Images can be tremendously powerful. Images, empowered appropriately, can challenge, convince, delight and inspire. At Flickr, we think one of our most important missions is to enabe images to be all that they can be. And as such, we are incredibly proud and excited to launch a new partnership with Getty Images, the unrivaled leader in digital media licensing, to offer a new Flickr branded collection on www.gettyimages.com.

The creative and editorial teams at Getty Images have a deep understanding of what makes images truly extraordinary as well as what their clients (on a global scale) are seeking. Marrying this expertise to the talent and breadth of the photography on Flickr is truly an incredible opportunity, for our members, for Getty Images clients, and for those who love imagery in all of its forms.

So how does it all work?

http://blogs.gettyimages.com/creative/category/flickr/

How Getty Is Killing the Stock Photo Industry

http://blog.photoshelter.com/corp/2008/07/how-getty-is-killing-the-stock.html

Getty announcement validates PhotoShelter's approach to stock photography;

PhotoShelter counsels Flickr photographers to mind the details on exclusivity and compensation

New York, NY, July 9, 2008 - PhotoShelter Inc., the leading online destination where more than 37,000 photographers sell stock photography and access powerful solutions for e-commerce and image storage, today released a statement from CEO Allen Murabayashi, commenting on the recent partnership announcement between Getty Images and photo sharing website flickr. Murabayashi directly linked the strategic move by Getty and flickr to the positive, tangible impact that PhotoShelter's business model is having on the stock photo industry, and cautioned photographers to carefully scrutinize the details of Getty's contract terms before agreeing to exclusive sales rights and ceding as much as 80% of every sale to Getty.

http://psc.photoshelter.com/about/index/news/20080709

Interesting development in the stock industry, Getty Images and Flickr are working together to establish the first commercial licensing opportunity for photo-enthusiasts in the Flickr community:

http://aphotoeditor.com/2008/07/08/getty-announces-deal-with-flickr/

Editor Susan Reed Jumps to Winfrey's O Magazine

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Conde Nast has abruptly ceased publishing Golf for Women magazine. The title's ad pages fell 5.9% last year and newsstand sales fell 12%.

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=128229

If you encounter problems with Aperture 2.1 while running Phocus 1.0, the information provided in this mailing is relevant to you :



The issue:

When Phocus 1.0 is launched it will check whether the necessary ICC profiles are present and if not they will be installed. Unfortunately due to an OS bug related to 64 bit applications this leads to a partly corrupted ColorSync profile cache which will prevent Aperture 2.1 from launching.



The solution:

In most cases the issue can be fixed by following these steps:

Hey Guys,



I am in the process of stepping my assistant “game” up and am looking to mail out promos to photographers. I am curious to hear a few suggestions and answers on the following questions from anyone who receives and sends these out.



1.    Do you place all your skills and clients on the card, or just a brief synopsis?

2.    How do you feel about pictures and logos?

3.    Should I have my website resume link and other information on it?

4.    Plain envelope or other?

5.    I have heard some place a brief introduction about themselves or something comical to show personality.



I think that about covers most of the questions I had so far.

http://forums.1prophoto.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=105&SID=cfec4bf619c8adabcbdz6bfe93759eb7

As the business of photography becomes increasingly competitive, it's important to take a step back and look at your overall plan for success. Producing terrific pictures isn't enough. As an independent photographer then you're also a small businessperson. In order to continue to be able to produce pictures you need to sustain yourself financially. If you're new to the industry, you should understand what it takes to thrive in the business beyond creating great images. If you've been a professional for a number of years, it's useful to reflect on how strong you really are in the areas that are critical for your continued success.

The most important factors that determine your ability to succeed as a professional photographer are:

Due to some technical difficulties we will be delayed in presenting our interview and new tutorials.

Seems the Canon XL H1 and Premiere pro have some compatability issues we didn't know about.

Well get these to you ASAP.

James

Join our Photo Shelter Shoot the day Group

http://community.shoottheday.com/group/www1prophotocom

Add your images and comments.

JamesNYC.

Introducing The School of Stock

and Shoot! The Day..

You can kiss the "old way" goodbye. Here are two powerful new ways we're creating success for photographers and helping buyers get the images they need.

• 
  
  

  School of Stock

  
  Groundbreaking content direct from the minds of leading buyers and successful photographers. It's the definitive guide to success in both the business and art of stock photography. Check it out.


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  Shoot! The Day

  
  Mobilizing the world's photographers — on one day — to replenish the stock photo supply in five key areas. Join us for a day of global events where you can connect, take pictures and learn. Join us!

Together, we really are changing the image marketplace for good.

A while back Chimera sent us their OctaPlus57.

This is a great new "Octa type" light bank. And for everyone that has been using the Elinchrom Octa bank for the past 15 years or so, it's time to make that long over due upgrade to the OctaPlus.

The first thing to note is that it can be assembled as either a 5 foot or 7 foot light source, with diffusion panels for each section.

Another GREAT feature? No more pinched or smashed fingers during setup or break down like you get with the Elinchrom Octabank. And the reflective silver in the OctaPlus is the same durable reflective silver that comes with all Chimeras; not that Christmas tinsel type plastic that Elinchrom uses. And no more worrying that the collar holding the strobe head is securely attached either.

Many photographers are asked at one time or another to do work without charge for a non-profit organization. There are a lot of good reasons to help a worthy cause and many more good reasons not to work for free. 

One way to view pro bono work is as a marketing activity. It can help associate you with a worthy cause and therefore a good "brand." It might give you access to situations and locations that are interesting and challenging, allowing you produce work you would not have otherwise done. But viewed as a marketing activity, you need to look at the value of the time you spend vs. the promotional value you receive. Generally speaking, it's not a good idea for a professional photographer to work for free in exchange for publicity. How do you decide if doing an assignment pro bono makes business sense?

Here are a few questions to ask:

 Last week I had the opportunity to see and work with the new Leaf Afi camera at an event presented by Fotocare new york and Leaf America and held at Shoot Digital studios in NYC. This was the third time that I have been able to play with the Leaf AFi, but only the first time I was able to test it in a shooting situation.

Seeking a FULL TIME in-house, experienced (minimum 5+ years of assisting on editorial and advertising photo-shoots ) assistant photographer, who is in a maturity level, responsible, and sane. 

 We get some great new toys to play with on occasion. The latest was sent to us by Lexar when they introduced the Lexar Professional UDMA 300X CF card,  and the Lexar Professional UDMA  Firewire 800 reader.

       

Capture 1 V.4.1 released today

http://www.phaseone.com/Content/Downloads/CO4.aspx

Be the first to see the new Phase One 645 May 8 2008 at Digital Transitions in NYC.

You would think that it would be common sense, common courtesy, simple respect, or just plan smart business.

"HEY ASSISTANTS!! "You DO NOT hand out your business cards, or show your portfolio when your on any photographers shoot!!" A photographer friend of mine told me about an assistant he'd been using for some time. And during one of the last shoots the assistant was showing his portfolio on his iPhone to the art director and others at the shoot. If that wasn't enough he was handing out his business cards and trying to make appointments too.

Today, Apple released the Java SE 6 version 1.6.0_05. Leaf software

currently uses Java5.



Java SE 6 IS NOT yet supported by Leaf Capture. 



If you try to use Leaf Capture with Java 6 SE installed, you will not

be able to launch your Leaf Capture application.  



Please note that in the event that you have  already installed the

Java SE 6 update, then you will have to 'force' the Mac OS to use

Java5. This is carried out through the following action:



1.  Please open: Applications-> Utilities-> Java-> Java Preferences



2.  Set Java5 to be the first version used in Java Application Runtime

settings.





Best regards,



Leaf Marketing

CondéNet Acquires SFO*Media SFO*Media's two blogs, HotelChatter.com and Jaunted.com, will continue to operate as standalone brands. APRIL 24, 2008 - Moving to build its online travel offerings, Condé Nast’s online unit CondéNet announced that it has acquired travel blog publisher SFO*Media.

Leaf Capture version 11.1 offers several new features and an enhanced user experience, including the following:



New Compare View

This function enables you to evaluate an unlimited number of original, RAW images and find the best shot in a series of images by comparing them to one another. The Compare View feature was designed to make optimal use of your work area by intelligently arranging the images and automatically taking into consideration the images’ orientation. When comparing two images, an intuitive workflow allows you to quickly and easily choose the perfect shot.

Hey,    Juts added 5 new tutorials to the tech tutorials section.

Most of these apply to new assistants, but since I made them a while ago I figured I should make a small effort to get them up before moving on to the new stuff.

James

 Well last week, Thursday or Friday, I can't remember. I was speaking with a friend when he asked. "So James, what strobes are the best, what studio strobes do you like?"

"Ummm, I like the ones that work." "Seriously, light is light. I'm just as happy to work with painters work lights as I am with strobes or kino-flo's. I just hate getting broken rental equipment."

"All strobes use xenon flash tubes. The gas in the tubes is always the same. The glass for the tubes is pretty much all the same. Honestly light is light. What makes the difference is the feature set and functionality that each manufacture adds to their individual strobe power pack. I think what really needs to be considered is the over all  'Cost per watt second' for the pack your looking at."

I recognize that I'm writing two somewhat serious, if not critical pieces back to back, but some of these ideas have been festering for a while and now seems as good as any time to get them out.

Several years ago while waiting on set for a model to show up, an assistant and I were looking through the current copy of "W" magazine.

We came upon a series of images that had been shot by Irving Penn.

"Oh cool, Irving Penn's got a fashion story in 'W'."

This came to us as a bit of a surprise since most of his images during that period were still life’s.

Coincidentally upon making this statement and observation, the Assistant Art Director walked by and took a look at the images.

This image copyright 1993-2008 Michel Comte

Back in October we told you about a really cool new camera bag we had seen while attending the PhotoPlus Expo in NYC I came upon the booth of a new product called Shoot Sac This new company was doing a brisk business at the PhotoExpo and the idea of a photo gear bag that didn’t look like your grandfathers camera bag was very appealing. So I called them up to see about getting a sample to review for the site. Ok so I’m a little late in making this post, by about 3 months… but I think it’s still worth talking about again. The Shoot sac is a light weight bag with an adjustable nylon strap similar in design to a bike messenger bag that is made out of 3mm neoprene and measures 17.25” in length and 9.5” tall

After much anticipation and fanfare Phase One announced their new 645 camera on Wednesday March 19 2008 at the Photo Imaging Expo in Japan & WPPI in Las Vegas. This camera is for all intents and purpose’s a Mamiya 645AFDIII camera with a Phase One logo on it. There really seems to be nothing that makes it uniquely “Phase”

Postcard mailers have been a standard promotional tool for photographers for decades. And while they still serve an important function, email blasts have largely overtaken postcards as the preferred way for photographers to reach out to potential clients and keep in touch with existing clients.

Email has many advantages over postcards. With email, you can track who receives your message, who opens it and if they click-through on any images or links. You can also create a richer and more interactive experience by designing the email in a way that allows the recipient to access progressively more information. Tracking the behavior of the recipient can also tell you what people find most interesting about you and your work. This type of marketing information is priceless. Last but not least, the cost of sending an email blast, while not as inexpensive as many think, is much less expensive than printing and mailing postcards.

 Well last week, Thursday or Friday, I can't remember. I was speaking with a friend when he asked. "So James, what strobes are the best, what studio strobes do you like?"

"Ummm, I like the ones that work." "Seriously, light is light. I'm just as happy to work with painters work lights as I am with strobes or kino-flo's. I just hate getting broken rental equipment."

"All strobes use xenon flash tubes. The gas in the tubes is always the same. The glass for the tubes is pretty much all the same. Honestly light is light. What makes the difference is the feature set and functionality that each manufacture adds to their individual strobe power pack. I think what really needs to be considered is the over all  'Cost per watt second' for the pack your looking at."

Service Bulletin to MAC OSX Leopard users

Risk of damaged 3F files after abnormal computer shutdowns when running Leopard



Since the release of Mac OSX Leopard we have registered a number of cases where newly imported 3F files have been damaged after incidents where the Mac has lost power or encountered some kind of irregular shutdown. The size of the damaged files has been reduced by approx. 5MB and the files are no longer recognized by FlexColor.



All known cases have been related to import, but we cannot rule out that a similar situation can occur after tethered capture. It has happened with both OS 10.5 and 10.5.1. We are currently working with Apple on resolving the problem, but we have no indication yet that the upcoming 10.5.2 release will include a fix.

BOSTON -- Polaroid Corp. is dropping the technology it pioneered long before digital photography rendered instant film obsolete to all but a few nostalgia buffs.

Polaroid is closing factories in Massachusetts, Mexico and the Netherlands and cutting 450 jobs as the brand synonymous with instant images focuses on ventures such as a portable printer for images from cell phones and Polaroid-branded digital cameras, televisions and DVD players.
This year's closures will leave Polaroid with 150 employees at its Concord headquarters and a site in the nearby Boston suburb of Waltham, down from peak global employment of nearly 21,000 in 1978.

Capture One 4.01 released today

A number of issues found in the original version of Capture One 4 have been solved with Capture One 4.0.1 taking the stability and performance of the application even further.

Download the application and release notes here

Capture One 4.0.1 release notes

Phase One February 2008 Page 1 of 7

Hi James,

I've just updated Job_folders app to create folders that have the structure more like C1. I've found this to be more convenient..... even for Leaf users. 

http://www.rap.net.au/?p=10 Please feel free to include it in your next news letter. Cheers Rick

Rick Allen: Digital Tech. at rap.net.au - rapdigital 

contact | rick@rap.net.au

 

In yet another example of how our industry is being hit, we have yet another example of "Out sourcing" that is attempting to take work and business away from established businesses.

read more here:

http://forums.photoassistant.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=000116

Other World computing has a cool new way to connect your external eSATA drives to you laptop for great er storage capacity.  http://eshop.macsales.com:80/item/Firmtek/SATA2SM2E/

FirmTek SeriTek/2SM2-E

Serial ATA ExpressCard Adapter for MacBook Pro and PC Notebook Computers

*OWC NOTE*: This card is not able to boot external devices. Also, you do have to load drivers off of the included CD for this card to function properly.

The SeriTek/2SM2-E extends SATA's astounding performance beyond the desktop, enabling content producers to capture, develop, edit and create content in almost any environment when using Apple's new MacBook Pro notebook computers. With transfer rates up to 3 gigabits per second per port, this breakthrough solution sets a new standard for handling data in a remote setting. FirmTek's established hot-swap compatibility also makes it easy for users to move entire drives and arrays from the MacBook Pro to any FirmTek-equipped desktop system in seconds.