Interview With Lewis Blackwell, Director of Strategy for Image Source

"...once you see creativity as the key aspect of your work, then you might not be constrained by the photographic medium." Lewis Blackwell

Lewis, you spent many years as editor-in-chief of Creative Review, for eight years served as Group Creative Director with Getty Images, and now are Director of Strategy for Image Source. You have also produced a series of very impressive books including The End of Print, The Life & Love of Trees and Photowisdom.   

Can you give us a brief overview of your journey into the graphic arts world on through to your current position with ImageSource?

I studied English and more arcane stuff, then got my hands dirty training as a journalist (you’ve heard about UK journalists) before specialising in writing about applied creative fields such as architecture, design… and photography. I was one of the founding editors of a title called DesignWeek and then took on Creative Review. I consulted with some great organisations in advertising, design and publishing areas as well. The rest you have summarized. Joining Image Source has given me the opportunity to work with very nice and smart people on a whole new range of innovations that we would like to bring into the stock industry. If anything holds this all together, it is that I see myself exploring and enjoying the communication arts, making a living and having fun doing something that I think is on the plus-side of our civilisation.

I am convinced that creativity is an increasingly vital part of the photography business. As creating images gets easier via technological advances, creativity, more and more, replaces technical ability as a route to success. Do you have any suggestions on how we can increase our creativity?

I agree – photographers own less of the means of supply in terms of equipment and craft, so it really comes down to creativity. I would add to it that once you see creativity as the key aspect of your work, then you might not be constrained by the photographic medium. The line is shifting between photography and film, or between one kind of photography and another, between different roles in shaping media. Photographers would do well to ceaselessly question their craft(s), and to seek to apply their creativity in whatever medium best serves. But for a more practical tip on creativity, I recommend simply making sure you do something different with your life and work – for example: changing who you work with, going on holiday, deliberately shooting a subject that you have no expertise in but a strange curiosity about, asking somebody else to tell you what they dislike about your work and then considering if you can remove those obstacles... all these changes are about getting some searching feedback into your work. Photography can be quite a solipsistic activity otherwise. Great photographs surprise us with seeing things differently – so great photographers need to endlessly find ways to see things differently.

Where do you get your inspiration?

People and places, in that order. People: some that I know very well, some a little, and many that I don’t know at all but I get to take something from how they look, act and communicate. I wish I were systematic in my appreciation of all that they have to offer. Places: travel, whether far or near, is vital to me. I am just back from the Scottish Highlands, and so now I dream of what it might take to restore the Caledonian Forest, while still sparkling with the sensation of a swim in Loch Ewe, and fascinated that my prediction that such remote places might increasingly be at the centre of things was immediately borne out by the arrest of a demon 18-year-old alleged super-hacker in the Shetlands.  Power is devolving! Well, perhaps. I also read a lot… and increasingly make a very concerted effort to read long-form writing and also to look at things in a long-form – don’t flick a book of photographs, but give it time. Really look at one picture or object that interests rather than surf endlessly. I don’t really want to entertain myself seeing more superficially, but to challenge myself to see things in more depth. 

 What is the biggest mistake you see stock shooters making?

A common mistake is to be simplistic about the return and the risks and to then use that as an excuse for doing derivative work, or staying out of the market, or complaining when your personal work doesn’t sell as much as you blindly hoped. It is a particularly tough answer because it doesn’t really help the reader. The only way you can get over the problem is by taking risks that you can afford, being optimistic and at the same time skeptical, and moving fast to take opportunities, or to learn from experience. All a bit general I am afraid as different photographers face different challenges in making sense of stock.

Is stock still a viable option for photographers?

This depends which photographers we are talking about. It can be very rewarding both financially and in the lifestyle it helps support. A great many new recruits to stock photography around the world attest to its appeal. However, the changes in the industry and the shifting dynamics of how a set of images will return can make it off-putting for those of a more conservative mindset who measure things by how things used to work. But if you have difficulty in responding to change then you will find it hard in most areas of culture or industry.

Even after shooting stock for over twenty years one of the most vexing problems for me is to decide where to place an image. How the heck do you decide whether an image belongs in micro, RF or RM? What are your criteria?

Tricky question and, again, I have no simple answer. The variables of the kind of work and the best distributor partners available will affect whether micro, RF or RM will work for the photographer. You shouldn’t simply assume is that micro is cheap, RF is in the middle and RM is expensive – clients can spend hundreds of dollars in a microstock site on an image, and they can get RM cheaply.

The larger question is the kind of offer that collectively we want to bring about, the kind of business we want to take part in. At present clients often don’t care about the license type or even the price, as long as it is affordable for the specific budget: they care to quickly find and be able to use a picture. As a photographer, there may be more in this than just assuming you are chasing the best $ return. You should be choosy about the kind of people or businesses you work with. After the period of commoditizing there would seem room in the market for offers that give customers some real choice and values that they care about. I don’t get the sense that customers really care about or care for some of the companies they do business with today. So this has to be an opportunity and photographers can help the change. How can we improve? It’s going to take another little revolution...                      

Can you give us suggestions on how to go about determining where the “holes” are in a collection, or just plain what to shoot?

There are many holes out there – some are curious niches that are very poorly served, some are very popular areas that need new treatments. At Image Source, I could reel off a few categories where we are working hard to meet both perceived need for renewal and extension of choice, while there are also areas that are more specialist but I know would sell if we had good images. But a general rule that many photographers struggle to get is that a successful image, a successful shoot, is one that has a lot of great concepts in it (rather than being simply illustrative) and also avoids ‘picture killers’ that limit the usage or will make the image date quickly. 

Do you see Internet searches playing an increasingly large role in stock photo searches?

Yes and no. Google may be a popular starting point for many perhaps less-expert buyers of images; and it could become more popular if the industry is poor in creating a next-generation search experience of its own. But the client should get a better way of finding images and service around images than Google could ever be bothered with.

Do you think it is helpful for a stock shooter to develop a brand?

We all have a personal brand, from the point at which our parents give us a name. The question for photographers is what kind of brand they want to have. Most photographers I know who shoot stock do not necessarily want their brand strongly associated with that. And I agree: you should be a photographer first… how your images reach the market and the production structure behind them is incidental to getting across the message of how good the images are, or how responsive you are as a professional partner, and so forth.

Are tablets coming to the rescue?

They are not rescuing anything, but they are another platform or tool that has to be considered. There are some clients that are really best reached by tablet-friendly sites. That is becoming an increasing influence, as are smart phones, on how we shape image sites. And as a tool for photographers to present their portfolio or a project, the tablet is excellent.

Some photographers have succeeded by producing copious numbers of images and with a high level of production value. Others of us have done well by focusing on more unique images. In the coming years what kinds of strategies do you think will work well for stock photographers?

Both models, and points on the scale in-between, have validity. But they are also fraught with risks that need to be assessed against the work and investments made into it. There are a lot of shooters cranking out quantity and sites are increasingly seeking to get out from under this inundation of content. It is not good for customers, or agencies, to be hosed down with endless images of a high-production but low-creativity nature. And while ‘more unique images’ appeals to the creative in me, if your few gems are hard to find or positioned out-of-place then they will not sell and you will starve. So you need to know your market and get better exposure than the competition.

What it is that we stock shooters would do well to pay more attention to?

First, know as much as you can about what earns the money… and accept that you may not want to chase the most high-yielding areas. You may value your soul differently. But don’t expect to be paid well for what you are interested in if that is not what the market wants. You need to be as highly informed as you can be about risk and return and then it really depends on what kind of photographer you are or want to be. Some are doing well by moving very fast to crank out the latest stuff, refreshing their fairly commoditized offering time-and-again at a price that delivers a RoI. Others have a niche that they serve well with a quality that lasts and is hard to copy. Both are credible routes.
Second, make an effort not to put your eggs in one basket – see how different companies can work for you.  Remember photographers have done much to build the industry as it is and by your actions, which you work for and where you put content, you will continue to shape it. Collective actions will make the future industry.

I know some stock photographers who track their sales by model and believe that the model is key to a successful stock image. I know at least one stock shooter who uses the same model over and over again…for years now, and with great success. Can you share your feelings about casting and models?

That efficient repetition makes sense – some faces have a wide appeal, and some models can really work their potential with a great deal of flexibility. Some models smile in a way that just makes you want to agree with them, while others ooze trustworthiness in a way that goes beyond ethnicity. And as clients are typically looking at an image that works for them, rarely considering how your portfolio has the same model numerous times - as doctor here and mother there and business leader over there – there is little downside. But there is a wide range of humanity to draw on and so I would encourage photographers to keep the gene pool of models developing. 

Do you shoot stock, or have you ever considered shooting stock your self?

I don’t. I am much more interested – and more expert and experienced – in building and delivering strategies for creative work to thrive in commercial applications. 

Oversupply and the low prices of microstock have brought the price of all stock images down. iStockphoto has been raising its prices largely through the introduction of higher-priced collections. I noticed that Getty is now emphasizing the higher cost in production and time in promoting their RM collections. Do you think that the fees charged for licensing stock have stopped their free fall, and do you believe that agencies can boost prices for their higher echelon collections?

In short, yes. The longer answer is that I think we will still see price pressures – that’s the nature of a healthy competitive market – but we will also see companies building more differentiated offerings that can command higher pricings. We have been through a period of aggressive commoditization; now it is time for innovation that can deliver greater value to the customers beyond price. 

With their TAC (The Agency Collection) and Vetta collections, Getty has blurred the lines between traditional stock and microstock. Other agencies are now offering both licensing types on the same site. It seems to me that the big difference between microstock and RF is simply price. As traditional and microstock models continue to merge do you see any repercussions?

Not so much repercussions as opportunities. Prices are rising on leading ‘microstock’ sites, disappearing some of the difference. Prices have fallen in traditional agencies. Image quantities continue to increase but some qualities have been compromised. The customers who spend money regularly (as opposed to those who are really just spending $5 once in a while) want – and deserve – a better experience. Out of the convergence of existing models, along with other factors that are yet to really play out in this industry but will, we expect to see exciting changes. 

What is it that photographers aren’t “getting” about the stock photo business?

I am not so sure photographers are missing that much. I think a lot of photographers really understand – and indeed create – the potential of this industry. Some are very new to the industry, while others are old hands who have reinvented themselves several times over. And there are others who just do cool work from time to time and use the industry as part of their portfolio of interests. All are welcome! Your question is a bit like asking what a supplier doesn’t get about retailing – well, sure there are a lot of new developments out there, but you don’t have to be an expert in all areas to make a vital contribution and get a useful outcome. My general counsel is to work with people and companies that have a good record; work with those that you trust and that you like to work with. Good things are more likely to flow out of a healthy relationship than a poor one.

Stepping away from stock for a moment, I recently purchased your book Photowisdom: Master Photographers on Their Art.  What a wonderful book! It felt very intimate to me…a chance to get a glimpse into the inner workings of some really incredible photographers…actually, a lot of incredible photographers!  

How does the finished book compare with your original concept?

It comes close. Of course, there are things that did not turn out as I first envisaged but then events happened along the way that made it better than I first hoped. I managed to get interviews with most photographers I asked and many were wonderfully generous in their time and consideration of my questions. I have had good feedback on the overall production quality too… which given the challenges of getting the work of 50 different photographers balanced out across the printing, can be a headache. 

What was the most surprising thing that came up for you during the making of Photowisdom?

I think that might be… how good photographers can be at putting their ideas into words as well as images. This despite often having doubts about their ability to say much about what they do. The simple truth is that while I asked the questions and wrote up the interviews, the fine thoughts in Photowisdom are chiefly theirs. But then you would know this polymath nature of the photographer – as a master blogger!

What was the most important thing you learned in creating Photowisdom?

It reminded me, as a sometime journalist, how vital it is to do the research. An interview is usually only as good as its questions. Preparation, preparation. Stephen Shore even required me to sign up to having read various key texts of his ahead of the conversation… which was slightly bossy, but was the right thing because we were able to quickly get to ideas that he really cared about.

Part of Photowisdom is a charitable undertaking. How does that work?

On behalf of the photographers who supported Photowisdom, we made a significant donation to the London-based organization PhotoVoice, along with a share in ongoing royalties, and this helped them initiate a project in Afghanistan. They give cameras to marginalized people to help them raise awareness. In this case, they worked with children in Kabul. You can read about it here http://www.photovoice.org/projects/international/visible-rights-afghanistan-2010

What is your next book project?

I am working on several books where I have had an idea and I am now editing or otherwise helping the publication come about. Some are destined for 2012 publication. There are two projects where my contribution is more demanding and they will take longer… so I am afraid out of superstition, and perhaps not wanting to look an idiot if they don’t come off, that is as much as I will say.

Are there any words of wisdom you would like to leave us with?

I have a great fondness for Bruno Munari’s definition of a tree: the slow explosion of a seed. 

Lewis Blackwell, Director of Strategy for Image Source.

People Are Key In A Concept Stock Photo

People are the key in this concept stock photo illustrating teamwork and human resources.

People And Teamwork Are Key: A Concept Stock Photo

One of the best selling concepts in stock photography, maybe THE best selling concept, is teamwork. But how do you com up with a new way of showing those tried and true concepts…all of which have been done to death? What inspired me to come up with a teamwork image in the first place? I had been looking at my Blend Images sales report and my best selling image for the previous quarter was a teamwork image. Time to do another one!

Skeleton Keys, People and Success

I had been reading a blog about how people are key to success when it struck me that I could create a key, one of those old fashioned “skeleton” keys, out of men and women in business attire resulting in a stock photo about teamwork, human resources being “key” to success, and how it takes people to unlock the answers to so many challenges. 

Casting Is Key

Casting the image was important because in an image that might be used by large corporations to represent their human resources would need to have a wide range of diversity in ethnicities, genders and ages.  I ended up with five women, four men, ages from early twenties to mid sixties, and a very thorough mix of ethnicities.  As is my habit these days, I came up with a variety of ideas for this shoot so that I could make the most of each model. I hired each model for two hours, one at a time, and shot them in my studio using a shot list to make sure I got what I needed. I had each model pose in each position needed for the key so that when I went to do the compositing I would be sure to have some options in putting it together.

Photography Is Key

It was surprising how easy the image was to put together. It reminded me again of the importance of the photography when it comes to Photoshop. I have always felt that photography is much more challenging than digital imaging. If you have the right raw materials, the photography, then the Photoshop work becomes relatively simple. You might say that great photography is “key” to great Photoshop work.

A Teamwork Picture…And The Next Image

While I believe I have come up with a winner with this teamwork image, you just never know. Because it seems to me like the type of image that won’t be used endlessly, and requires a bit more work and investment than most shooters would be willing to do (I hope), I chose to put this image into the Rights Managed category.   Someday I hope to be walking through an airport and see this image on the wall as a poster advertising a Fortune 500 company…but to succeed in stock these days you can’t hold your breath, you have to move on to the next image.

An Email From An Art Director And Stock Photo Needs

This stressed-out businessman, clutching his head in his hands, is probably overwhelmed by searching for stock photos!

An Email From An Art Director

I received the following email,from an Art Director/Designer that I worked with frequently back in my assignment days. It cracked me up, but I think it is important to pay attention to a couple things the email brings up. That email is posted below with her permission (I have omitted the photograph for copyright reasons).

Hi John,

I know you don't do microstock but someone has to give us cheapskates another middle-aged white manager type, besides this guy, attached.

He is everywhere. I used him 4 years ago and soon after I found him on a Sprint bill stuffer. I have seen him on bill boards, in ads, everywhere.

Type business man into Istockphoto.com and there he is. Many poses, alone, in groups. He now sports a pink flame on the search results page, meaning more than 10,000 downloads!!

Some one is making money here.

If you don't want to do this maybe some one you know will.

We really need another middle-aged white guy!

Never thought I would be saying that . . .

Hope all is well.

Best, Gabrielle

Gabrielle Disario

GDisario49@gmail.com

Inexpensive Stock Photography, A Sign Of The Times

Gabrielle Disario is a talented designer and art director I used to shoot for back in my assignment days. We worked on some pretty decent sized jobs, so I think it is interesting that she needs microstock images. It is a sign of the times. It seems like everyone needs inexpensive stock photography, though I know from my own sales reports that there is also, believe it or not, still a demand for traditional stock, both RM and RF.

Opportunities In Stock photography

It is also interesting that Gabrielle isn’t finding what she wants. There is still opportunity in stock photography. I think that is actually the main take away from Gabrielle’s email, that there are still images that need to be made, and need to be made for all the various price points. Of course, when I did as she suggested and went to iStockphoto searching under “Business” and “Man”, there were over 122,000 results! I tried to look at those results to determine for myself if there was still a need for more variety.  I didn’t get very far. Page four to be precise (though after a break I skipped around pretty thoroughly). There certainly appeared to be plenty of good quality images, but after page three the sheer sameness of everything got to me. The individual images seem done well enough, but as a group I found it depressing! With 122,000 results it seems hard to believe that Gabrielle can’t find what she needs. Maybe it is just too hard to find what she needs?

A Getty Search And A Stark Difference

I did the same search on Getty and there is indeed a stark difference in the results. There was far more variety in the imagery. A couple of top microstock shooters have told me that images have to be shot a certain way to succeed in micro…and that started to become clear to me with these searches. It seems to me that what makes for a great selling microstock image also leads to a lack of variety…though Gabrielle’s complaint was a lack of variety for a specific model type.  I am guessing that with everyone knowing what sells, and most photographers producing that type of image, the variety suffers. In the case of the model that Gabrielle has seen too much of, he was shot by one of the most successful and prolific iStockphoto.com shooters, and with the "most downloaded" option for searching chosen, you are going to see that guy way more often than that of someone shot by a less prolific and successful shooter.

A Signpost Towards Ongoing Success

So what do I come away with from all this? As hard as it is to believe, there are still images needed. At the Blend Creative meeting in Palm Springs last fall we had an art buyer speak who bemoaned the lack of fresh and relevant imagery available in stock, so Gabrielle is not the only one. I actually think for at least some of us, for me anyway, that need is a signpost towards ongoing success. We have to create that variety, come up with more creative, innovative images that walk that fine line between creativity and usability.

Know Your Strengths, Know Your Motivations

It is also important to have a good grasp on your owns strengths. Are you better suited to producing images in quantity, shooting innovate lifestyle imagery, or concept images with intensive post production?  You have to know what you are good at, what kinds of images motivate you and keep the process exciting, and you have to know how to get those images most effectively distributed.  If you can do that then there is still room for success in stock photography.

Photographer, Stock Agency Owner, Publisher Walter Hodges Interviewed

 Walter Hodges: Photojournalist, Stock and Assignment Photographer, Stock Agency Owner and Magazine Publisher.


Walter Hodges Interview:

Walter, you are an incredibly talented, long-time photographer, stock shooter and fellow founder of Blend Images. Other than that, I don’t really know much about your career. Can you catch us up on how you got into photography and how you came to be a stock shooter?

The army and I didn’t exactly get along in 1969 (long story), and during one of the periods when I wasn’t either confined to my barracks or in the stockade, a buddy gave me a Minolta SRT101 and suggested “you’re the kind of guy who should shoot pictures instead of people.”  I took him up on the idea.  I think he got it right.

About 1985, I had grown tired of the relative schizophrenia of assignments, and I ran into a guy named Marty Loken who owned a stock agency called Allstock.  Marty knew Craig Aurness at Westlight and suggested I also talk to Craig (another long story).   I went from Westlight to Tony Stone Images to Stone to Corbis, to Getty Images to Blend and here we are still trying to figure out how to shoot a good stock photo.  Sooner or later we’ll get it figured out.

I recently got the chance to see some issues of your new undertaking Ten AndTwo Magazine. I have to admit that I was blown away by what you have done! Beautiful photography, fun to read, and targeted for a dedicated and passionate audience…I believe you are really on to something.  Can you share how this all came about?

Thanks a lot John.  Ten And Two Magazine  is a project I came up with alongside a terrific graphic designer named Greg Smith from the Portland, Oregon area.  It’s a digital magazine with a basic editorial foundation of fly fishing, which is a passion of both Greg and I.  We both had a lot of experience shooting, or writing, or designing projects for a paper based fly fishing magazine and when that magazine folded, we decided to keep something going online. 

It’s not a typical fishing magazine.  A lot of those publications are based on the principally male dominated concept that “mine is way way way bigger than yours, and I know what to do and where to go, and don’t you wish you were here, and if you want to be like me, then you must do this in this manner at this time of year.  I hate that whole gig.  We proposed that when people go fishing, it’s not fish that they are after.  They are after, travel, culture, art, history, food, drink, friendship and if all the stars align, maybe a fish or two.  It’s a journey, not a destination.  So we started the magazine with that in mind.  We are the only magazine in the world attempting to work this idea into a serious publication.  We’ve got total creative control, so we can do anything we want.  We want to create a classic elegant tasteful presentation that can stand the test of time.  We’ve been at it for about a year, and I think the first steps have been good ones.

What has been your biggest challenge to getting this project out of the blocks?

Several things actually.  Finding the time to do it right while still running a stock photo business is beyond herding cats.  I’m hoping I can take a shower any day now.

Secondly, the whole process of creating the stories and working with other shooters and writers has been incredibly stimulating creatively, but logistically difficult for me.  Being on the other side of the aisle and having to work with artists instead of just being one has been a real education.  I’ve got a whole new outlook on the process of buying images or negotiating what we can do for an artist when we’re a start up with no investors and running on nothing but pure passion.  I now look at the world of commercial photography in a whole different light (yet another long story)

Looking forward, what do you think will be your biggest long-term hurdle?

Sooner or later, we have to make a living at this don’t we?

In the beginning, we neglected the business side of this model and simply created a magazine.  We’ve done that.  Now it has to work and we have to find serious advertisers or sponsors and sooner or later we have to get it printed (print is not dead), and we have to get subscriptions and we need to create partnerships with other businesses.  I have no idea how to do that, and we need help on the business side.  I need to get someone in to run this side-show, and I need to get out of the way and start acting my age instead of acting like a blissed out twenty something who doesn’t know what’s not possible.   Maybe not acting my age, but I gotta get out of the way and let someone else run the business.

How are you getting the word out?  Do you pay attention to where your readers come from (Facebook vs. Twitter vs. Google etc.)?

We had a reasonably good mailing list to start.  We’ve contacted sporting clubs and organizations around the world, then we took out a Facebook ad and we’ve started messing about with Twitter and a blog, and we told our friends (Blend and Stockpros) and our family’s and so on.  Which actually means we have no idea how to do this, but we are trying very hard.

Do you use any traditional media to help get the word out (magazine ads, direct mail, etc.)?

We are using Constant Contact to manage our mailing list, which helps a lot and word is getting around almost organically as opposed to overnight on YouTube.

Greg and I are both pretty classically trained marketing people.  There are a lot of people at Blend and Stockpros who really know the Twitter and Facebook gigs really well.  I’m slowly coming around.  Old guys can be a tough study.

How often do you publish new issues?

We publish quarterly.  Based on the previously mentioned shower metaphor, I think it stays that way till we get people and money to help.

I see you also incorporate a blog. How do you differentiate your blog from the magazine itself?

I wish I could tell you we did that, but I’m just learning at this point.  In our current state we just get to it when we can, and we try to put in very small versions of story content in order to drive people to the magazine.  Jeremy Woodhouse and you John Lund are my hero’s in using blogs to drive people in several directions.  I’m hoping to model our blog after your success.

How many people are involved in putting Ten & Two out?

Currently five.  No one is getting paid.  We’ve got me, the graphic designer, a copy editor, a web designer/sales person, and a social media guy.

Walter, I have to confess, I do not fish (though I enjoy eating fish). Thus this next question might sound naïve to a fisherman, but what doe Ten & Two refer to? Are those the best times to fish for trout or something?

When a person first learns to fly fish, there is a foundation of technical principles.  Just like in photography.  The base line foundation of all fly fishing begins with how you hold the fly rod and what you do with it.  Done correctly, the fly rod should move through the air in a particular pattern corresponding to the hands on a clock.  The fly rod moves rhythmically from 10:00 to 2:00 with your head positioned at 12:00.  I know, I know, it’s way too serious and esoteric for it’s own good, but there you have it.  Ten And Two, the foundation of all fly fishing.

What kind of traffic are you seeing?

As I said, it’s more organic than viral.  The niche is narrow, but since we cover a lot of areas instead of just fishing, the potential demographic is internationally huge.  We just need a bit of help getting a plan going for how to go after this.  We’re looking currently for a couple people who could put in some sweat equity for a piece of a pie.  We found five people so far.  There are business people out there somewhere who are fly-fishing crazed and looking for a business idea to hang a hat on.  Sooner or later I will find them.

How are you monetizing this project?

As I said, we haven’t been able to do that, because we either don’t have the time or don’t know the exact path to follow.  We know the world wide market is huge.  How to get there is another deal entirely.  We are currently talking to the MBA program at the University Of Washington.  There’s a very good chance they will take this idea on as a project.  The help would be fantastic and of course the price would be right.

How has the reaction been?

Fantastic.  We’ve got a good subscriber base started (5,000) people, and now we need to grow it with a sold business plan.  Our readers are a pretty rabid bunch because we’ve struck a nerve with this idea that it’s a journey.  It’s not about the fish.

Most fishermen get it.  They just have never had the opportunity to see a magazine that goes beyond the fishing.  We take them there.

How far ahead do you work?

So far, it’s very tight.  We don’t have the money or the time to work six months out, which is where we need to be.  We are doing this in real time.  As I write this, we are putting out our next issue which includes tarpon fishing in Florida and permit fishing in the Seychelles Islands.

What cool stories can we look forward to?

After this next issue, I’m working on setting up at trip around Atlantic salmon fly fishing on the island of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.  It’s steeped in history and fishing lore.  The story will include pieces on the fishing, a great lodge, a whiskey distillery, a landscape painter, an international festival of Celtic music, and a historic piece related to how Louisiana Cajuns were originally religious refuges from Nova Scotia.

What has been your biggest surprise in this whole undertaking?

The unrequited love I have for taking a blank piece of paper and creating a story in words and images.  I had no idea how deeply it was imbedded in me.  I could die doing this and be perfectly happy.  I wish it had happened when I was thirty, but you go to the party when you get invited and it’s time to party.

Are you open to contributions from other photographers and writers?

I am.  I need to figure out how to pay people because I will not ask anyone to work for free.  I don’t have the stomach to do that.  We’ve actually used a couple images from Jeremy Woodhouse (Blend Images) in our Guatemala story.  Jeremy knows travel better than most.  We’ve actually have had a few artists approach us to do things, and they didn’t care about being paid, because once they saw what we could do with their images, and how we would show them off as opposed to most any other publication, the marketing potential of the resulting PDF’s seemed payment enough.  For some people that sort of trade works, but I can’t ask anyone to work for free.  I just can’t.

As we are all aware, the stock photography business has been, shall we say, challenging these last few years. Many shooters are leaving for greener pastures, or at least what they perceive as greener pastures. Is this publishing venture a pure work of love, or do you see it as a new career direction?

Probably both.  Blend Images is strong and our stock numbers at Getty are actually getting better over the past six months, so I’d love to do both if I can.  It’s a process and my guess is that the final truth of the matter will fall in our laps as we put one foot in front of the other. 

Are you still shooting for stock and are there any synchronicities between Ten And Two and your stock photo business?

I am shooting stock and there are some parallels.  I don’t think the magazine is a  money making stock business, because the images we get are so few, it’s hard to place them in this stock photo economy that is so very much based on the idea of commodity.  A lot of these fishing images and travel photos are good metaphors and no one knows better than you the value of a good visual metaphor.  So yea, I will be putting some of these images into stock.  Rights managed stock.

In the face of the new realities of the stock photo market place, are you taking any different approaches from the way you have historically approached stock photography?

Boy, is that a long story.  Anyone who reads Stockpros threads knows how I feel about this, but the gist of it is this.  I am going to shoot principally rights managed images, because I feel the pendulum is moving back again toward the concept of quality as opposed to commodity.  We’ll still do some RF imagery, but the market place is saturated with commodity.  Shooters whose numbers are dropping have those number dropping because they are part of the commodity that has been devalued over the past ten years.  Garbage in garbage out.  Old Henny Youngman joke – “A guy goes to the doctor and says doctor, my arm hurts when I do this.  The doctor says don’t do that.”  Photographer goes to the doctor and says doctor, my numbers go down when I do this.  Doctor says don’t do that.  God, I loved Henny Youngman.

Do you believe stock photography is still a viable career?

I do.  I believe it’s different than it used to be, and lot of people are going to go out of business, because they can’t adapt and look for new solutions.  That’s the nature of business and forest fires.  It has a tendency to clean out the unhealthy stuff.  That does not guarantee that you or I will succeed at this, but it does guarantee that we will try.

Are you participating in microstock?

I started to get into it, but just ran out of time and energy.  It’s not that I don’t see the business model.  It’s that I don’t have a minute left in the day.

Other than Ten & Two, are you utilizing Social Media?

Another thing I have to learn.  On one hand I’m sick of all the information.  I really don’t need it.  But then when I see how it can work if done correctly, I have to admit I have a long way to go.  How on earth do we do all the things we need to do John?  How on earth indeed.  All you do is the best you can, and you have to be ok with that.

Do you have a formula for success in stock?

Yes, and it comes from Jonathan Ross (Blend Images, Spaces, Old Old Friend).  Jonathan and I were sitting at lunch one day trying figure out what to shoot next, because as we know, we can shoot most anything, but what exactly do you choose to shoot next?  That’s the real question.  Jonathan looked up over his bowl of clam chowder and said “I know exactly what to shoot.  We want to shoot lots.”  Cleave to the metaphors, stay away from the commodity and shoot lots.

When I peruse Ten & Two I picture you immersed in what you love, having a ball, traveling, shooting, writing and having the time of your life. What is the reality?

It is that.  That and very hard work, but that’s the nature of having the time of your life.  You need to live it hard.  I bleed this stuff till I can’t bleed any more. 

You write so well I am wondering if you have a writing background?  Do you like wearing both the photographer hat and the writing hat?

It’s been in me since forever, and little old lady’s used to tell me “Walter, you need to write this stuff down.  I never did.  A guy gave me a chance to write a story for a magazine about five years ago and it just exploded in front of me.  Bottled up from all those years. I can’t imagine not doing it.  If the magazine ultimately does not succeed, I’ll find another way.  It’s just that in this current situation, I have a sand box to play in that I could never have imagined before.  Amazing stuff.

What words of advice do you have for others interested in creating an online magazine?

Get a person who knows business and lives to work with numbers as part of the team right from the get go.  No idea how I let that slip by.  If you know someone, send them to me.  I have an idea for them to consider.

And how about advice for those either just starting out on their stock photo careers, or those, like me, who are jaded veterans?

For those just starting out.  Think concepts and metaphors.  Do not just think about what looks cool.  Start slow and join up with a smaller group like Blend Images or Tetra or Spaces.  There is strength in community.  Do not blame anyone but yourself for the situation you find yourself in.  These are the good old days.  Make the most of it.

For those jaded veterans (like you and me).  After all these years, the most precious thing we own is the potential that at any moment something incredible might happen.  It’s the potential that drives the bus. Thomas Edison said everything he ever found he found while he was looking for something else.  Stay alert.  It’ll be fun.  You’ll see.

Can you share a favorite photo you have shot for Ten And Two, and the story behind it?

I actually should do two, because the magazine is not simply defined by one type of visual.

Photograph ©Walter Hodges Fly Fishing in the Catskills of New York State.

1. The first shot is of a river in the Catskills of New York State.  The two guys were fishermen friends of mine, and we were out with the intent of shooting images for the story.  It was raining and we headed back to the lodge.  As we got closer to the lodge I noticed a break in the clouds low on the horizon, and I just went berserk in the car knowing the sun would break for a few seconds within the next ten minutes.  We knew where there was a bridge crossing the upper Delaware River.  We busted every rule of the road with me in agony in the back seat until we got to the bridge.  I sprinted to the middle of the bridge yelling at my friends to get into their waders and get into the water.  The sun came out for literally two minutes.  The image is less about the fishing, and more about the experience of being present in another world at exactly the right moment.

Photograph ©Walter Hodges  Tango dancing in Buenos Aires.

2. I was in Argentina doing a story on trout fishing, and as part of the story, I wanted to do a side bar piece on tango, so for four days, I hired a passionate young male tango dancer to take me into the back alley’s of Buenos Aires to show me the real dancing instead of the big Las Vegas style tango shows for tourists.  About 3:00 AM in the morning at a small local tango club on a back street, I lay on the dance floor, and shot images of my friend and his partner literally lost in their dancing.  Incredible stuff.  The story was in our first issue and it set the tone for everything else we’ve done.

Thanks! To see Ten And Two Magazine:

 

We should probably tell folks that in order to see Ten And Two Magazine, they need to register (it's free and no one will call).  Also, it's worth looking at the archived issues tab on the web site.  For instance, the tango piece is in issue 1.  The Catskill photo comes from issue 2.  Best to view the mag at full screen size - there's a tab on the first page up on top.  It will expand the magazine so you can see it better.

To more of Walter's Photography: http://www.walterhodgesphoto.com/ 

   and http://www.jettaproductions.com

Thank you John.  Thank you very much.     Walter   

My Getty Images Sales Report And Hope On The Horizon

Older images, such as this "cash flow" pictures, made a bit of a comeback in my most recent Getty Images sales report. 

My Most Recent Getty Images Sales Report and Higher Revenue

I noticed on my most recent Getty Images sales report that not only was my revenue higher than it has been in a while, but I made more sales with some of my older images. Actually, I made quite a few sales with older images that haven’t sold well for some time now (such as the cash flow image seen above). My share of the royalties for images between six and twenty years old came out to $4,707.80. That is almost twice as much as similarly aged images have been earning me recently. That was for 34 sales…so I had an average of $138.00 per sale for those oldies but goodies. I would call that hope on the horizon!

Newest vs. Best Match

So is this some singular stroke of good fortune, or is something else in play here? I honestly don’t know the answer, but I do have a possibility that I would really like to believe!  Getty recently added the ability to filter a search by toggling between “newest” and “Best Match”.  I am hoping that the “Best Match” option is getting some of my older, but well-selling images, back up higher in the searches results with a corresponding increase in revenue.

Great Selling Images and The Sea of Mediocrity

In an unscientific test I played around with searching for my own images with the two different “filters”. It did seem that using Best Match did bring up some of my older images more quickly. Dare I hope that this is actually the answer and that on the whole great images will get a boost over the vast sea of mediocrity that is threatening to drown us all? I better knock on some wood!

Stay Tuned For Next Month

Of course, as I point out, my experiments are hardly scientific, my Getty Sales Report may return to its previous state next month, and one month’s results are never enough to base anything on. But one can hope! I will report further after next months report comes out.

Falling Web Traffic And Long Term Goals

A businessman falling from a very high altitude is a stock photo metaphor for loss and adversity...and my falling Internet traffic!

Steady Progress And Plunging Traffic

As of last month I was hitting an average of 1,500 unique visitors a day to my web site. Not bad. Nowhere near my goal, but steady progress nonetheless. Of course, that was last month. Three weeks ago my traffic plunged to about 700 a day. Yikes!

Since then I have crawled back up to about 900 a day…where it seems to have leveled off.

The Panda Slap

What happened? When these dramatic fluctuations in traffic happen nobody really knows what the cause is…the from what I can figure out it is probably related to Google’s Panda release…their latest tweak of their search algorithm.  Some SEO types are calling such a traffic drop the “Panda Slap”. The apparent intent by Google was to, well, in the words of Matt Cutts, one of the engineers of “Panda”:

“This update is designed to reduce rankings for low quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on.”

Collateral Damage, Discouragement and Long Term Goals

Of course, anytime Google tweaks things there is collateral damage, of which I am apparently included in. I have to admit, it is really discouraging to work my butt off for almost three years and then overnight see a fifty-percent drop in my search engine traffic! Arrrgh. I keep reminding myself that this is the time to not get discourage and keep on plugging away.  It is the long-term goal that is important. It helps to see that I am still make sales over the internet and still making revenue from online advertising, albeit a tad less than a month ago.

Rejection and Determination

As photographers we all have had to deal with rejection on almost a daily basis. How many times do you show your book versus how often you get the assignment? How many people view your stock images before you license one? It seems as photographers we have chosen a life of rejection and set backs, and those of us who ultimately reach our goals have developed a thick skin and a determination to dig a little deeper, go a little further, and, by god, get the job done!

An Insane Goal And Finding Enjoyment

In fact, in the middle of my discouragement, I am feeling a resolve, a determination to reach my insane goal of getting twenty thousand visitors a day to my site. The resolve actually feels stronger than before…like I have something to prove. I can do this! The trick here is to let go of my irritation and anxiety, accept that this is a marathon and not a sprint, and actually develop a mindset where I get enjoyment  from all the little tasks that will eventually get me to my goal. Those tasks range from adding more content to improving the content already on my site (reviewing, correcting and adding to the text on my pages), to continuing my effort at sharing my photography experience and work on this blog.

A Little Help From The Like Button

One of the many suggestions I have found on the net for dealing with the dreaded “Panda Slap” is to pay attention to social media since Google is now telling us that take such things as “likes” are definitely included in their site evaluations. Hey, you can help me…just click that little “like” button at the top of this blog! Thanks! Now its’ off to spend some time improving my early photo descriptions and metadata…I am SO looking forward to that.

Creating A Concept Stock Photo of Oil Spills and Toxic Waste

An ocean photo, a sky pictures, and a barrel photograph become a sea of toxic waste or oil spills in this stock photo.

This version of all barrels and sky is what I originally envisioned as an environmental stock photo to illustrate concepts of pollution and toxic waste.


Concept Stock Photo Of An Oil Spill

After the Deep Water Horizon Gulf oil spill I thought it might be a good idea to create a stock image that could be used to illustrate and bring attention to the environmental issues of offshore oil production and drilling, as well as those of transportation of crude oil. But how do you photographically illustrate an oil spill in a concept stock photo? 

The Answer Comes Barreling in

I thought of the rainbow colored sheen one often sees on the street after a rain, but couldn’t quite figure out how I could make that work. A foundering ship perhaps? A burning offshore oil rig? I let the idea percolate thinking that an answer would come eventually, and it did. Months later I was listening to the radio when the newscaster was talking about how many barrels of oil had spilled. That was it…barrels! I could fill the ocean with oil barrels. Heck, I could make a tidal wave or tsunami of oil barrels! 

One Prop, And A Sea Of Oil

Such an image, I imagined would be very simple to execute. All I would need is one black 55-gallon drum. I could photograph the barrel and then use Photoshop to, one by one, build up a sea of oil barrels. I checked Craig’s list, found a drum, and paid $25.00 for my one prop.

Overcast Days, Reflections, and A Parking Lot

I waited until I had an overcast day, and then photographed the drum in a variety of positions in the parking lot in front of my studio. Before I photographed the drum I spray-painted it with flat black paint. I photographed it outdoors because I know from experience if I tried to shoot it in my studio it would have reflected everything in there.  In the parking lot, on an overcast day, the only reflection I would have to worry about would be that of whoever helped hold the barrel in the various positions I would need. As it turned out even those reflections didn’t turn out to be a problem.

Oil Drums, Clipping Paths and A Tsunami

To create the image I used Bridge to select the barrel shots I felt I would need, and then used Photoshop’s pen tool to create a clipping path around each 55-gallon drum. Next, I opened a file I had created a while back of a tsunami. My plan was to use the tsunami image as a template for this new image. It was a simple, straightforward task to open the barrel images and paste them in position using the tsunami image as a guide.

A Sea Of Oil Barrels And Another Option

After about half a day of inserting barrels, rotating them, sizing them and positioning them, I was only about a quarter of the way done…. if that. It quickly dawned on me that perhaps an entire sea of oil barrels might not be the only image to come out of this effort. I liked the look of the barrels floating in the water. I started adding layer masks to the barrels and then blending the barrels into the water.

Oceans Spray and A Sense Of Action

Once I had the basic look I wanted I went to my archive of ocean imagery and selected splashes of spray to position over and among the barrels. That added a sense of action and helped deal with difficult transition areas between barrel and water. Here and there I added an adjustment layer of brightness and contrast…and some spot cloning clean up as well. Finally, I brought in elements of water and sky to transform the base ocean image that I had brought in as a template to a new look so as to eliminate any problem of similars.  At that point I had my first image, oil barrels tossing in the surf of an ocean storm.

A Sea of Barrels, Toxic Waste, And Making A Difference

I then spent another day adding in more barrels until no ocean was left visible, thus coming up with the second image that was what I had originally envisioned: A sea of barrels, glistening and black, ominous and filled with anything from oil to toxic chemicals to radioactive waste.  Hopefully this is a stock photo that can be used to bring attention to pressing environmental challenges and perhaps help make a difference in the survival of our planet.