Microstock Is Global! October 9, 2008
Posted by Team SnapVillage in Community.Tags: contributor, country, geography, global, location, microstock
5 comments
As a follow-up to Lee Torren’s MicroStockDiaries post about the global diversity of microstock, we thought it would be interesting to check the global footprint of the SnapVillage contributor community.
Check it out:
A few interesting snippets we can add to Lee’s discussion questions:
- SnapVillage contributors come from 104 countries
- Over 50% of SnapVillage contributors are from outside of the United States
- The top 12 countries account for 85% of our contributor base
- The “other” 15% is fascinating:
- There are significant numbers of SnapVillage contributors in many places that didn’t quite make the “Top 12” – Latvia, South Africa, Estonia, and Brazil.
- A big “hello!” to the SnapVillage contributors in far off spots like: Guernsey, Oman, Nigeria, New Caledonia, Syria, Mauritius, and Guinea-Bissau. We’re glad you’re here!
Another way to look at it:
Using the ubiquitous Big Huge Labs “Places I’ve Been” map maker:
It’s awesome that microstock contributors are found across most of the globe, and to my knowledge this does look like a shift from the concentrated clusters of traditional stock shooters.
We’re really thrilled to see a diverse contributor community beginning to take shape here at SnapVillage!
– Brian
Image of the Day: Tuesday, August 5th August 5, 2008
Posted by Team SnapVillage in Community, image of the day, snapvillage.Tags: drinking fountain, image of the day, IOTD, Mike Irwin, refreshing, summer, water
3 comments
Image: 43-00438642
Title: “Drinking Water Flowing from a Fountain”
Contributor: Mike Irwin
Why we like it: In the heat of an urban summer, nothing beats a refreshing splash of cold water. Though public drinking fountains aren’t the most glamorous of subjects -Mike manages to give this particular fountain a steely elegance. Mike put his lens level with the fountain. Shallow depth of field blurs the background into a pleasant grey-blue backdrop. Combined with the side profile view – this really makes the stream of water stand out.
What do you think?
– Brian
Image of the Day: Friday August 1st August 1, 2008
Posted by Team SnapVillage in Community, image of the day, snapvillage.Tags: IKO, image of the day, IOTD, jumping, mid-air
add a comment
Image: 43-00474466
Title: “Silhouette of young woman jumping on beach”
Contributor: IKO
Why we like it: Sunset +beach + jumping + woman + silhouette = nice shot!
Exuberance and a beautiful scene. This image fits nicely into the trend of images of people jumping and shot frozen in mid-air. In the past few years this has become a highly requested shot at weddings and other group events as a fun alternative to traditional (read: stodgy and boring) group portraits taken with feet on the ground. If you haven’t tried having your models jump – try it out this weekend. It’s a great way to get a different pose and the act of jumping almost always creates fantastic facial expressions. Plus it just looks cool!
Depending on the light you’ll probably need a shutter speed of 1/250th of second or faster. Try mixing natural light and strobes for even more jumpy fun. Set your camera to continuous shooting mode to get the best range of shots. Keep in mind that it may take some practice to get the timing just right.
Favorite “jumping” images on SnapVillage:
43-00139544 by vitvelasquez
43-00059199 by fotofritz
43-00309509 by IKO (IKO nails jumping!)
43-00184650 by darrenbaker
43-00423958 by UBE (jumping can work in illustrations too!)
See Daniel Boud’s (founder of the JumpingProject group on Flickr) jumping images here:
Jumping Project Group on Flickr: here
Have an awesome weekend everybody!
– Brian
Image of the Day: Thursday July 31st July 31, 2008
Posted by Team SnapVillage in Community, image of the day, snapvillage.Tags: clamp, illustration, image of the day, IOTD, scargut, vector
1 comment so far
Image: 43-00474590
Title: “Steel clamp against plain background”
Contributor: scargut
Why we like it: Sometimes a clamp is just a clamp. Scargut puts it best in the description:
“I know it’s just a clamp and all… but this is one wicked-cool, highly polished, steel clamp.”
Totally true. Nice seemingly simple vector with good shading and texture. The highlights really do make this clamp shiny and metallic.
As in Scargut’s illustration, sometimes a simple subject that is well executed can really make a vector stand-out. For best results – try keeping your illustrations clean and polished. Making them “wicked-cool” doesn’t hurt either. 😉
What do you think?
– Brian
Image of the Day: Wednesday July 30 July 30, 2008
Posted by Team SnapVillage in Community, snapvillage.Tags: car, contributor, image of the day, IOTD, motion blur, twilight, yellowj
1 comment so far
Image: 43-00475584
Title: “speed drive”
Contributor: Yellowj
Why we like it: Speed man! Motion blur bonanza! This fast car at twilight makes us want to go for a drive. Yellowj uses motion blur to good effect here: the blurred road and streetlights make the sharp outline of the side mirror and car frame really pop. The smooth reflection of road, sky, and streetlight in the window glass adds to the appeal.
This is a good example of how the best uses of motion blur also include a fairly defined static object in sharp focus. Whether it is a person, animal, or as here in Yellowj’s shot – an automobile – try including a sharp subject by panning, or mounting the camera to the moving object. This will help to emphasize speed and movement.
It’s old advice, but it bears repeating: shooting at twilight is almost always a fantastic time to shoot! The colored dusky sky offers an interesting backdrop (and a bit of natural vignetting), and is balanced with mixed lighting sources such as city lights or flash.
What do you think?
– Brian
Image of the Day: Tuesday July 29, 2008 July 29, 2008
Posted by Team SnapVillage in Community, snapvillage.Tags: contributor, image of the day, IOTD
1 comment so far
Image: 43-00475712
Title: “Close-up of roller conveyor background”
Contributor: Maypop
Why we like it: Maypop uses a low angle, selective focus and toning to create an industrial abstract with a cool vibe. The converging lines and fuzzed out pool blue in the background is groovy. I like the light source emanating from below in the foreground which adds to the otherworldly high-tech feel.
What do you think?
– Brian
SnapVillage Image of the Day: Monday July 28, 2008 July 28, 2008
Posted by Team SnapVillage in Community, snapvillage.Tags: contributor, image of the day, IOTD
2 comments
Starting today, we’ll be highlighting a new image or illustration each and every weekday. We see lots of great content come across our screens each day, and want to show-off new additions to SnapVillage that really catch our eye. Our contributors are generating amazing content! Why we pick out an image could be due to good aesthetics or excellent technical quality or simply really cool subject matter.
We’ll generally be picking from the newest content published to the site, but if an older gem inspires us we may call it out as well.
Getting things rolling…
Image: 43-00476171
Title: “Close-up of sushi and soy sauce”
Contributor: broker
Why we like it: Broker highlights a beautiful presentation of a sushi array with good use of an overhead view. Very nice use of symmetry. The horizontal lines from the bamboo mat, sushi, and dishes are well balanced with the angled chopsticks and vertically aligned dish of soy sauce. Plus it looks really tasty – makes me hungry for dinner!
What do you think?
– Brian
New Profile Highlight: LittleLion July 1, 2008
Posted by Team SnapVillage in Community.Tags: Community, contributor, littlelion, profile, profile highlight, users
add a comment
Hi SnapVillagers:
We’ve been a bit quiet lately working behind the scenes to bring you site improvements. Before we get back to work, we do want to call out the second installment in our series of contributor profile highlights — this time ‘round we focus on illustrator LittleLion.
LittleLion’s work is comprised of whimsical illustrations – fun backgrounds and abstracts as well as colorful characters with broad appeal. Check out the profile highlight page to learn more about LittleLion. Click here to view his full portfolio – it rocks!
If you missed our first profile highlight on iofoto – don’t fret! It’s still available via a link at the bottom of the page. Or click here.
– Have you got the right stuff? If you’ve got an awesome portfolio and want to be considered for a future profile highlight, drop me a line explaining why you should be featured.
– See a fantastic portfolio from another contributor on SnapVillage? Think they should be highlighted? Nominate them by sending me their username and why you think they deserve special recognition. I’ll take a look!
– Brian
SnapVillage Blog 