Stock Photography for $0.99: Photographers Outraged

ShutterPoint.com slashes prices to $0.99 for web resolution images, causing angry remarks from some photographers.

New York, NY (PRWEB) December 18, 2007 -- After an extensive review of current digital image pricing and stock photography trends across the internet, ShutterPoint begins offering various resolution digital stock images ranging from $0.99 to $4.99. Low priced images are sold with a standard license, which limits image usage to either internet or under 10,000 printed products containing the image. Standard licensing prohibits image usage on re-sale items. Full image licensing, the other type of licensing offered on ShutterPoint.com, allows generously unrestrictive usage with pricing starting at $20.

After the news was announced internally, heated discussions began on ShutterPoint forums. One member who is a photographer states: "I don't want to allow high resolution downloads for such a small price." Considering that ShutterPoint.com collects membership fees from contributors, some do not foresee sufficient profits from selling low-priced images. "The size of the super (resolution of 3500x2400 pixels or higher) is just too big to let go for $5 on a site where I have to pay subscription fees," writes another photographer, troubled by the news.

ShutterPoint seems to be giving us a great degree of flexibility here, and that makes this still a pretty unique place to be

Other photographers have a good grasp of the current state of stock photography market and see the benefits of offering standard licensing. "ShutterPoint seems to be giving us a great degree of flexibility here, and that makes this still a pretty unique place to be," states a photographer who is a contributor on ShutterPoint.com since June 2006. Others perceive the change as "an exciting development" and believe ShutterPoint is ahead of the game by offering both standard and full image licensing. ShutterPoint expects more contributors to begin offering standard licensing, as the company offers 70%-85% commission payout rate, which is higher than the usual 50% agency rate.

ShutterPoint.com was founded in 2003 in NYC with the goal of providing a medium for photographers to interact directly with image buyers. The site offers over 100,000 high quality royalty-free stock images contributed daily by over 5,000 photographers.

For more information, please visit ShutterPoint.com or contact Julie Eydman at Julie_Eydman(at)shutterpoint.com.

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