| The popularity of casinos across the land provides | | | | discouraging to you? |
| us with a parallel to what's happening for on-line | | | | Not if you look at this phenomenon as a purely |
| stock photographers. There are some big winners. | | | | artistic endeavor. More so than ever, specialization |
| We always hear about them. We seldom hear | | | | becomes a key to escaping the lottery factor |
| about the losers unless chat group members | | | | and getting your images published. The |
| crow about their unsuccesses. However, few | | | | specialization aspect is one that I have preached |
| artists or photographers like to brag about their | | | | for thirty years, "Specialize and you will succeed." |
| lack of sales. | | | | Those that listened thirty years ago have built a |
| The other parallel is related to how casinos seem | | | | deep collection of images, all focused on a few |
| to multiply across the country not only in locations | | | | select subject -- ones that they love |
| but also in physical size. If you've ever re-visited a | | | | photographing, and that build equity each time |
| casino, you are surprised to see how the facility | | | | they are out photographing. |
| has been enlarged. | | | | If you're just starting out as a photographer, |
| On-line photo-display websites have proliferated in | | | | forget being all things to all people. Figure out what |
| the same way on the Internet. Not only the sites | | | | area of specialization you enjoy the most |
| themselves are increasing, but also the numbers | | | | (education, medicine, auto racing, reptiles, |
| of images available are growing. Some sites boast | | | | skydiving, etc.) and concentrate on that area. |
| that they receive 1,000 new pictures a day. My | | | | Become a mini-expert. Become a monopoly with |
| arithmetic tells me that's 30,000 pictures a month, | | | | few competitors. |
| or nearly 11 million a year. | | | | And why is this important? As the Internet |
| SOMETHING's GOTTA GIVE. | | | | expands and on-line image sites expand along with |
| Of course not all on-line venues receive 1,000 | | | | it, photobuyers find it more difficult to find that |
| new pictures a day, but let's say they receive 100 | | | | just-right photo. They no longer wish to surf |
| pictures a day. That 's 3,000 per month, or | | | | through hundreds of nature pictures when they |
| 36,000 per year. And, let's not forget all of those | | | | are looking for a photo of, and I'll use a |
| personal websites that provide a mini-on-line | | | | keyphrase here, 'Tapping Rubber Trees Rugen |
| service to photobuyers. | | | | Island.' Are there many on-line galleries that can |
| Now if there were 350 on-line stock photography | | | | indicate to you the source of that photo? Only |
| websites (which there are at the time of this | | | | those that have required their contributors to use |
| writing), contributing 36,000 images per year to | | | | key phrases to describe their images. |
| DigitalCasinos, plus all those personal sites, we | | | | In the last century, locating a hard-to-find image |
| would have a total picture count of…well, | | | | was a luxury. Most researchers settled for "good |
| my pocket calculator can't calculate that high. | | | | enough for government-work" - and books and |
| Can the storage world of present-day servers | | | | magazines from that era reflect this. Today, for |
| handle these kinds of numbers of images? If they | | | | photo researchers, Google and other search |
| can't today, we know that some way, somehow, | | | | engines have become a magic wand for finding |
| they will figure out a way tomorrow to meet the | | | | that hard-to-find image. Using a word-search |
| expanding nature of DigitalCasinos. | | | | feature on their computer, they are able to sift |
| And why do I say "Digital Casinos"? Because for a | | | | through hundreds, even thousands of keywords |
| qualified stock photographer, it's a big gamble to | | | | to locate the source of that exact photo - in just |
| put talent and labor into an endeavor where the | | | | seconds. The laborious search process of the last |
| law of probability is not on your side. | | | | century is over. Search engines are teaching us |
| Digital cameras and upscale scanners are driving | | | | that finding the exact location of a specialized |
| the number of available images upwards. Anyone | | | | photo quickly and easily is only a matter of |
| with a quality digital camera and sensitive eye for | | | | learning how to do it. |
| imagery and a desire to figure out the | | | | If this new era of stock photography has made |
| technicalities of uploading images to an on-line | | | | photographers become pre-press specialists, it has |
| website(s), can climb aboard, and they are doing | | | | also made photo researchers become library |
| so in droves. With this on-line proliferation of | | | | scientists. |
| images, the Internet has become a big gambling | | | | Photographers are unique in their style and picture |
| casino. | | | | content. By specializing in your photographic |
| Why a gamble? Like with any lottery, your | | | | interest area or areas, you can escape the big |
| chances are diminished by the expanding number | | | | digital-casino-in-the-sky and become an important |
| of entries. It always makes big headlines when a | | | | resource to specific photobuyers, who will |
| person wins a lottery. The rest of us dig into our | | | | discover you thanks to search engines. |
| pockets for the next try. Should this be | | | | |