We are excited to announce the winners of our inaugural myPhone contest for new myPhone contributors who signed up and submitted images before midnight November 30. We received many exceptional images, but there were some standouts that we would like to recognize. Congratulations to Jody Frost, Jessica Edmunds, and Chris Odom. You can see their prize winning images below. The prizes were $100 iTunes gift certificate (first place), $50 iTunes gift certificate (2nd) and $20 gift certificate (3rd). Thank you to all of the new contributors and to our myPhone partners, iPhonePhotoPros, for judging.

1st place: Jody Frost, 1000 Stories in the Naked city / Aurora Photos

2nd place: Jessica Edmunds, Someone's Hungry-Brooklyn, NY / Aurora Photos

3rd place: Chris Odom, Sunset skimboarder Anna Maria Island, FL. / Aurora Photos

Visit our myPhone collection for more amazing photography.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 14, 2011 — Portland, Maine:

Aurora Photos is excited to announce the launch of the myPhone Collection of stock photography, a collection of images taken with iPhones and other mobile devices by some of the world’s top photographers and iPhoneographers, and now made available to pictures buyers for both editorial and commercial licensing. To coincide with the launch of the myPhone Collection, Aurora is also introducing a new modified Rights Managed licensing model called Easy Rights Managed. The model offers simple, quick, broad, and managed rights at reasonable prices.

“Camera phone photography has become such a vital part of our visual culture today. We are excited to be able to offer the finest examples of this kind of imagery to clients and build a collection that will be seen as singular, contemporary and fun.” states Aurora’s President Jose Azel.

To establish the foundation of the collection, Aurora solicited camera phone images from its worldwide base of top editorial and commercial photographers. Aurora then partnered with the Facebook group iPhone Photo Pros, a diverse group of photographers ranging from professionals to amateurs who have an unyielding passion for iPhone capture and application processing. The group includes National Geographic Photographer Dewitt Jones and iPhone photography instructor and guru Teri Lou Dantzler.

“The iPhone is the ultimate digital sketchpad enabling the photographer to create and experiment in any situation,” explains photographer Dewitt Jones, “The astounding quality of the lens and processor and the number of post production apps available allows the photographer unlimited creativity to generate images fully ready for hundreds of professional uses.”

The myPhone Collection will be licensed using Aurora’s new Easy Rights Managed licensing model. Customers simply indicate the industry and territory of the use, and then select one from just a handful of choices that defines the use and duration of license. “Easy Rights Managed is a simple and accessible licensing model that maintains a sales history and still allows for exclusive licensing,” explains Aurora’s Director Karl Schatz. “It’s a perfect fit for a collection of images like myPhone.”

The myPhone collection is open to all photographers who would like to submit their images. A quick and easy online agreement gives any photographer the ability to submit a photo by simply emailing it straight from their phone. Interested photographers can visit: http://www.auroraphotos.com/myphone/submit/
New photographers that sign up and submit by November 30, 2011 will automatically have their photos entered in a myPhone photography contest being judged by the iPhone Photo Pros group.

“Personally I never imagined that my iPhone images would be considered by a stock agency,” says iPhone photography guru Dantzler, “The fact that Aurora realizes the potential of these little jewels is very exciting.”

“Aurora is the first stock agency to offer such a collection,” adds Jones, “The first to realize the impact that iPhone images are making on the country and the world, and the first to understand the multitude of ways they can be used by buyers of stock photography”.

View the myPhone Collection Homepage

Like the myPhone Collection on Facebook
Browse the entire myPhone Collection
More information about Easy Rights Managed
or for more information contact info[at]auroraphotos[dot]com or call 207-828-8787 x111

Dan Chung / Aurora Photos

Aurora Photographer Dan Chung followed his heart, pointed his camera and clicked without any preconceived thought of what would make a commercially viable image. He simply used his creative intuition and captured his surroundings while street-shooting in the rain, walking around the mall in Washington, D.C. When a woman came running through the dreary scene, he panned his camera and captured her in stride with the drained reflection pool fading into the distance. Dan submitted the photos from his day of shooting in DC, we selected the frames we thought had the most potential for earnings, and just this month it sold for world wide exclusivity within the Industrial Engineering industry.

There are a few takeaways here. First, shoot from the heart. Second, it can be impossible to foresee which clients will license what images. And lastly, in order to bring home the bacon, you must first put your images out there for others to see.

This posting was written with the approval of the photographer. Congratulations Dan!

To see more images from Dan Chung, visit Aurora Photos.

We’ve been playing around with the new PacaSearch that cross references image searches across many picture libraries. There are some interesting advantages to clients with a search like this, and identifying agencies that stand apart from the rest in certain categories is one of them. We thought we’d put Aurora to that test in one of our strongest categories, “Adventure.” No surprise here, Aurora Photos is #1. If you’re looking for adventure, look no further. With thousands of images from photographers worldwide, Aurora Photos consistently delivers the best in Adventure Photography. Of course, Aurora isn’t only about adventure; we showcase a multitude of photographs in lifestyle, travel, journalism and editorial categories. We also provide a worldwide network of assignment photographers and multimedia storytelling services that combine still photography, video, and audio. With the help of our partner agencies and worldwide contributors, you will never have to settle for anything less than exactly what you want. Come see for yourself what Aurora can offer.

Kari Medig / Aurora Photos

Chris Ross / Aurora Photos

Ryan Heffernan / Aurora Photos

Woods Wheatcroft / Aurora Photos

To view more thrill seeking images, visit Aurora Photos.

Photograph by Jon Lowenstein / Noor / Aurora Photos

Aurora Photographer Jon Lowenstein has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in the field of Photography to allow him to pursue his long term project on the South Side of Chicago.

For the past decade, Jon has been documenting the lives and social interactions of the different communities present in the South Side. He will continue and expand his explorations into a participatory media project including a book and experimental film.

To view the South Side of Chicago photographs, visit Noor Images.
To view more photographs from Jon Lowenstein, visit Aurora Photos.

AURORA PHOTOS agency founder, Jose Azel announced that Anh Stack will join AURORA SELECT as Assignment Director. AURORA SELECT is a division of AURORA PHOTOS, founded in 1993 and headquartered in Portland, Maine, remains one of the premier, independent photo agencies. From SELECT’s New York City offices, Stack will oversee all assignment opportunities. In addition to representing over 100 elite photographers for the commercial and editorial sectors, AURORA also creates cutting edge multimedia through AURORA NOVUS.

Anh Stack brings more than 30 years of experience to SELECT. She has worked closely with award-winning photographers on projects ranging from magazine assignments and corporate jobs to books to contests. Before joining SELECT she held the position of editorial director at Black Star where she also held research and sales roles.

“Anh’s experience with both corporate sales and world-class photojournalism will be invaluable to SELECT’s continued growth,” states Azel. “Their photography not only informs, but inspires editors and readers alike.”

“Representing such a unique roster of photographers who have exceptional vision and story telling skills for magazine and commercial clients is a very exciting opportunity,” exclaims Stack, “In addition, together with AURORA NOVUS, we can provide something many other agencies cannot, great multimedia and video post production. Still and video will be the future of many assignments and we can help lead the charge.”

To review the work of SELECT photographers go to auroraselect.com.

©Stefen Chow

Aurora Select photographer Stefen Chow has been chosen as a featured photographer by Nikon Asia for their latest campaign, ‘Through Asia’s Eyes.’ Stefen’s particular campaign focuses on his industrial work through the years.

To view other work from Stefen, visit his portfolio at Aurora Select.