Quite a few of those best-selling images are 3D renders. Mark Evans has a bit of a specialty line in 3D sports cars, although I see Mr Locke has a few too. I've heard that most car advertising these days is 3D render anyway, and other products too. Sign of the times...

I like learning new things all the time, and often take the long way round. At the moment I'm not doing much photography, but I am studying a lot of art and also learning skills in 3D modelling. Chances are this will make me a better photographer too (and maybe a producer of 3D content).

I think that before Christmas the best match strongly favoured exclusives. Now the playing field is a bit more level, so I guess some exclusives are taking a bit of a hit (relatively).

Quote from: averil on February 06, 2009, 06:11

I realize this is a little speculative (but not greatly so, given the current state of play), but I believe this is the reason why, in the not too distant future, 'models' will be computer generated and not real people at all. The advances in CG characters in cinema in the past five years have been pretty spectacular.

I don't know - this is where the Uncanny Valley theory kicks in.  I think real human models will continue to be the standard for the foreseeable future. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_Valley

I'm familiar with the uncanny valley theory, and I think there's a lot to it. However, I've seen a few comments from people in vfx who say that the most difficult part to get right is movement. For still images, this isn't such a problem, and I believe we'll be seeing photoreal 3D models pretty soon. Mark Evans already has images containing 'people' where the people have more detail than simple silhouette (a couple of airport shots) - this trend can only continue.

I realize this is a little speculative (but not greatly so, given the current state of play), but I believe this is the reason why, in the not too distant future, 'models' will be computer generated and not real people at all. The advances in CG characters in cinema in the past five years have been pretty spectacular.

 My son was telling me only yesterday that he now realizes what a mistake it is to engage in business relationships with family and friends. You can't simply say...here's the contract (or, you signed the release)...and walk away.

In the bad old days when life was tougher and usenet ruled cyberspace, one dumped annoying characters in the KILLFILE.

Hi Kirsten, I have some radical advice for you. The secret to knowing what to shoot is to 'think like a designer'. All very well, but maybe you're not one. Well, that can be fixed. There's a wonderful institution on istock called the Steel Cage. Designers (and would be designers) engage in Photoshop battles. There's no better way to discover what designers want (and what the library has to offer) than to go hunting for the right image to complete your killer blow. It's also a great way to develop as a conceptual artist - not a bad thing for a stock photographer.

To engage in this pastime (art as blood sport, it has been called), if you're not yet a contributor to istock then you'll need to become a member anyway and purchase a few images (this will make you a bona fide buyer). Can't remember what the cheapest credit pack is but that's all you need to get started. Then, enable battles in your Control Panel, find an opponent, and you're off and running. Apart from getting to know the collection from a buyers perspective, the Photoshop skill you'll pick up as you go will be invaluable. You'll find the Steel Cage among the istock forums.

PS I spend most of my time in the cage these days instead of out taking photos, so this is a danger.

Frankly, I'm surprised that they have forums to begin with.  You don't see the major agencies like Corbis or Getty messing around with stuff like that.

I think community forums are fundamental to the development of a crowdsourcing business model.

Under each image are several links (send to friend, etc) and one of them is Report a Concern. I'd do that on a few of the images - I think that has pretty high priority for action. I've heard that emailing support can take a while.

He's doing a lot better than I am then - just had my third dl for the month on istock.

It's been hinted at once or twice here that exclusives get significantly better placement in best match. Worth a bit more than Moo cards, I think.

I suspect the only person wanting to do such a thing would be someone who wanted to manipulate those particular models. Perhaps the guy who gave you a hard time would dearly love to see them naked so it was the first thought that entered his head.