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When It Comes to SEO, a Picture Is NOT Worth a Thousand Words By Levi Wardelllevi-wardellcloseAuthor: Levi Wardell See Author's Posts (1) Recent Posts * When It Comes to SEO, a Picture Is NOT Worth a Thousand Words Levi Wardell is a Washington, D.C.-based marketing professional and photographer. With 10 years of experience in online marketing for companies of all sizes, Levi currently focuses on helping fellow photographers leverage the power of search engine optimization. You can follow Levi's blog at his Web site. Levi's photography has been seen in office settings, local newspapers, marketing documents, and most recently on display at the Mark Whistler Gallery in Baltimore. When traveling for work, Levi oftentimes found himself searching the Web for the best places to photograph in various cities. With no consistent luck finding such a resource, Levi created a directory for all photographers to enjoy -- The Best Places To Photograph Directory. in Business of Photography on December 8th, 2008 As a photographer, you face unique challenges in optimizing your Web site for search engines. Fundamentally, you want your site to showcase your work; unfortunately, a picture is not worth a thousand words to Google. Sure, Google takes hundreds of variables into consideration when building search engine result pages (SERPs). But while a human can look at your photographs and feel the expressed emotions, understand the story you're telling, and get a sense for what your expertise is, a search engine needs to be told with text. That's why, for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, it's important for your site to combine text-rich content with a solid visual representation of your work.

Taking Stock By Angela Wolff Back in the 80s and 90s, "stock" was the name of the game. The economy was good, the market was hungry, and agencies hustled to get their photographers the biggest clients at the best rates. But then came agency consolidation. New contracts were issued, and many photographers felt their "agents" had become vendors, chipping away at prices, demanding higher sales percentages, and leaving their photographers to fend for themselves. Some photographers have become frustrated and have left the stock game altogether. Others have simply decided to take matters into their own hands. Many are collecting fees from images still represented by the big agencies, while cultivating profitable stock models of their own. They have found ways - by creating their own e-commerce sites, by capitalizing on niche specialties, by maintaining hands-on relationships with buyers, or by turning low-profit deals into moneymakers - to make the most of the current stock market. The photographers we talked to all said that, when licensing their own images, they garnered higher fees than agencies would have. Not just higher than the percentage split they'd usually see on their commission statements, but fees higher than what agencies typically charge their clients in the first place. The reason: As the big agencies gobbled up more and more small agencies and subsequently cut their image libraries, they not only offered lower revenues to their photographers, they also gave their clients fewer options and fewer services.

Digital Photography Resources Some years ago, professional-caliber digital cameras began to match, and then to exceed, the capabilities of standard film for many commercial applications. Today, digital photography has taken a firm hold on the market. Both technical and business problems remain to be solved, however, and this page offers some resources to help you find good solutions. There still are, and may always be, certain market niches where silver-halide film reigns supreme. But for most photographers, as for most publishers and advertisers, the technical challenge is no longer to make digital photography work, but rather to get the most productivity and pizzazz from the medium. The business challenge is to forge a new, industry-wide consensus on cost recovery and financial best practices.

Read our business articles online This section contains a variety of articles on the business of publication photography that cover topics ranging from legal and marketing matters to the intricacies of doing business in the digital environment. Periodically, we will be adding new articles, so please visit again.

Using Twitter… 'The Smart Way' by Guest Poster on December 9, 2008 in Twitter Tools, Twitter for Beginners Today Mark Ramskill (@ramskill) from SubHub, takes a look at some of the steps that new Twitter users can go through to get going. Twitter, having been quickly adopted initially by key influencers, has grown into a mass-market communication tool, with millions of users. If you're publishing content, undertaking online marketing, and looking to keep up with the latest trends in anything web related then Twitter should be featuring highly as a 'weapon of choice'. In this article I'll be assuming you are new to Twitter, and that rather than wanting to use Twitter as a way of simply keeping up with friends, you want to use it as a tool for valuable engagement and maximum effect, avoiding the white noise that Twitter can also create if used incorrectly. I call this 'Using Twitter, the Smart Way'.

Winds of Change: Is it hurricane season in the photo business? Q&A with creative consultant Carolyn Potts Carolyn Potts was a featured speaker at the ASMP member's meeting held in New York during PDN PhotoPlus Expo. An article with insights from her presentation was published in the ASMP Bulletin's Year End issue. As a complement to the article in print, this online Q&A features more of Potts's marketing insights.

For a second answer to the question of how photographers will market their work over the next five to ten years we turned to leading UK-based landscape, documentary and fine art photographer Simon Norfolk. Said Simon: "In the few weeks between being asked to write this piece and me actually sitting down to do it, the international financial system has dissolved and the key banks nationalized. All the money I had squirreled away to pay my future taxes and something for Mr and Mrs Norfolk's old age has disappeared in a bizarre Icelandic banking collapse. So my prognosis about the economy over the next 5-10 years is not very optimistic, I'm afraid. I gave up trying to make a living from editorial a few years ago, instead selling my work as limited edition fine art prints through galleries in London, New York and Los Angeles. I still work for magazines - most of what goes on the gallery wall starts out as a magazine commission - but I see magazine fees as start-up capital.

Wakes Gilles Peress September was already a dark month for New Yorkers. Then the bull market died. Gilles Peress attended the memorials at the World Trade Center and at Wall Street.

Words of Wisdom: Chad A. Stevens on learning important multimedia skills Posted by Jessica Stuart, October 1st, 2009 No Comments » We're kicking off a new series on the blog, talking with educators and journalism students about the value of Journalism school and the multimedia skills students need to start their careers. There has been a lot of discussion lately on whether it's worth it to go to Journalism school, and whether students are learning the multimedia skills they need to be successful in a pretty rough market. As the school year gets back underway, we're getting more and more questions from students wondering what skills they need to acquire to land jobs. Obviously, there are no simple answers to these questions, but we hope to offer up some words of wisdom for students and others interested in the profession, especially during this time of transition. Chad2 We're going to kick it off with Chad A. Stevens- a former MediaStorm Producer, who is now an Assistant Professor at UNC Chapel Hill.

Words of Wisdom: Chad A. Stevens on learning important multimedia skills Posted by Jessica Stuart, October 1st, 2009 No Comments » We're kicking off a new series on the blog, talking with educators and journalism students about the value of Journalism school and the multimedia skills students need to start their careers. There has been a lot of discussion lately on whether it's worth it to go to Journalism school, and whether students are learning the multimedia skills they need to be successful in a pretty rough market. As the school year gets back underway, we're getting more and more questions from students wondering what skills they need to acquire to land jobs. Obviously, there are no simple answers to these questions, but we hope to offer up some words of wisdom for students and others interested in the profession, especially during this time of transition. Chad2 We're going to kick it off with Chad A. Stevens- a former MediaStorm Producer, who is now an Assistant Professor at UNC Chapel Hill.

There are a myriad of options out there right now when it comes to tools for multimedia storytelling. The combination of tools you use can be your greatest strength or your greatest weakness. The important thing is to find the right combination of gear that fits your style of shooting and allows you to tell the best story possible. Below is a list of tools that we may use a combination of on any given multimedia shoot. Again the importance is to find what combination works best for you. Multimedia tools are constantly evolving. There are many options on the market from which you can mix and match to best suit your needs. The following describes our current field production kit.

there are more than 55,000 artists from all over the world contributing their artwork to iStock. Their images, illustrations, and videos sell in the world's busiest royalty-free market

Research Institute Home Conducting Research Photo Study Collection Photo Study Collection Guide to the Photo Study Collection and Database Search the Photo Study Collection Database The Photo Study Collection's two million photographs facilitate supplementary and original pictorial research for the study of fine arts from antiquity to the modern period. The collection's strength lies in the photographic reproduction of western art, architecture, and decorative arts. Patrons can conduct productive research on the history of collecting (provenance, art market, connoisseurship), iconography, conservation, historiography, and the history of reproductions. Approximately half of the photographic holdings in the Photo Study Collection are represented by descriptive, non-pictorial records in the Photo Study Collection Database, which is available online to all users. This research database is a work in progress, mostly comprising these descriptive records. Images will be added to the database periodically. The holdings of the Photo Study Collection are available for research by stack readers and extended readers. Initial appointments with a Reference Librarian are strongly encouraged. For appointments and reference inquiries contact Library Reference.

Over the past 20 years, photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank has been something of a recluse, a sort of art-world J.D. Salinger, avoiding the public and generally declining requests for interviews. Dividing his time between his old loft on Bleecker Street in Manhattan and a former fisherman's shack on the coast of Nova Scotia, Frank has deliberately eschewed the trappings of celebrity in recent years despite growing acclaim for his work as a photographer--or perhaps because of it. In 1989 he became so fed up with the commercialization of the photography market that he nailed a stack of his rare vintage photographs to a board, tied it up with baling wire, and called that his art work. Such acts of defiance have only added to the legend of Frank's irascibility and desire to be left alone.

THEORY - "Boris Mikhailov: A Terrible Beauty" A Terrible Beauty by Sue Hubbard Boris Mikhailov: Case History The Saatchi Gallery 13th September- 25th November Boris Mikhailov is sixty-three, has dyed black hair, a white moustache and a young wife. Born in Kharkov in the Ukraine, he has recently exhibited at The Photographers' Gallery, just been awarded the Citibank Photography Prize and is now showing his work, Case History, which consists of over 400 photographs taken in the Ukraine, at The Saatchi Gallery. For anyone with a taste in postmodern irony, there is plenty to be found here. For Mikhailov takes pictures of the bomzhes, the homeless down and outs, victims of the economic and social collapse in the former USSR. But Boris Mikhailov is no Bill Brandt or Don McCullen capturing life's gritty realities with a clear humanist agenda, nor is he an objective eye simply documenting what he sees from behind his lens. Rather he is a director, a creator of mise en scènes, who seeks out the alcoholic, the drug addict, the ill and the dispossessed and then pays them not only to pose for him, but to expose themselves - genitals, scars, menstrual blood and hernias - to his scrutinizing gaze. This is the ultimate market exchange, the sale, for a few kopeks, of these peoples' only resource, their bodies. Like all capitalists and entrepreneurs they sell what they have for the best offer, in this case to a photographer who takes their pictures, which will then be consumed by the international art world. The irony is brought full circle, in a game of signifiers and signs, by the fact that it is Saatchi, the advertising guru who gave us 18 years of Thatcherism, who is playing host to these photos of some of the world's most abject. What, I kept wondering, would these subjects make of the private view, where the likes of Tracy Emin quaff champagne in her latest Agnès B, surrounded by their exposed and blistered penises, black eyes and filthy bodies; and what does it

Pavilion is a visual arts commissioning agency that collaborates with artists and audiences to make exceptional new works of art, using photography and digital lens based media. Pavilion invests in the talent of emerging photographers. It does this through; commissions, exhibitions and portfolio review sessions. Pavilion also supports emerging artists into the art market through its print sales initiative. Pavilion's curated education programme is an ongoing investement in the creative development of young people. The programme produces artist-led, relational visual arts experiences, with audiences and in particular with young disadvantaged people. Through Pavilion's new gallery, national exhibitions, publications, critical dialogue, a website including an online gallery, events and participation, Pavilion responds to and cultivates audience engagement. We are a Leeds-based company with over 25 years experience in engaging with people and making photography accessible and relevant to a wide audience.

David Goldblatt was born in Randfontein in 1930. After a spell in his family's clothing business, he became a full-time photographer in 1963. In addition to pursuing his own work, he has photographed for magazines, corporations, advertising agencies, and other institutions in South Africa and abroad. His work has been exhibited in South Africa, Europe, Britain, the United States, and Australia. In 1989, Goldblatt founded the Market Photography Workshop in Johannesburg, which has provided young South Africans with an entry into photography. He has won numerous award including the Hasselblad International Foundation Award in Photography in 2006.

AKE Group The world of the 21st century presents many risks to the effective development and prosecution of business, particularly in developing markets. While modern communication has created the impression of a global village it has distorted our perception of the reality of risk. Since 1991 AKE has helped clients perform more effectively despite the risks of their operational environment. Our holistic approach to risk mitigation seeks to provide solutions with the aim of assisting our clients: 'To protect the integrity of the operation in order to maximise potential' AKE's six service lines: Intelligence, Security, Training, Medical, Contingencies (Emergency Planning, Crisis Management and Crisis Response) and Insurance create a unique capability to deliver effective solutions for clients. AKE provides integrated solutions, added value and Assures Integrity

THEORY - "Walker Evans and American Life" Scavenging the Landscape: Walker Evans and American life Afterimage, Jan-Feb, 1996 by Melissa Rachleff The Great American Depression, spanning the 1930s, inscribed into the culture a psychic crisis. Faith in industrial ingenuity, heralded as "progressive," came unhinged. By 1933, four years after the stock market crash, one quarter of the work force was unemployed.(1) Into this dilemma came a multitude of photographic projects, the most famous of which were sponsored by the federal government in the form of agencies that provided relief to farmers, the unemployed and others. The most completely realized project was the documentation of conditions faced by displaced farmers, recorded by the Historic Section of the Resettlement Administration (RA), later the Farm Security Administration (FSA). The socially-oriented photographic book made its appearance, as did the photographic magazine, best exemplified by Life in 1936. Many of the best known American photographers came to prominence during the Depression, including Berenice Abbott, Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks and Margaret Bourke-White. Of all the photographers from that era, one represented the quintessential photographic style of the Depression while remaining an elusive figure in photographic history: Walker Evans (1903-1975).

GalleryBook-Image About Photography-Now Fine Art Photography-Now is the internet's premier site dedicated to people seriously interested in contemporary and classical photography. The aim of Photography-Now is to provide an innovative online structure for artists, galleries and collectors and offer an insight into the current state of fine art photography in a pioneering new way. We do not market any artwork at all, our sole vision and concept is to bring an emotive dialog between artists, galleries, collectors and visitors - helping them with our innovative online presentations to meet each other. We accept fine art photographers and galleries who submit appropriate content about fine art photography of high standards. The goal of Fine Art Photography-Now is to point out outstanding artists with their diversity and give them the opportunity to show their visions to a much bigger and wider audience. With over 10 Million Visitors viewing more than 60 Million pages since we started in 2004, our website is now renowned among connoisseurs of fine art photography as the place to find information about some of the best photographic work online.

Friday, December 05, 2008 Four Reasons to Consider Working for Free The U.S. stock market has been cut in half. And some countries have it worse than we do. Companies are shedding jobs like there is no tomorrow. And heaven help you if you work for a newspaper or a magazine. The US auto industry is on the verge of imploding. People are losing their homes to foreclosure. And, on the off chance that you had the nerve to try to buy something, credit is almost impossible to come by. It is against that backdrop that I would like to talk about working for free.