Photoing

This morning I went out in the garden to see if there were any insects to photograph, but there didn't seem to be any around. So I went on a walk down the old railway line to see what it was like down there. Unfortunately it was still just (boggy) grass down there, no insects other than a bee fly, a beetle, a couple of other flies, and a spider. The blackthorn was flowering in some areas though.

In the afternoon I wrote up yesterday's blog post and uploaded some more old insect pics to my photo website.

Another thing I have been doing the last few days, is continuing my search for similar services to Photoshelter (i.e. sell Rights Managed images and prints). Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anyone else who offers this service. I do think there is a gap in the market here, but building a service like Photoshelter would be quite expensive and time consuming.

Here are some more of the alternatives I looked at:

• Pictage - doesn't offer image licensing, appears to only use their own (US based) print lab
• theimagefile - offers rights managed image licensing and prints (though possibly prints would need to be self-fulfilled - the website doesn't seem to give much info). As well as using them for a website, they also have a centralised image database like a stock agency. According to their website prices start at £5/month, quite reasonable. But as far as I can tell potential clients need to sign up before they can check the price of a rights managed license.
• ThirdLight - offer PhotoBox Prints (Worldwide shipping) , self fulfilled prints, and Rights-Managed E-commerce Downloads. No info on prices, and I couldn't find any links to example sites hosted using their service.
• Photo Cart Pro - self hosted gallery / cart solution. One time charge of $329. Can't see anything about Rights Managed Licensing, presumably you would have to create this yourself.
• IPN Stock - One-time setup fee: $595 (USD) for IPN to build and customize your site and $195 per month. Presumably stock sales only and no print ordering. Also requires 40 megabytes image files minimum.
• BlueMelon - Looks like they only offer prints from their own lab. Offers image licensing, but looks like you have to set your own pricing structure. Whenever I clicked on the 'products list' option under the buy option on any member's photo, it came up with a js pop-over with a loading icon, then went to a blank page.
• Sutterfly - Website and prints, but no licensing
• ExposureManager - Prints and downloads, but doesn't appear to support RM licensing downloads
• MorePhotos - Gallery and prints, don't appear to offer image licensing
• PhotoBiz - appears to just be shopping cart software, no licensing built in and everything self fulfilled

In the evening today I watched a James Stewart film with Mauser and Bo. It would be interesting to see a western film with Nick Cage, and see if he is any different to James Stewart.