Sea and Co is a group of marine photographers who decided few years ago to work as a team to adapt themselves to the ongoing changes occurring in the world of media and communication with regards to photography.
We are now 11 photographers representing 4 countries and we are in the process of expanding this group internationally very soon. We have a common server www.seaandco.net and an informative website www.sailing-photo.com translated in 5 different languages.
So far the access to our server has been restricted to our regular customers, mainly written press and communication/advertising agencies that we are dealing with since years, and the ones we trust.
The big change of the last decade has been the development of the internet and, most recently, the social media. It is a matter of fact that, until today, we have been reluctant to give access to webmasters for two main reasons:
- It is virtually impossible to control the circulation of any picture once it is published on a news website
- There were no payments in counterpart.
But things are changing. Both the mentality, the economy and, of course, the technology.
Because we want to stay in up-to-date with the electronic media and create the right tools that would allow them to use Sea and Co photos on a fair basis, we made some key changes to our organization:
- Completely revamp our server www.seaandco.net for easier access not only to the recent reports but also to our whole photo stock.
- Adapt this server to be able to deliver not only the maximum size to our customer but also smaller sizes adapted to electronic media. We can now offer the following sizes and service:
- Internet (800 px)
- Design (1600 px)
- Create a commercial offer that would allow news websites to choose whatever picture they like on our server on a quantity/time based fee.
Please find the document enclosed that details this new offer. Proposal.pdf
We fully understand you might ask yourself the following question: why should I pay for pictures as I can find all I need for free anywhere on the Internet?
It is probably what you have done until now. And honestly, that's what we try to change for several reasons:
1 - Long term vision
As we are professionals, there is no reason any publication, would it be electronic or not, use our photos - their primary content - for free. We hardly see any industry that does not pay its raw material, event for a small amount, otherwise it is not on a stable trend, simply because the providers cannot survive. All of us have seen enough websites, blogs, appear and disappear in the recent years to know how it works.
2 - Quality content
We want to talk to serious professional editors who have a long term vision of their media and know they will need to improve their resources on one side and secure original and quality content on the other one. That's where we position ourselves: quality, original content, not the same press release image every website will publish.
3 - Original content
It is probably easy to get editorial free photos of the most prominent sporting events, we are in this business too. It is much more difficult to get original pictures from the other sailing fields, the marine world at whole, those things happening far away from the main stream news. Sea and Co can also provide you with all those photos its members produce on a personal basis since up to 30 years, forming a unique quality marine photo library.
4 - Large choice in one place
Sea and Co is a big time saver, as you will find everything you need in one place. You don't have to visit a dozen of websites with each time a different access, reviewing and downloading mode. Just get the Sea and Co one. We are eleven professional photographers working at sea many days of the year; we photograph everything we see, the boats and the regattas but also the nature, the landscapes, the people, every marine activity. We post new features regularly; we always keep the 50 latest on the home page.
5 - Expanding
Sea and Co is looking into expanding the pool of photographers with more unique photographers from around the world that share the same Sea and Co values. We are currently negotiating with several new photographers to join Sea and Co in order to provide even more high class content to our customers.
6 - Affordable deal
The Sea and Co offer is a very good deal! We have a good idea of the current economy and the impact it has on internet and know everybody is experiencing difficult times, still looking for a viable way to simply exist, so we kept our rates affordable. Simply have a look at our server and consider the amount of time, passion, expertise and investment that has been involved in producing those images. And now consider the details of our offer for having this content entirely available for your electronic publication. Frankly, you should go for it!
7 - A welcome offer
In order to allow you to get used to our server and to test all its possibilities for real, we offer you 10 pictures to download in a 10 days time.
So, please don't hesitate to contact us at team@seaandco.net if you have any question or to get more information.
Best regards
Sea and Co photographers
Julien Girardot - Jérome Houyvet - Oskar Kilborg - Thierry Martinez - Gilles Martin-Raget - Benoît Stichelbaut - Benjamin Thouard - Sander van der Borch - Jacques Vapillon - Yoichi Yabe - Yvan Zedda
