc Feldman lost his job when Getty Images discovered that he had sent in an altered golf photo for distribution. But Feldman says that it was all an innocent mistake.
Feldman says he was in the press tent after the event, reviewing some photos. The golfer in the image, Matt Bettencourt, and his caddie came by to look at photos as well. The caddie had suggested that the photo would look better without him in it, and Feldman demonstrated how easily he could be removed.
The photographer said he thought he saved the altered image on his desktop, but somehow accidentally transmitted the image along with his final images to Getty.”I certainly did not mean to send both of them to Getty,” he told Guy Reynolds, the Dallas News photo editor who originally blew the whistle on him. Read more…
Earlier today, Dallas Morning News photo editor Guy Reynolds noticed a strange relationship between two Getty images of golfer Matt Bettencourt at the Reno-Tahoe Open golf tournament. One photo featured a tight image of the golfer holding up his ball, victorious, after the 11th hole. The other image, vertical, shows the golfer in the same position, but with another person standing in the background, possibly the golfer’s caddy. Initially, Reynolds assumed the photograph was taken by two different photographers, from different angles. However, upon further inspection, Reynolds realized the photo was taken by the same photographer, Marc Feldman, and it appeared that the tighter image was actually altered to omit the second person. Read more…
Flickr has just announced a new feature that lets you to add a “Request to License” link to all of your photos stored on the service, allowing visitors who wish to license your photos to send you the request through Getty.
Visit any of your photos while logged in, and you should see a link under “Additional Information” that says “Want to license your photos through Getty images?”. Follow the instructions after clicking this to change your preferences.
Once you’ve enabled the “Request to License” link, visitors can click through to be put in touch with a Getty representative, who will then handle the details and send you a FlickrMail with the licensing request.
The companies are mum regarding the rates paid for photos, but BBC News reports that the average rate may be between $150 and $240.
One complaint that members are making on the Flickr forum is that the feature is globally enabled or disabled rather than allowing you to choose which photographs to show the link for. Presumably Flickr is working on changing this to give users more control.
Have you sold any photos on Flickr through Getty? If so, what was your experience?
Recent surveys found that many image users in the United States and UK are ignorant when it comes to knowing when it’s okay to use an image, and how images may be used. 22% of those surveyed admitted that they used photographs found on photo sharing websites for commercial purposes. In response to these findings, Getty has launched stockphotorights, a website that answers many of the common questions people have about image use and copyright. They also have a blog documenting cases of image misuse, and a section filled with case studies.
There are some pretty amazing photographs of the Olympic games coming out of Vancouver these days. If you’re wondering what photographers are shooting with, Pocket-lint has the lowdown on what Getty provides its photographers:
As for the kind of kit you’ll need for the job, well typically, Getty Images supplies its men with 2 x Nikon D3s DSLRs, a 24-70mm lens, a 400mm lens, a 500/600mm lens, a 1.4x teleconverter just to make sure, a tonne of spare batteries and a deck full of memory cards. The photographer would also be wise to add thermal underwear and boots, an extra set of clothes to put on when in position as well as lots and lots of chocolate. The aim of the game is to have everything you could possibly need and generally at least two of them. It’s a long way back down the mountain.
Sounds like it’s not just the athletes who need physical training for the Olympic games.
(via Gizmodo)
There will one less millionaire paparazzo in the world.
The first public photograph of Tiger Woods after he reemerged from Tigergate was one of the most highly sought after photographs, and major paparazzi agencies estimated that the photo would bring in over $1 million in worldwide distribution profits.
However, the first photos that emerged (Tiger going on a jog) were not shot through the lens of a paparazzo, but were instead released through Getty Images, the subscription-based photo agency. This effectively wiped out the value of any paparazzi photograph, and provided the photograph to most media outlets for relatively nothing.
Paparazzi photographs can occasionally fetch astronomical prices – photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s newborn twins reportedly fetched $14 million.
(via Silber Studios)
Image credit: Tiger Woods by Keith Allison
