Microstock Calendar

Since our readers have become rather interested obsessed with those cool Canon lens coffee mugs we told you about earlier in the week, we did some checking on when/if they will become available to the general public.

Bad news folks.

Despite rumors that the mugs would be offered as free swag to those attending the WPPI Convention in Las Vegas next week, a Canon spokesperson tells us they were created by Canon Canada solely as a giveaway to photographers at last month's Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

"We are extremely pleased by the overwhelming popularity of the mug," the spokesperson said. "Unfortunately the mugs will not be available at upcoming Canon events such as the WPPI convention and trade show."

The spokesperson added that there were no plans "at this time" to make the mugs available in the U.S. (See, he said "at this time" not "never." FTW!)

We wonder how long it will take for some of those coffee mugs to end up on eBay and how much photographers would be willing to pay for one?

Please leave your "bid" in the comments section below and enjoy another photo of the mug by Josh "The Luckiest Man Alive" Weisberg.

(UPDATE: Someone has launched a "Canon's 70-200mm 1 Series Thermos" fan club on Facebook in an effort to get Canon to make the mug available to the public. Already nearly 600 members and growing.)

You think the Oscars are the only nail-biting awards event taking place this weekend? Here at PDN Pulse, we're eager to see if the backyard garage in the Hudson Valley will trounce the sunny studio in San Francisco, or if the cozy cottage in Halifax will prove to be a dark horse.

After presenting several tightly squeezed studios/offices/workspaces, we asked you to decide which one you liked the best. 

Submit your images PDN's The Curator—the search for fine art photography projects. One artist in each category will be awarded participation in an exclusive gallery show held at MILK Gallery in New York City during the summer of 2010. 

We've reported several stories about artists plagiarizing other artists recently (like this one, this one, and this one.) These article always seem to stir up kooky notions about copyright and intellectual property.  There is now a handy new guide to copyright that aims to clear up some of the myths.

 Parsons the New School for Design has launched The Copyright Corner, a Web site for artists that covers a range of intellectual property questions in a clear, well organized way. 

Developed by Michelle Bogre, an associate professor of photography at Parsons and a lawyer, the site  includes sections on basic definitions of copyright, a guide to registering your work, fair use guidelines,  forums where users can post questions about intellectual property rights relating to music, photography, digital arts. There's also a "myths and misperceptions" page.  

The Copyright Corner has been created through a grant from The Media Institute, a nonprofit research foundation devoted to fostering freedom of speech, a competitive media and communications industry and excellence in journalism.  There's a link on The Copyright Corner where readers can view several of The Media Institute's articles on intellectual property issues: from the recent Google decision to "What is Derivative Work?"

A browse through The Copyright Corner could save some artists time in federal court.

Self-described as a marriage between Flickr and iStockphoto, Snapixel is not your standard microstock agency. The Snapixel mission is ‘Openstock’™ – opening a licensing opportunity for photos that don’t look like typical stock photos.

What’s Different about Snapixel?

Snapixel are not the first to combine photo sharing with a photo agency, but the integration is instantly familiar. Sharing photos and joining groups is just like Flickr. Following other contributors is just like Twitter.  And seeing the activity of those you’re following in a stream is just like Facebook.

Those just using the sharing and social features get a free account up to 5GB of storage, after which a €9 per year Pro account unlocks unlimited storage capacity among other benefits. Contributors selling photos in the marketplace, once approved, get a free Pro account.

Other key differences are

• Euro currency (Though adding and withdrawing credits can be done in any PayPal supported currency)
• A high 60% commission
• No typical review process, just quality control and internal ratings
• Contributors can set their own price
• No release management (releases must be emailed in)
• No FTP upload (but they’re working on an API with the intention of enabling uploads via iSyndica)

Details

So Will it Work?

The question ‘will it work’ has a different context for Snapixel. The intention is not to climb the ranks of the top microstock agencies. The intention is to create a market for photos which don’t fit the narrow definition of commercial value of microstock agencies.

For microstock photographers, Snapixel represents an interesting, if not unique, opportunity. All those slightly more artistic photos which microstock agencies just don’t appreciate have a welcome home at Snapixel. Remember, there’s no reviews!  That’s not to say that they’re not interested in your regular stock portfolio too. They’ve recently taken on Yuri’s entire portfolio which currently floods the search results.

So will it work as an alternative marketplace for non-typical stock photos?  The concept itself is not new nor is it enough to generate the buzz and rapid growth of Flickr and iStockphoto.  Though there’s much more behind the success of those two sites than just the core idea.

Verdict

Will Snapixel deliver a return on your time invested uploading your existing portfolio? Probably not until they get their API online and connected to iSyndica to reduce the time investment.  But that’s probably not the best opportunity they represent either.

If the photos you like to create are routinely rejected by microstock agencies but you know there’s a market for them, Snapixel might be the solution for you. The ability to set your own price and the super-high commissions are also big positives, especially in the current microstock climate.

I’ve uploaded 10 of my best selling photos and will upload the remainder of my portfolio when they come online with iSyndica. You can register at Snapixel here and once you have connect with me here.

Microstock Group – a meeting place for microstock photographers