Page 1
to stand over a trashcan when they
answer their mail. Unsolicited CD’s
most always are dropped into the
trash.
Photobuyers are not known to
look at the CD’s of “unknowns.”
Don’t despair,
-it happens in all the
creative fields: song-
writing, script writ-
ing, fiction, music,
dance, painting -- all
of them.
However, as a
photographer, you
have an advantage
– the following three promotional
tools are usually accepted by a pho-
tobuyer: postcards, calendars, and
posters, in that order.
Postcards: There’s no enve-
lope to open, and a sample of your
info@photosource.com
http://www.photosource.com
January 2008
Week Five Number 448E
Volume 16
Key words in this issue: Adver-
tising | Portfolio | Editor | Highly
Specialized | Author | Copyright
| Calendar | Posters | Trashcan |
NEWSWORDS: Bounceback |
Uncovering The Facts | Self-
Branding | The Archive Scene
| Video-The Next Step | Get It
Right | Looking Deep Inside |
Best Friend | Combo | Mega-
pixels | New Ebedded Print
Features | Mr. Fix It |
Continued on page 2
Continued on page 2
As a stock photographer
,
what’s your objective in contacting
a photobuyer? “To show off the va-
riety and depth of my photographs,
with the purpose to make more
sales,” you might
answer.
If you were a
service (commer-
cial) photographer
travelling door-to-
door to advertising
and pr agencies with
portfolio in hand,
your answer would
be fitting. But if you
are an editorial stock photographer
attempting to interest an editor in
using your work, the above answer
will lead to disaster.
Ad agencies, yes, want to see
variety in photographs and versatil-
ity in a photographer’s use of their
equipment. Photobuyers at publish-
ing houses, however, want to know
if you can supply pictures in the
specialized subject area that they
represent.
If you do your homework and
identify their particular focus area,
and then present good pictures that
fit their subject area needs, they’ll
buy them. Period.
Ninety-nine percent
of the magazines
published today (this
excludes the general
newsstand maga-
zines) are published
for a specialized
audience, and for
specialized advertis-
ers. Your task is to
identify those publications that want
photos in subject areas that you like
to photograph, and then work with
those markets.
Most newcomers to photomar-
keting tend to think of photobuyers
as a mass of people on the other
side of a fence. The photographer
erroneously figures if she/he can
send out enough photographs to
enough photobuyers, like dropping
leaflets from an airplane, enough of
their pictures will score. In today’s
targeted markets, and today’s spe-
cialized
Are You Talented?
Advance Notes: Are you a versatile stock photographer? If you are, you may
be surprised that your versatility is working against you. Here’s why.
HOW TO PROMOTE
Need the answer to a stock photography
question? At our website www.photosource.
com/board you’ll find our Bulletin Board,
called “The Kracker Barrel.” Check it out.
Our staff answers marketing questions;
fellow photographers offer their input and
experience. The following is a typical ex-
change.
“I had a friend approach me
and said that I should put a few of
my photographs on a calender and
mail them to some of my clients as
a way to have my name in front of
them all year.
Do you think this is a good idea?
…How about putting the photos on a
digital Photo Album and send them
also?”
Regards the latter, if you mean a
CD with a selection of your photos
on it -- no, ---it’s not a good idea.
Reason? Photobuyers are known
photography is on the other side.
Standard postcard size will pull just
as well as the larger postcard (that
costs more to mail.) Some recom-
mended places to find mailing lists
of photo editors/art directors: fresh-
lists.com (1 800
322-3985); adbase.
com (1 416 960
4240); photosource-
folio.com; (1 877
464 6243).
Magnet: Those
small credit card-
size notices that
have migrated from
the fridge to the filing cabinet are an
excellent reminder to photobuyers
where to find you. Two places to buy
Calendars: If the photobuyer
has wall
Page 2
ADS WE’VE READ
(Ed note: If you are satisfied
with this product, (or not satisfied), let
us know and we will pass on your com-
ments to our readers..)
Are You Talented?
Continued from page 1
economy, that kind of broadside
marketing doesn’t work anymore.
Publishing houses themselves
have become highly specialized.
It’s more cost-effective for them
to focus on special-interest subject
matter. Publishing companies look
for writers, for example, who are
knowledgeable in the theme of their
particular publishing venture, be it
hunting, cars, archaeology, medi-
cine, early childhood learning, and
so on. The publisher feels uneasy
giving a writing assignment to an
author who is not totally familiar
with their subject matter. An author,
then, stands to gain more by hiding
his/her versatility. Cultivating the
look of a specialist results in finding
a home quickly for writing talents.
(The writer can devote Sundays to
engaging in versatility, or in writing
his or her Great Novel.)
Similarly
, photographers,
too, should “hide” the scope of their
talents, and specialize if they want
to move forward. Pick an area that
you know a lot about, one that in-
terests you, or even one that attracts
you and that you’d like to learn
about (and then busy yourself learn-
ing about it).
Your interest and knowledge
of the subject will shine through in
your photographs. The photobuyer
will say, “This photographer speaks
our language.”
Editors will recognize your
expertise, whether it be in sailing,
tennis, or aviation. Don’t consider
photobuyers as “them” out there on
the other side of the fence. Instead,
see them as individuals, each look-
ing for photographers who can fill
their highly specialized needs.
HOMEWORK
There are more than 15,000 edi-
torial markets in the USA alone, that
buy photos for publication. If you
did some homework and discovered
ten who want pictures in subject
areas where you like to photograph,
each with a $10,000- a -month
budget for photography (which is
a modest budget, many are much
higher), you would soon cease drop-
ping leaflets from your airplane.
As publisher of a photo mar-
ketletter, I do business with both
photographers and photobuyers.
Photobuyers like to work with stock
photography specialists. The pho-
tographer who becomes success-
ful at marketing pictures is almost
always the photographer who ana-
lyzes the market and goes after those
markets that want photos in his own
particular specialty areas.
This holds true in most all pro-
fessions. If we have a copyright
infringement situation, we don’t
deal with a tax attorney. The same
in medicine. If we have a particu-
lar medical problem we feel more
confident going to a physician who
specializes in that problem.
THE KEY
Photobuyers look at photogra-
phers the same way. No one can
believe a doctor can be “all things to
all patients.” Likewise, a photobuy-
er feels more comfortable coming to
you when he knows you specialize
in his subject area and he can count
on work from you that’s right on
target.
Versatility is a virtue, but in
today’s economy, it’s something to
relegate to Sunday photography,
where you’re more concerned with
artistic satisfaction than with sus-
tained marketing success.
Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and
best-selling author of “Sell & ReSell Your Pho-
tos” and “sellphotos.com,” has helped scores of
photographers launch their careers. For access to
great information on making money from pictures
you like to take, and to receive this free report: “8
Steps to
,” visit his website at
PhotoSource International or call 800 624-0266.
space (at home or office) they might
use it, especially if your specialty
area matches their special interest
theme. But calendars are expensive
to produce. IDEA: Talk a local
business (such as a nursery, archi-
tect, interior designer, etc.) into pay-
ing for the whole calendar produc-
tion in return for your producing the
images.
Posters: Hardly anyone wants
to throw away a poster. But would
you be throwing away money? It
depends, –the quality of your im-
age, the mailing list, the size of the
poster. You are competing with the
top dogs when you are producing
posters, but why not? Just be sure
you go with quality all the way.
Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and
best-selling author of “Sell & ReSell Your Pho-
tos” and “sellphotos.com,” has helped scores of
photographers launch their careers. For access to
great information on making money from pictures
you like to take, and to receive this free report: “
8
,” visit his website at
PhotoSource International or call 800 624-0266.
How To Promote
Continued from page 1
LOVE PETS? WANT TO
PHOTOGRAPH THEM?
By Kathy Koetter
Pet Photography Secrets is a
book that reveals everything you
ever wanted to know about photo-
graphing pets. This ebook is guar-
anteed to improve your pet photog-
raphy. Things like how to get your
dog to sit still for a photograph and
how to capture the love in your
pet’s eyes with every shot.
Have you ever noticed that
even the dogs that know how to
“Sit” and “Stay” still get up and
walk around as soon as you crouch
behind your camera? Or as soon as
you make a noise to get your pet’s
attention, they just come running?
Or how about when you spend a
whole day shooting pictures and
when you look at them on your
computer you find a bunch of
red-eyed animals and washed-out
colors?
Some people invest hundreds
of dollars into “do it yourself”
photography kits. For a fraction
of that cost this book will show
you the “light” so to speak when
it comes to taking stock pictures
of pets. This book is about you,
your camera (any camera), and the
knowledge that will enable you
to get out there and take the im-
ages that you’ve been wishing for!
Page 3
GoodStuff
ADVANCED STUDIO LIGHTING TECHNIQUES for
Digital Portrait Photographers, by Norman Phillips.
.
Multiple series of before-and-after photos paired with step-by-
step explanation of techniques, comprehensively illustrate how
to utilize creative lighting methods to produce emotion-evoking
works of art that do more than simply capture the likeness of a
subject. (ISBN: 1-58428-186-3; $34.95) Contact: Amherst Me-
dia, 175 Rano St, Ste 200, Buffalo NY 14207. Phone: 1 800 622-3278. Fax: 1 800
622-3298. E-mail:
.
MANAGING YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKFLOW
WITH PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM, by Uwe Steinmüller
and Jürgen Gulbins.
. With easy to follow, step-by-step
instructions and full-color illustrations, the authors demon-
strate how to use Photoshop Lightroom to build an efficient
photographic workflow; from importing and organizing im-
ages; through the development and editing phases; all the way
to building presentations for the web and in slideshows; and
finally, to the ultimate product--the fine art print on paper. (ISBN 10: 1-933952-
20-2, 13: 9781933952208; $29.95) Contact: O’Reilly, 10 Fawcett Street, Cam-
bridge, MA 02138. Phone: 800 775-7731. Fax: 617 661-1116. Web:
.
PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY: Secrets of Posing & Lighting,
by Mark Cleghorn.
. It sets out everything the amateur needs
to know to create a wide range of styles, from choosing the right
equipment to composing the background to placing and posi-
tioning the subject for maximum effect. The basics of color and
black and white, digital capture and film, and studio and location
shooting all receive detailed attention, and helpful tips on mood-
enhancing lighting will help raise novices’ skills to professional levels. (ISBN-10:
157990548X, ISBN-13: 978-1579905484; 128 pages; $29.95) Contact: Sterling
Publishing Co., Inc. 387 Park Ave S, New York NY 10016-8810. Phone: 1 800
805-5489. E-mail:
.
WIDE ANGLE: National Geographic Greatest Places, ed-
ited by Leah Bendavid-Val.
. Chapter introductions
by Ferdinand Protzman. Spanning the world, from Northeast
Europe to Southeast Asia, these 260 photos offer a spectacular
view of regions of unimaginable, often haunting beauty. Many
of the images, from the National Geographic Society’s 10 mil-
lion-image archive, have never been published before. Meditative introductions
to each region of the world consider questions such as our stereotypical views of
Asia and the ambiguity of evocations of the Middle East, their meaning “depend-
ing largely on what one believes.” But the real attraction is the full-color photos.
(ISBN-10: 079223913X; 504 pages; $30) Contact: Penny Dackis, National Geo-
graphic Books, 1145 17th St NW, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail:
.
TAKE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY TO THE NEXT LEVEL:
From Inspiration to Image, by George Barr.
. Barr’s book
is for the photographer who strives to achieve a higher level
of results in their work. Take Your Photography to the Next
Level is based on a series of essays originally featured on the
popular Luminous Landscape website. Barr tackles some of the
rarely discussed, yet essential, aspects of successful photography. Here is where
photographers will learn what is required in order to grow in their creativity and
to gain a deeper understanding of their craft. (ISBN-10: 1933952210, ISBN-13:
978-1933952215; 250 pages; $39.95) Contact: Rocky Nook, Inc., 26 West Mis-
sion Street, Suite 3, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Phone: 1 866 687-1118. E-mail:
. Web:
.
“I recently used Pho-
tosource International to
locate some stock photo
images to use in a brochure
project. Your service was a
great help and I found a pho-
tographer based in Canada
that had exactly what I was
looking for. Great work you
guys.”
– Nick Mougey, Art Di-
rector, Mougey Communica-
tion, East Hampton, CT
“Got my first copy of
PhotoDaily on a Monday.
By the following Thursday I
had sold 4 photographs, and
received an assignment in
So. CA. from one of the buy-
ers. Every day I look forward
to my copy… Great resource
for Photogs.”
- Glenn Roland, Photog-
rapher, Santa Monica, CA
“Thanks to PhotoSource,
all of these photo needs were
wonderfully filled. I’m very
appreciative of the service
you provide.”
- Elizabeth Kelly,
Editorial and Research
Services, Toronto
Love Notes
“For true success ask your-
self these four questions: Why?
Why not? Why not me? Why not
now? – James Allen
The featured Photographer this
week on the PhotoSourceFolio is
Elf Jacob Nilsen
Page 4
Watch for developments in the field of stock photography
in PhotoStockNotes
PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE NEWS
You’ll be the first to know…
Note: If the URL is long, it may extend to two lines. In that case
- clicking on it won’t work. Instead, “copy and paste” the URL.
BOUNCEBACK. After 4-year overhaul, Kodak seeks a
firm foothold in digital photography - The most perilous turnaround
in Kodak’s 127-year history is officially over, and fourth-quarter
results due Wednesday will spell out the final four-year toll - up-
ward of US$3.4 billion. But questions about the photography pioneer’s prospects remain.
UNCOVERING THE FACTS. Getty Images Explores Strategic Alternatives - Getty Images will release its
financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2007, on Thursday, January 31, 2008. While an
evaluation process is ongoing, including discussions with various interested parties, the company says there can be
no assurance that any transaction will occur or as to the timing, structure, price or terms of any transaction.
SELF-BRANDING. Your Sentence Is Your Message - In the world of 1,001 photographers, you need to have a
message. It’s hard to grow in business if you are not KNOWN for something. What am I really about? Can I explain
in one sentence what it is I do well?
THE ARCHIVE SCENE. Historic Robert Capa Negatives Found - Three boxes of long-lost Robert Capa
negatives have been rediscovered and turned over the International Center of Photography.
VIDEO – THE NEXT STEP. Video on the Internet has gone from being the next big thing to the
current big thing. A raft of startups are rushing to supply the tools to make better and more profitable video available.
GET IT RIGHT. Datacolor Launches Two New Spyder3 Products - These two new solutions are expertly
designed to address the color management needs of photographers and creative professionals that require the most
accurate color for digital editing and printing.
LOOKING DEEP INSIDE. Winners Of The 2007 Tamron “An Emotional Appeal” Photo Contest.
BEST FRIEND. Pet Photography Business Plan strong commitment to client satisfaction is showcased by
the perfect photograph that captures the personality of the pet and the loving relationship between the pet and owner.
COMBO. Ambarella Introduces New Chip for Simultaneous Capturing High Resolution Stills and HD
Video for Hybrid Cameras The device stores still images in either RAW or compressed formats, implementing the
JPEG standard at a rate of one picture per second without interrupting full HD-video recording.
MEGAPIXELS. Nikon D60 digital SLR leaked Nikon’s replacement for the D40 and D50 entry-level digital
VALENTINE SALE !
February 9th, 10th & 11th
Make the year
2008
, the best year ever.
SAVE ON YOUR SUBSCRIPTION
Page 5
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toSource International. Subscription fee: (4 weekly issues)
$35 per year. Reproducing or copying PhotoStockNotes is not
permitted without written consent of the publisher, except for review purposes where source credit is given. On-Line Editor: Bill Hop-
kins; Reviews Editor: Mikael Karlsson. Contributing Editor: David Arnold. Chief Editor: Angela Dober. Copy Editor: Lela La Bree.
ISSN#1073-0710. Publication number: 419-450 Fax: 1 715 248-7394 Phone: 1 715 248-3800. E-mail: info@photosource.com Web:
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PhotoStockNotes
Focus On Key Issues For Editorial Stock Photographers
SLRs has been slipped out today, the D60 will jump from 6 to the 10.2 megapixels of the D40x and D80 but will
use the newer EXPEED imaging processor of higher-end cameras, such as the D300 and D3.
NEW EBEDDED PRINT FEATURES. myPhotopipe.com Introduces FolioPrints(TM), All New Silver Halide
Prints With Embedded Digital Effects - FolioPrints are silver halide prints produced on Fuji Crystal Archive paper.
They contain a digitally embedded border and a digitally activated caption box. FolioPrints may be ordered in 304
print sizes and finishes.
MR. FIX-IT. FotoNation Announces “Chromafix” One-Step Auto-Correction of Chromatic Aberrations for
Digital Images - ChromaFix brings advanced image processing technology normally found in much higher-priced
cameras to low-cost low-power devices, including consumer digital cameras and camera phones.
