So, you’ve decided you don’t want anyone pinning images from your website or blog. Maybe it’s due to personal opinions, or fear that some Pinterest pinners will violate the copyrights of the work or content that your website hosts. How do you make it harder for people to pin your stuff? You can actually ban or block people from pinning any pictures on your website. This was released recently from Pinterest:
We have a small piece of code you can add to the head of any page on your site:
<meta name=”pinterest” content=”nopin” />
When a user tries to pin from your site, they will see this message: “This site doesn’t allow pinning to Pinterest. Please contact the owner with any questions. Thanks for visiting!”
This might be of note to those that don’t want anything on their personal websites to be pinned on pinterest via the web browser bookmarklet. Of course, this isn’t going to stop people from right click save as, or screenshotting, and then uploading the images to pinterest directly… but I don’t think Pinterest users are going to want to go through all of that trouble. The fact of the matter is, if you don’t want images from your blog being pinned, you should use this code on your personal blogs and websites. Will larger corporations begin using this code? I guess only time will tell. I highly doubt many of them are anti-Pinterest, as it drives a lot of new traffic. It will be interesting to see if a website as large as Flickr or maybe even Twitpic will begin implementing these anti-Pinterest measures.
We’re all for Pinterest – we have nothing against it, and actually love using it as a great promotional tool. We do think that it’s very fair of them that they are giving webmasters and web content hosts the option of disabling pinterest on a per site basis.
Here’s a slideshow I wanted to share from a recent Spring time engagement session photoshoot with some friends of mine. The location was a country New England orchard, and made for great scenery. These images will soon be available for royalty-free stock photo licensing.
One of my favorite selects from the shoot is the photo of the diamond engagement ring wrapped around the wild onion grass. I love it when you are working with a couple who is willing to add their own creative ideas and suggestions. It’s easy to get lost in the photo shoot and to forgot certain details that you wanted to capture, so when I’m able to work with people who are also creatively minded, it helps us to push the shoot to an even higher level or variety. We also were able to hang the ring on some apple flower buds, that was just starting to turn into tiny baby apples. I really enjoy photographing engagement sessions, because there is a wide variety of things to capture – from the location and environment, the couple doing certain activities (such as tossing a frisbee, or riding a motorcycle), down to the very tiny details.
You can see a few more stills from this shoot here on our facebook page.
When it comes to stock photos, trends and the the cool factor have a shelf life. What is cool or in style today may or may not be fashionable 5-10 years from now. Even so, trends still hold a great niche in the wonderful world of royalty free stock photos.
Here is a stock photo of a young man wearing thick black framed nerd glasses. It’s funny (when you really think about it) that the styles from the 70s and 80s are all back, and many people see vintage and retro styles as cool again. This is just what happens in the world of fashion. Everything has been done under the sun, so trends seem to repeat themselves after some time. Nonetheless, these nerd glasses series images have been licensed hundreds of times within the last few years.
Another example is hair feather extensions. They are the hottest thing since sliced bread in the hairdressing and beauty world. They might already even be on their way out. Easy come, easy go. Will women be clipping bird feathers in their hair a few years from now? What about 10 or 20? We can only wait and find out.
When producing royalty free stock images, we have to realize and acknowledge that images like these may or may not have a lasting shelf life. While some looks and some models (including their clothing and hairstyles) will be able to hold up to the tests of time, others will fall flat on their face. Not many graphic designers or art directors are going to approve of using stock images of business people wearing plaid suit jackets from the late 70s or early 80s. Even photos of kids, or senior citizens with certain hairstyles can be considered. How long until this royalty free stock photo of a skateboarder becomes obsolete? There’s no way to tell how long skateboarders might be into wearing plaid shirts.
This is exactly why when you’re in the business of shooting and producing stock imagery, it is a non-stop job. Images, themes, and subjects will require constant refreshing and updating on a regular, yearly basis. Some of these stock images are going to have a shelf life (like an expiration date on a milk carton), some much longer than others, depending on how generic we can make them. Covering stock image subjects with both the “cool factor” and the ability to withstand the tests and trials of time, are always on our minds. We all know what is considered cool today might be dumb tomorrow.
So a friend of mine from the UK (Bob Davies of PicWorkflow) was shopping in a local bookstore. He was waiting in line near the check out register, and suddenly glanced over at this end cap display of ridiculousness. After bursting out in laughter, and getting a bunch of crazy stares from everyone else in the store, he had to explain to the strangers around him, “I know that guy on the box there.” Yet another funny example of how you just never know where, when, or how certain stock photos might get used, and might turn up. It seems that this man flu gag gift set has been sold out everywhere online, including amazon UK. If I could get my hands on one, I probably would. Thanks again to Bob for finding this; more importantly, snapping a camera phone pic and sending it to me
Talk about a cool tear-sheet… Kohls (a United States based clothing department store chain) used an ArenaCreative.com stock photo in a commercial featuring Jennifer Lopez’s clothing line! What an honor, and a surprise. At 00:03 during the above video, you can see the stock photo of the NYC Uptown / Bronx subway sign that I shot one day while in the city.
J-Lo is really popular again and in the limelight right now; coming off the whirlwind of being an American Idol judge, having the biggest hit single of her life (On the Floor, featuring Pitbull) and recently being in all of the tabloids regarding her recent split with husband and Latin singer/actor Marc Anthony. He also has a new clothing line at Kohl’s now, as well. I had seen this JLO commercial a few times before, but hadn’t paid much attention to it. As I sat there staring at the TV, realizing that was on of “my babies” on national television, I flipped out. In this business, we never really know where our images are going to end up. When we stumble upon them, and see them being used in real life applications, it makes up extra glad we were a part of it.Good old “Jenny from the Block”. At ArenaCreative.com we are proud to be a part of effective marketing and advertising materials, and want to thank the advertising department at Kohl’s for using one of our images. To learn more about us and other large corporations that have used our royalty-free stock images, click here.
