Multiple images from Digital Railroad Marketplace were published in several recent editions of both The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph. Thanks to our friends at Telegraph and congrats to our members!

Weather vane, Chincoteague Assateague Island Virginia, © Randy Santos/drr.net

Colombia, Cartagena de Indias, Plaza Santa Teresa, © Sergio Pitamitz/Danita Delimont Agency /drr.net

Bangalore, India, © Mahesh Bhat/drr.net

Colombia, Cartagena de Indias, Plaza de los Coches, © Sergio Pitamitz /Danita Delimont Agency/drr.net

Picturehouse Chicago is coming soon and we'll be ready to see our buyer friends in the Windy City.

We'll be featuring our new display (shhh, super secret), announcing some fantastic new collections, giving away (as usual) natty tees and our latest must have accessory, the exclusive DRR designer shoulder bag.

Photo buyers can register to attend FREE. So, if you're in Chicago, April 16th, be sure to come by and say hello to our Chicago-based MidWest Sales Manager Christopher Beauchamp, check out some fresh images and get your free cool merch. I mean isn't that the real reason we go to trade shows?

© Blend Images/Erik Isakson/drr.net

Blend Images has just loaded a set of fresh, new images to Marketplace. We're big Blend fans at DRR and no wonder: great photographers and fresh images featuring lots of diverse talent-- always in demand by buyers. And, if you haven't heard, not that we're keeping it a secret, Blend has added a new 500K file option for purchase at the incredible price of just $49.

Like we said, what's not to like?

Delighted to see the work of Jimmy Williams added this month to Marketplace. Too many superlatives to be contained in a single blog entry so we'll let the pictures do the talking.

© Jimmy Williams/drr.net

Jimmy Williams’ most recent passions include two series that have been compiled over the past few years. In VIVA L'ITALIA you will take a journey through Italy seeing its many splendors accentuated by Williams’ fine art style of photography. As he toured the rolling hills of Tuscany and the dramatic coastal regions he captured the heart of Italy found in its people and their many persona.

© Jimmy Williams/drr.net

SOUL is Williams’ intimate portrayal of Southern Blues Musicians, their families, and other local subjects that portray the heart & soul of the Southern United States.

© Jimmy Williams/drr.net

Recent commercial accomplishments include campaigns for Barilla, Hyatt, Daufuskie Island Resort & Breathe Spa, Lowe’s, British Virgin Islands Tourism, Costa Cruise Lines, Carnival, and more.

See more of Jimmy's images in Marketplace.

Photo Credit: Sephi Bergerson/drr.net

Crack open the current issue 1:2008 of ASPP's "The Picture Professional" to see our new full page ad. Thanks to member Sephi Bergerson for sharing the story behind the image.

© Nicholas Tucker / drr.net

In my role as Digital Railroad's Director of Photography and Editorial Services, I have an interesting view from the crossroads. I see the collections and images being added to Marketplace, and I also see the requests and searches from the large and diverse group of art buyers, both Editorial and Commercial users, who come to us every day for their image needs. It’s a fascinating variety on both sides.

Having worked with photographers for the last 20+ years as an art director and editor, I know what it takes to create memorable -- and best selling -- images. Art and Commerce are not incompatible. Great art happens when vision meets preparation. And images that become "best sellers" don't happen by accident; they happen when you know your audience and can deliver what they want.

In my posts to this blog I hope to provide both inspiration and some down-to-earth mechanics to help our members produce, choose, and market the best and most successful images. My first post, about cropping, is pretty nuts-and-bolts, but the concept could help make the difference between a sale and no sale.

Please comment freely – it’s in the wisdom of the community that we gain the most knowledge!

When photographing a person on a white or plain background (or even on location if the background is simple), the choice of cropping can often help, but also sometimes hurt, the sales potential of an image.

A tight, dramatic crop like this one can be great, giving impact and tension to an image.

© Blend Images/Andersen Ross/drr.net

However it's still very common for a buyer to request an image where the subject can be clipped out, which means that in order to look right the person can't have pieces cropped off of his or her head, elbows, etc. Just missing a little bit of the subject off one side of the frame doesn't make the composition any stronger and it can definitely lose a potential sale if the buyer needs to clip out the subject.

© Blend Images/Andersen Ross/drr.net

Of course unless you're shooting completely full figure there has to a somewhat of a crop, but it should be confined to just the bottom of the frame so that the rest of the subject is clean. Like this:

© Blend Images/Andersen Ross/drr.net

So a good rule of thumb is either crop powerfully or not at all.

Finally, if the image is composed to allow for clipping, be sure your keywords make it easy to find. "Cutout" is the most common term, and "white background" or "plain background" are also useful.

Check out the cool interactive feature in the online edition of POP Photo. Mouse-over the images of McCain, Obama and Clinton to see what the future holds for each of the presidential hopefuls.

Web page © Hachette Fillipacchi

The article features images POP Photo selected from Marketplace members Archie Carpenter, Ron Sachs, Remi Ochlik, Kevin Dietsch and David Paul Morris.

Got a "before" and "after" image you'd like to share from Digital Railroad Marketplace? Post the links in the "Comments" below.

Photo Credit: © Bowater/Mira/drr.net

Look for this image of The Palais Royal by member Bowater/MIRA in the May issue of ELLE Brasil.

Do you know of other killer photos of Paris in the Marketplace? If so, cut and paste the image link from Marketplace into the "comments" of this post and let the rest of us see your editing chops.

Here's one of my personal favs by Galen Rowell also from the Mira collection.

Merci!

High end travel tour operator Abercrombie & Kent feature multiple images from Digital Railroad Marketplace in a new catalog promoting exclusive private tours of "Africa: Desert Kingdoms and Natural Splendors."

Photo Credits: Jardin Majorelle in the Ville Nouvelle of Marrakech, © John Warburton-Lee/Danita Delimont/drr.net; Tower of Spices, © Sam Bloomberg-Rissman/drr.net

Photo Credit: Priest with Cross, Ethiopia, © Wolfgang Kaelher/drr.net

Traveling and photographing on assignment throughout the United States and Europe for several decades, Jessie Walker has uniquely captured design statements in thousands of homes as well as formal and informal gardens and an outstanding variety of holiday and studio set-ups featuring collections of antiques.

© Jessie Walker/drr.net

Magazine Credits include: American Style, Architectural Digest, Better Homes & Gardens, Cottages & Bungalows, Country Living, Country Living Gardener,Country Sampler, Home Magazine, House Beautiful Decorating Ideas, Midwest Home Chicago, Old House Interiors, Romantic Homes, Woman's Day and more.

Honored for the photography of interiors by The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago. Jessie Walker continues with a stream of new assignments capturing innovative likenesses while continually adding fresh images to her stock library. ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers) Member. SAA (Stock Artists Alliance) Member.

See more of Jessie's images in Marketplace

© Image Source/drr.net
Just in time for the Beijing Olympics, our friends from Image Source has just added to Marketplace some terrific new images featuring Olympic themed images. All model released, all the time.

© Thomas Koehler/Photothek.net/drr.net

For a story about low sales and job cuts at chip manufacturer AMD, Business Week published this image from Digital Railroad member Thomas Koehler/Photothek.