I just set up an account with www.pixish.com, and I’m going to try to use it to get some user-generated content for use on our admission site and other sites like Facebook pages, etc.
You can view the ‘assignment’ here. If any of you happen to have some BU photos, feel free to add them. 
This could be a fun little venture! I know there are several student photographers online, so I am going to contact them first. Then I’ll put some general announcements on the BUForums and Facebook Page. Maybe email the Bloggers and see if they have any that they want to contribute. ** Hat tip to Anthony Bosio from Lynn U. for the link! **
5 Comments until now
I have never heard of Pixish! Is it very similar to Flickr, except that others can upload content to your profile (rather than only yourself being able to upload?)
Would love to know more about this site and why you decided to use it!
As a professional photographer, this site makes me queasy. It’s too much like microstock where amateurs go to say, “I had my picture published. I’m a pro now,” even though they only get 20 cents per image. This is another example of crowdsourcing, which is wonderful and cool and great for people looking for photos, but it seriously devlaues the work of professionals who are trying to make a living.
Sure, you don’t think that’s a problem, but I’m also sure that you’d scream bloody murder if I came in and said “hey I’ll do all your university marketing and recruitment for free. I’ve got another job and just do marketing because its fun.”
Of course, complaining about it doesn’t change it. I just hate to see photography get so seriously devalued.
Tony - I considered becoming a pro photographer instead of going in to higher ed, so I know what you mean. There is a huge devaluation of photography, especially with the DSLR’s saturating the market. People treat them as point and shoots, and everyone is a ‘pro’ now.
However, I do think this site is different than your typical microstock site. For one, the user must find ‘assignments’ and upload the images on their own, someone can’t simply browse the site and find the picture they want to use, then take it.
I merely want to use these images for areas like our forums and blogs, not for our main pages or for publications. For one, we pay someone to take those photos. However, he isn’t here past 5, and it’s hard to capture true student life between 8-5. We really like what Colby College is doing (http://insidecolby.com/photos/index.php) and are using this to test the waters of having students take photos for our sites.
Ideally, we’d find a few standout photographers and hire them on staff to help with the site in ‘08-’09. As an undergrad, I was the student photographer and made $10-20 an hour. The university truly valued the fact that I was at every event, taking the photos they wanted to use, not the stale images that they had been using. For me, I was going to the events anyways so it wasn’t really “work”. They saw the opportunity, and I made a ton of extra cash that I eventually used to upgrade my camera body and lenses.
Brad,
Understood. Sometimes I just get frustrated. And you’re right, this isn’t a microstock site.
Here are a few of their thoughts regarding some stuff we’ve been talking about:
http://pixish.com/news/3
Sounds like a ‘paid’ model is in the works.
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