A new service from Magnum Photos is about to be rolled out and it's going to take a swipe at Creative Commons. For a flat annual fee, you can download and use ANY Magnum image without watermarks on your non-commercial website.

For the longest time, photography had been a barometer of human activity. Photographers have captured those precious moments on film and saved that for posterity but lately, photos are not worth more than a postage stamp — thanks largely to Photoshop and digital imagery.

Magnum, being the oldest photo agency on the planet can't have you taking their pictures with a creative common twist. Even though you only want to use it on your website for non commercial purposes (which is contentious at best since you earn traffic revenue from web advertising) Magnum has the right to send you a DMCA takedown for using their photos without their permission.

What is the Value of Digital Images?

For old school stock agencies, the last thing they want is to host photos from non-agency photographers. The deal behind Magnum Photos as a collective agency is that the whole library of images is set up to benefit Magnum members and since they can't be possibly  shoot the usual commercial crap one has known to expect from a royalty free stock agency, those images from the past should be worth far more than the postage stamp.

I have nothing but sympathy for Magnum Photos. I  have worked with them in the past and they do try very hard to innovate but going out to enlist bloggers by asking them to pay an annual fee to use photos without watermarks is probably asking too much. Bloggers are a different breed. Think Perez Hilton, who as a successful professional blogger wouldn't even pay a cent even when he's being sued for using images without permission. His best excuse? Let's toss in a photo credit and be done with that.

As a collective agency, I was once in talks with Magnum to get sponsorship from Sony to host an exhibition but that faltered for several reasons, first being that the bulk of their photos were shot on film rather on digital. And even if they were shot on digital, it wasn't shot on a Sony camera. Companies like Nikon or Canon could sponsor them but they too do not see the same value since they are the big shots of the camera scene. Leica could of course do this but heck, they are a premium brand. If you shot Fendi, Burberry or LV, maybe they might consider it. Photojournalism isn't a hot commodity these days as anyone with an iPhone can upload the latest video and pictures onto the Internet for free. Magnum built their reputation on photojournalism, which at this time is being savaged by the digital age. No one pays attention to where the photos came from—and much less of the photographer who took it.

Magnum is a prestigious agency and to shore up their revenue, they are hoping to convert up to 30 percent of their recalcitrant image thieves to their new membership model though I think they would have more success if they were aiming for between 1 to 10 percent. Frankly bloggers are not out to pay for images and even if they did, they would want to desecrate them into personal Memes which they can share online. Robert Capa and HCB could be turning in their graves as we speak....

Since the launch of Ricoh's Theta camera, it brought back memories of my time with an IPIX camera in the 1990s. It functions the same way since it captures spherical images which needs to be stitched together with a desktop software. For Ricoh's Theta, you only need an iPhone app if you don't have a computer at your disposal.

Judging from the quality of the images, the first thing that came to mind is that Google could open this up to people with such a camera to capture extended Street View photos.

Google Business Photographer

This sounds really spiffy. Google Business Photographer. Wow. You must earn as much money as the stock has in recent years. That would be cool if you could make a load of cash by joining them.

Right now, the program is only available in the US, Australia, NZ and UK, and in time will be extended to other parts of the world. To sign up to be a trusted photographer, Google has some requirements which you must meet.

Equipment List
Google has strict criteria for this, and you need to have a camera with a 8mm fish eye with a 180 degree field of view. You can use most commercially available DSLRs with either APS-C or Full Frame sensor. So forget that puny smartphone camera you been raving about. It won't do.

Exposure Stacking Technique
To capture successful photos, you need to overlap each picture to make a seamless bubble, meaning you have to capture four scene from a single shooting vantage. Each of these must be bracketed, so you have a total of 12 frames with varying exposure. With three frames, you stack the exposure to create the best dynamic range for each scene therefore negating the HDR effect. You get a blended image. Exposure stacking allows you to shoot at a low ISO so that noise would not be a problem. Lower ISO also gives much better dynamic range which is what Google is looking for. To know more about exposure stacking, click this link. Since this will be shot with a tripod, there is no need to worry about shutter speed or aperture. You can preset your aperture to a f/11 value to get the best image for any indoor location.

Must have a Viable Photography Business

Yep, you have to be pro in some ways, with a dedicated photography set up, website and license to operate a business. This is to avoid any eventual flare ups between the business owner. There is even a clause that says this:-

Photographer will refund all Service Fees to the Business (but will have no further liability with respect to the agreement) if Google rejects the photographs for failure to meet the Google Business Photos technical specifications and Photographer does not correct the failure after re-photographing the Business at a mutually-agreed upon time.

How Street View is Extended Indoors

The whole idea is that upon walking on the road, or driving, you might want to take a peek at what's in store. It could be that you're running some chop shop or whore house that looks perfectly decent from the outside but it rocks on the inside! I'm just kidding. But if whoring is legal in your country, I am sure Google will allow indoor photos of your establishment on Google maps.

To get an idea of what sort of photos can be achieved through the humble use of a camera on a tripod, just click the link here.

Published Rates for Photographic Services

You get a rough ballpark cost for doing something like this and I have put two such services here. It's not much really. In fact, Google doesn't pay you a cent for taking the photos, the businesses that want their pictures taken do.

You can of course charge a fee for this that is beyond the structured fees charged by these individuals as it does not include transport, lodging or any other operation cost. Personally, I have problems with such a cost structure as it is not something you can a 'stable' business. I have often argued that photographers are paid far less today than they were during the analogue era for one simple thing. Film was a consumable cost and can be charged back to the client, whereas computer time, spent in post production of images cannot. In its day, you paid a photographer to take a fixed number of pictures which came out of a color lab. Today, you need to BUY computers to enhance your images before delivering them to your client, which you can't charge for. Software cost money and so does the computer. If you are not handy with a computer or software for imaging, you had to hire help and that added up to your final cost of delivery. This is something people take for granted in the digital world.

UK Rates For Google Street View Photography

Micro Business £195.00
Up to 5 Virtual Tour viewpointsUp to 10 Static PhotographsSetup of Google+ Local pageHosting on Google+ LocalEnhanced Google Search resultsIntegration into Google Street ViewIntegration into Google MapsQR codes linking to your tour

Small Business £245.00
Up to 10 Virtual Tour viewpointsUp to 10 Static PhotographsSetup of Google+ Local pageHosting on Google+ LocalEnhanced Google Search resultsIntegration into Google Street ViewIntegration into Google MapsQR codes linking to your tour 

Medium Business £345.00
Up to 20 Virtual Tour viewpointsUp to 15 Static PhotographsSetup of Google+ Local pageHosting on Google+ LocalEnhanced Google Search resultsIntegration into Google Street ViewIntegration into Google MapsQR codes linking to your tour 

Large Business £445.00
Up to 30 Virtual Tour viewpointsUp to 15 Static PhotographsSetup of Google+ Local pageHosting on Google+ LocalEnhanced Google Search resultsIntegration into Google Street ViewIntegration into Google MapsQR codes linking to your tour

US Rates for Google Street View Photography

Package One- $299Consists of approximately 1 hour of 360 Panorama Photography with up to 10 scenes of your business interior. Also included an additional 1/2 hour with up to 6 still photographs required by Google of your business, signage, and details of your location. Average business floor plan of 1500 sf or less. All images are uploaded to Google Pages for you.

Package Two- $399Consists of approximately 1.25 hours of 360 Panorama Photography with up to 15 scenes of your business interior. Also included an additional 1/2 hour with up to 6 still photographs required by Google of your business, signage, and details of your location, with and additional 1/2 hour shooting 10 still photographs specified by you. Average business floor plan of  2000 sf or less. All images are uploaded to Google Places for you.

Package Three-$499Consists of approximately 1.5 hours of 360 Panorama Photography with up to 30 scenes of your business interior. Also included an additional 1/2 hour with up to 6 still photographs required by Google of your business, signage, and details of your location, with and additional 1/2 hour shooting 10 still photographs specified by you. Average business floor plan of 2500 sf or less. Also, an additional 1/2 hour commercial portrait session with your team. All images are uploaded to Google Places for you.

Package Four – $999This is for a small Furniture store / Department Store / Large Retailer – Consists of approximately 2-4 hours of 360 Panorama Photography with up to 40 scenes of your business interior. Also included an additional 1/2 hour with up to 6 still photographs required by Google of your business, signage, and details of your location, with and additional 1/2 hour shooting 10 still photographs specified by you. Average business floor plan of 5000 to 7000 sf. Also, an additional 1/2 hour commercial portrait session with your team. All images are uploaded to Google Places for you.

Making Money Myth Dispelled

Yes, it's not a full time affair judging from the fees pros are charging for something like this. You can't possibly be charging these rates and relying on this to bring home the bacon so to speak. A typical package with a basic location shoot with travel time, planning and digital post production will cost you 4 hours tops. For US$299, that works out to less than a US$100 bucks an hour. In a day, you can only possibly do two clients, which means US$600 a day tops. Doesn't make sense if you are a Pro. Wedding photographers earn more than that in a single sitting. Judging from the fees charged now, you can safely assume that it is not a niche photography market.

If you are an amateur on the other hand, with a Ricoh Theta camera and a Tripod. It makes good sense to earn some pocket money by shooting an entire location with for a mere fee of US$299. That's coz the Ricoh Theta cost only US$399! You could get a return on investment real quick and make money on your second shoot. Sounds lovely but until Google makes that official, you won't be qualifying yourself as a Google Business Photographer.

Update: Google has introduced a new Street App, which allows you to upload bubble photos using an Android device and there is support for bubble photos shot on the new Ricoh Theta as well, however there is no word on this from Google to say that you can junk your DSLR in favor of the Ricoh point and shoot to qualify as a Google Business Photographer.