Twitter / johnedwards John Edwards is on Twitter. That’s pretty damn cool. I think his campaign is super smart in understanding the power of social media. Of course smarter than getting on Twitter was tapping Robert Scoble as someone to take advice from on social media. Maybe when Edwards is elected he can set up a special office called Internet Communications Director. I think I know just the guy for that job.
My Lost Faith
My Lost Faith Hosted on Zooomr“Sets of Sets” Close to Launch on Flickr
[I’m CEO of Zooomr]
Interesting to note recent comments by Flickr Chief Stewart Butterfield about an upcoming feature due out likely soon at Flickr. “Sets of Sets,” or being able create sub albums in your Flickr albums has probably been the single most requested feature at Flickr over the past two years or so. About four months ago Stewart indicated in a Flickr Ideas forum that this feature was being worked on and recent comments now indicate that it’s close to launch:
From Stewart: “We’re doing the final testing and design tweaks now :)” and “You’ll be able to go five levels deep (beyond that seemed a little silly, but we’ll see how people end up using it).” .
About a week ago Flickr Staff member Gino Zhand indicated that this feature would launch “soon” adding that it would not be “months of weeks.”
I’d say look for launch on this one some time this week.
Also congrats to Flickr on raising over $5,000 for Kids with Cameras at their recent print auction.
Time for Digital Photography School
Photoblog of the Week – Thomas Hawk Digital Photography is a great new blog that I’ve been checking out lately. It’s a fantastic resource for the digital photographer. The thing I like most about it are the tips. Lots of tips for just about everything. Cleaning your sensor, shooting, post processing, etc. They have tips specifically for the beginner, advanced shooter, etc.
The site also covers photography links around the internet and is an all around great tool for photographers.
They are featuring me this week as their photoblogger of the week (linked above). Thanks guys and keep up the good work!
Jump Shot
Jump Shot Hosted on ZooomrFlickr Turns 3
Damn, three years sure go fast. I still remember the Flickr Fiesta celebrating their first year down at the Yahoo Campus. And then Flickr Turns 2 last year at the Adaptive Path offices and then this year even bigger at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Thanks to Flickr for hosting yet another kick ass party.
You can check out my complete set of shots from Flickr 333 here.
Everything Was Exactly How It Seemed
Everything Was Exactly How it Seemed Hosted on ZooomrTop 25 Referrers to Thomas Hawk’s Digital Connection for February 2007
So last month I reported the top 25 referrers to Thomas Hawk’s Digital Connection for the month of January. I thought I’d do it again this month. Below are the top 25 referrers. If the site was on the list last month I’ve included it’s rank. If it’s new I have an asterisk.
1. digg.com (1)
2. Images.Google.com (4)
3. Flickr.com (9)
4. Slashdot.org*
5. BoingBoing.net*
6. Google.com (8)
7. del.icio.us (5)
8. stumbleupon.com (6)
9. macsurfer.com *
10. scobleizer.com (18)
11. bloglines.com (10)
12. techmeme.com (14)
13. digital-photography-school.com (19)
14. thomashawk.com (25)
15. metafilter.com (16)
16. podtech.net*
17. images.google.co.uk (22)
18. blogs.smugmug.com*
19. mages.google.de (23)
20. my.yahoo.com*
21. mages.google.ca*
22. makezine.com (12)
23. valleywag.com (2)
24. newsgator.com*
25. sf.metblogs.com*
Another Update on the Carlos Miller Arrest Story
Carlos Miller Police Photo Hosted on ZooomrSo the arrest stories that I’ve been running on Miami journalist Carlos Miller have been getting a lot of attention. The story has appeared now on both Digg and BoingBoing and has generated quite a few comments with regards to the matter.
A couple of things I’d like to point out. First, I have been in contact with Carlos Miller directly on this matter. Carlos has not responded directly in these threads and forums to some of the criticism because there may be legal action pending on this one. For what it’s worth, I hope he wins. But because of potential pending legal action he can’t really carry on in the debate on this one at this time. He is reading the comments of course.
Carlos sent me the photo above which was one of the first photos that he took. In response to people who say that he was initially shooting in their face and not 20 yards away you can see his distance in this photo.
But what I also see in this photo is that the accident scene that the police are working on is not particularly a busy one. There is not rushing traffic by it. In fact there is a “Road Closed” sign right behind it. Seeing this photo makes me question why the police felt it was a safety hazard having him near them shooting. I think it’s more plausible that these cops simply did not want their picture taken and someone stood up to them.
Now. Some people have suggested that Carlos is in the wrong here simply because when a cop tells you to do something, well, you’d damn well better do it. But here’s the thing. These cops absolutely should *never* have asked Carlos not to photograph them in the first place. They should know that as public officers that they are allowed to be photographed. This has gone to court. The case is settled. But when he defied them they still should have taken the high road and just put up with it. Because again, the courts have ruled that having the ability to photograph the police is an important First Amendment right.
I’m glad that Carlos insisted on shooting the police even when asked not to because he stood up for my rights and the rights of every other photographer. The problem is that if everyone just does whats asked of them in the interest of “getting along” then abuse like this can happen. It reinforces it. I get in scuttlebutts with security guards at buildings here in San Francisco all the time when they tell me I can’t photograph their building. A lot of people criticize me saying why don’t you just do what your told? Why do you have to be a prick?
The reason why is because the security guards have no right asking me not to photograph a building from a public street in the first place. Likewise the police, in my opinion here, had no right to ask Carlos not to photograph them. Look at the photo above. There are plenty of places he could have shot this scene from without being a danger to himself or others.
Some people have objected to the flash. Saying that it’s uncomfortable doing your job with a flash firing. Well it’s uncomfortable for the celebrities that have the paparazzi shooting flash at them too. But it’s not illegal. The fact of the matter is that our government and courts have ruled that when in public, photographers can take pictures of people. If people don’t like this then have the rules changed. But until then it’s not illegal to take a photo of someone with a flash.
Other people have suggested that it’s just rude to take a photo of someone who does not want their photo taken. I happen to actually agree with this kind of. I’ve actually had plenty of people who afterwards asked me not to photograph them and almost every time I’ve complied. But there are times when I haven’t and that’s when people are abusing their power. Telling me I can’t shoot a building. Running illegal background checks on me etc. Telling me not to shoot something that is not their person or their family.
Anyways, I’m glad to see that this issue is getting the attention that it deserves. I’m sad to read comments from people saying that Carlos was in the wrong for simply not listening to the police. This kind of attitude that the police can do what they want with impunity may in fact be a sad fact of life in places, but the only way to make things right is for the Carlos Millers of the world to stick up for themselves when this abuse occurs. I’d hope that I’d have the guts to stick up for myself the way Carlos did.
I actually really like the police in general. Some of my closest friends are cops, family members of mine are cops. I don’t think all cops are bad. I think most cops play by the rules and act accordingly. I shoot cops here in San Francisco all the time and never have had a problem. When I shot a police action on Market Street here about a year and a half ago this cop actually turned to me after I shot him and made a joke saying, “make sure you get my good side.” That attitude is refreshing. I appreciate that cop and the hard work that he does for me here in San Francisco. What I don’t appreciate is cops who overstep their authority and abuse their power. And that is what I think happened to Carlos Miller.
Getty Images vs. Flickr
Warm Chocolate Cake Hosted on Zooomr[I am CEO of Zooomr]
Reflections of a Newsosaur: You push the button, we do the rest: Alan Mutter has an interesting post out about the future of the editorial part of the stock photography business. He makes some comments on the recent passing of the Queen Mary 2 into San Francisco:
“Having joined the crowds in San Francisco who spent Super Bowl Sunday watching the Queen Mary 2 nose under the Golden Gate Bridge, I hastened home to compare the coverage at Flikr.Com with that of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Although the Chronicle had several fine photographers stationed at key vantage points to record the arrival of the largest ship ever to enter San Francsico Bay, their shots were no better – and posted no more rapidly – than those taken by the Flikr clickers.”
For those of you unfamiliar with the stock photography business there are (to oversimplify) two basic kinds. Creative and Editorial. What Alan is talking about is the Editorial part.
While there are credibility issues that need to be dealt with Alan is spot on about the potential of this market.
But the other side of the market that Alan didn’t mention in his post is the Creative side of the stock business. Here too though I think the potential is just as great.
In his post Alan used two photos of the Queen Mary 2 coming into San Francisco. His point was that the professional image in the Chronicle was no better or no worse than the Flickr image.
Let’s take this a step further though and look at Creative. This is the side of stock photography where marketers go to get images to sell things.
Below are three searches that I selected at random. Las Vegas, candle and clouds. Now click through to the search pages for these terms at Flickr and at Getty Images. Which one is better? Is it clearly better? If you were a marketer would it make a difference to you which one you pulled your images from?
Las Vegas Getty
Las Vegas Flickr
Now let’s take this a step further and enter into the long tail of stock photography let’s do a search for Tujunga (a small town in the San Fernando Valley where I grew up) and Mount Tam (a local mountain in Marin here in the Bay Area).
Mount Tam Getty
Mount Tam Flickr
Interesting what you get here isn’t it? You see with 400 million images in their library Flickr is the better stock agency for long tail stuff for sure. The problem just is that Flickr hasn’t figured out how to turn this on yet.
This is part of what we are working on at Zooomr. We believe that the quality of work coming from advanced amateurs out there today is every bit as good as the Pros.
And the distinction between Pro and advanced amateur ought not be images that sell for $200 upwards vs. microstock where images sell for $1. There is simply not enough meaningful difference between what the best amateurs are creating and what the Pros are creating to justify this pricing discrepancy.
There is an opportunity coming where not only will thousands of advanced amateurs be invited to the stock photography market for the first time in a meaningful way, but there also exists an opportunity for the right company to redefine the equality and monetary relationship between content producer (that’s you and me, the photographers) and content buyer (that’s them, the marketers). I believe that the lion’s share of the $2 billion stock photography market today ought to go to the photographers themselves who are creating these beautiful images.
We are building this at Zooomr right now and if you are a photographer whose images are those beautiful images that I linked to at Flickr above I’d like to invite you to Zooomr. More details will follow very soon, but we believe it’s time for a change.
Like we say at Zooomr, the best images in the world have yet to be taken.