The next step in my process is to start approaching businesses locally and trying to work on some commercial projects while also shooting some micro.  Has anyone done this?  How did you approach them?  (Flyer, in person, both, phone, email?)

Ultimately, I would really like to start shooting food for restaurants – they prep, I shoot.  Win-win for both of us.

Restaurant/commercial food photography seems like it would be a very interesting occupation as I keep shooting my own personal food photography.  I just need to figure out how I’m going to approach them and meet their needs as well as mine.

That’s the next step.  I’m currently working hard submitting as well as trying to restart my wedding & portrait business in Portland, Maine ( http://www.bestdayphoto.com )

I also  have 20 pending to iStock, again.  I’m following through on my promise to keep submitting there.  Next: Alamy.

Shutterstock recently turned 7 years old!

Some highlights from Shutterstock’s press release:

Today, Shutterstock’s library has over 12 million stock images and more than 200,000 stock footage clips. The site is available in 10 languages to serve a worldwide community of image buyers, and a fast, accurate search engine ensures customers can quickly find the images they need.

July 2003: Shutterstock is founded by Jon Oringer, president and CEO, who uploads 30,000 stock photos to the site.

February 9, 2006: Shutterstock is the first among its competitors to expand into stock footage.

August 5, 2008: Shutterstock launches “On Demand” subscription plans to further meet the needs of image buyers.

It makes me very happy to report Shutterstock hits 7 – but it makes me sad that I’ve done so poorly since I was such a slacker in the past!

Today Shutterstock announced that they are investing aggressively in search technology with a series of innovations in the first half of 2010.

Shutterstock’s recent search enhancements include:

• Saved Search and Search Alerts, features that empower image buyers to track topics of interest easily and automatically. Customers can receive free e-mail notifications when new images match a saved search.
• People Search, which identifies images based on the number of people in a photograph, as well as their gender, age, and ethnicity.
• An improved Similar Images Search, which recommends other images based on qualities such as keywords, image colors and models.
• A Real-Time Search engine, which indexes new images within seconds, rather than hours. Image and footage buyers will see fresh content faster, including up-to-the-minute editorial images.

Additionally, Shutterstock continues to refine its proprietary “Most Popular” results algorithm, which weighs keyword relevance, image download frequency, and other customer behavior. The search engine produces more accurate results than competing stock sites, and is especially precise with searches involving multiple words.

Search improvements benefit artists as well. Shutterstock crowdsources the talents of photographers, illustrators and videographers around the world who earn money when customers download their content. Real-Time Search means approved images and footage will appear on Shutterstock faster, and a “Newest First” search results page will always display fresher and more varied content.

“We pride ourselves on innovation and attention to the needs of image and footage buyers,” said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock. “Building the stock image industry’s best search engine shows our commitment to our customers and confirms our leadership position among providers of visual content.”

From the creators of StockXpert comes their new venture: Stockfresh (affiliate link for buyers only – no contributor affiliate links).

Lee at MicrostockDiaries has already done a complete write up on StockFresh so I’m not going to replicate that work.  What I want to talk about is the idea of the guys at SXP selling then shortly after restarting.  My question is this – my SXP work has been all for naught.  My gallery is one of those that hasn’t been transferred to ThinkStock yet (partially has but we’re talking 300 out of 3500).

We know the owners of StockFresh took a buyout the first time.  What about StockFresh?  Will you be contributing?  Are you both excited AND worried?  Excited that two great people are back doing the business we like them doing?  Or are you scared you’ll spend hours uploading and won’t see long term results because Getty will buy them, get the new content, sell it for .10 subs and basically take us…again?

So what are your thoughts on StockFresh?  As you know I’m not afraid to speak what I think – I am cautiously optimistic in this case.  Of course I hope for another revenue source.  Of course I hope my time isn’t wasted here.  But they can’t succeed without our participation and they can fail even if we give it.  So what are you planning to do?

Congratulations to John Batdorff of Chicago, Illinois, for winning Shutterstock?s 2010 Photo Safari Contest, sponsored by B&H Photo and Zozi!

Batdorff won a safari for two in South Africa, including three nights on safari at the Lions Sands River Lodge and three nights exploring Cape Town courtesy of Roar Africa, plus $2,000 which can be used towards airfare.

VERY nice photo for the win too!

I always mean to enter these things – and time gets away from me!? Congrats to everyone who entered and good luck in future contests!

Shutterstock announced today that it is a founding partner in Stockphotorights.com, an educational resource for image buyers backed by several major stock photo agencies.

Stockphotorights.com was created to educate image buyers regarding the legalities of image usage and to provide information and advice on how to license images with confidence. The site, which launched today, was created in response to a survey of image users that showed many gaps in legal understanding of picture licensing. Stockphotorights.com was built by Getty Images and has the support of leading industry associations PACA (Picture Archive Council of America) and BAPLA (British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies).

“Shutterstock’s collaboration with Stockphotorights.com reflects our commitment to ensuring fair and legal image use,” said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock.

Shutterstock provides its customers with legal security and peace of mind by backing every file in its vast library with a $10,000 guarantee. Shutterstock will provide up to $10,000 to cover legal costs and direct damages for claims arising from the use of an image or footage clip licensed through Shutterstock. The guarantee covers key areas of liability, including copyrights, trademarks and rights of privacy and publicity.

Enter your most amazing travel photo for a chance to win a 6-night African Photo Safari.

1. Submit your best travel-related photo.
2. Tell your friends to vote for your entry.
3. Win if your photo is chosen from the finalists.

One winner will enjoy a safari for 2 in South Africa, including 3 nights on safari at the Lions Sands River Lodge and 3 nights exploring Cape Town courtesy of Roar Africa. Prize includes $2,000 which can be used towards airfare.

You can learn more about the contest here: http://www.shutterstock.com/photosafaricontest/

fstockphotos

Clustershot

Photocase

Kachoozie

Zoonar

– ————-

Crestock

Cutcaster

Vivozoom

Featurepics

MostPhotos

—————

StockXpert

Albumo

ImageCatalog

LuckyOliver

FotoMind

(See comments for more discussion)

So by now most of you know that Bigstock is no longer BigstockPhoto and 123RF has also redesigned.? I’m surprised for a few reasons:

* Shutterstock (who owns Bigstock now) said the redesign proves they want to move forward with BSP.? What’s the idea of that?? Just keep stock photo buyers happy?? I like it but I wish they’d let us submit to one place and distribute on both networks.? I have many images on BSP that aren’t on SS – I’d like them combined.

* Both 123RF and Bigstock went for the black/white/grey look.? Very simple, clean, easy designs. I’ll be honest – I like both.? But they look VERY similar now!

I’m glad stuff is where I’m used to finding it, somewhat.? Bigstock’s bulk tool seems to be gone, replaced with a much better one at a time engine.? Still wish it worked more like Canstock or even SS.? Submissions are so much easier at those places without the “delay” of javascript.? I don’t want smooth transitions – I want SPEED.

Bigstock listed a lot of new changes here.? I want to look at a few more closely.

• A new and enhanced search engine (interesting – will have to search my stuff later)
• Additional search engine optimizations for Google and others
• Improvements to the collection: checking metadata and enhancing the search algorithm

I’m interested to see how their changes play out.? I would love for BSP to kick it up a notch and remain a player, even growing.? We just saw IStock kill StockXpert and the contributor side of that pretty much sucked (told you I’d be honest!)? I would be grateful and glad to see Shutterstock market and push Bigstock for one-off downloads.

As far as 123RF, their official twitter (does Alex run this ship?) says “The redesign of 123RF is NOT the END, it’s only the beginning!”? I sure hope so!? I’d like to see the beginning of shorter wait times for reviews, less of the truly bad “poor lighting” rejects and of course more dollars and cents.? PS: Note to 123RF, fix the “Check FTP uploads” screen – it doesn’t scroll right.? It looks a right mess.

What do you think of the changes?? Good, bad, indifferent?

Ok so the previous record for funniest rejection reason belonged to Dreamstime for an image that had people in it but no visible faces.? I wanted to stay safe and therefore uploaded the model releases for those subjects as I had releases for everyone in the photo.

Rejected: No model release needed.

Now that’s hilarious stuff.? I’m impressed with the high comedy of a rejection for adding an extra release to an image with those people in it.? However, today, all has been surpassed.? In fact, I’m not sure this one from Shutterstock can EVER be topped.

Not approved. Reason: Approved.

Now it only took me a minute or two to realize “OHHHHH I already submitted the same image!”? That’s so rare for me that I make this kind of mistake I was in shock!? I have a very good organizational system and so it never crossed my mind.? But Not Approved: Approved.? That one made me laugh a GREAT BIG laugh!

Ahhhh!? I love this business.? Thank you funny reviewer.