I am unfamilliar with the term stock alliance...though it sounds intriguing....can you elaborate on how one differs from an agency, and what advantages they might have over independent efforts? I know that I have been batting in the dark on rates...and that today with traditional agencies existing or trying to along side really cheap options such as "istock"....that rates seem to be all over the board from Xx$1000s to $1--3 per image....for all sorts of different usage types....

Also intriguing is the fact that some agencies are requiring HUGE digital image formats ...I guess in order to weed out the tons of amateurs from the true professionals....seems a bit arbirary given the fact that I think Sports Illustrated, and National Geographic reputedly began using digital files as early as the 30D/1D generation of cameras...not perhaps a lot...but at least a little bit.

I would honestly think anything 6 meg and above in a APS or larger sensor size....would suffice for publishing most of the time....but some (Alarmy among them) seem to be requiring 1Ds, n14 and above as entry level requirements....a bit reough as I think many pros are with me on the current crop of 6--8 meg devices being plenty for most uses....now if the requirement was for 16 or 32 bit capture....that would be something else again....but at present I am unaware of anything other than the H1 with a Creo back or similar that offers even 16 bit....and at $36k or so...this is out of my range..also not practical for a lot of work.

Here is a collage from some of my favorite shots from this past weekend..