Bill Brooks Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 There is some very good advice on creating images that will stand out from the crowd here. http://blog.melchersystem.com/2014/04/01/between-twilight-and-dawn/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Interesting article; thanks Bill! Kumar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Interesting article but I'm scratching my head on this paragraph: "So much so that brands, the biggest spenders in photography as well as the most savvy in its usage are diverting their interest away from pro photography and dipping into social media for images. Why ? because they know that authenticity connects, convinces and sells. And as they are moving more and more to be their own publishers, this trend will only accelerate." To me,the biggest 'spenders' might also have a legal team that would look upon this as...INSANE! They can't vouch for the authenticity from someone that has a photo on Flickr,Facebook,etc. If you read the Photostealers page on Facebook you will see TONS of complete photo shoots are being stolen from other photogs BY photogs using them on their sites and claiming the photos belong to them. Not only are the thieves posting the images on their websites but also on on their business Facebook pages! I noticed he closed the comments or I would have posted there as well.L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Brooks Posted May 1, 2014 Author Share Posted May 1, 2014 I think the authors point is that pro shoots are too slick, and are therefore not authentic enough for advertisers. A stolen pro shoot would never be purchased from the thief because the images are not authentic. My takeaway is that if pro photographers want to sell images they have to make their images less slick. I often look at 400 light posed photographs and think that 400 light slick image is so yesterday, because it is inauthentic. Sisterhood, good times, junk food, not slick ambient light. Authentic I don't know, but I am trying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 I think the authors point is that pro shoots are too slick, and are therefore not authentic enough for advertisers. A stolen pro shoot would never be purchased from the thief because the images are not authentic. My takeaway is that if pro photographers want to sell images they have to make their images less slick. I often look at 400 light posed photographs and think that 400 light slick image is so yesterday, because it is inauthentic. Sisterhood, good times, junk food, not slick ambient light. Authentic I don't know, but I am trying. Bill, I have some friends that are in the million dollar range a year as wedding photojournalists. Their work also gets licensed to very high end mags and a few ad agencies where they pay their HIGH price for use.Their photos are very authentic and you can feel the emotion.They have had whole events stolen from their websites from other photogs that pose it as their own work and parade them around on Facebook,Flickr and other social media platforms. If I were an editor,the last place I'd be looking for is social media to license.Flickr is great if you want to see the results of a camera you might like or are location scouting before a trip. I too have had at least 50 people thru the years try and sell my work claiming it was theirs. Luckily people caught it or I did after the fact. I recently won a settlement for a similar situation. L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alamy Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 This is ancient news - Getty and the commercial agencies have been banging on about 'authenticity' in images for two or three years. In fact 'authenicity' is no longer used as the term, 'real' or 'believeable' is what is being asked for. To say that pros are not shooting that is rubbish, there's plenty via the aggregators and the evidence is all over the sales reports. Every Gertty webinar/meeting has mentioned this but the production values still have to be high. It's also about authentic emotions and the caught moment, not part posed. Ironically even in lifestyle, concept still generally sells the best and that cannot be too un-posed.... Getty aside, we've been saying this for years too: http://www.alamy.com/pressrelease/releases/archive/2012/04/30/151.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Agree with Geoff and Linda above (and Alamy) . . . saying pros can't take "authentic" pics is like saying you can only take artistic, non-editorial pics with a phone . . . ;-) dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Brook Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 “Authenticity is the degree to which one is true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character, despite external pressures;” Watch it with Paul Melcher: there is usually a subtext, and then the subtext has a subtext. He is not offering advice to stock photographers who want to be more successful in the commercial market by developing a few tricks to render images more believable. The underlying message here is that the whole industry is up its own a*** trying to figure out what sells. Melcher is suggesting that photographers need to reconnect with their potential audience by undertaking an "analysis of what makes images popular on social media", as well as reconnecting with their selves: "a slow analysis of what makes images popular on social media is a great guide to reconnecting with what has probably been their first reason to enter photography: A passionate need to show the world as they perceive it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManfredG Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 "They have had whole events stolen from their websites from other photogs that pose it as their own work and parade them around on Facebook,Flickr and other social media platforms. .... I too have had at least 50 people thru the years try and sell my work claiming it was theirs." Why does anyone post or show unwatermarked hires images on his website or on social media? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 "They have had whole events stolen from their websites from other photogs that pose it as their own work and parade them around on Facebook,Flickr and other social media platforms. .... I too have had at least 50 people thru the years try and sell my work claiming it was theirs." Why does anyone post or show unwatermarked hires images on his website or on social media? Posting hi-res pics on a website or social media certainly increases the chance of having them stolen, but let's not make the victim the villian here to any degree . . . the low-life who steal the work of others and claim it's theirs should not have that crime lessened one iota because someone posted a pic without a watermark. dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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