What's New in Stock Photography

The cover story of the Sept/Oct issue of The Big Picture profiles four inspiring “alternative” suppliers of stock photography. We had planned to publish a round-up of recent news releases from other suppliers, but ran out of room. Here are a few other items that may be of interest:

Find Inexpensive Public-Domain Photos at PictureElements.com: For inexpensive, high-quality stock photography, visit the Picturelements.com web-site of public-domain images from the US Forest Service. Picture Elements has uploaded more than 12,000 images and making them available with the same pricing structure used by the Library of Congress: $23 for an 8- x 10-in. print or a high-res file for unlimited use.

Picture Elements was developed by Jim Lewin, the entrepreneur who founded the Image Delivery Systems firm profiled in the September/October issue of The Big Picture. (Picture Elements: www.picturelements.com)

Explore The Panoramic Wilderness Images of Thomas Eads: Two of the companies profiled in the Sept/Oct. issue of Big Picture specialized in wide-format panoramic shots for large-format display requirements. Panoramic stock photos for large-format reproduction are available on the website of Thomas Martin Eads, a nature photographer and outdoorsman who shoots medium- and large-format film during expeditions into challenging terrain, such as northern Greenland and the swamps and marshes of North American coastal lowlands. (Thomas Martin Eads Photography: www.tomeadsphoto.com)

Corbis Represents Brand X Pictures' Royalty-Free Collection: Corbis is now offering more than 10,000 royalty-free images from Brand X Pictures. Brand X Pictures offers a mix of traditional and edgy, highly stylized images from photographers around the world.

Corbis has also inaugurated 24 hour/7-day-a-week service to support clients who work late on tight deadlines or in different time zones worldwide. A live Corbis staffer will always be available to assist with image searches, licensing issues and other support matters. (Corbis: www.corbis.com)

Photographers Advertise for Assignments in Getty Images Professional Directory: Professional photographers, illustrators, and their representatives can use Getty Images' new Professional Directory to advertise their availability for assignment services. Getty Images has more than 1.4 million registered users in more than 50 countries.

For each listing in the online directory, customers can view a portfolio of sample images, read bios detailing experience and expertise, and obtain contact information. Buyers of assignment photography can search the directory for photographers in certain locations or with certain types of expertise. The cost of a 12-month listing in the directory is $1500 for a 12-image portfolio and $2200 for a 24-image portfolio. Postings can be purchased online. E-mail additional inquiries to: [email protected].

Desert Dolphin Adds Three Photographers: Desert Dolphin, the Colorado-based agency that prides itself on offering images outside the realm of the expected, has chosen three new photographers to join the limited roster of talented shooter the agency represents.

Claudia Kuhn offers images with a fresh, “captured-moment” quality instead of the more formal, set-up look often found in other lifestyle shots.

Reinhard Dirscher supplies underwater photography from some of the most exotic locations on the planet. His images juggle multiple elements, often in positions that take advantage of the natural light.

Alessandro Zanazzo shoots fashion and glamour in Rome, Italy, where he also teaches photographer at American John Cabot University. His work celebrates femininity with a more subtle and sensual European flavor that is often lacking in the States.

According to Desert Dolphin co-founder Lindamarie Ambrose, their agency doubled in size in 2002 but is sticking to their business plan of representing just a few, selected photographers. In 2002, the company turned away more than 100 photographers. (Desert Dolphin: www.desertdolphin.com)

MatchLight Software Licenses Backgrounds to Index Stock Imagery: MatchLight Software, which offers location background images and image-compositing software to studio photographers, has licensed its entire library of 25,000 royalty-free “Smart Images” to Index Stock Imagery. “Smart Images” are tagged with LightMap? information that make it easier to digitally combine photos shot in a studio with the MatchLight's background images. The LightMap data tells photographers how to set up the studio lighting for optimum blending with the stock background photo.

The technology makes it possible for designers of apparel ads and catalogs to obtain realistic-looking studio shots that make it appear as if the models had been photographed in exotic locales around the world. The images went “live” on the Index Stock Imagery site in August. (MatchLight Software: www.matchlightinc.com; Index Stock Imagery: www.indexstock.com)