Go Go Stockimo!

[Jill Morgan]

I do get tired of the word "iphoneography". Should it not be phoneography as iphones are not the one and only, and right now android sells a ratio of 2:1 over iphone (used to be 4:1). Personally,  won't buy Apple products because of the closed ecosystem and overpriced products because Steve Jobs had to have the inside as pretty as the outside.

 

But mostly its the closed ecosystem.

 

I have my trusted BlackBerry Z10, which runs both BlackBerry and Android, so will wait patiently till the Android version for Stockimo shows up. Won't hold my breath for BlackBerry.

 

Jill

[John Mitchell]

 

And what about waiting for the iPhone 6, Linda? Or the 7 next year or the year after? Do we want better quality for our Stockimo images?

 

I'm asking questions here, not giving answers. I wonder where Alamy's Stockimo shooters are with the hands-on answers about sales and tech matters? 

Ed, My iPhone 4 is really old and long in the tooth.The image quality stinks;very low res. It's about 4 years old and has slowed to a crawl even with current upgrades. It's 3 generations behind.

 

I remember in the 1990s when I first started with digital my major pro photo lab and my 1 hour photo told me,'Digital photography is just a fad.Film will always be the best and never die.'

The 1 hour photo shops customers dwindled to about 2 a day(previously non-stop customers) and the pro lab filed bankruptcy. They'd been around since the 1950s.

 

It's not the medium but the message the photo conveys.I know you know that. :-)

 

 

L

 

 

Linda, I think that with "iPhoneography," the medium is very much the message. I mean, if a picture was snapped with an iPhone, it's gotta be cool. Right?

[Betty LaRue]

Personally, I gave up my iPhone last year for the Android LG G2. 13mp, and the pics I took with it in St. Croix rivaled the DSLRs until it came to high contrast areas.  It rendered the light portions beautifully, but the shadows were a tad dark.  They could be lifted in PS, though. Save as a tiff, fix, then back to jpeg. The colors from it are spectacular.  The LG G3 is out now, but I think they stuck with 13mp.  I don't see a reason to trade up for it, yet.

 

I'm somewhat steamed that Alamy has had no breakthrough on the Android phones.  I'd no sooner traded for the droid when Stockimo came out. I'm afraid if Alamy does come out with the Droid version, it'll be restricted to one of the droid phones only. 

 

I'd be all over Stockimo like a bee on honey, if I could.

 

Betty

[skylineboy]

totally agree with "iphone-ograhy" - im an andriod user, and pretty much agree with the apple way of doing things, is soo closed as you say.

 

and technically, their products lack in areas where other open formats, such as pc, and andriod (for the phone side of their offerings) are miles ahead.

 

for example they tend to scream about features, which even "dumb phones" have had for years.

 

all for the stylish and snobbish imo.

 

i would be all over android stockimo. i think its akin to technology-discrimination, that ios seems to get picked upon first before any other. when android run on 100s of millions more devices.

[Alex Todd]

I'm another that will probably join in when the Android version comes along.

 

There have been a few reported sales of Stockimo images but I haven't seen the prices they are making yet..

[Ed Rooney]

 

Stockimoto is an internet driven style that is here to stay. Expect to see a lot more of it. Worry about the authenticity and the emotion in the image. Not every last pixel.

 

Here is an interesting story about a successful Toronto company who does lower quality, but authentic, food photography for the very biggest food companies. The photographer sells clients lower cost service packages for a flat fee. Price, cost control, quantity, and authenticity, of images are very important to their clients. Today clients have so many places to put the images, that ultra high quality is the least of their worries. For internet use, technical ultra QC is a costly bridge too far.

 

Here is a quote from the story: "Online photo-sharing has given consumers a new sense of the way food is supposed to look. The most appealing photography does not broadcast its high production values; it is more organic-looking."

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/where-the-eye-is-bigger-than-the-belly/article19761499/

 

Bill Brooks

 

 

I want to start here by saying I just looked through your collection, Bill, and you have some terrific images. I'm especially impressed by your visionary newest photo illustrations. 

 

Now for the negative news. I read the article in The Globe and Mail and found it interesting and very much about Stockimo, the smart phone-Stockimo style. Great. But then I went to have a look at The Hot Plate site, the studio under discussion in the newspaper piece. I looked at everything I could find on that site, and everything I found can only be described as conventional, conservative, mainstream studio/kitchen food images. Old school. They are nice, but nothing there has a thing to do with the Stockimo style.

 

What's going on here? 

[Ed Rooney]

Personally, I gave up my iPhone last year for the Android LG G2. 13mp, and the pics I took with it in St. Croix rivaled the DSLRs until it came to high contrast areas.  It rendered the light portions beautifully, but the shadows were a tad dark.  They could be lifted in PS, though. Save as a tiff, fix, then back to jpeg. The colors from it are spectacular.  The LG G3 is out now, but I think they stuck with 13mp.  I don't see a reason to trade up for it, yet.

 

I'm somewhat steamed that Alamy has had no breakthrough on the Android phones.  I'd no sooner traded for the droid when Stockimo came out. I'm afraid if Alamy does come out with the Droid version, it'll be restricted to one of the droid phones only. 

 

I'd be all over Stockimo like a bee on honey, if I could.

 

Betty

 

I was just looking at the LG G3 on their site. May I ask you about your monthly contract? My iPhone used to run me $80 or $90 a month . . . and I just didn't use it that much. Now I really need a good phone. Are you with AT&T? 

[Petr Toman]

 

Personally, I gave up my iPhone last year for the Android LG G2. 13mp, and the pics I took with it in St. Croix rivaled the DSLRs until it came to high contrast areas.  It rendered the light portions beautifully, but the shadows were a tad dark.  They could be lifted in PS, though. Save as a tiff, fix, then back to jpeg. The colors from it are spectacular.  The LG G3 is out now, but I think they stuck with 13mp.  I don't see a reason to trade up for it, yet.

 

I'm somewhat steamed that Alamy has had no breakthrough on the Android phones.  I'd no sooner traded for the droid when Stockimo came out. I'm afraid if Alamy does come out with the Droid version, it'll be restricted to one of the droid phones only. 

 

I'd be all over Stockimo like a bee on honey, if I could.

 

Betty

 

I was just looking at the LG G3 on their site. May I ask you about your monthly contract? My iPhone used to run me $80 or $90 a month . . . and I just didn't use it that much. Now I really need a good phone. Are you with AT&T? 

 

 

Hi guys here is my 5 cents. If you are looking for new android phone there are 2 mandatory things to consider:

 

1. Dont believe the hype manufacturers are just bundling old chips to new phones etc. Just go to wikipedia to pages like this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdragon_(system_on_chip) , check the phone you would like to buy, and what kind of chip it has. You will be surprised by low cost phones having the same chip as expensive ones.

 

2. consider the real need for specific features and power / price ratio. e.g. me and my wife we bought together Moto G from Amazon for cca $170. What we get? 1.2 GHz quad-core cpu, 8GB memory, quick OS, great display, and if I drop it on the floor ... I dont care

 

So here you have it, make a little bit research before spending hard earn money. 

 

+ I want Stockimo on android too ! Any update from Alamy? Are they working on it or not at all?

[John Allison J]

I'm  sure they are working on an Android version as per James's recent blog.

 

Should there be a "Compactimo" now they are giving them away ? Better images than iPhones.....

[Stephen Markeson]

Hi,

Apologies for muscling in on this but I am new to the forum and to blogs generally. Over the last three days or so I posted a question titled Leica C 112. Some interesting responses and a message from Alamy which I didn't get a chance to reply to.

Apparently the post went off topic and was locked out. So that's why I'm here because it seems the subject has been touched on.

I notice that some of the responders to my post are here so I would like to continue the discussion.

 

If you didn't read my post and are confused, take a look under Leica C 112.

As I said, I would like to respond to the message from Alamy so I will do that in a short while.

 

Stephen

[Stephen Markeson]

Hi,

Apologies for muscling in on this but I am new to the forum and to blogs generally. Over the last three days or so I posted a question titled Leica C 112. Some interesting responses and a message from Alamy which I didn't get a chance to reply to.

Apparently the post went off topic and was locked out. So that's why I'm here because it seems the subject has been touched on.

I notice that some of the responders to my post are here so I would like to continue the discussion.

 

If you didn't read my post and are confused, take a look under Leica C 112.

As I said, I would like to respond to the message from Alamy so I will do that in a short while.

 

Stephen

[Stephen Markeson]

FAO: Alamy/Stockimo management.

Thank you for your response to my post 'Leica C 112'. Apologies for going off piste but not familiar with the regime. You locked my post before I had a chance to respond to you so I will try here in a related venue.

I did look at the link you sent, and read your brief comments. I understand there is a commercial market for mobile phone images but don't entirely agree with why you consider compact camera images to be not suitable.

As far as I can see, the appeal of Stockimo is not necessarily the quality of the file but the candid on the spot nature of the images as opposed to the more contrived/controlled stock Images on the main Alamy site.

 

Having spent over forty years working as a news and feature photojournalist, followed by ten years in the advertising arena, I think I have a good understanding of the differences in the disciplines. To say that a compact camera couldn't produce similar images to phone pictures is a nonsense in my opinion.

The Leica C is a very high quality compact camera and frankly would produce higher spec files than a mobile. However, regardless of the quality of the files, it's the image which is being argued here. Taking candid 'on the spot' pictures can be achieved equally well with a compact as with a mobile. In fact the Leica C is smaller than many phones and equally discreet for the sort of images you say Stockimo is there for.

 

As a photojournalist I would shoot with Canon IOS or Leica (film and later digital), and when in more recent years I migrated to advertising,I would shoot Sinar, or Hassleblad depending on the required end usage.

 

Having retired from professional photography, I sold all my gear and frankly don't want to be burdened with heavy, cumbersome equipment if I'm out somewhere on the look out for a saleable image for Alamy. A small camera is the answer as it would slip in my pocket. I don't dispute the value of non- stock type uncontrived images from a mobile, but to say a compact could not produce similar images... Words fail me! Sorry. My mobile is for making telephone calls and sending texts so give me a camera any day!

As far as continuing to shoot the more stock type shots for the main Alamy site is concerned, I would still like to use a small camera for the same reasons as above.

When I looked a while ago on the Approved Camera list I could only find the Sony Cybershot which is small and produces big files and has an acceptable chip size. I bought one but simply cannot get on with a camera that doesn't have a viewfinder so I will put it on ebay soon.

There are later versions of the camera - the Mark 111 I believe will take a supplementary electronic viewfinder, but I still need convincing.

 

Stockimo/mobile shooters please don't take offence, I am not disputing the value of this new genre I'm trying to argue the case for a more realistic approach from Alamy as I know I am not alone in preferring to shoot images with a small compact.

 

Stephen

[Allan Bell]

I use a small compact, it is the Sony RX100 mark 1.

 

Allan

[Stephen Markeson]

Hi Allan,

Thanks, but I have the same camera but simply cannot get on with it as I really have to have a viewfinder.

I believe the Mark 111 has an optical finder or perhaps it will take a supplementary I can't remember but it's quite expensive.

 

Stephen

[NYCat]

You sound like someone who might have the Hoodman loupe for looking at the images on the back of a DSLR. If you get this method of attachment it fits beautiful on the RX100 and makes a nice viewfinder. A bit unorthodox and maybe you in the UK don't usually get Hoodman's loupe but, anyway, this is the website.

 

http://hoodmanusa.com/cgi/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=HSLRM

 

Paulette

[Stephen Markeson]

Hi Pailette,

Thanks for a great idea which I might have tried if I hadn't sold my Sinar loupe on ebay last week!

Actually, it still makes for a bulky package which I'm trying to avoid but thank you anyway!

 

Best,

 

Stephen

[NYCat]

Yes, it is a bit awkward. I stick the loupe in my purse if I think I might need it. Most of the time I've gotten used to the new way of shooting. It never does seem as exact as I would like it. I see things much better with the loupe.

 

Paulette

[Alamy]

FAO: Alamy/Stockimo management.

Thank you for your response to my post 'Leica C 112'. Apologies for going off piste but not familiar with the regime. You locked my post before I had a chance to respond to you so I will try here in a related venue.

I did look at the link you sent, and read your brief comments. I understand there is a commercial market for mobile phone images but don't entirely agree with why you consider compact camera images to be not suitable.

As far as I can see, the appeal of Stockimo is not necessarily the quality of the file but the candid on the spot nature of the images as opposed to the more contrived/controlled stock Images on the main Alamy site.

 

Having spent over forty years working as a news and feature photojournalist, followed by ten years in the advertising arena, I think I have a good understanding of the differences in the disciplines. To say that a compact camera couldn't produce similar images to phone pictures is a nonsense in my opinion.

The Leica C is a very high quality compact camera and frankly would produce higher spec files than a mobile. However, regardless of the quality of the files, it's the image which is being argued here. Taking candid 'on the spot' pictures can be achieved equally well with a compact as with a mobile. In fact the Leica C is smaller than many phones and equally discreet for the sort of images you say Stockimo is there for.

 

As a photojournalist I would shoot with Canon IOS or Leica (film and later digital), and when in more recent years I migrated to advertising,I would shoot Sinar, or Hassleblad depending on the required end usage.

 

Having retired from professional photography, I sold all my gear and frankly don't want to be burdened with heavy, cumbersome equipment if I'm out somewhere on the look out for a saleable image for Alamy. A small camera is the answer as it would slip in my pocket. I don't dispute the value of non- stock type uncontrived images from a mobile, but to say a compact could not produce similar images... Words fail me! Sorry. My mobile is for making telephone calls and sending texts so give me a camera any day!

As far as continuing to shoot the more stock type shots for the main Alamy site is concerned, I would still like to use a small camera for the same reasons as above.

When I looked a while ago on the Approved Camera list I could only find the Sony Cybershot which is small and produces big files and has an acceptable chip size. I bought one but simply cannot get on with a camera that doesn't have a viewfinder so I will put it on ebay soon.

There are later versions of the camera - the Mark 111 I believe will take a supplementary electronic viewfinder, but I still need convincing.

 

Stockimo/mobile shooters please don't take offence, I am not disputing the value of this new genre I'm trying to argue the case for a more realistic approach from Alamy as I know I am not alone in preferring to shoot images with a small compact.

 

Stephen

 

For those that have not seen our original reply, it's here. All our points remain valid. This is not a discussion about smart phone photography vs compact cameras. It's clear smart phone photography is not for you.

 

Your issue seems to be centered around being able to shoot stock with a smaller camera, your argument against the Stockimo collection is not really relevant.

 

There are plenty of 'pocket-able' cameras that are suitable for producing files for our main stock site however after seeing many images from Leica C 112, we don't feel the quality is high enough to put it on our recommended camera list.

 

Alamy

[spacecadet]

There we have it. It's been tested and found wanting.

Before I started submitting I made sure I acquired equipment that would meet the Alamy standard, not the other way round.

[Stephen Markeson]

Hi,

Firstly Paulette, apologies for mis-spelling your name- typo on my IPad! I think I might save my pocket money and think about getting a later model Sony Cybershot. I believe version 111 has a viewfinder or facility to add an optical one.

 

Regards,

 

Stephen

[Stephen Markeson]

Alamy Admin.

 

Thank you for your quick response. Not sure how many 'pocketable' cameras are on your approved list. The Sony Cybershot which I have is certainly a small enough camera to slip into a pocket. Problem for me is the absence of a viewfinder on the model I bought.

I tried and tried but just cannot get on with it, so it's about to find its way to ebay!

Perhaps I will save my pocket money and get the later model which does have a viewfinder, unless that is I've missed one on the approved list which is a similar size?

Very disappointed the Leica C 112 does pass muster with you. Perhaps with the speed digital technology moves these days somebody will launch the hi spec compact that I want and would meet your requirements.

 

Stephen

[Stephen Markeson]

Space cadet:

 

Yes, I did the same and bought the Sony Cybershot. The Leica C 112 was on the list I sent to Father Christmas but I will have to cancel that idea now!

 

Stephen

[wiskerke]

Alamy Admin.

 

Thank you for your quick response. Not sure how many 'pocketable' cameras are on your approved list. The Sony Cybershot which I have is certainly a small enough camera to slip into a pocket. Problem for me is the absence of a viewfinder on the model I bought.

I tried and tried but just cannot get on with it, so it's about to find its way to ebay!

Perhaps I will save my pocket money and get the later model which does have a viewfinder, unless that is I've missed one on the approved list which is a similar size?

Very disappointed the Leica C 112 does pass muster with you. Perhaps with the speed digital technology moves these days somebody will launch the hi spec compact that I want and would meet your requirements.

 

Stephen

 

Stephen,

 

You made some remarks about your gear. So I'm guessing that you had some experience with it and that there has been a reason to acquire all that. I think I can replicate most of the choices you have made there, because most of that gear looked pretty familiar ;-)

I too have a Sony actually I have 2: a MK1 and a Mk2. I don't regret that they have no viewfinders. It's the other way around: there are a lot more things you can do with a camera when there's no viewfinder. And I bet that a lot of the quality we are seeing from totally unexperienced people shooting with their camera's comes from not having a viewfinder, but having the final image right before their eyes.

I have to take back that unexperienced: how many pictures does one make with a phone? 10 a day? 20? 300? How many did we take with our Sinars? The feedback from a phone is imminent. The Sinar does not have a viewfinder either. Well mine has sort of, but I'll tell you how I used it last time (now 3 or 4 yrs ago): After I had checked the focus, I taped all handles; then put a dslr underneath and had a laptop tethered to my car. I shouted the aperture and exposure to the assistant on the scaffolding.

Now I can do all that with my Sony mk2 and my phone. I don't need a permit to close an intersection and put a scaffold up. Just a pole with my mk2 on top and a phone at the lower end. Ah progress! I'm all for it.

I bet that you have been lying in the mud once or twice,  no more need for that: just put your camera there, set the viewfinder, I mean the screen, on peaking and focus by hand, or accept the AF choices the camera makes of course. Maybe not. The mk2 is better for that as it has a tilting screen. The next one will be better again, and so on and so forth.

Why not in the mean time explore your new gear and do something that the old stuff couldn't do, in stead of trying to replicate what the old did. Because the Sony is no Sinar I can promise you that ;-0

I bet with your experience you can come up with stuff that the others cannot. Just apply it to the new, let's call it a toy for the next week.

 

wim

 

edit: stupid typo

[Stephen Markeson]

Hi Wim,

 

Thanks for that. Yes, I have always had good reason to aquire any equipment. Im sure you too have enjoyed working with a lot of different formats.

When I was thirteen years of age (1957) I bought my first camera, a Rolleiflex with a f3.5 Xenotar lens. I think it cost me £100.00 and I still have it to this day (it's sitting on a shelf staring at me now as I write!)

Well that was just the start and i had no idea that my entire life would be emerged in photography in some way.

 

(ALAMY ADMIN:)Fear not, it looks like I'm going off piste but will eventually get to Alamy/Stockimo !)

 

When I was 16 (1960) I joined the staff of a local newspaper and was issued with an MPP 5x4 plate camera with 6 double dark slides and a changing bag!

The busiest day was a Saturday which saw me covering maybe two or three weddings, a local football match, a pensioners whist drive in the town hall and 

the occasional road accident. My 'camera bag' was an old army rucksack which i strapped to my back whilst on my moped racing around the county!

 

Amusing tale maybe, but it was a very good discipline that was enforced on me. By necessity I would 'ration' myself to two plates sometimes three for each assignment.

That made me think about what I was shooting. There was no such thing as motor drives to just pull the trigger and hope for the best!

 

My career moved on a pace as I was very ambitious and less than a year later I was working as No.1 assistant to Dezo Hoffman in his studio in London.

My move from whist drives and weddings now found me shooting record covers (The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Tommy Steel, the list is endless)

Quite a contrast in subject matter! My Rolleiflex was put to good use both in the studio and on location.

 

I had decided I wanted yet another change.'Photography as art' was never my thing. I wanted instant (and disposable) art. I longed for a career in journalism and thats where my sights were firmly set.

I worked for a news agency in Cambridge and another in Wakefield in the north of England, just a short while in each to 'cut my teeth' in my newly chosen discipline.

 

At 18 years of age (1962) I was the youngest photographer to work in Fleet Street, the mecca for newspapers in the UK. The Daily Herald which no longer exists was a true photojournalists daily paper enjoying from memory the highest circulation of all of them.

 

Again my Rollei was put to good use, but times were changing and the two and a quarter inch square camera was a bit cumbersome for some news assignments.

I had my eyes on 35mm format and got my hands on a Canon (F1 it might have been _ sorry its a long time ago!) the lens I think was a 50 mm F0.9 yes f 0.9 quite revolutionary! I then moved on to a Leica with a fast 35mm lens and that for me was one of the most exciting pieces of kit.

 

Yes I had Pentax's, Nikon's and whatever was the office issue at the time. Sometimes that might include lenses like a 300mm Novoflex with a doubler etc.etc.

but I was never happier than when I just had a Leica M2 with that one 35mm lens. It slipped into my pocket, weighed very little by comparison, and it was virtually silent

when shooting.

 

The years rolled by and thats a very long career story of course so i will shorten it. The Daily Herald became The Sun (a Broadsheet pre-Murdoch) and after five years it and I joined the News International stable of newspapers. Over all those years I was a rare breed of photographers on the staff and my time on newspapers ended up as Senior photojournalist on The Times. With a world brief I travelled endlessly taking pictures and writing news and features as well.

 

During all those years, I never changed my view that todays photograph was tomorrows fish & chip paper- certainly not art!

 

By this time whilst still using my Leica, I had been issued with a couple of Canon IOS and also a Hasselblad with a full range of lenses to use for some of the portraits I was shooting. All through the years my biggest enjoyment was not necessarily the pictures that I produced but I loved working with well made and well engineered equipment.

 

There is a lovely tactile experience with well made and well designed kit. Each assignment might call for a different style and different cameras and yes, that was part of the enjoyment. My experience is varied to say the least. From one to one portraits of the Queen or Maggie Thatcher to suffering from tear gas poisoning and broken ribs from a  rubber bullet in the back in the Northern Ireland riots- Blood Sunday etc. etc.

Now whether it was a riot or world conflict, whether it was a carefully set up portrait or a secret surveillance assignment, each one needed different kit and a different approach.

 

After leaving The Times I set up my own company shooting in the advertising and corporate arenas. Now as you can imagine this was quite a change to both assignment, end usage and equipment needed to achieve the required results. A commission may have called for a 48 sheet poster to be shot on large format Sinar etc or Hasleblad often for corporate work, or even that old favourite of mine a Leica for the commissions that called for 'reportage' style.

 

Working with film/plates/or cut film most of my working life, I was overwhelmed when digitalisation came along. Not wanting to be an old fogey and get left behind, I moved to Hasselblad and digital back, and the first Leica digital (35mm equivalent). I never felt comfortable. The 'instant' nature of the 'new 'discipline' never felt right.

Instant 5x4 Polaroids as test shots were fine but squirting off digital images made me feel too 'disposable' even though my philosophy was just that, it was the capture element that didn't really satisfy me.

 

Enough of all that reminiscing before Alamy Admin shuts me down!

 

I am now almost 71 years of age and retired about ten years ago. After a while missed taking pictures. I blew the dust off my film Leica (sold the digital one!) and polished the zimmer frame (not!) and hit the streets again with a degree of satisfaction.

 

I then set my sights on supplementing my pension and shooting some stock for Alamy (now thats a bit of a joke nowadays I know!). That of course needed the dreaded digital kit, but needs must.

However, when I go out I like to have a small pocket sized camera in my pocket to shoot the odd picture that may be marketable.

 

That brings me to Stockimo. For me , as I think I said earlier, a large part of the enjoyment of taking pictures is the quality feel of a camera. Ive tried taking the odd shot on my iPhone and indeed sent it to Stockimo. Its not fun though, nor is it satisfying. Does the end justify the means? Not for me I'm afraid. I will take pictures until I fall off the perch but whilst I don't consider them a lasting art form, I have to at least enjoy taking them and that means using a nice (small) camera!

 

Now whether that might be a later version of the Sony Cybershot I've yet to look into, and yes Wim I may well give it a go but the jury is out on that for a while.

 

Stephen

[Sultanpepa]

Stephen, that was an interesting read and I had a thought (unusual for me) and maybe not a perfect solution, but trying to think outside the box would it not be possible for to remain a film shooter and either do it yourself or pay someone to scan them to make digital copies. Yes there maybe an expense attached to this idea. I didn't say it was perfect but it could be an option.