Index Stock Imagery, Inc.: March 2006 Archives

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March 30, 2006

INDEX STOCK IMAGERY WILL REPRESENT PURESTOCK RF

New York, March, 2006 – Index Stock Imagery, www.indexstock.com, has agreed to represent Superstock’s dynamic Purestock royalty free image collection. This new collection will join a site that is already rich in RF content, with 250,000 high res royalty free images available for immediate download.

Index’s library includes many of the world’s top royalty free image collections, and covers a broad range of subjects, including business, lifestyle, high tech, sports, concepts, travel, arts, food, health, elements and backgrounds. The Purestock collection will add even more variety to these image categories.

"We are delighted to add the PureStock image collection, and expand the depth and breadth of our Royalty Free offering, " says Dan Russelman, President of Index Stock Imagery. “We will launch with about 10,000 of Purestock’s top images, and look forward to a rich relationship.”

The Purestock Royalty Free brand is designed to provide the professional creative community with quality images at the highest resolutions and at a competitive price. “Purestock offers a unique combination of high quality, image variety, and a competitive price not available anywhere else in the industry,” said Thomas V. Butta, CEO of SuperStock, Inc. “We are pleased to have Index Stock Imagery join our network of over 120 distributors worldwide.”

The Purestock collection currently consists of 30 CD titles and 10,000 single images. An aggressive schedule of image production will add 30 new CD titles and 15,000 single images during the next year.

About a21/SuperStock
a21 (http://www.a21group.com) is a leading digital content marketplace for the professional creative community. Through SuperStock (http://www.superstock.com), a21 delivers high quality images and exceptional customer service. Together a21 and SuperStock provide a whole new level of image access to the best photographers, artists, photography agencies and customers in the business, offering a valuable and viable choice in the stock image industry.

About Index Stock
Index Stock Imagery, Inc.™ The Independent Choice For Your Imagination, is an award winning and innovative supplier of photographs, illustrations, and digital images. It represents over 1,700 professional photographers and 80 independent still image providers and has agents in 55 foreign countries. It represents dozens of domestic collections and has 1,000,000 images available online, of which 250,000 are Royalty Free images. Index was the first stock agency to begin storing and distributing images electronically. It started scanning its collection in 1992 and launched its first e-commerce site in 1994. Index’s million-image library is one of the largest and most complete collections of commercially available images in the world. Its four major Web sites, http://www.indexstock.com, http://www.indexopen.com, http://www.photostogo.com, and http://www.photostogounlimited.com, support emailable lightboxes, e-commerce shopping, prints, posters, postcards, cell phone wallpapers, and customized price grids and high-res comps, for qualified customers in the high end design, Web marketing, small business and consumer marketplaces.
Index Stock Imagery, Inc. is a registered trademark. For more information on the Company, please visit its corporate Web site at www.indexstockimagery.com.

Contact:

Pat Hunt
path@indexstock.com

Posted by Pat at 07:21 PM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2006

Our Newest Images, March 28, 2006- Business Professionals, Babies, Food and Fitness, White Backgrounds, Caribbean Islands

We are always adding new, fresh images to our already spectacular collection. Take a look and see the newest images we have added.

Our newest Rights Managed Images

Our newest Royalty Free Images

Check back to see a whole new set of images next week.

Posted by Valerie at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)

Awards- Robert Cattan

Index Stock Imagery is always proud to announce the awards given to their top artists. Robert Cattan scored in the Photoshop Digital Imaging Competition, sponsored by Adobe.

PRESS RELEASE

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Fourth Annual Photoworkshop.com Digital Imaging Competition, sponsored by Adobe.

We had nearly 6,000 entries from some very creative photographers, and awarded six top winners in two categories. Plus 100 honorable mentions (50 from each category). Robert Cattan was one of those winners.

Robert Cattan
www.cattanart.com

Copyright (c) Robert Cattan

For more of Robert's images:
http://www.indexstock.com/store/search.asp?SearchStr=///direct 392PHOTOGCODE

Posted by Pat at 03:23 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2006

Mind and Mood Set Us Apart

By Leslie Hughes

Leslie Hughes, long time top executive in the Stock Photography industry, describes how photo production needs to incorporate mindset, mood and emotionalism in today’s market. It’s all about the message.

I was talking with a group of professional photographers recently about creating stock content and the production process that they go through when they plan shoots. The topics discussed ranged from subject matter, context, model selection & street casting, to locations and cost. The conversation was animated, interesting, and the debate lively. But, the discussion changed when I brought up the subject of ‘mind, mood and message,’ and when I asked what preliminary work they do on building out the concepts and mood methodology for the production, they were confused.

The photographers in this particular group had never thought of planning ahead for the concepting, or the mind and mood methodology of a shoot. The more we discussed this, the more I realized that this group was not alone. Many (perhaps most) don’t give it a thought, and assume the concept and mood will happen naturally and by instinct as the production evolves. Perhaps this is how it has always been done. But, doing what we have always done puts us in danger of becoming obsolete. The sheer speed and breadth of change in today’s world, combined with the massive access to content is forcing us to adjust our most basic assumptions. In today’s world, a customer expects to be asked for and to get what they want. If they aren’t/don’t, they will seek it elsewhere.

Yes, there is that word again… customer. It is a word that I use a lot. It is still all about the customer. We need to understand their wants and needs. And, as those wants and needs change, we need to adjust accordingly. This is also true in how we approach the creation of photography, and visually interpret or emotionally depict a concept in the construct of an image.

Mind and mood methodology simply put, is trying to understand the mindset and the mood of the target audience in relation to the product being offered. Concepting is interpreting that mindset and mood into something emotional and meaningful whether in an image or a campaign.

For example, one of the most talked about campaigns today is the Dove campaign for “real women.” This campaign struck a cord with women consumers at the right time and is very relevant today because of the mindset of women. Mood can be a general mood in relation to a product, or more specific to a point in time. I read an article recently that complained that the Dove campaign had missed the “mood” in London because it launched too late for the summer season. Women were not in the mood for firming creams post-bikini season. So while the same campaign was relevant in the minds of the women it was targeting, the campaign was not having the same impact because they were not in the mood.

In this increasingly competitive world, and in a world where advertisers and designers are researching and planning for every detail in the campaigns they create, it could be a distinct competitive advantage for photographers to spend a little time considering where the photography is going (the audiences/the society), trying to understand how campaigns are crafted, and designing photos (as much as possible) for the brands likely to be targeted for promotion.

The most successful commercial photography today (based on price per image) is that used in consumer advertising and thus for consumer branding. Therefore, creating photography for commercial use is really about creating photography for consumer branding. Advertising agencies and designers have for years studied and explored trends, and have defined “brand personalities” as part of building and designing for brands that tap an emotional chord with the customers targeted. They develop and build an understanding of the emotional qualities that the brands should evoke from the customer. Because imagery is often the most impactful and evocative piece of a campaign, designers will use mood boards to help clients define the brand personality as part of the preliminary work being done. The boards are usually full of images that project moods like soft and comforting, rugged, nesting and quiet, independent and free-spirited, sexy, stylish, etc…

Mood boards can be powerful tools helping clients express the emotional quality of the brand being promoted. Designers are charged with creating a brand image that is deep and meaningful. This is sometimes for products that are not necessarily deep and meaningful themselves – at least in the minds of the customer.

Let’s take the example of automobile tire advertising. Two different companies create two entirely different tire campaigns based on their target customers and their unique brand positioning. The concept for first brand is “safety.” The brand attributes encompass quality, protection, safety, caring, and being family oriented. You would never see a speeding car in a campaign for this company. They have used a baby-sitting inside the “safe” confines of their tires.

The second company is promoting to a completely different “mindset” and has built their campaign around “speed.” The ads for this company have red and yellow sports cars in them appearing as though they are racing by. While this is virtually the same product, this is obviously a very different client/brand relationship; a very different “mind and mood” orientation.

While the execution of these two campaigns themselves is totally different, the differences can be more subtle – a family shoot with one orientation toward more “traditional” families and one with a new definition of “family” as seen in this Volvo ad.

For a photographer shooting stock photography for agencies that sell around the globe, mind and mood methodology can be used to help develop a multi-cultural approach as well. It is really about understanding the customer’s mindset and mood. Start with the market you will be targeting. Where do most of their sales come from? The US, Europe, Asia? Look at the society. Is it family oriented? Are there trends you can point to, like nesting, or holistic medicine, growth in certain demographics, events that have created movement in one direction or another.

If you are shooting directly for design firms and ad agencies, what information are you asking for with your shoot brief? Do they create mood boards? Will they share copies? Have they defined brand attributes? When are they bringing you in to the creative discussions? Are they telling you what to shoot or what they want to achieve? The idea is to get connected in a meaningful way.

The best performers in any situation, whether in art or business or life, are generally driven by ideas and innovation, instinct and imagination. These things are stimulated by our experiences and our surroundings. As you evaluate what you are creating, look around, talk to those around you and think about the mind and mood of those for which you create. Shooting great images may not be enough anymore because there are so many great images available. The real opportunity for driving relevance and differentiation will be seized by those that go beyond to connect with customers in a meaningful way, at the right time, with imagery that speaks to the right mindset and mood of the customer today.

Posted by Pat at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2006

Designing for the Trash Can

by Ryan Saghir

"I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward."
Thomas Edison

This is possibly one of the hardest concepts for a designer to come to grips with. You put your heart and soul into a project, constantly think about it during your waking (and as common with designers, unwaking) hours. You go through dozens upon dozens of design concepts in your head long before even putting pencil to paper, or cursor to document. You study your audience, ponder the effect, create the mockup, rework the mockup, and finally arrive at the completed piece -- only to have it completely rejected (usually by someone with little design experience.) A flurry of emotions ensue: anger, frustration, discouragement, and in many cases abandonment.

It's funny, because the portfolios of prolific designers probably account for only 5% of the actual work they've done. The final pieces are rarely the 'best' pieces either, just the 'accepted' ones. The majority of commercial artwork viewable by the public has no resemblance to the original piece spawned by the creative mind. It's the on-going battle that every designer must face, and one that most designers simply can't handle. But to continue in this field, you must learn how to deal with the inevitable rejection - learn not to take it personally - and understand that the design may have a purpose someday. Set the design aside for future use. Abandonment should never be the result. The rejected design was missing something that you didn't see (perhaps because you were too close), so saving it for later use will allow you to bring it back from the ashes, and rework it until it's better.

So rather than designing for public consumption, try designing for the Trash Can. Realize that this design will probably never see the light of day, and you should prepare yourself ahead of time so that rejection doesn't create an obstacle for future progress. Self sabotage is the leading cause of bad design.

Once you've come to that realization, treat the Trash Can like an Archive instead (ala Gmail), so you can take some comfort in the rejection. Embrace the disposable nature of artwork and in turn abandonment won't ensue. Perhaps another client will find the value in your vision

Posted by Pat at 12:15 AM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2006

Robert Houser Expands His Vision

We have highlighted Robert’s professional work by profiling the comments from CFO magazine: http://www.indexstockimagery.com/archives/2006/03/robert_houser_i.htmlNow Robert tells us in his own words, how he expands his vision and allows his work to evolve.

“Before I started shooting business portraiture, I shot travel work by traveling around the world for an adventure travel company. From that, I began shooting sports images for magazines – all the while developing a large stock file. When I began shooting portraiture for corporations and magazines, I continued using lifestyle stock as my outlet for that side of me that wanted to stay outside. It’s been a great outlet, and I’ve continued to develop that side of my work. I recently have begun to bring it into the fold of my portraiture – using more available light and taking people into the landscape. Getting these two sides of my work to collide has been a good thing for me creatively.

Now, the work I’m doing for stock has been developed out of self assignments that I’ve been working on from more of a project basis. Instead of saying - I’m going to go out and shoot someone biking - I’ve been following themes for a series of shoots. Recently that has led me to shoot images related to fatherhood – not the typical things that society expects fathers to be doing, but the mundane reality around modern day fathers. They too are taking their daughters to ballet class, going to the grocery store and the Laundromat with the kids. And, as a father, I’ve always photographed my own kids and their lives – something I want to do more of as a means of exercising my creativity while spending time with them.

I still generate a lot of stock with my corporate work – looking at office environments the same way I would approach a outdoor landscape – looking for the humor in the mundane.”

www.roberthouser.com

For more of Robert's images:
http://www.indexstock.com/store/search.asp?SearchStr=///direct 841PHOTOGCODE

Posted by Pat at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)

Our Newest Images-March 21, 2006- Flowers, Animals, Bridges, Highways, Outdoor and Active Lifestyles

We are always adding new, fresh images to our already spectacular collection. Take a look and see the newest images we have added.

Our newest Rights Managed Images

Our newest Royalty Free Images

Check back to see a whole new set of images next week.

Posted by Valerie at 04:42 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2006

Jim Wark - Index Artist

The Professional Aerial Photographers Association, International (PAPA) is proud to announce that Jim Wark, owner of Airphoto, North America of Pueblo, CO was presented with the first ever Epson Aerial Photographer of the Year Award at the organization’s annual conference in February.

PAPA International Professional Aerial Photographers Association, International, News Release 3/13/06
PUEBLO, COLORADO PHOTOGRAPHER HONORED AS
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

ORLANDO, FL, Feb. 25, 2006 -- The Professional Aerial Photographers Association, International (PAPA) is proud to announce that Jim Wark, owner of Airphoto, North America of Pueblo, CO was presented with the first ever Epson Aerial Photographer of the Year Award at the organization’s annual conference in February. Jim was selected for this prestigious honor, which is co-sponsored by Epson Corporation, for his outstanding photographic skills, his accomplishments in his field over the last year, ongoing support and encouragement to his colleagues and dedication to his craft.

“The selection of Jim Wark as the Aerial Photographer of the Year, was unanimous by the selection committee,” said Julie Belanger, Executive Director of PAPA, “Jim’s photography speaks for itself, but more than that, Jim is a generous supporter of PAPA encouraging colleagues to improve their photographic skills and reach for the sky in their art.”

As a sponsor of the award, Epson has the opportunity to feature one of Jim’s aerials in their advertising campaigns. The aerial, specially selected for Epson, is entitled Castle Butte, Monument Valley, Utah. The criteria for the selection of the Aerial Photographer of the Year involved an inquiry into the photographer’s accomplishments of the previous twelve months including photographic skills, published works and public exhibitions of his or her photography, and activities on behalf of his or her community of aerial photographers.

In addition to the recent publishing his fourth book, America, Flying High, Jim’s photographs are published worldwide in books and magazines and are currently shown (until April 1, 2006) as a one-man exhibition at the Hudson River Museum in White Plains, New York entitled, The American Suburb. He was also a recent guest lecturer on aerial photography at Yale University in New Haven, CT.

Jim has authored and/or provided all the aerial photography for four books:
America, Flying High; A Field Guide to Sprawl; Discovering Lewis & Clark from the Air and Colorado, An Aerial Geography of the Highest State. .Currently, he is working with a PAPA colleague on a new book, Flying High, Canada.

In 2005, Jim was awarded PAPA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the first ever award of its kind for the Association. Jim’s work can be viewed at www.airphotona.com.

PAPA International is a professional trade organization, comprised of aerial photographers throughout the world. To read more about PAPA got to: www.papainternational.org

Image copyright, Jim Wark
For more of Jim's images:
http://www.indexstock.com/store/search.asp?SearchStr=///direct 1502PHOTOGCODE

Posted by Pat at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)

Robert Houser - Index Artist

Shooting portraits of business people for the past 10 years, Robert Houser moved his work away from the stylized lighting of the late 90s, and the post-dot-com era hard light ring-flash look, to a more natural light approach.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Business Magazine Redesigns – No More Stale Posed Suits

San Francisco - January 20, 2006 – After a redesign with David Armario Design in San Francisco, CFO Magazine’s design intent was to have images that depict CFOs in a more fresh, natural look. They were looking not the formalized lit portraits of other business publications, but images that reflected a natural edge to the subjects. Carol Lieb, photo editor for CFO, assigned Robert Houser, San Francisco Bay Area photographer, to shoot the October cover of Pacific Gas + Electric’s CEO. “Bob’s portfolio had the natural fresh imagery that encompassed this redesign.”

Shooting portraits of business people for the past 10 years, Houser moved his work away from the stylized lighting of the late 90s, and the post-dot-com era hard light, ring-flash look, to a more natural light approach. Moving away from the style direction of some of his previous clients like Wired and Business Week, he pushed himself to put away his lights and study his subjects and their environments from what they offered, both for lighting and personal engagement. “Compositionally, I liked the hyper-reality, modern edge imagery that we were seeing in the early part of this decade, but I couldn’t get past the way the images felt so devoid of emotion.”

In the business portraiture world of PR flacks and tight executive schedules, taking a more organic approach to lighting his subjects became a challenge beyond composition. “I know I can always set up lights and create something, but I want to push myself to find something that’s there already, some place where I can engage the subject instead of just shooting them.”

His subjects’ ease in front of the camera certainly benefits from this approach. PG+E’s CEO remarked on how no one had ever taken him outside the building before, but on the CFO cover shoot, the two walked for 4 blocks, stopping periodically at the locations Houser had scouted in advance.

“While we walked, I was able to bring him to each setting without stopping our conversation. Shooting him was just an extension of the conversation we were having. In total we spent 45 minutes with him, and managed to deliver to the art department 7 different situations. It shocked me that no one had ever taken this CEO across the street, where the afternoon light in front of the San Francisco Federal Reserve was gorgeous.” Robert Lesser, Art Director for CFO agreed, as the Fed image was selected for the October cover. The inside table of contents featured the CEO sitting on a wall beneath a row of palm trees.

The work fell in line so perfectly with CFO’s redesign concept that they hired Houser to shoot the next cover as well. The image chosen for the November cover was shot on the stairwell to an outdoor parking lot. This shoot was another great conversation, that lasted through 5 or 6 scenarios, almost all with available light.

To date, three of the first seven covers since the redesign have been shot by Houser.

###

For more information, or to schedule an interview, please contact:
Robert Houser at 415 252 7818 or email to bob@roberthouser.com
http://roberthouser.com
For more of Robert's images:
http://www.indexstock.com/store/search.asp?SearchStr=///direct 841PHOTOGCODE

Posted by Pat at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2006

Our Newest Images-March 14, 2006-Business People, Casual Portraits, School Children, Amusement Parks, Halloween

We are always adding new, fresh images to our already spectacular collection. Take a look and see the newest images we have added.

Our newest Royalty Free Images

Check back to see a whole new set of images next week.

Posted by Valerie at 06:27 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2006

Rediff.com on Bahar Gidwani

Rediff.com is the top online magazine for news about India abroad. Their current article about Bahar Gidwani, CEO of Index Stock Imagery, is revealing and interesting:

"Bahar Gidwani, Chief Executive Officer of the New York-based Index Stock Imagery, Inc, has a 'one-line bio' that reads: 'Digital image marketing and management since 1991'. After thinking about it for a bit, you come to realise why he needn't say more. The man has been doing it for over a decade, after all, and doing it well, so why elaborate?" PLEASE READ COMPLETE ARTICLE -

http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/mar/07binter.htm

Posted by Pat at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2006

Our Newest Images, March 7, 2006- Celebrities, Architecture, Animals, Castles, International Locations

We are always adding new, fresh images to our already spectacular collection. Take a look and see the newest images we have added.

Our newest Rights Managed Images

Our newest Royalty Free Images

Check back to see a whole new set of images next week.

Posted by Valerie at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2006

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN

TIFFANY RICARDO
AN INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC NARRATIVE ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN

David Wasserman, one of Index Stock’s creative conceptual photographers, is best known for his whimsical and fun images of his aging mother. David is also a teacher at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA, specializing in color theory and conceptual photography. As a top instructor, devoted to his students, David’s most enjoyable project this year is working with Tiffany Riccardo, his MFA candidate.

Tiffany is working to curate a photographic show that harkens back to “The Family of Man,” where it will be available for viewing both online and selected galleries around the US and the world. The goal of Only Human is to visually discuss what we have in common as people independent of cultural differences. To this end Tiffany is designing all the visual support materials, both in print and cyber, and overseeing the whole project.

According to David, “We hope that Index photographers will become involved in this project. The benefit to the photographers is being involved with a cutting edge approach to exhibiting their work. We are proud that the United Nations Association of San Francisco, and Amnesty International USA are have become co-sponsors for this thesis project.”

Project Description
EXHIBIT LOCATION:
79 New Montgomery Gallery
EXHIBIT DATE:
March 1 - March 31, 2007
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.onlyhumanexhibit.org
THE NATURE AND MISSION OF THE WORK, ONLY HUMAN, IS AN INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBIT THAT INSPIRES DIALOGUE ABOUT THE SHARED HUMAN CONDITION, MOVES BEYOND STEREOTYPES, AND CHALLENGES PEOPLE TO RECOGNIZE THE UNITY WITHIN HUMANITY’S CULTURAL DIVERSITY.

It is a visual narrative, created by artist Tiffany Ricardo, that communicates that although no two people, cultures, or nations are alike, we are all united by our shared human heritage. My goal is to shed some positive light on a world divided by conflict by reminding people that we are all ultimately on the same team—that there is no enemy, there is no stranger. All humanity is one. I will draw on the diplomatic power of im¬age in order to inspire mutual respect, understanding, and a desire to know one another.

SCOPE AND ACTIVITIES OF WORK
With that in mind, professional and amateur photographers from around the world have been invited to share what they believe it means to be human. Each submission will serve as a piece of a puzzle that, when whole, paints a picture of an existence unique to the human experience. Some of the narrative themes that will be addressed in the exhibit are: family, emotion, community, creativity, education/in¬telligence, work, play, sports, politics/war, spirituality/religion, death and hardship. This project is an opportunity for me to use my training in design and visual communications to speak to the world, about both cultural identity and shared human identity.

The Only Human exhibit will initially be exhibited in the 79 New Montgomery Gallery in San Francisco, California from March 1 through March 30th. Additionally, Only Human will be made available to a larger national and international audience through an online exhibit and exhibit catalog. Currently, this is a one-time project. However, continuing efforts are being made to find additional venues to feature Only Hu¬man. It is a not-for-profit project, and any proceeds that may result from the project will be donated to equal rights and humanitarian organizations.

ONLY HUMAN EXHIBIT
3181 Mission St. PMB #6
San Francisco, CA 94110
United State of America