85322330, Old Dog Photography/Flickr

It is fascinating to see the in-depth coverage of wildlife and nature on Flickr.

Let’s take butterflies for example. There are thousands of Flickr groups sharing butterfly images. Why do I think this is so exciting? Because this means thousands of butterfly species from all over the world are being photographed by people with a passion for the little creatures!

This is a great source of imagery for all the textbook publishers worldwide – so keep shooting! And add the name of the species in the keywords along with locations and include the Latin name in the title whenever possible.

And of course it’s not only butterflies we’re looking for, but all wildlife and nature out there.

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Does Flickr imagery transcend the culture of the place it was taken? Does it have universal appeal?

As an editor for the Flickr Collection, I’ve looked at thousands of images on Flickr, and whenever I come across Japanese imagery, I find it distinctively Japanese. I’ve posted some examples below:

85176930 © Stephan Wilms/Flickr

85269903, Masato Ninomiya/Getty Images

85154506, detch/Flickr

85151272, © 2007 Jon Climpson/Flickr

Is it culture? Is it country? Is it aesthetic? What is it exactly that makes these feel so familiar to me?

Japan is a country of Zen, Karaoke, Samurai, Harajuku girls, Wii, cup noodles, sushi and the list goes on and on. It’s a country of all things in the mix.

For those who have seen the film, “Lost in Translation” by Sophie Coppola, you might have wondered the same thing as I have. Is it western? Is it Japanese? Or is it the mix of both that makes the film universal?

What are your thoughts? We would love to hear what you think of the Japanese imagery we have so far in the Flickr collection!

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85153864,  Sarah Hall Photography/Flickr

For the past several years, whenever I asked our customers where they went for inspiration the first word that tripped from their lips was, and still is, Flickr. It’s cool, it’s unique, it’s unexpected and funny. It’s wild and sad and beautiful and you never know what seven days of “Interesting” is going to reveal. And now it’s on gettyimages.com. Whoo hoo!

The creative and photo research teams at Getty Images from all over the world (I’m talking China, Brazil, the US, UK and beyond) have spent the last several months exploring and celebrating all Flickr has to offer in order to bring the most exciting and relevant content to gettyimages.com. It has been an absolute pleasure.

So, here’s the thing. There are three BILLION pictures on Flickr and we are literally at the tip of “ye olde iceberg.” We’re starting small and then we’ll continue our journey and add thousands of new pictures a month while asking more and more Flickr members to participate. This deserves another whoo hoo!

We thought we’d try to answer a few questions here at the outset. But really, we want to hear from you. My colleagues and I will be checking back here often, ready to answer your questions and read all of your wonderful comments.

I am a Flickr member. How can I get invited to participate in the collection?

Our creative teams look through Flickr in a number of ways, but mostly through tags and regular keyword searches. Keep in mind the more descriptive you are with your pictures, the easier they are for us to find. So attach all of the good juju like locations or a descriptive caption. Also, we’re only looking at public images – so make sure any images you’d like considered are set as public. And finally, check the “yes” box on this page and we’ll be sure to find you.

How do you go about selecting imagery from Flickr?

The creative teams have spent thousands of hours with amazing photographers and photography. Our global photo research teams have spent thousands of hours listening to customer needs. We’ve combined those core strengths to select the brightest and most relevant content. And, at the end of the day, we hope to hear directly from you. So tell us exactly what you need right here on this blog by leaving a comment.

How can I let you know I’d like to license an image on Flickr that is not on Getty Images?

In the next few months we intend to add a new feature that will allow you to tag images that you are interested in licensing. We’ll keep you posted.

So that’s it! Let us know what you think! And a final whoo hoo for sign off!

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Today we set out to scout a location for an upcoming shoot. We are planning a shoot around a restaurant environment that will convey concepts of business lunches, social gatherings and dining scenes. Most of the department came along since we are all doing different jobs on this shoot. We have one photographer (me), one producer (Amy Uratsu), One art director standing in as a stylist (Karen Strauss), and two on set art directors standing in as themselves (Jennifer Dorn and Stephen Schauer). The location Nick and Stef’s Steakhouse in downtown Los Angeles.

The location has four distinct areas we can utilize to get different looks: the outdoor patio, the indoor bar, the fine dining room and the private party room.

Outside we can do a natural light feel with city scape backgrounds that can look like anywhere city downtown USA.

Inside we can use ambient light coming through the windows for a moody back lit look. Finally we can light the space to give a more dramatic effect or mimic a nighttime feel. The best thing about this location is that it is an elegant restaurant with a generic feel that becomes a clean palette to allow the photography and talent to highlight the concepts concisely with a worldwide appeal.

While on the scout I like to take location shots that will give an idea of the framing and angles I will be working with on the day of the shoot.  This way we can set the schedule of the day with visual references, which act as a storyboard, for the shots, talent movement and wardrobe needs. Once we have our schedule and timing down the team goes to work executing the concepts/shots we have laid out for ourselves in a structured shoot brief. I should also mention that the impetus of this shoot came from Creative Research requests for new imagery covering the concept of lunchtime meetings, either social or work related.

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When do you use models, and when don’t you use models? It’s a difficult question. Authenticity can be tricky to capture when you are staging a scene…especially if the subject matter is trend setting musicians and hipster youth culture, ala Santogold and Spank Rock. The shoot can easily go awry because of variables, such as, casting, styling, or art direction. Here are some images from a recent shoot gone right by The Smith Collection. The success of the shoot had much to do with the fact that the models cast are in a real band and already had their own personal style. To add a little more flavor, the photographer additionally hired a graffiti artist to create some original backgrounds for the group. The shoot also hits the mark because the subjects are performers and look natural and comfortable in what they are being asked to do.

Smith Collection/Getty Images

Smith Collection/Getty Images

Smith Collection/Getty Images

Smith Collection/Getty Images

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Let’s love Paris when it’s Halloweening. The street art artist Troy Henriksen has been invited by Disneyland Paris to celebrate Halloween in a tube station in Paris. Thanks to Jours Tranquilles’ blogger, who took the photos of this live performance the 15th October late in the evening, even the non Parisian commuters can enjoy this visual fantasy. If you want to see more images : http://jourstranquilles.canalblog.com/archives/2008/10/16/index.html

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Getty Images is up for a panel spot at the next South by Southwest festival. However, we can only share our brightest ideas if we are invited by popular demand. So cast your vote today!

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