The below is a snippet of his findings:

As the financial crisis continues with negative implications for many consumers around the world, photographers can speculate over what that will mean for the demand and use of pictures.

Here are some possible trends to watch and shoot:

The growing complexity of the world and daily life of people might impose a trend to concentrate on the not so complicated sides of life. We know that the quest for amusement is often increased under times of depression. Visits to cinemas, restaurants, entertainment and other easy going activities might become more popular. So be prepared with fresh picture material of such situations.

Happy family life might also be a focus point, despite the effects of unemployment and the economic downturn that try to counteract it.

The ‘myself in focus’ trend might be further strengthened with focus on media success and the like as some of the concrete outcomes. The increased use of social media is an obvious indication.

Soren mentioned the potential to take portraits especially effective for the ‘face in social media’. – This is about how to stand out, and how to look with credibility.

With the flood of books on personal development and the self-help industry we have another important trend worth while to be aware of. The ever growing industry of alternative treatment – a rather depressing sign from the point of view of rationality and scientific justification – but a trend that you can profit from with pictures.  And herbs of all kinds seem to possess an over-natural potential to cure and help people.

The growing number and ratio of senior citizens has been in focus for a long time but as some countries have had to reduce their public spending on health-care, pensions and social services we might expect further demand on the positive as well as the negative sides of becoming older.

Finally Soren mentions the growing acceptance of the shift in psychology and therapy to the mantra of positive emotions and positive psychology. Surely this will be a field that will grow in demand for illustration and publications in the future.

The more you can combine some of these trends the more successful you might be on the marketplace as an image
provider or publisher.

Send us new content or referrals, we’ll earn you money in a flash…

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In addition, use our referral program by adding a Cutcaster banner to your website or blog or adding a link to your email signiture and get paid a percentage of all sales

Learn more here.

We have been busy modifying our search engine so it helps you quickly locate the perfect image within our diverse library of royalty-free photos and illustrations. Get search results fast without a lot of scrolling.

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Sign in to Cutcaster and see how easy we’ve made it to search, purchase credits, and download great images!  Use this coupon for 20% off your next purchase through the end of July.

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Cutcaster images may be applied to the following uses (in most cases limited to 500,000 copies under our Standard License):

• You can use any images in advertising posters and brochure design for use in promoting the sale of other products.

• Within editorial or advertising copy in newspapers, magazines, books, book covers, school textbooks, editorials and directories.

• In coordination with opt-in marketing. If you spam don’t do it with Cutcaster images.

• For product packaging.

• On letterhead and business cards, brochures, pamphlets, catalogs and on pop-up and/or panel displays for use in trade shows or at conventions.

• In multimedia presentations and incorporated into film and video for distribution and/or sale in the home video market OR for broadcast and/or theatrical display..

• Use as a background image or splash screen within software .

• On cover art and/or artwork used on in CD or DVD .

• In eBooks for any e-device reader, including multi-seat license electronic textbooks.

Please note, certain restrictions apply depending on whether you’re purchasing the images under a Standard Licensing contract or if you are purchasing an Extended License (EL). You can learn more about the differences between licenses by clicking on this link to our legal page.

Are there ways I CANNOT use Cutcaster images?

There are some use cases, in which you are prohibited from using an image purchased from Cutcaster under our Standard License. These include:

• Print runs exceeding 500,000 copies unless an Extended License is purchased which would give you an unlimited print run.

• Print on demand (POD) projects such as wallpaper, postcards, mousepads, mugs, t-shirts, posters, giclee prints, artwork and other items.

• Any unbecoming or derogatory depiction of the model or persons pictured in an image, including use of models in pornographic material, political endorsements and alcohol, drug, or tobacco campaigns.

You also cannot:

• Resell or share Cutcaster content.

• Use any Cutcaster image as part of a trademark, service mark, or company logo.

• Try to depict that the image was created by you or anyone other than the copyright holder of that image.

Please always read the contract first before you buy any images form Cutcaster and consult your legal team if you have specific questions. We are here to help but are not a substitute for your specific usage. Feel free to contact us at webmaster AT cutcaster DOT com.

1. You only need between ten to fifteen (5-15) keywords. Twenty-five (25) is the most. More descriptive keywords means better search results, bringing in more users, which means more sales for your images at higher prices then other sites. We would rather have fewer files that have better keywords than more files with plenty of irrelevant keywords.

2. Keywords need to be separated by a comma or semi colon when you submit them with your images. Compound phrases need to be separated by a space and then surround by commas. You can remove any quotation marks.

3. You can add ONE SET of location tags. Avoid using locations as tags unless there is something in the photo that makes its location recognizable. Don’t use Kennebunkport, Maine for an image of a seagull in the blue sky.

4. Remove all the keywords that are obviously not in the images. Make them as specific as possible to what is in the image. Remove keywords that could be tangentially related, but aren’t really illustrated well by the photo. i.e. picture of an airport runway and using the keyword “pilot.”

5. Take a few of the choice words and make them far better by turning them into a phrase. If it is a popular saying use the whole phrase.

6. Don’t “stretch” your tags into irrelevancy, in order to generate more hits for an image. This can be very frustrating for our users, who tend to search literally.

7. Figures of speech, nicknames, slang and metaphors can create a ton of problems in a search engine. Please don’t use them. The reviewers will add them in if necessary.

8. Catch Phrases and Proper Names — Don’t Break Them Up with a comma. If you have a keyword that is either a very common set of two words, or is a proper name, enter it without a comma. The search engine has the ability to recognize many phrases that operate as a common term but contain more than one word, such as “hard drive,” “hot dog,” or “White House.” Just enter the compound phrase like you see in the previous sentence and don’t use a comma to separate those two words. It also recognizes the names of many public and historical figures.

9. You do not need to type in ‘car, cars’ to cover the singular and plural versions of a noun. Type in only the one that is more accurate for your photo. If there is only one car, type in “car.” Your image will come up in a search for both car and cars, but it will be ranked higher if the plurality matches what the buyer searched for. If there are multiple cars in your image you can write car and cars.

10. Be as literal as possible. Describe just what is in the images.

Other decision factors:

* Does your image have people in it? If yes, then describe the people specifically. Use keywords to explain gender and age.

* Is there a color that is predominant? Only use colors if this is important to the image. An image of a red hat on top of a woman should not have the keyword “red” but could have “red hat”. If the image is a “pink flower” use the compound phrase “pink flower” with a space and no comma and NOT “pink, flower”.

* What objects are prominently included in the picture – ONLY use key subjects of the picture, not items in the background. Don’t list insignificant details. Think about if you did a keyword search for a keyword you have included in your keyword set, would you want to get that specific image in your results. If it is maybe then think real hard about adding it because it may turn off buyers who don’t want or weren’t expecting that results.

* Are you using a special angle or other technical points worth mentioning? Panoramic, low angle etc.

Then, I stumbled across a great post at Photoshelter titled, ”How to make a photo editor fall in love with you” and a few things really stood out for me. Nice work PS.

One in particular was from Roberto De Luna, a Photo Editor at Time Out New York, who said, “A photographer that understands that I need verticals, horizontals, and SILO options stands a great chance of winning me over.”

This is the thought process that will help every photographer get into the mindset of his end user/buyer and something that needs to be thought about before you submit photos to a photo editor who has hired you or send to Cutcaster.

Cutcaster has always stressed the importance of editing images before submitting them to us so that the quality of the selection you upload is the highest possible. For example, if you are going to submit a series of images from the same shoot, it is best to submit a portrait, a landscape, a SILO option if appropriate and an obscure/conceptual angle from each subject area/shoot to reduce redundancy and vastly improve the user experience and visual quality of results when a buyer performs a search. Supplying too many similar images will be off-putting to clients and result in less sales because buyers won’t use our site to buy your images.

So it is wise to choose the images you upload carefully and not submit too many similars. Think, as you are shooting, what a buyer will need and be able to use. Plan it out beforehand and improvise as you are shooting. Try to shoot exactly what you planned out or was asked of you by a photo editor, and then shoot it from every angle possible. Up, down, from above, view from below, wide, close, inside and out, horizontal and vertical.  If you plan it out and can capture all that then your images will sell and show your buyers how hard you work.

‘Comps’ may also be used by photo researchers or photo buyers who are doing research or purchasing images for a third party and need to seek this party’s approval of the image(s) prior to purchasing. Comp images may not be incorporated into any finished products.

To download a comp, you must first login to Cutcaster and then the download will be moved to your desktop.

Abstract – abstracts are great for presentations, backgrounds and wallpaper.

Baby - We love babies at Cutcaster and so do our buyers.

Banking – We keep our eyes on the news!

Baseball – If it’s spring it’s baseball season!

Beach – It’s about time to play on the beach.

Business People – One of the top searches. Our business people are tops.

Calendar – Our vector calendars are tops.

Car – Automotive topics are in the news and in demand.

Cell Phone – Check out these fantastic images of people on the phone.

Child- We love kids too!!!

Computer - Computer and laptop images in high demand.

Concept-  This is a light box of Law Concepts. Search Concept for all of our light boxes with special themes.

Cooking – Healthy cooking and eating images in high demand.

Dog - Pooch portraits are on the rise.

Drink - It’s happy hour! Search light boxes for Beverages for all our drink light boxes.

Flowers - Still one of the most searched words. Check out our premium box.

Food - We have some of the finest food photographers in the business at Cutcaster.   Search on food for light boxes of food collections.

Fruit - Beautiful, seasonal, fresh.

Furniture - Isolated or in place, furniture shots have a lot of uses.

Garden - Gardens, gardening, and outdoor living are hot topics.

Golf - Fore!! We are looking for the greenest greens.

Health Spa – Spa topics are sought after at Cutcaster.

Illustration – Illustrations like web icons, silhouettes, concepts are in demand.

Medical - Medicine and health care images are in high demand. We would love to see hospital and doctor’s offices.

Money- Currency, financial, trading, and thrift concepts.

Office Team- Office people in groups, interacting with each other.

People family- Families acting naturally together in demand!

Real estate – Front page news, real estate concepts are needed now.

Sky- Something as simple as the sky, or as complex as weather are searched for now.

Soccer – We are looking for sports of all kinds.

Spiritual – Religion topics, we need many more of these themes.

Wine – Connoisseurs love our wine images.

Keep those images coming, and check our lightboxes often for new ideas!!

We know when you do something yourself you will do it right and it is hard to trust someone to do research for you, but why not leverage our free photo research and delegate it to us for a chance to show you what we can do.

Need an extra set of hands, eyes and team members to help you find the perfect image you are looking for. Pass it on and hand it over to Cutcaster.

We can easily integrate into any team environment or unique workflow that you have. Let’s have a brainstorm session and uncover eye-popping imagery for your brief.

To save you time, we offer a free picture research service at Cutcaster, in order to help you better locate images you might never have found yourself.

Cutcaster employs a team of highly trained photo and illustration researchers who know our collection better than anyone else. If we have it, they will find it for you.

Save hours in your day by letting us do some of the research for you. We will often turn research around in an hour or less and larger ones take us less than 24 hours. Please email creativedirector@cutcaster.com for more information.

Well. Photo buyers and researchers have been known to collapse of boredom, exhaustion and image overload because of ISB. Just check out the poor chap below. Are you bored of the same old tired stock photos and illustrations that have outdated technology, no diversity, clothes from the 70′s and feel way too posed? Do you wish there was a great and new source of stock photos, illustrations, vectors, clipart or any kind of user generated images that was authentic, non-cheesy, editor-reviewed and had all the clearances you needed?

You can avoid “Image Search Boredom,” by choosing to search for your stock photos and royalty free images at Cutcaster. Any of the files at Cutcaster can be used for advertising and promotional projects, including hard copy printed materials, product packaging, presentations, film and video presentations, commercials, mobile applications, catalogues, brochures, promotional greeting cards and promotional postcards, entertainment applications, such as books and book covers, magazines, newspapers, editorials, newsletters, and video, broadcast and theatrical presentations up to 500,000 copies, on-line, electronic, or mobile publications, including use on web pages, hard copy prints, posters and other reproductions for personal use or promotional purposes. Cutcaster photo and illustration marketplace can help you with any of your creative needs. Visit www.cutcaster.com to find the best content at the best prices ready to be downloaded and used immediately.