Photographers can use the service to market images via RSS to agencies and publishers.Imagine being able to capture your photo images, upload them to your own unique archive, manage the rights of usage and then use RSS feed technology to sell them to agencies and publishers around the world in minutes or less.
With the unveiling of Digital Railroad Inc.'s rights-managed Photo Feeds at the DEMO@15 conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., individual photographers and photo agencies now have a way to increase their marketing reach worldwide to prospective buyers, consumers and bloggers, while at the same time considerably lessening their production time.
Photo Feeds delivers personalized feeds to photo buyers, alleviating them of the need to search and monitor multiple archives, the company said.
In order to get the image fees, photo buyers, consumers and bloggers subscribe through RSS, Atom or JavaScript and can personalize their subscriptions by subject, keyword or member archive.
Subscribers receive thumbnails and metadata linked to archived high-resolution images, the company said.
Commenting on the technology, Evan Nisselson, CEO and founder of the New York-based Digital Railroad, said via phone, "We're pushing the envelope with the RSS side. Our goal is empowering on both sides of photography. One of the biggest challenges for photographers is how to make people aware of the images you're capturing instantaneously. On the photo editor side, it's challenging to search daily through hundreds of photos, but with this technology you can subscribe using keywords and get those specific images you want."
For example, a photo editor wants pictures regarding the Afghanistan election and subscribes using keywords "Afghan election," and within minutes the editor has several images delivered through Photo Feeds.
Nisselson noted the example of AINA Photo, Afghanistan's first photo agency, powered by Digital Railroad.
"AINA photo agency has an archive and is working out of an old Taliban prison. Those photographers for the first time are able to get their images out to the world on even an hourly basis."
Nisselson has been in the photography industry for 14 years and was a published photographer, digital imaging consultant and photo editor. His own photo archive is online at http://www.digitalrailroad.net/nisselson.
"Our number-one goal is to empower photographers and give them back the control of their imagery that they've lost over the years. We don't want anyone to have a barrier to getting their work out there. We have photographers from all over the world. Bloggers, photo editors, print media all want to get the most unique images and timely content.
"Images really tell the story. Our photo feeds are solving real problems. For photographers, the issue is how to market their images [and] make sales, and for picture editors, it's how to expedite the process of finding those images. Our technology delivers them to you. This minimizes production tasks for both buyers and sellers."
Next Page: Favorable reactions.
"As a one-time photographer and current photo hobbyist, I know today's professionals are overwhelmed by the transition to digital technology," said Chris Shipley, executive producer of the Demo conferences.
"Digital Railroad's Web-based services return control to the photographer while solving digital workflow and distribution problems. Digital Railroad's services and technology will fundamentally change how photography is managed, marketed and sold worldwide. And best of all, their platform democratizes a market dominated by a few."
Of the technology's long-term influence in marketing images, public relations strategist Steve Rubel, vice president of Client Services for CooperKatz & Company Inc., said, "This changes the metaphor for looking for photos from browser-based to real-time distribution as they're published.
"This holds a lot of value for a photo desk in a magazine or newspaper, because of the digital rights management and the immediacy of being able to get the image for use."
Technology is in best cases about making it easier for people to do their jobs.
The testimonials on Digital Railroad's Web site from award-winning photographers are an indication of the added benefits for photographers.
The technology enables photographers to spend more time doing what they love and less time on the details of marketing.
The company boasts in its archives Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalists, AINA Photo, London-based Eyevine, Indonesia-based JiwaFoto, United States-based Redux Pictures and the VII Photo Agency.
