Startups battle for rights to smartphone images

In the last 5 years or so there has been a battle fought over the ownership of images uploaded to social networking sites. This has been fuelled by news organisations asking, “Are you there”, “Do you have pictures” “Send us your photos” This is feeding the apparent requirement for immediacy and the cost of course is quality. Press photographers are professionals, they have not just equipment that is appropriate to the task but they also have skills, experience and follow journalistic principles. This article in the BJP provides clues to the next nail in the coffin for press photographers. A new startup which aims to harness social media technologies to source news story photographs.

The popularity of connected devices and smartphones has transformed each of us into potential news gatherers, and now a growing number of startups are offering services to connect us with media organisations, Olivier Laurent reports

On 07 June, when Santa Monica gunman John Zawahri went on a rampage, killing his father and brother before firing on three other people near a college, CrowdMedia – a new website whose task is to filter through images posted on Twitter – was coming online for the first time. “This happened within 15 minutes of our launch,” says CEO Martin Roldan. “We were able to get the licence for the only images shot from inside the college while it was happening. The photographs were picked up by a couple of news organisations, including the Huffington Post. It showed that CrowdMedia worked.” 

 Based in Montreal, CrowdMedia is the latest startup in the battle for people’s pictures, as smartphone devices have transformed us all into potential press photographers, ready to transmit images of newsworthy events as they happen.

“We built a social media monitoring tool, Ejenio, last year,” says Roldan. “It allowed businesses to monitor what people were saying about them on Twitter and Facebook. While we were working on Ejenio, we realised there were a lot of good, newsworthy images on Twitter, but media organisations often had trouble finding them and getting the rights to use them. We saw a real niche there, so we shifted our focus to photography.”

Launched in June, the platform sifts through more than 150 million social photographs posted on Twitter in real-time. Using geolocation information and keywords entered by staff, CrowdMedia selects 0.03 percent of these images which it deems newsworthy. “We input that information manually, but we’re working on tweaks to improve our algorithm, and soon the platform will be able to detect automatically when something happens around the world, and search for relevant images,” explains Roldan.

“The beauty of it is that, unlike other startups relying on mobile apps that users have to install in the first place, our audience and user base is already there. When we find a newsworthy image, the platform automatically sends a tweet to the user, who just has to click on a link to confirm that the photograph is his and whether he accepts to sell it for half of the proceeds.”

CrowdMedia sells a non-exclusive licence for $20, whatever the image’s content. “After 48 hours, that price goes down to $5 because we are only interested in what is happening in real time,” Roldan explains. “We are aware that $20 is a low figure and this has been the only criticism we have received so far. Of course, we’re listening to what people are saying. But it might be that it’s the right kind of pricing and that people are just not used to that. When an event has global reach, like the recent plane crash in San Francisco, images of the scene can be sold more than 1000 times at a $20 price tag. The copyright owner could easily make $10,000.” I would ask but how many pictures used actually earn any money and how many photo journalists will there be in 10 years time if this becomes the standard.

Newspapers now routinely do not employ photographers, they use freelancers who previously would have been staff, guaranteed a salary, now they are paid on a job basis and usually not enough to earn a decent living. The Fairfax group, Australia’s main newspaper group didn’t send any photographers to the 2012 Olympics apparently.

 

There are now many ways for newspapers, what an outmoded term that is, news organisations, that is better, to obtain images and certainly in some instances immediacy is important because unexpected events rarely feature experienced photo journalists as onlookers. The problem it seems to us here at OSP Towers (and we are not photo-journalists) is that the whole world is becoming dumbed down. It is obvious to us here that the nature of poor quality, both technically and visually, images just makes everyone more likely to accept less, less in every way. Soon the bottom of the barrel will be the norm. It is happening in so many of the varied creative occupations; decent writing in newspaper/online where ever, is now being superceded by blogs, which rarely have editors or any form of objective control. The creative professional, although hailed as important is being slowly edged out of the way to accommodate lower costs, and in the end the cost to all of us is a demeaned experience.

Read all of the BJP article here

Study exposes social media sites that delete photographs’ metadata – British Journal of Photography

Facebook and Twitter consistently remove the metadata from images, a new study by the International Press Telecommunications Council has revealed.

Study exposes social media sites that delete photographs' metadata – British Journal of Photography.

The interesting part about this article is the comment posted by James Dodd, here is a bit of that “The number of these thieves who actually had a budget to purchase images in the first place is next to none, so we can’t moan as if we’re losing money because this money didn’t exist. Heck, people are now googling more for free photographs than they are for photographers, this is just the nature of our industry……”

Photojournalist launches watermark app for iPhone photos

As told to Olivier Laurent at the BJP. Photojournalist John D McHugh has released a watermarking app on the iPhone in a bid to root out copyright theft on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram……..

“I developed the Marksta app because I was tired of people stealing my work on the web,” says Marksta’s founder, John D McHugh, a photojournalist best known for his work in Afghanistan. “I often work in incredibly dangerous situations to show the world the stark realities of war and revolution. I can’t describe how frustrating it is to find my images online without any credit or byline.”

 Rather than fight what can’t be fought, he says, “I’ve tried to adapt my thinking to the cold hard reality that as soon as I post a photograph online it will be copied, shared and posted around the world. If I want people to know it’s mine, whether for payment or just kudos, I see no way other than to write my name on it.”

To do so, McHugh enlisted the help of a developer to create an iPhone app that would streamline the process of adding a watermark to images.….MORE

Read more: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2233605/photojournalist-launches-watermarking-app-on-the-iphone#ixzz2IiVZnSBp
Subscribe to BJP and save money. Click here to save 29% today.

Need an Instagram Alternative? This Photo App Has Old-School Filters

So I am ambivalent about the use of camera phones for a means of making photographs. For me they are just too damn random, something which I am sure is part of the appeal to the regular user. I know people who just love Instagram, friends whose FB pages are just awash with rather boring images given a treatment to make them more interesting, my view is take better pictures. Anyway, not one to stand in the face of progress, I am no Canute or Luddite, here is a brief piece about an alternative to Instagram in case you are concerned by the world domination plans of Mark Zuckerberg.

“Many Instagram users decided to delete the app, after news broke of Facebook‘s $1 billion acquisition of the wildly popular photo app, with approximately 30 million users.

Regular smartphone photos may be too muted or rectangular for these former Instagram addicts. Enter Pinweel.

Instagram users expressed their concern with Facebook’s purchase of their favorite photo app due to privacy concerns. On the in-app camera, there is a simple on-screen flash button, one that rotates the frame and 10 beautiful filters to apply, named by years. Filter “1931″ makes square black-and-white photos, while “1987″ outlines photos like a Polaroid. Our favorite is “1999,” which washes frames over with a sunny yellow, orange tinge.

After the picture is taken, you can push it on Facebook or Twitter. You can also share photos with friends and family by creating private and public albums.”....MORE

 

Three Essential Skills for Today’s Wedding Photographer

Times….they are a changin’.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard some of the doom and gloom that’s been rumbling in our industry. And although the photo industry is different than it used to be, this isn’t necessarily bad news. The photographers who are able to successfully navigate the changing industry landscape are still running successful businesses and have adapted to ensure that their business will still be around in the years to come. Whether you’re just jumping in and are new to the industry or you’re a seasoned pro, here are three essential skills that will help you succeed.…more  Written by Katie Humphreys

photofoundation.org

A new organisation has evolved to help charities source images to support their causes. The images are donated by photographers (you) and they can work with your Flickr account I believe, so you don’t have to do much to contribute your pictures. Here is a link to their site where you can donate your images. I have only just heard about this initiative and know little other than the press release I received so may want to research further. Here is the link

20+ Professional Photoshop Photo Effects Tutorials

Considering how cold it is here in the UK you may be considering staying in and being cosy with your computer and Photoshop. These tutorials may be just what you have been looking for to liven up your images and might add to the Photoshop course you may have taken with us. There is even one on adding falling snow although I am not sure you will need that for a week or so.