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Polylooks reveals Brits’ photo sharing habits
Photos were made for sharing
With the prevalence of decent quality cameras on mobile phones and affordable, easy to manage point and click digital cameras, we decided to take a closer look at how Brits treat photos. It was great to learn, for example, that while two-thirds (68 per cent) of young people share their photos on social networks such as Flickr and Facebook, some 29 per cent of women and 20 per cent of men still enjoy printing out photos and keeping ‘traditional’ physical photo albums.
We commissioned research group YouGov to quiz more than 2,200 people from across Great Britain about the way they treat digital photography, and the findings make interesting reading. Women (35 per cent) and slightly more likely to share photos over social networks than men (32 per cent), while men (17 per cent) are twice as likely as women (nine per cent) to spend more than £400 on a camera.
Phones no substitute for cameras
When it comes to taking pictures, it is clear that the rise and rise of ever more intuitive camera phones does not pose a threat to traditional photography. While only seven per cent of Britons say that using their camera phone has heightened their interest in photography, just over a fifth (21 per cent) believe that their camera phone is sufficient for their photographic needs. Nearly one in three interviewed in the survey (28 per cent) owns an SLR (single-lens reflex camera).
Interesting, we also found that almost one in ten (nine per cent) have considered converting their passion for photography into a career at some point in their life and a similar number (ten per cent) say they would consider submitting their images on microstock sites, such as Polylooks.
When it comes to sharing images, Londoners are more ‘social’ than those in other regions of the UK. Londoners (12 per cent) believe that sharing photos is a critical part of the way they interact with their friends and family, putting more emphasis on images than those in the rest of the south (six per cent) and Wales (five per cent).
What is clear is that the British passion for photography remains as strong as ever. Our survey demonstrates that while many of us now have a decent camera as part of our mobile phone, most British consumers prefer to use a high-quality camera for personal photography.
Also – great news for microstock – a comparatively large amount would like the option to make money from their images. Find out more on how to buy and sell images online with our online microstock guides.
Beckham’s absence from South Africa 2010 leaves photographers in a quandary
Illustrators are getting ready for South Africa 2010
When David Beckham pulled up with a torn Achilles playing for AC Milan last weekend it not only signalled a blow to England’s World Cup bid this summer, but also threw the media into a spin. The 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa has lost world football’s most photographable and marketable asset, so what will the paparazzi do now?
Whenever there’s been a major tournament, paps have swarmed to Beckham like bees around honey, even more than during the regular season due to the heightened media interest. Who could forget the infamous half-naked balcony shot from Euro 2004 in Portugal? What about the controversy surrounding footballers’ WAGs (wives and girlfriends), including Victoria Beckham, from the 2006 World Cup in Germany?
Rather predictably, the UK daily free paper Metro posed the question this week: “After David Beckham’s injury who will be World Cup 2010′s hot totty?” citing Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain and Liverpool striker Fernando Torres as eye candy for the ladies this summer. They – and others – may not have the same positive global media appeal as David Beckham, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of them nonetheless.
We suspect that David Beckham will be at the World Cup, either to help out the England team or, as is widely tipped, as a TV pundit – or both! So we think the tabloid paps will still get their fill of David Beckham at South Africa 2010, just not on the field of play. We’ve not given up hope of the odd Beckham pose this summer.
But don’t forget, you can’t just copy and paste a picture of David Beckham for publishing use. If you’re publishing online, print or marketing material around the South Africa 2010 Fifa World Cup, Polylooks contains more than 1,300 images relating to ‘football’ to choose from, all of which can be used safe in the knowledge that you have the copyright to use them.
Only three more months to go!
Brits bitten by travel bug?
One of the many travel-related images on Polylooks
Images of travel dominated the public’s online search for photos and illustrations during 2009 on the Polylooks.co.uk site, our research has found. Visitors to Polylooks were most likely to use “holiday”, “Europe”, “travel” and “vacation” as search words when looking to buy photos and illustrations on the site. Together, the number of word searches for “holiday” and “vacation” – more or less the same thing – amounted to more than four times the number of searches for “mountain”, the sixth most searched-for image on Polylooks.
Polylooks’ users in the main come from the creative industries – marketers, advertisers and publishers – hinting that “feel good” images were in demand during 2009, an otherwise bleak year for the UK economy, according to Polylooks’ Product Manager, Norbert Weber.
“The request for travel-related images is always high and customers want ‘fresh’ images. This could also be an indicator that confidence was returning to the travel industry during the year,” Weber said.
Other travel-related words featuring among the hundred most popular word searches entered by users on Polylooks during 2009 included “coast” (11th), “waves” (16th), “harbour” (26th) and “palm trees” (83rd). According to Google’s Insight tool, the four most popular destinations for online image searches in the UK over Google during 2009 were London, New York, Dubai and Blackpool.
Polylooks has close to half a million photos and illustrations in its library so the platform offers plenty of choice for image buyers to select from and you can also use our special filters to pick the right mood and colour scheme for your images.
Spring into Life: How to Photograph Spring
Springtime has always inspired creative people from Shakespeare, Blake and Wordsworth to Dickinson and Frost. The sights and smells of spring can convey incredibly positive vibes – the bleak monotone silhouettes of winter have passed and new buds come to life with the lengthening days.
Abundant blossoms and emerging flowers do not just attract insects, but photographers too. For photographers, spring provides a great opportunity to get creative and make the most of a wide natural pallet of colours and interesting light.
The Early Worm
Timing in spring is everything. The morning mists, frosts and dews can make some fantastically atmospheric shots. If you’re not a morning person then going out at dusk with a good exposure setting can also help create some fascinating sunsets and moonrises. A tripod is a must in this case.
While we’re talking about light, for the best effects how about back-lighting the flower you’re hoping to shoot with sunlight? That can give it a real ‘heavenly’ effect.
A Closer Look
Spring is full of small things, capturing these in isolation can make a really interesting portrait. Think about closing in on ‘delicate’ things, such as a dew drop or flower synonymous with the season. What about creating an ensemble to focus on, such as a bunch of daffodils against a plain white background for that true microstock effect?
The Bigger Picture
If you’re looking at making a bigger portrait, think about using nature to the max. Ploughed fields and rows of crops can make great shots. What about isolating a tractor or farmhouse? Think about a big, blue sky and contrasting it with the rich colour of the land; green leaves and woodland, or brown and red earth. Also, don’t leave your long lens behind to capture the abundance of wildlife on show.
If you’re a photographer, you’ll love the opportunities presented by spring and, from a microstock perspective, the great news is that people are looking to buy images of the nascent season for use in blogs, articles and promotional material.
If you’re looking to buy ready-made images of spring then Polylooks has more than 15,000 images related to spring in its extensive portfolio.
Romantic Vision: Black and White Tips
Just one of the romantic images in the Polylooks database
Valentine’s Day is not far away, prompting a rise in demand for romantic images to accompany articles, blogs and marketing materials. As well as red hearts and cupids, nothing captures the romance of Valentine’s Day like a black and white photo.
Despite its origins, black and white photography is rarer nowadays than the more commonplace colour image, making it more unique and, in the absence of colour, heightens the emotional context. That’s why so many wedding photos are still taken in black and white, even though colour photography has been widely available for decades. It adds an air of mystery and nostalgia.
Top Tips
Firstly, when shooting black and white photos, don’t set your camera to black and white if your camera gives you the option – shoot in colour on the RAW format and convert to black and white using a photo editing suite to avoid any potential loss of quality.
If you’re looking to capture romance in black and white, think about your composition. What do you want to use to illustrate romance? Is it couples? Rings? Hearts? If it’s a portrait, really narrow the field to focus the viewer’s eye on the core elements.
Contrast is an essential part of taking black and white images. When colour is taken out of the equation the focus shifts towards light intensity, so contrast really helps your image stand out.
The use of light is critical when shooting black and white. Romantic shots need to be sensual, not necessarily bright but, when using shadows, don’t make them too gloomy. That’s the challenge with black and white photography – finding the right balance – you don’t want a white out in the same way as you need to avoid overshadowing.
With black and white photography you can do so much more with texture than with colour, because the eye is forced to focus more keenly in the absence of colour. Play around with soft settings if you’re looking for that slushy feel!
Shopping for Images
If you’re looking to buy black and white images for Valentine’s Day, or any other event for that matter, make sure you log onto Polylooks.co.uk and use the colour and emotion filters available on the site to select the right look and feel for you. Also, use key search words such as ‘love’, ‘romance’ and ‘Valentine’s Day’ to ensure you get a wide choice of relevant stock images.
Then you can start looking forward to using microstock images in your features, blogs, or – if you purchase the merchandise license – to use commercially, such as creating gift cards.
Polylooks has nearly half a million images on offer so there’s plenty of choice!
Get Ready for the FIFA World Cup
Just one of many World Cup-themed images on Polylooks
This year sees one of the biggest events in the global sporting calendar – the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The last World Cup, Germany 2006, saw an estimated cumulative television audience of 30 billion people world-wide and was attended by more than 18,000 media representatives. So this year publishers, bloggers and advertisers will be looking for football-related stock photo images to accompany their stories. Photographers – get your cameras out because image buyers will want soccer shots. Buyers – make sure you know about image rights!
Don’t Stray Offside
Images of real sportspeople can come with expensive copyright costs and restrictions, so generic football stock images and illustrations will be in demand, especially with the rise in bloggers and Web publishers since 2006. Around 900,000 blogs are posted in any given 24-hour period.
Though the event is a way off, creative agencies and sports-related professionals around the world will need photos for marketing materials imminently, so photographers are advised to start thinking about stock photography earlier rather than later.
But it is essential that bloggers, advertisers and publishers only use images which they have the right to use, according to online photo agency Polylooks. The company recently surveyed the UK’s creative industries – heavy users of images – and found that the vast majority were ignorant of stock photography image rights. Many are using images without consent and many don’t even feel guilty!
And when it comes to sports image rights and their value compared to standard stock images, users can end up in hot legal water.
Norbert Weber, Product Manager at Polylooks, advises: “There is still a great deal of confusion when it comes to using photos or illustrations that photographers and artists have made available for sale online. Many people who should be paying for the right to use images are not doing so due to a lack of understanding on industry rules and terminologies.”
Top Tips for Football Photos
Polylooks contains hundreds of football-related stock images, so users can be assured that they’re permitted to use those images without infringing any copyright and attracting the attention of photo agency lawyers. These stock images include players, fans, stadia, officials and other peripheral elements of the “Beautiful Game”. Polylooks’ intuitive filters also ensure that image users can select football stock photos by colour scheme and emotion, and it promises to be a colourful tournament!
Is Microstocking for me?
Do you fancy making money from your photos or images? Microstock photography has grown to a $2 billion industry worldwide as publishers use ‘crowdsourcing’ – accessing stocks produced by masses of people and made accessible online – to buy images and photographs at cost effective prices.
This presents opportunities to amateur and professional photographers and artists alike. Via sites such as Polylooks, you can upload your images and let them earn you money! You just need to follow a few simple rules to do it right, and it helps if you have large quantities to make serious money. Microstockists such as Polylooks have guidelines to follow to ensure they provide a high-quality service.
Before you dig out your camera or delve into your hard drive to look for images you might think of selling, take a look at microstock sites such as Polylooks.co.uk and see what images are up there already. Note the style, focus and subject matter. These are the sorts of images which publishers demand and microstock sites provide. You also need a good eye to be a microstock contributor.
Once you’ve got a few shots up there you can start earning money. Depending what the buyer wants to use the image for, on Polylooks.co.uk this can be up to 50p per photo per purchase. If you sell an image which a purchaser wants to use for merchandise – for example, to print on t-shirts or mugs – you can earn up to £25.
In a nutshell, here are some other must-know facts to help you get going in microstocking:
- Use a 6MP (six mega-pixel) camera. 6MP is the minimum image quality microstockists will typically accept
- Make sure your shots are in focus and do not contain anomalies, such as blurs or obstructions
- Check out regulations on ‘model releases’. If you’re taking photos of people or property you’ll need signed permission from that individual or property owner
- You’ll need a minimum of ten keywords to describe each image. Accurate keywording increases the chances of an image being found and purchased
- Don’t even think of uploading anything immoral or illegal – it won’t be accepted!
For a full rundown on microstock dos and don’ts, visit http://uk.polylooks.com/microstock-global-show_faq.php. Keep up to date with all things microstock on the Polylooks International Facebook page and let us know how your microstock experience is going!
Welcome to Polylooks International!
Polylooks
Welcome to the global page for Polylooks, the photography site that helps you make money from your art and photos. The market for stock photography is growing rapidly, driven by increasing demand from Web publishers in particular for high quality, cost effective photos and artwork for use in blogs, corporate sites and magazines.
While there are other sites out there offering images, Polylooks is different, and that’s great news for artists, photographers and image purchasers alike. Most microstock photography sites are based in North America, with a look and feel which suits that audience. Polylooks is European, being headquartered in Germany and backed by Deutsche Telekom, which means our images, while catering for the wider global market, also provide a distinctly European slant.
Within Polylooks’ worldwide community you’ll be able to communicate with other microstock photographers, learn about how to get into stock photography and hints and tips on how to create shots that could earn you solid returns. Our roving reporter, Carmen Jones, will be bringing you news and views from exhibitions she’ll be attending, as well as showcasing Polylooks contributors’ great work. We’ll also be interviewing successful microstockists to learn the secrets of their success.
If you’re a photographer or artist and want to learn more about how to make money by selling your work on the Internet, or a publisher looking for royalty-free and paid-for images to use, please visit Polylooks.co.uk and get involved in this community. You don’t have to be a professional photographer – amateurs are most welcome!
We welcome you to Polylooks International and look forward to your contribution to our photography community.
