07/26/2025
Unfortunate News. Starting next month, no new TRP photos will be uploaded to Shutterstock. Existing photos will still be available for licensing, but no new content will be posted unless Shutterstock changes their way and I feel obliged to start uploading again.
In recent weeks, Shutterstock has been placing increased emphasis on data training sets. While I support ethical means of sourcing training data for fAke models, I'd like to avoid having my content be used for training data in what few ways I can. With my recent two uploads of 20 per upload (40 total photos), only approximately 30% were approved for normal licensing; the other 70% were approved only for data licensing... which is opted out at this point in time.
It's not worth it to post there anymore if my photos will just go unused. I started TRP to ensure my photos didn't sit on a hard drive collecting dust, and photos that only get approved for data licensing are invisible to everyone, even me, unless I opt in (which I don't). This defeats my whole purpose in uploading and simply wastes my time.
In spite of this recent development, I'm proud to say that TRP content has appeared all across the world, featured on TV comedy shows like Stephen Colbert's, YouTube educational channels like Company Man and Wendover Productions, in hundreds if not thousands of news articles, and even in city project planning documents. My content has easily seen over a million views, and I'd wager it's well into the millions of eyes that have seen my stuff at this point.
The TRP catalog recently crossed 3,500 licensable photos and 30 licensable video clips. It includes hundreds of businesses across Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska, mostly captured on cameras not typically deemed "professional," though a few video clips were captured on the DSLR 80D.
July 2025 will be the last time for the monthly new uploads montage series (unless most if not all my content starts being approved for traditional licensing again AND I want to upload again). I may still post some photos/montages, but that's about it for now. Sadly, this leaves the future of TRP uncertain, and I don't know what's next. Sorry.