Hi Sean,

 I cannot speak for Rick but he is very approachable if you wanted to contact him directly, he is very open to share what he can when he can. I am in no position to speak for someone else or to get involved with our boards business. I can tell you that the agency I own does not have any images in this collection. Want to talk to me about my agency I am all ears if you want to talk to Blend you will have to go through the appropriate channels. Not blowing you off I just have to follow protocol, we vote in a board and we leave all business to them. Like I said Rick is a very warm friendly and an extremely knowledgable individual about the stock industry. I will say what you read on the internet is open for all ears so you never hear what is truly taking place behind closed doors. Good Luck Sean, are you pulling your entire collection from Istock and leaving exclusivity? Kudos to you if you are I know it will cost you a great deal of money and security to your future.

Best,
Jonathan

Hi All,

  I have mentioned this here for years about the stock industry " Do not sign an exclusive contract ". Now you see why you must diversify, those that chose the carrot at the beginning are now getting the stick for being Exclusive. Best of luck I hope you can pull out of this with little to no damage and please stay away from exclusive contracts in the future. It is like working for the man instead of being your own boss.

Best,
Jonathan

Hi Yuri,

 I haven't read all the posts so this may be redundant but their was a french designer furniture company ( Le Corbusier ) last year that won just such a battle and every image with their furniture in it had to be pulled ( Getty is still trying to fight it ). It took our agency a lot of work but that was the final verdict, now their furniture is not in any of our stock agencies. This case sounds very similar and I am afraid might be the catalyst that will cause a great deal of stock imagery to be removed by copy written products. Best of luck I hope this isn't the beginning of the end for stock, please keep us posted. Here is a link to the topic. http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2140613/getty-images-fights-copyright-infringement-ruling-french-court

Cheers,
Jonathan

P.S. All props should be purchased at Walmart 

Thank you Grafix04 great effort and solid info.

Cheers,
Jonathan

Hi All,

 I have to agree with Sean on this one. I also agree with what was expressed by Lisa and the one comment about knowing your price break in owning a restaurant from another poster. Thanks for the feedback, I think we are all feeling that the cut is getting a bit low for the return the companies are producing yet they themselves are having stellar years in sales. Spread the love, make photographers enough money so they can continue to produce at the level they did when the agency first thought they were good enough to represent. Just my two cents.

Best,
Jonathan

Hi All,

 Not surprised at all by this new change that will keep on changing as long as their profits continue to grow. I believe that Corepics had the best information on this topic so far, great feedback. IS are making very large changes and there will be more to come until they see their return start to drop. Hope ya all are doing well, it's been a while.

Best,
Jonathan

Hey Warren,

Great opportunity to use that word.

Cheers,
Jonathan

Hi Wut,

 I agree with the turtle look. This is a basic video on a very old trick that does work excellently with straight portraits. The problem that Peter has was he was showing us with to short a lens. If he had extended it to 150-200mm the head and shoulders would compress taking away the turtle look but still pulling the skin back. If the video was reshot I would use a longer focal length to truly show off what a difference a forehead push can make.

Take care,
Jonathan

Hi All,

 I think what Leaf is trying to accomplish is very honorable and helpful as is everything he does here for all of us. The one issue with these kind of polls is they are generated by people not drawn on from an actual polling system where people are approached directly for their information or gathered directly from agency data, so these numbers I believe are skewed to the high side. The people that " generally " are going to add to this poll are most likely people that do above average in the industry. These are the people that take the time to answer such poles as they are more involved in the process at a professional level. Great info to have but I think you have to take it as a fun addition and track your own numbers more than anyone else's, or get straight information from stock agencies that have very accurate info on this topic. Just my two cents, and thanks again Leaf you rock..

Best,
Jonathan

Hi velocicarpo,

 I own and operate an RM/RF stock agency www.spacesimages.com I am also an owner of another RM/RF agency www.blendimages.com. Both are multi distributed through all the top agencies. From Getty to Masterfile to Corbis as well as the rest of the worlds leading agencies. If you are interested in hearing more please feel welcome to contact me through a PM.

All my best,
Jonathan

Hi Rubyroo,

 Thank you for the detailed message. I don't share my past a great deal because I don't want to use it as an excuse, if anything it has made me who I am today and I like myself so everything that has been served up was for a reason. I agree completely with you about the people that help the less fortunate, these are the truly giving people and they should all be commended. I met several of them that day and they were all so supportive, many of them started on the streets and the missions made it possible for them to get back on their feet and now they give back to the missions through their helping. Giving back is a wonderful gift and I think it can also put your own life in a better perspective especially during a recession when a lot of us are facing changes that we were not prepared for. I am not a follower of any one particular religious philosophy but I do believe in what John Bradford said  " There but for the grace of God go I ". Spread the love, it makes you the happiest person of all.

Cheers,
Jonathan

Hi Mantis,

 I really was the one that gained the most those two days. It made my own issues so much easier to deal with and I received so many hugs and hand shakes from truly kind people. I wish I could afford to do this kind of thing for a living. Maybe when I retire but being I am involved in stock photography it is hard to say when that day will come.

Cheers,
Jonathan

Hi All,

 I spent a couple of days this holiday making a short video on the people that live on the streets of Seattle. Interviews with the homeless folks that are just trying to make it from one day to the next, shot on my Iphone. I asked 100 homeless people what they were happy for in 2011 I think you might find some of their answers inspiring. Please remember all the people you pass every day and what we might be able to learn from them. Thanks for watching and please share if you can this is a non profit project.

100 Reasons to be Happy

Peace,
Jonathan