Dynamite Walls [Flickr]

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Christmas break [Flickr]

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All that is left behind [Flickr]

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Like a bat outta hell [Flickr]

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Blue door [Flickr]

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Smokey sunset patrol [Flickr]

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Pontiac Catalina [Flickr]

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Eldorado [Flickr]

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Row 2, seat 6 [Flickr]

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Jamaican sunset [Flickr]

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Stock photo agencies, meet your new content providers

Dan Heller has some interesting things to say about the future of the stock photo business. He writes that the Internet has provided a venue that places increased importance and value on user generated content, and this environment will spur forward-looking stock photo agencies to move into the consumer arena to take advantage of it.

In 2000, I wrote an article called, "The Five Truisms of the Photography Business", and Truism #1 is "There are more people who have photography as a hobby than as a profession." While an obvious statement on its own, it has enormous weight when you consider how the Internet has brought down the barriers that have kept consumers out of the photo business in the first place. Now that they're here, they have fundamentally altered the photo industry, whether intentional or not, and whether other photographers like it or not.

Heller points out the blurring of the line between stock photo sites such as Corbis and Getty and social photo sharing sites like Flickr and Zooomr. His timing is uncanny, as evidenced by the latest mini-brouhaha surrounding pro-consumer blog The Consumerist's use of Flickr photos in its posts without attribution or permission. The Consumerist's situation is not unique, as websites, companies (1, 2) and even Flickr's own users have confused Flickr's vast database of images as a grab bag for free stock photography. He also points to situations where photo sharing sites have jump started photography careers, such as Microsoft's acquisition of photos from Flickr user Hamad Darwish to be used in their new Vista operating system.

Heller submits that this movement represents the natural progression for the industry, provided they can overcome three barriers: "fear of change, narrow business sense, and tunnel vision in products and services." I would tend to agree. What do you think? Give the article a read and decide for yourself.

Link (via Thomas Hawk)

Will pose for apples [Flickr]

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Deluxe wheel [Flickr]

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You park like an asshole

Dot Com, that is. Laughing Squid points out a website dedicated to bad or inconsiderate "parkers." As they say, "[it's] time to put an end to asshole parking, or at least to make fun of it."

Arm yourself with a camera and a few "tickets" (keep 'em in your glove box) so that you can be prepared for the next time you witness some idiot committing any of the following infractions:

• Two spots, one car


• Ummm...a little too close.


• Too far away from the driveway


• Too close to my driveway


• Over the painted lines


• Diagonal parking: cool car


• Diagonal parking: not so cool car


• Move up!


• That's a compact?

Or fill in your own. While you're at it, you can submit your photo of said infraction to the "Bad Parking" Flickr Group. They also offer a kinder, gentler way to express your frustrations.


Link (via Laughing Squid)

End of a long day [Flickr]

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Stop: Hammer Time! [Flickr]

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Wavecrest Woodies Weekend at Moonlight Beach

I got to check out some old school "woodies" at the Wavecrest Woodies Weekend at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, CA last Saturday. I'm fascinated by how southern Californian surfers revitalized a dying car body style and ended up capturing the imagination of a generation (and then some). These vehicles represent something distinctly American and uniquely Californian.

Here are some pictures I took at the event. More can be found in my Flickr set.


I've been everywhere, man


Red Deluxe


Golden


Pinstripes


Pinstripe fire


Super Deluxe


Squire at Moonlight

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Top 10 cameras used on Flickr

Photo: Rama's brother

You're probably growing weary of Flickr related posts buy now. I apologize, and I promise to change things up a bit in the next few posts, but...

If you were ever curious about which cameras are favored by the 4.5 million users who have posted nearly 230 million photos to Flickr (TechCrunch), Flagrant Disregard has your answer.

Link (via Digg)

It's Official: Flickr offers geotagging functionality

Earlier this month, I stumbled upon a feature that Flickr was working on, and wrote about my experience here on this blog. It disappeared shortly after making its appearance, and showed signs that it was still a work in progress (and an impressive one at that). Now it's official. Flickr just rolled out their geotagging components today, and they are wicked impressive.

Start by using the Organizer and selecting the Map tab. You're then presented with a Yahoo! Local Maps Beta-like interface (say that fast three times) on which you can drag and drop your photos to geotag them to your heart's content.


From what I've seen so far, it's pretty slick. They have some interface quirks to work out, to be sure, but I'm sure that we'll see those ironed out in due course. It will be interesting to see how the Flickr community uses these features. I know that geotagging has been around for a while, but in my opinion, it hasn't been available to such a large community with such a compelling interface.

I haven't explored as in depth as Thomas Hawk, so follow the link for his thorough review.

Update: For those of you who geotag your photos using another tool (or just have a really fancy camera), Rev Dan Catt pointed out that Flickr can read GPS information found in a photo's EXIF data when a photo is uploaded. You just need to turn it on.

Update 2: Flickr posted their own very informative post here.

Update 3: Flickr users have geotagged just over 1.2 million photos in just 24 hours!

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Big Band [Flickr]

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