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Archive for May 2009
Those Summer Vacation
Stock Photos
Most photographers don’t like to draw attention to themselves. But as a stock photographer, you’re most successful images are going to be those that include people.
Here’s a tip when photographing in public, especially at parks and recreational areas.
Usually, when you’re photographing in public, it’s best to look like a pro photographer, (multiple cameras in photo bag or slung around your neck, name tag on your breast pocket, tripod under arm). You get attention. Strangers are happy to appear in your photo. They suspect you’re from a national, major magazine. They’ll earn their ‘fifteen minutes of fame.’
When you are photographing in public, pay attention to the clothing you wear.
However, if you try that ‘professional’ wardrobe in a city, state, or national park, … --you’ll get the attention of the Park Manager.
He or she will have a clipboard and a commercial license application to fill out. Their job is to protect park visitors from tripping over photographic equipment, cables and other paraphernalia.
If it’s not your intention to make a Hollywood production of your photo outing – there’s no need to go through the application process that commercial stock photographers must apply for.
In your travels this summer, you'll no doubt venture into some of our National and State Parks. It’s better to dress like a tourist (straw hat, shorts, Hawaiian shirt) so as not to attract attention. Avoid using wires, reflectors, and professional models – if the situation allows.
MARKETING TIPS
If the national and state parks are destinations for your stock photography, remember the marketing rule: Don’t come back from your trip with “great photos” (the kind that are displayed on post card racks) and then ask, “Where can I sell these?” Instead find markets before you go and shoot.
Request a brochure(s) from the park you will be visiting. Visit their website for picture ideas. Also, check out the local gift shop at the park for postcards when you arrive. These views will give you a general idea of the best locations and angles to shoot, the lighting, and compositions. (Don't forget to include photogenic people in your photos to enhance the marketability.) A red shirt or jacket always helps. Keep one in the trunk of your car.
The laws change from park to park and from state to state. Here are some sources of information.
National Park Service, 12795 West Alameda Pkwy, Denver CO 25287.
Looking for info about a certain park?
http://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm
History of the Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/
A horror story about Park Rangers:
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/3020
Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and best-selling author of "Sell & ReSell Your Photos" and "sellphotos.com," has helped scores of photographers launch their careers. For access to great information on making money from pictures you like to take, and learn how to sell pictures, and to receive this free report: "8 Steps to Becoming a Published Photographer," visit his website, PhotoS ource International or call 800 624-0266
The Case of the Undeleting Photo
For the most part, when you delete a photo from your digital camera or computer, it’s really deleted. Sure, you may have the Recycle Bin on your computer and could get it back, but if you’re like most of us, you keep the Recycle Bin pretty well emptied. And for purposes of this discussion, we’ll not mention the backup files you’ve maintained all these years.
So, here’s an experiment you can try yourself. Upload a photo to Facebook. Make a copy of the actual URL of the photo (not the page that contains the photo). Then, delete the photo after a day or so. One month later, use the URL and see if the photo is still there.
There’s a very good chance it will be. But, how can that be if you deleted it 30 days ago?
Researchers at Cambridge found that nearly half of the social networking sites don’t immediately remove photos when requested to do so. Why? The reason has to do with the way big sites are managed.
To speed response, the content is replicated across many servers, often in diverse geographical locations. Thus, it can take a while for all the copies to be deleted.
Photo-centric sites like Flickr are quicker to remove all those copies. And of course, once the photo gets out into the world (i.e., the broader Internet), consider it out of your control.
Then, there’s the Wayback Machine ( http://www.archive.org ), which archives web pages practically forever (although they do honor owner removal requests).
Love Photoshop But Too Expensive?
Here’s a free alternative: http://www.gimp.org
Here’s a comment I found on eFLuxMedia: Probably the most powerful free image editor available is GiMP, an open source program that now rivals Photoshop in features and usability, many believe. GiMP offers a customizable user interface, so you can set it up to provide you with just the features you need so that you're not overwhelmed with options.
GiMP has its own plug?in system, and over 100 free plug?ins are already available. What's more, you can use GiMP to open and save files in formats supported by most other image editing software, including Photoshop.
If you give it a try, let us know what you think about it
. 1 800 624 0266.
TiVo Is Watching You!
What a shock it was to TiVo users a few years back when they collectively discovered that their viewing habits were being recorded and uploaded to TiVo’s computers for detailed analysis and aggregation.
Now, TiVo is set to launch a local version of its StopWatch ratings service, in its escalating battle with Nielsen for TV viewer demographics.
This service is scheduled to start with the Fall TV season. They can track second-by-second whether commercials are being watched or fast-forwarded. Just which markets it will monitor is not yet determined.
Bill Hopkins is the Webmaster of PhotoSourceFolio, where photographers
display photos and a regular contributor to PhotoStockNotes. Send comments to Bill via email. Fax: 1 818 831-0916. For on-line questions, contact Bill on the Kracker Barrel.
WHERE ARE YOU LOSING THEM? Google Analytics for Photographers: Kim Larson shows how to set up conversion funnels to track Web site visitors who do not follow through on desired actions, such as completing an online form.
http://rising.blackstar.com/video-google-analytics-for-photographers-creating-a-funnel.html
WINDOW ON WINDOWS -- Jeff Wignall: Sometimes, the Best Shots Are Just Outside Your Window - When you're doing travel photography, it's easy to think of your time in airplanes and hotels as a pane…-- a window pane, that is. But in photography as in life, that's the wrong way to look at any experience.
http://rising.blackstar.com/sometimes-the-best-shots-are-just-outside-your-window.html
STARTING OUT -- The Beginner's Guide to Concert Photography. Getting Access: For small to medium venues, you may not need a press or photo pass to bring your camera and take some shots. However, contact one or more of the bands and ask permission to take pictures. This is made very easy through MySpace or the band's website. They'll usually offer to put you on the guest list, with the expectation that you'll post or provide them with the pictures. Most smaller indie bands are more than happy to have you come out, so don't be shy about contacting them. http://www.examiner.com/x-10963-Austin-Indie-Music-Examiner~y2009m5d26-The-Beginners-Guide-to-Concert-Photography
Got a business law question?
Here’s a good place to go to get a free answer:
http://www.justanswer.com/
ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE? Getty Images supposedly in talks to buy ITN. Sharehlders report that detailed discussions to sell a majority stake in the British “News at Ten and Channel 4 News” to Getty Images, the international picture agency.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/20/itn-sale-getty-images
TAKEAWAY: No doubt Channel 4 News has abundant archival footage. Keep alert, your next camera may be video.
BUYING MICROSTOCK? Here’s a Primer. The Right Value for your Money - How do you determine the best value for your money, when licensing a microstock image? Look at the license terms and juggle the images “use” against length of use, place of use, etc.
http://seanlockedigitalimagery.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/the-right-value-for-your-money/
BAIT AND CATCH – Fotolia Launches Free Stock Photo Service. A micropayment site, Fotalia, has lauched a new brand called PhotoXpress, which offers a library of almost 350,000 images at no charge. You get 10 a day. http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/stock-and-syndication/e3i82a4bef380199312974144c62567b0db
HIGHEST PRODUCERS Ever wondered who is Numero Uno at iStock and how many images he has contributed (Since end of May 2009)? Total Contributors: 29036;
Exclusive Contributors: 4135 (14.24%); Last statistics update: Monday, May 25th; Total Downloads (of 29036 Contributors): 63.396.378; Total DLs 24h (of 29036 Contributors): 21.836; Total Files (of 29036 Contributors): 4.533.620.
Check out the top people here. http://istockcharts.multimedia.de/
BELTS TIGHTEN AT NEWSWEEK -- As part of a move away from day-to-day news coverage, Newsweek has ended its White House photo pool involvement. The money-losing magazine says it is heading in a new editorial direction—less breaking news, more analysis—and plans to drop its guaranteed circulation from 2.6 million to 1.5 million by January 2010. The magazine has cut 160 positions in recent years and now has a staff of about 400. http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/editorial/e3i4ac338fdce0587a7637b2ce4f73dfca5
PILFER = TAKE AND USE. Copyright discussions can get hot and heavy, especially if they’re penned by eloquent adversaries. Here’s an example.
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/pilfered-magazine#comment-236 .
And it continues with another subject: Reed contract - Reed Business information (RBI Ltd) has recently made another of their periodic attempts to get photographers to sign up to a rights-grabbing contract. This has happened every few years since the 1990's, with significant lack of success.
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/reed-contract
TAKEAWAY: Is “ART” for everybody, or just for “The Few”? If copyright law did not exist, would artists (photographers) continue to make it their livelihood?
Are Your Copyrights Protected?
by Joel Hecker, Esq
A primary purpose of estate planning is to insure that assets and property are distributed as intended. Although laws vary from state to state, one general concept is universal: the more organized you are, the easier it is for your executor to marshal your assets and to make sure your wishes are honored in a timely fashion.
By the very nature of a professional photographer’s work and creative efforts, one of the most valuable assets is ownership of copyrights to his or her body of work. Although copyright is an “intellectual,” as opposed to a “physical”asset, for estate purposes, it is treated in the same way as any other asset.
Copyright is a bundle of “intellectual” property rights, which include the rights to reproduce, distribute, display, and perform the copyrighted work, and prepare derivative works based upon it. It does not include the original work which is a “physical” asset. Therefore, while you may identify your particular works as part of bequeaths in your Will, that does not necessarily include the rights under copyright to the works, which are separate assets.
Take a moment to think about whether you know how many copyrights you own and which, if any, copyrights are registered with the Copyright Office in Washington D.C. If you cannot identify what your copyrights are, or the location of the original negatives, chromes and/or digital files from which reproductions can be made, think of the problems you will be causing your executor!
The simple answer is to get organized. This should encompass all relevant information, including a list of all your intellectual property, either by individual images, or category of work, or by job or assignment. Information about subject matter, date of creation, date of first publication, or registration information with the Copyright Office, all known uses of the images, all payments received, if it is subject to any licenses (including stock photo agreements), what royalties are due and when should be made available. The physical location of the work should also be accessible. Any appraisal or valuation that you have (or might want to obtain) would be very helpful.
Want to read more?
http://photosource.com/psn-article/copyrights.html
Available Light
– Photographic Techniques For Using Existing Light Sources,
by Don Marr and published by Amherst Media, Inc., marketing[at]AmherstMedia[dot]com.
Review by Joseph Stanski First and foremost, this book deals with rediscovering our sensitivity to available or natural light. And for the most part, deals with just portrait photography. Nowhere in the book does it address available light in say, landscapes, night, or wildlife photography. With that said, this book is instructional as well as informative. Some of the chapters challenge you with projects to take up that will enhance your observations of natural light.
Don starts out with describing Overcast Day light. He uses, with great illustration examples, the technique of subtractive lighting. He then goes on to describe other methods of controlling this type of lighting; with his Tunnel of Light, Short Light, and then Controlling the Quality of Light with this type of lighting. Don explains clearly with great illustrations of each way he uses this type of lighting in maximizing its potential.
Chapter 2, Sunny Day, he shows us some Quick Fixes For Bright Sun as well as some neat ideas with Photographing Children, Shadows and Color, Open Shade, A Short Primer on Color Temperature, Different Qualities of Light.
Chapter 3 thru 7 address other types of lighting, like, Backlighting and Flare, Window Light, The Daylight Studio, Natural Reflectors and as well as Finding Light (my favorite).
In Chapter 8, Don briefly explains Composition and “using light as well as good composition as a compositional element” with Rule of Thirds and Power Points, Leading Lines, Symmetry, Extra Space, and Color, Contrast and much more to improve your photography.
In the final Chapter, Creating Studio Lighting at Home, Don describes different places in our homes that can aid use in creating those studio type lighting effects one sees in the high end studios.
Each chapter in this book illustrated and deepen my understand of photographing under available lighting situations. Coupled with Don’s illustrations and the wonderful “Projects” at the end of each chapter, this book furthered my understanding and education of the creative uses of available light. I must say, I would not hesitate to recommend this book to stock photographers.
to order:
http://www.photosourcefolio.com/bookstore.htm#1584282525
Reviewer Joseph Stanski has been an agricultural stock photographer for the last twenty-five years. He has published in many ag-oriented magazines as well as national publications. He retired as a schoolteacher and is currently teaching photography and running his stock photography business in Southeast Iowa. morningstar138[at]hotmail[dot]com
A DVD that should be on every stock photographer's bookshelf:
Rohn Engh's
"How To Market YourPhotos"
21-sections that will put you
in front of the competition.
You'll learn new ways
to start using the Internet
to direct photobuyer traffic
to your website.
You'll learn why you should stop
using the old ways..
and how to re-awaken former customers
with the new ways.
Rohn Engh is author of the popular "Sell & ReSell Your Photos."
DON’T TAKE MY PICTURE! Appeal Court curtails police right to photograph protestors - A legal challenge over the power of the police to photograph peaceful protesters succeeded at the Court of Appeal recently. Two out of three judges agreed there had been a disproportionate interference in the right to privacy when police surveillance teams photographed a protesting campaigner and followed him.
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=43676&c=1
CAPTURING THE DEPRESSION YEARS -- Library Of Congress's Depression Photos Debut On Flickr. The Library of Congress and Flickr have teamed up to introduce folks to a huge collection of photos, with most of the B&W images dating back to the 30’s and early 40’s. http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/05/22/library-of-congresss-depression-photos-debut-on-flickr-0
BATTERY PLUS -- Run your camera on air. A new type of “air-fuelled battery” could give up to ten times the energy storage of betteriescurrently available. "The air-fuelled battery could be suitable for a wide range of electronics and will run on any air." explained Professor Peter Bruce of the Chemistry Department at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland.
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Airfuelled-Battery-Could-Last-Up-to-10-Times-Longer-11624
QUIET PLEASE. -- Nik Software says that Dfine 2.0, its popular digital photographic plug-in offering photographers advanced and powerful noise reduction for their digital images, is now available for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 and higher.
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Nik-Software-Dfine-20-Update-11623
TABLOID TRAIL – Bankruptcy Looming for Annie Leibovitz? Gawker is reporting today that the rental house that sued Annie Leibovitz may be preparing to file an involuntary bankruptcy petition against the photographer. http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/05/bankruptcy-looming-for-annie-leibovitz.html
WORKFORCE SHRINKING AT AP -- The Associated Press is quietly offering buyouts that include $500 for each year of service and increased pension benefits to several hundred veteran employees, according to AP and a News Media Guild statement. http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/photojournalism/e3ic8543054a8a9084d4bba1c9c5093a1a1
"I've dealt with PhotoSource International for over ten years. Their PhotoSourceBOOK and PhotoSourceBANK combination has, by far, been my best investment in advertising my stock photography work. I recommend Rohn Engh and his work highly when I conduct my seminars and my classes."
- Betty Sederquist Photography, Lotus CA
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"The PhotoSourceBANK is sure worth the investment ($4.95 a month). On my PhotoSourceBank site (www.photosource.com/1338) a photobuyer recently found a specific butterfly she needed. The resulting sales will pay for my membership for many years to come! Thank you PhotoSource." - David Liebman, Photographer, Norfolk, VA.
WILDLIFE IN EUROPE -- Wild Wonders of Europe - a photographic project set to reveal the natural treasures of the European continent to over 700 million people Worldwide. The photo competition celebrates the joy of wildness, reminding us all about why nature matters in our lives, and more important, why we need to protect it. http://www.wild-wonders.com/photo_competition_faq.asp
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Gitzo-supports-Wild-Wonders-of-Europe-11621
“If you find a job you love, you never work a day ...” - Flip Schulke
1940 - The first cystoscopic photographs were published (in the Southern Surgeon). They were taken in color by Drs Edgar Garrison Ballenger, Harold Paul McDonald, and Reese Clinton Coleman of Atlanta, Georgia.
- - - - - - - - - -
May 20th 2009
- - - - - - - -
The easiest way to jump…
From No Sales … to Big Sales
If you’ve been making pictures for months, or even years, but have few sales (or even NO sales) to publishers* to show for it – that’s a clue that your images need a jolt of vitality, a spark of spirit and dynamism.
And what would that ‘spark’ be?
First of all, I know you’ve mastered the essentials of photography, or you wouldn’t be on our mailing list. You know good composition, lighting and color. And just as important, you have good technical awareness and knowledge.
But here’s a latent talent that you probably have, being a visual artist, that you may not have thought to develop. It’s the art of telling a story.
Check out your collection of photos from the past. Do some of them tell a story? Can you “read into” your photos to the extent that’s there more to the picture than just a display of elements: a tree, a desk, a truck, a flower, a mother/child?
Successful stock photographers are those who have learned to tell a story with their photos. Their photos express an emotion, or share knowledge, or make the viewer think.
We all have the ability to tell a story. A bedtime story to our children; relating an exciting experience at a football game; a fishing saga; a re-enactment of a friend’s mishap on the golf course; an explanation to a group of students; or an excuse for being late to a dental appointment. These are all spontaneous stories that you relate to family and friends every day.
You can infuse this interest and excitement into your photos. Just how you tell your stories is your hallmark. You set yourself aside from other photographers and establish a unique brand for your photography style.
In the first paragraph above, I say, “making pictures.” Why didn’t I say, “taking pictures?” A camera can be more than just a tool to take photos.
It’s admirable to capture beautiful scenes with your camera by ‘taking’ them. But you offer more thought-provoking pictures for your audience if you let your images – tell a story.
*In case you forgot, the average art director at a magazine or book publishing house has a $35,000-a-month budget for photography. (A month, not a year…)
Rohn Engh is the best-selling author of “Sell & ReSell Your Photos” and “sellphotos.com.” He has produced a new eBook, “How to Make the Marketable Photo.” For more information and to receive a free eReport: “8 Steps to Becoming a Published Photographer,” visit http://www.sellphotos.com
Want to publish an article from PhotoStockNOTES in your BLOG? Let us know which article and we’ll give the go-ahead. I 800 624 0266 extn 21 Ask for Bruce Swenson
MARKETING TIP (From Sell & ReSell Your Photos, Page 285.) Uncle Sam will pay you up to a $1000 a year to stop calling your photography a `hobby' and start calling it a business. IRS guidelines encourage you to get serious about your photography and to use your tax write-offs. You have three years before you have to show you sold a picture or made a profit. All you have to show is intent. It's a government incentive to encourage you start up your business.
FREE HELP from the Small Business Admistration. Online business course “Starting A Business” and other online courses about operating a small business.
http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/plan/index.html
STARTING OVER -- Early Lessons - When the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ceased its print editon, four of them who had been staff photographers decided to form their own business, a full-service photography studio http://rising.blackstar.com/early-lessons.html
NYT’s NEW BLOG -- The New York Times Launches Full-Screen Photo Blog. After more than a year in development, The New York Times launched a large-format photo blog Monday to showcase. In a sign of how online publishing is often run on a shoestring, the blog has no dedicated staff and no budget for photography photojournalism projects. It will showcase work shot for the Times’ print edition, personal projects by Times photographers, wire service photographs, and work provided for publication at no cost. http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/photojournalism/e3i07c80a70350aca72c7cf0e67d3a7fb19?imw=Y
TAKEAWAY: Now I wonder what that last line means, “at no cost.” Perhaps it means the NYTimes is offering a credit line in exchange for photos. If that’s the case, it’s a no-no in our business. STOP IT! –RE
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COPYRIGHT HARMFUL? Economist Copyright poll - A poll at The Economist on the motion : "This house believes that existing copyright laws do more harm than good."
http://www.economist.com/debate/overview/144
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/economist-copyright-poll
Digital Photographers! Want to discover a powerful way to know exactly what photobuyers at hundreds of small publishers of books and magazines want in the way of photos, and how much they'll pay for them - every week -- week after week ?
Every Friday morning we send you 5 (five)new hot contacts who currently need photos.
These are not $1--$2 microstock listings. The PHOTOLETTER listings pay $25, $50, $75 per photo, one-time use, and $200 to $300 per cover.
Only $27.00 per month to receive this marketletter every Friday morning.
Rohn Engh
PS: The photobuyers know us well -- and depend on photographers like you. We have published the PHOTOLETTER since 1976 and haven't missed a Friday morning!
More info:
http://www.source-photo.com/
1 800 624 0266
OLD-TYME FLIX -- National Geographic snaps up BBC Photography series, “Genius of Photography”. Outright Distribution has sold BBC2 documentary series to National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) as part of a raft of other post-MipTV sales. Produced by Wall to Wall, the series offered a comprehensive history of photography and was originally produced for BBC2 and BBC4. http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/2009/05/nat_geo_snaps_up_bbc_photography_series.html
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. -- "Free software for your Mac that helps you organize, share, and enjoy your photos based on the people who are in them." But the terms of service provide: In order for Blue Lava to make the Service available to you, you hereby grant Blue Lava a royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide right and license....
http://www.photoattorney.com/2009/05/sharing-love-and-your-photos.html
LUBE JOB -- Canon's beleaguered 1D Mk III and 1DS MkIII have encountered yet another problem, Oil Spots on LPF Surface. -- Canon Recalls Flagship Cameras.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/05/canon-recalls-flagship-cameras-for-lube-job/
http://tinyurl.com/qk2cmu
ULTRAVIOLET - Nikon: EUV program alive and well. Responding to an analyst, Japan's Nikon Corp. insists that its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography program is still
alive and well.
http://www.eetimes.com/rss/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217500676&cid=RSSfeed_eetimes_newsRSS
KEEPING UP -- Selling Through Galleries; Charting A Course For Making Fine Art Photo Sales - As the markets for both consumer and commercial photographers keep warping and changing, many photographers are looking for alternative revenue paths. http://shutterbug.com/columns/business_trends/0409business/
WEAK DOLLARS & POUNDS -- Alamy's financial statement for Q1 2009 - Alamy notes that "the decline in average price has been exaggerated in this report by the weakening of the UK pound (GBP) against the US dollar between Q2 2008 and Q1 2009".
http://www.stockphototalk.com/phototalk/2009/05/alamys-financial-statement-for-q1-2009.html
EASY STORAGE -- Introducing YuuWaa, a new way to store digital data - YuuWaa is the first consumer storage product to combine a secure USB stick with online storage capacity meaning you can backup, access and share all your important data, music, videos and photos anywhere and at any time. http://dpnow.com/5898.html
“I would recommend PhotoSource International and PhotoStockNotes to anyone!”
- Gerald W. Bowers, Photographer, Borger, TX
"Thank you for your wonderful newsletter, PhotoStockNotes. I have really enjoyed it over the past few years."
-Richard Kelly, Photographer, Pittsburgh PA
FATTENING THE BOOTY -- The National Trust photographic project has lost a high profile photographer in a competition rights row. Renowned photographer, Simon Norfolk, has pulled out of the National Trust’s photographic project in protest over rights-grabbing terms in an associated competition run by the conservation body.
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/national-trust-lose-high-profile-photographer
BATTLING STEREOTYPES -- Alessandra Sanguinetti Wins National Geographic Magazine Grant - "Alessandra has an original way of seeing that brings freshness to a subject which is of great importance, but can be difficult to convey past stereotypes," said Susan Smith, National Geographic Magazine's deputy director of photography.
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/editorial/e3i9731bda8fc678b4428332bb937b92782
BUGGERING ON -- Annie Leibovitz acknowledged "difficult financial times" at the 25th annual ICP Infinity Awards ceremony ICP that honored her and Letizia Battaglia which attacted over 700, many of them international photographers.
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/editorial/e3i5d4ce2397955e3fd3ee59893f3fabfff
DOWN DEEP -- Abandoned Iron Mines Inspire Photo Exhibit. Photographer Christine Flavin's photos at the Michigan Iron Industry Museum illustrate the beauty of such sites. The 2002 Quecreek rescue illustrated their dangers; seven coal miners escaped unhurt from an inundation in West Virginia.
http://ohsonline.com/articles/2009/05/20/abandoned-iron-mines-inspire-photo-exhibit.aspx.
SIGHT UNSEEN. -- Visually impaired photographers display mind-boggling shots. Twelve visually impaired artists, a few of whom are totally blind, recently showed some amazing images as part of an exhibit called Sight Unseen at the University of California at Riverside.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10238900-1.html?tag=mncol
Photolucida Part 3: Reviews of Work By Alejandro Cartagena and Angela Bacon-Kidwell - PDN asked three of the 2009 Photolucida reviewers to single out one or two portfolios they liked and tell us what struck them about the work, what if anything they would have changed about the project. http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/features/pdn-online/e3i5d4ce2397955e3fdafa3bc21df4d9b81
"When words become unclear, I shall focus on photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence." - Ansel Adams
1906 – May 2nd – The birthday of portrait and fashion photographer, Philippe Halsman, born in Riga, Latvia (1906). He took photos for Vogue and for Life.
Raza Khan, a driver and fixer who had worked with many photojournalists and writers covering Pakistan, was killed in a car accident on Saturday while driving photographers Lynsey Addario and Teru Kuwayama from the Jalala refugee camp to Islamabad.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/05/the-importance-of-the-fixer.html
Can I Compete
With Microstock?
There’s no doubt about it, microstock is here to stay. And, as an entry-level stock photographer, if you’ve ever asked, “How can I sell my photos for ads, brochures, flyers, posters and calendars ?” –microstock can be photo-heaven for you.
Microstock is the place where a person can purchase photos for just one or a few dollars, or up to $500, -depending on the client and situation.
The “carrot”, of course is the revelation that your photo just might be able to be sold for $500.
If you’re not quite sure what microstock is, invite yourself to a viewing by clicking on any of these:
www.istock.co ; www.fotalia.com ; www.alamy.com ; shutterstock.com
Over the years, microstock has increased in number and improved in quality. But the predominantly "general" type of photos at these sites don't fit the bill for most book and magazine publishers, -the area of our concentration here at PhotoSource International.
If you check out the magazines on the rack at Wal-Mart or the airport, or the books at Barnes & Noble, or your teen's high school textbook, you'll find they include very few "generic" pictures. (Generic, meaning general, non-specific images that can be used as layout fillers, general illustrations, or ad backgrounds.)
It's not that editorial photo editors don't like microstock generic photos (if they had a job at an ad agency they'd love them), but rather that a photo editor’s job is to match the targeted content of the text in the magazine or book with specific photographs. Simple as that.
A customer who buys a book or magazine expects on-target information in the special-interest periodical, book, or publication -and that includes not only the text, but also the drawings and photos.
Putting a generic $1 photo in their layout opens up the possibility of a catastrophe for the photo researcher or editor.
Like what? Well, the same microstock photo might appear elsewhere, in a public brochure, newspaper or magazine advertisement, or worst-case scenario, in a competitor's publication.
Persons who invest in a publication, book, magazine, textbook, coffee table book, etc. expect exclusivity. They don't expect to see the same photo used elsewhere.
Many a fledgling photo editor has been burned in the early days of microstock photography, when they jumped on this source of inexpensive photos and used a picture that a month later (or the same month!) was used elsewhere in the publishing world.
There's a saying in the photo research industry, "If the photo costs a dollar, it could also cost your job." Publishers want to give their readers distinctive, relevant, well-researched text and photos. That's how they stay in business.
NO THREAT
The perceived threat of competition from $1 pictures available on the Internet is not so strong when you look at what's happening when it comes to the selling of your editorial stock images.
On the photographer's side, editorial stock photographers have learned to personally keyword their photos with targeted words that guide the photo researcher to their site or a site like the PhotoSourceBANK, which has guaranteed high buyer traffic.
Photobuyers have discovered they can use the Internet to find the best, exact, exclusive photo for their publishing project. Using a text description and a popular search engine such as Google, Yahoo, or MSN, they type a "long tail search" (using several words to describe what they need) into the search bar*. This connects the buyers t o photographers' websites or sites that feature the work of many photographers.
KEEPING TABS
This system, of course, is in its infancy, but is the way of the future. The time is now to carry a notepad along with you in your photographic forays - overseas, or your local region, or your backyard. Every time you snap a picture, jot down several descriptive keywords you could use to identify it. Just the word 'camel,' 'weed,' or 'airplane' is no longer viable in your descriptive database (meta tags). Expect to describe each image in four or five words, because that's what the photobuyers will be using in their Google search.
You may ask, “Will photo editors buy my photos if they don’t have specific descriptive words riding along with them?” The answer in today’s Internet climate is, yes, but it might be a long wait.
- - - - - - - - - -
Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and best-selling author of "Sell & ReSell Your Photos" and "sellphotos.com," has helped scores of photographers launch their careers. For access to great information on making money from pictures you like to take, and to receive this free report: "8 Steps to Becoming a Published Photographer," check out his website at www.photosource.com
THERE’S A BRIGHT SIDE “For those who shoot digitally, images that are dull are an extremely common problem. Although sensors get better all the time, digital cameras can tend to produce photos that are dull, or lack light clarity and contrast. There is a simple way to correct this exposure issue however in the computer. Using a program that has levels (exposure curve modification) you can quickly bring the life back to your images.” -- Liz Masoner
http://photography.about.com/b/2009/05/11/fixing-dull-photos.htm
SAMPLE FAVORITES -- 2009 Photolucida Reviewers Discuss Their Favorite Portfolios - Photolucida portfolio reviewers discuss their favorite work in a three-part, slideshow feature over the course of the next week.
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/features/pdn-online/e3ic3df7625da5868c15038534d17be785c
CHASING THE STORM -- Camille Seaman On Shooting Storm Clouds -- Fine-art photographer Camille Seaman shot the images in her latest project, "The Big Cloud," last summer on a storm-chasing tour from central Texas through North Dakota.
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/features/pdn-online/e3i605e3e8798d54f4898821db8e36456ab
SPRING CLEANING -- “If you had dust spots, one of the first things you used to have to do is use the Spot Healing brush to get rid of them. But if you haven't tried it yet, getting rid of dust spots on an image has gotten a bit easier as of the release of Adobe Camera Raw 5.2. You can now clean things up as part of the raw conversion process.Kudos to Adobe for making the removal of dust spots much easier.” -Bob Johnson, Earthbound Light
http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/camera-raw-dust-spot-removal.html
FRESHEN UP -- Five Questions to Ask Before You Redesign Your Web Site Your website site is your first impression for most prospective clients. And just as you update your albums and portfolio periodically, it is important to update your site to keep your online images fresh.
http://rising.blackstar.com/five-questions-to-ask-before-you-redesign-your-web-site.html
THE SCARE THAT WAS -- White House Releases Air Force One NYC Photo-Op Picture. Here's the photo that caused so much commotion in New York City and has now cost a White House official his job.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/05/white-house-releases-air-force-one-nyc-photoop-pic.html
MARKETING TIP (From Sell & ReSell Your Photos, Page 239.): Harvest the fruits of your labor. Get your product to market. It's one thing to plant a garden, it's another thing to persist and to keep it continually weeded until it's harvest time. Starting something is easy. But to follow through on your intentions isn't easy. Winston Churchill (in a nine-word speech to students at Eton) said it best: Never give up. Never, never, never, never, never, never.
-- FINDING, FILING, and FUNDING. -- Asset Management Help for Photographers - One of the main tasks for digital photographers today is asset management: how to file, find, protect, and re-use their photos. The best solutions can be found in The DAM Book, Second Edition, a guide to managing digital images efficiently and effectively.
http://www.creativepro.com/article/asset-management-help-photographers
They’re talking about point and shoot cameras on the Kracker Barrel this week – and the tipping point seems to be somewhere between 8 and 10 meg.
A recent Esquire magazine cover shot with a video –
http://board.photosource.com
To register for making a helpful comment on the Kracker Barrel:
http://board.photosource.com/register.php?1
A NON-SUMMIT -- Microsoft Cancels 2009 Pro Photo Summit. For the last three years, Microsoft has invited photo professionals to its campus in Redmond, Washington, for a Pro Photo Summit. Another summit was scheduled for this July. But after surveying participants and finding many of them were unwilling to spend money on travel, Microsoft called off the event.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/05/microsoft-cancels-2009-pro-photo-summit.html
A+ to D- - Getty Makes Plans for Photos.com, Runs Into iStock Friction. In the last few days, a series of announcements on the iStockphoto forums indicate that Getty plans to make some changes to Photos.com. For starters: The worst-performing photos on iStockphoto will soon be available on Photos.com (as well as on the higher-priced service Jupiterimages Unlimited).
GOOD SOURCE -- A new blog with the aim of providing frequently updated, high quality stock photography content to both photographers and clients, is multi-ethnic photo provider, PhotoEdit Inc. The agency is (www.photoeditinc.com), is located in Orange County, California and specializing in a variety of candid and realistic multi-ethnic and multi-cultural imagery.
http://www.pr.com/press-release/150731
BACK IN THE SADDLE. Co-Founder of iStockphoto Joins Rival Fotolia As North American President Patrick Lor retired shortly after Getty Images purchased iStockphoto in 2006 for $50 million. According to Lor, his non-compete contract expired with Getty recently, which left him available to get back into the stock photography business.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/06/co-founder-of-istockphoto-joins-rival-fotolia-as-new-ceo/
DEMOCRATIZED/ROYALTIZED PHOTOGRAPHY - “We hear you and understand you aren't happy with the royalty percentage. We'll see what we can do, but don't expect miracles. [...] Subscription on iStock is not good enough.” A Subscription Update from Andy Goetze.
http://www.stockphototalk.com/phototalk/2009/05/istockphoto-subscription-update.html#more
THINK MICROSTOCK -- Generating Ideas: The Foundation of Good Stock Photography - This is a guest post by well-known traditional stock photographer John Lund, better known as “master of conceptual stock photos”. Who better to learn from about generating stock photo ideas than him.
http://www.microstockdiaries.com/generating-ideas-the-foundation-of-good-stock-photography.html
If you operate your stock photography business out of your home, it’s even
more important these days that you cut your expenses.
Here’s a product that shows you just how to do that.
It’s called Home-Made Energy.
Click here for
NEW NAME -- "PCPhoto" To Reduce Frequency, Drop "PC" From Name.
PCPhoto, a magazine that covers consumer photo gear, is cutting its frequency from nine issues a year to seven. The magazine will also get a new name: Digital Photo.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/05/pc-photo-to-reduce-frequency-drop-pc-from-name.html
SPEAKING OUT -- Bite the Hand - Photojournalist Ken Jarecke on why he regrets not having been more of a pain in the arse over the last fifteen years - and the effect he thinks it's had on the industry.
http://kennethjarecke.typepad.com/mostly_true/2009/04/bite-the-hand.html
WHAT’S UP? -- A new UK-based site, Photolegal.com, aims to produce fortnightly podcasts. The format is a couple of photographers talking with an IP lawyer and covering topical legal matters affecting photographers ranging from copyright to access rights.
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/photolegal-com-podcasts
A Complete Handbook for Professionals
by Stan Turkel
a review by Joseph Stanski
I love weddings. Most of all, I love ethnic weddings. Mainly because, I get to participate
and be a part of, another culture; and Stan Turkel’s book on Jewish weddings does just that; takes you into another culture; the Jewish cultural wedding.
Stan Turkel leaves no stone unturned as to defining a Jewish weddings. He begins Chapter 1 - Types of Jewish Weddings by defining the three major denominations, Reform Judaism, Conservative (Masorti Judaism) and Orthodox Judaism. And than introduces us (the photographer), to proper protocol with interacting with family members.
In Chapter 2, Marketing For Jewish Weddings, the ability to market your image successfully is very important to an Orthodox and non-Orthodox family. “Your marketing strategy must take this into account, as separate marketing efforts are required for each.” Timing, Buying Influences, and Wedding Packages and Shooting Styles are all very important considerations with the proper marketing of a Jewish wedding.
Chapter 3, Photographing the Orthodox Wedding is great. Stan illustrates and explains both the traditional photos you should get, as well as the tradition behind those photos. In doing this, Stan introduces us to the Timeline, The Bride’s Images,The Bride and Family Images, Finishing Up With The Bride’s Images, The Groom’s Images, The Groom and Family Images, The Kabalas Panim,The Ketubah, The Tena’im, The Badeken, The Processional and Chuppah, Yichud, The Photographs after the Chuppah and finally the Reception.
In Chapter 4, Stan goes over the Conservative and Reform Jewish Weddings, with The Back to Back Ritual, The Ketubah Signing and the Badeken, The Chuppah, The Reception, The Hora and finally, The Detail Shot with these types of Jewish weddings.
This is the kind of book you have in your photographer’s bag when you go a Jewish wedding to photograph it - to help guide you through, both the tradition and the photographing process. It assures, that you don’t miss one photo opportunity, thru ignorance or miss step.
In his final chapter on Equipment, Stan thinks of everything, from the first-aid kit, sewing kit, job-specific clothing and finally, your Yamaka. I would highly recommend this book to stock photographers, as a well illustrated and documented look into photographing a Jewish wedding.
Joseph Stanski has been an agricultural stock photographer for the last twenty-five years. He has published in many ag-oriented magazines as well as national publications. He retired as a schoolteacher and is currently teaching photography and running his stock photography business in Southeast Iowa. morningstar138[at]hotmail[dot]com
Published by Amherst Media, Inc., marketing[at]AmherstMedia[dot]com
For info:
http://www.photosourcefolio.com/bookstoreone.htm#1584282541
Did you try to sign up for last weekend’s MOTHER’s Day special?
Mother’s Day is Gone…yes, but it’s not gone from here…
I’m sorry about the glitch.
…on our Order Form for the special offer for “mothers’ day one-half off” last weekend….
If you tried to sign up for it --but the code “Mom” did not work
on your computer… …it was our fault.
It works now…
So I’m extending the (1/2 off) offer ‘til midnight tonight Thursday, May 14th (at midnight).
Go here for the Order Form.
Follow the Green Arrow that will show you where to type in the word “Mom”. That’s the key that will get you the half-price for PhotoLetter or PhotoDaily.
Go here https://www.photosource.com/cart/mom.php - for the order form.
Rohn Engh
MAYBE... SUSPECT In Britain police “stop and search” powers are changing. A pilot project under an anti-terror legislation in which police officers will be required to have "reasonable suspicion" before they can stop and search someone.
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Review-of-Section-44-of-the-Terrorism-Act-2000-11542
CLOSER LASER LOOK -- More on the world's fastest camera. The technique hinges on an ordered spreading of the colours in laser light. The camera's "shutter speed" is just a half a billionth of a second, and it can capture over six million images in a second continuously. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8025211.stm
http://media.www.lawrentian.com/media/storage/paper409/news/2009/05/08/Features/ArpaE.UltraFast.Photography.And.The.Swine.Flu.Virus-3737293.shtml
STILL PHOTOGRAPHY TAKING A BACK SEAT? Is it really the death of still photography?
Esquire debuts the world's first print magazine cover captured from a video source. What could it mean for SLR photography? http://gear.ign.com/articles/979/979350p1.html
TAKEAWAY: Of course, of course. Video will be the camera of choice. We’ll witness the same resistance when digital equipment arrived. Publishers will love it because the choice of picture selection will be greater.
UNIQUE VIEW --... -- NASA releases 3D photo collections of space station, Mars rover - NASA announced it has released a set of 3D photo collections of the International Space Station and its Mars rover. The photos were created using Microsoft's Photosynth technology, which automatically stitches together hundreds of images from standard digital cameras.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10235596-52.html?tag=mncol
A pro says, NO!” . . .
Flickr is an image and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community platform. In addition to being a popular Web site for users to share personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers as a photo repository.[2] As of November 2008, it claims to host more than 3 billion images -- SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ever heard of Flickr? Do you have your photos posted on Flickr? If you do, here’s an example, Jim Domke, a photographer professional sent me recently. It illustrates the mind-set that some visitors to the website have.
From Jim:
“Rohn: FYI: Here's a note I recently got from a photo editor interested in
publishing one of my photos . . . I said no.
You get a byline, but no money! Stock photography on the cheap. There ought
to be a law.
So much for marketing on Flickr!
Jim….”
----- Original Message -----
From: "vnvnvnvnvnvn"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, vbvbvbvbvbvbvb 4:14 AM
Subject: [Flickr] cvcvcvvc: fgfgfgfgfgfgfgf Photo Short-list
> You've been sent a Flickr Mail from cvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcv.>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> :: vbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvb Short-list
>
>
> Hi vbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbv,
>
> I am writing to let you know that one of your photos has
> been short-listed for inclusion in the seventh edition of
> our vbvbvbvbvbvbvbbv Guide, to be published at the end of
> this month.
>
> http://www.vbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvt/p=vbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbv=vbvbvbvbv
>
> Clicking this link will take you to a page where you can:
> i) See which of your photos has been short-listed.
> ii) Submit or withdraw your photo from our final selection
> phase.
> iii) Learn how we credit photos in our vbvbvbvbvbbvbv Guides.
> iv) Browse online or download the sixth edition of our
> vnvnvnvnvnvnvnvnvnvnv Guide.
>
> While we offer no payment for publication, many
> photographers are pleased to submit their photos, as vbvbvbvbvbvbv
> Guides give their work recognition and wide exposure, and
> are free of charge to readers. Photos are published at a
> maximum width of 150 pixels, are clearly attributed, and
> link to high-resolution originals at Flickr.
>
> Our submission deadline is Wednesday, vbvbvb,vbvbvbvb. If you happen
> to be reading this message after this date, please still
> click on the link above (our vnvnvnvnvnvnvn Guides are updated
> frequently - photos submitted after this deadline will be
> considered for later releases).
>
> Best regards,
>
> Jane Doe,
> Managing Editor
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To reply to this message, click here:
> http://www.flickr.com/mail/xvxvxvxv
> To update your email settings, click here:
> http://www.flickr.com/accountvcvcvcvcv /
>
> The Flickr Team
>
Ø www.flickr.com
TAKEAWAY: Don’t despair. In any creative field, the artist has to start somewhere. And we tend to forget those “training wheels days.”
I don’t know of any painter, photographer, dancer, speaker, musician who, when they were first starting out, didn’t give their services for free to get their foot in that heavy door of acceptance with a potential client. Professional creative people will rarely admit (or can’t remember) that a freebie to a prospect got the whole thing rollin’ .
Impoverished clients, non-profit groups, start-up businesses will capitalize on this phenomenon and expect not to pay artists for their work. Yet they will pay the plumber, the electrician, the janitor and so on.
What can you do about it? Try barter. Agree to do the freebie –but ask for payment in whatever product they produce. You might come out the winner. –RE
"Your PhotoStockNOTES letter of today hit a positive nerve for me. It made me feel just like a young pup again! And sometimes positive reinforcement is needed for someone that has been around for a while." -
Jack Hamilton, Photographer, Milwaukee
INTERNATIONAL JURIED PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
CALL FOR ENTRIES - All Photography - Amateurs to Pros June 30th 2009
Entry fee: $25, additional entries are $10 each.
Information & Entry Form at www.artistshavengallery.com
Contest is open to all US and International photographers working with digital or film cameras. Multiple categories and no entry limit. The competition will be juried by the Executive Director, Coral Springs Museum of Art.
Artists’ Haven Gallery 2757 East Oakland Park Blvd Ft Lauderdale FL 33306
Tel: 954-817-4893 Web: www.artistshavengallery.com Email:elaine@artistshavengallery.com
CONTEST WOES -- Photography Contests: License to Steal? As digital cameras and online photo-sharing spur greater interest in photography among hobbyists, He has followed a trend that he finds increasingly disturbing: -- photo contests that reward you by stealing your photos. http://rising.blackstar.com/photography-contests-license-to-steal.html
TAKEAWAY: The real winner in most photo contests is the sponsor.
GARDEN CLIP -- International Garden Photographer of the Year nnounced - The overall winner of the £5,000 prize for the best single image is UK-based photographer, Jonathan Berman. His winning entry is titled, “In Tresco Abbey Gardens.”
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/International-Garden-Photographer-of-the-Year-announced-11540
Minneapolis STRATEGIC Marketing Plan Workshop
Presented by MARATHON 1 800 228 0629
OUTCOME: To assist you in creating a comprehensive marketing plan for attracting clients to one or more of your target markets through compelling brand-building marketing strategies.
· May 18, 2009 - May 19, 2009
· 9am - 5pm first day, 9am - 4pm second day
· Hilton Minneapolis
· 1001 Marquette Ave.
· Minneapolis, MN 55403
· (612) 376-1000
Fee: The $695 tuition includes registration for up to two studio members. Luncheon is provided.
You will receive a business questionnaire to complete and return to Marathon before the workshop. This information will help the workshop staff determine how best to assist you during the various work sessions. A laptop is required at the workshop.
Marathon is prepared to help in building a business that allows you to follow your passion and create long-term professional successis prepared to help in building a business that allows you to follow your passion and create long-term professional successis prepared to help in building a business that allows you to follow your passion and create long-term professional successis prepared to help in building a business that allows you to follow your passion and create long-term professional success
“Pain from the change is less than the pain from remaining the same…” ..H.T. White
1959 – Photographs in color of the heavens (the Great Nebula in Orion, Crab Nebula, Veil Nebula in Cygnus and the Swan) were published in May 1959 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Obama Hope Poster
Is it Copyright Infringement?
By Joel Hecker, Esq.
A new case in the United States District Court of New York, Shepard Fairey v. The Associated Press, may be the basis for an important “transformative” analysis of fair use. It concerns Fairey’s creation of an illustration of President Obama which was used in a series of posters, the most widely known of which is the “Hope Poster.”
Shepard Fairey is a 39-year-old artist who lives and works in Los Angeles. He copies part or all of existing photographs or artwork, a practice he calls “visual reference.” Photographers consider this “appropriation art” to be blatant copyright infringement.
AP, a not-for-profit membership cooperative corporation, is one of the largest news organizations in the world.
The Underlying Photo
One unusual aspect of the case is that the underlying photo used by Fairey is in dispute. Mannie Garcia, a professional photographer employed by AP, created a series of images at a 2006 event about Darfur held at the National Press Club. The actor George Clooney was sitting beside the then Senator Obama.
Fairey claims he used a cropped version of a photo of both Clooney and Obama. AP claims the underlying photo, also taken by Garcia, is only of Obama and, when overlayed onto Fairey’s illustration, shows the two are exactly the same.
The Posters
Fairey claims his illustration and posters were part of a series of iconic works he created to support the presidential candidacy of Obama.
The first one, Obama Progress, is identified by Fairey as an abstract graphic rendition of Obama gazing up and to the viewer’s right, colored in a palette of red, white and blue, with the word “Progress” in capital letters beneath the image of Obama. Fairey then created a second poster with his same illustration, which became known as Obama Hope since the word “Hope” replaced “Progress.” By the summer of 2008, Obama Hope had become, according to Fairey, a “ubiquitous symbol” of Obama’s candidacy and pervasive presence across America.
The third poster, entitled “Obama Hope Mural,” was created for an art exhibition held in Denver during the Democratic National Convention, in conjunction with Obama’s nomination for President. The fourth poster, Be The Change, has the Obama illustration flanked by images of the United States Capital Building and White House with a cheering crowd beneath the illustration.
Immediately following the election, Fairey created a fifth image, entitled Yes We Did with the Obama illustration in the upper center with additional visual elements. Finally, on January 17, 2009, a large-format, hand stenciled collage incorporating the Hope poster with other visual material, was unveiled at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Fairey’s Complaint
The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment that Fairey’s illustration of Obama and posters incorporating this illustration constitute fair use under the Copyright Act and do not infringe any AP copyright.
Fairey claims that he used the Garcia photo of Obama and Clooney solely as a visual reference, which transformed the literal depiction contained in the photo into a “stunning, abstracted and idealized visual image that creates powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message that has no analogue in the original photograph.”
Fairey further claims that th e original photo previously published depicted a factual occurrence, while his image was fictional and highly creative, that only a portion of the photo was used (with Clooney cropped out), and therefore the amount of the taking was reasonable.
Finally, Fairey claims use of the photo in the illustration imposed no significant or recognizable harm to the Garcia photo, or any market for, or derivative of, it. In fact, to the contrary, Fairey claims the posters have greatly enhanced the value of the photo.
AP’s Counterclaims
On March 11, 2009 AP filed its answer to the complaint, as well as counterclaims for direct and contributory copyright infringement. The gist of the counterclaims is that Fairey was fully aware that the Garcia photo used was copyrighted, and that Fairey copied all the distinctive and unequivocally recognizable elements of the photo in their entire detail (including the heart and essence of it), as well as its patriotic theme.
AP also alleges that Fairey’s profits on his illustrations already exceed $400,000, with a great deal more expected. AP further claims that Fairey has a prior history of wilful disregard for the property rights of others and cites numerous instances of his misappropriating works from other artists. These acts and the failure to give any attribution to the original creator, says AP, constitute a consistent pattern of copyright infringement by Fairey and proves Fairey was acting in “bad faith.”
AP compares these claims to Fairey’s highly sophisticated understanding of licensing and a highly protective copyright protection program of his copyright and trademarks, as well as his work. AP alleges specific examples to support this contention.
AP also contends that Fairey’s copyright registration certificates for his various Obama works constitute a fraud upon the Copyright Office, since he did not acknowledge that the illustrations are derived from the Garcia pre-existing work. Therefore, according to AP, these registrations should be cancelled.
Summary
This case has the potential for far reaching importance in interpreting the concept of fair use in copyright as it applies to appropriation art. At the moment, it is unclear how far an artist can go when using copyrighted work in the name of art without it being considered to be copyright infringement.
Most interested photographers believe that this direct taking of Garcia’s photo constitutes copyright infringement, and that this is not even a close call. In any event the case will be watched closely by the photography and artistic community because it may determine how far someone who is, or claims to be, an artist can use an existing copyrighted photograph as reference for new art.
© Joel L. Hecker, 2009
Attorney Joel L. Hecker lectures and writes extensively on issues of concern to the photography industry. His office is located at Russo & Burke, 600 Third Ave, New York NY 10016. Phone: 1 212 557-9600. E-mail: HeckerEsq[at]aol[dot]com.
From time to time, here at PhotoSource International, we learn of personnel changes in the industry. We publish them here for your use.
Company: GEO MAGAZINE
Name: Scot Jahn
E-mail: jahn.scot[at]geo[dot]de.
Replaces:
Name: Nadia Masri
E-mail: masri.nadia[at]geo-ny[dot]de
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Company: MAXIM MAGAGAZINE
Name: Melissa Martinez
E-mail: mmartinez[at]alphamediagroup[dot]com
Replaces:
Name: Advije Sheji
E-mail: asheji[at]alphamediagroup[dot]com
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Company: OUR STATE MAGAZINE
Name: Deanne O’Connor
E-mail: doconnor[at]ourstate[dot]com
Replaces:
Name: Craig Smith
E-mail: csmith[at]ourstate[dot]com
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Company: SWEAT MAGAZINE
Name: Joan Westlake
E-mail: editor[at]sweatmagazine[dot]com
Replaces:
Name:Glen Swain
E-mail: editor[at]sweatmagazine[dot]com
MARKETING TIP Using a picture identification and cross-reference system can be a good investment for you. Time lost trying to locate pictures can mean lost sales. Take the lazy man's approach - know where everything is. Check out our discussion group, The Kracker Barrel, on the Web, http://www.photosource.com/board where fellow stock photographers discuss various filing system options for you.
If you want to ask a question on the Kracker Barrel, here's where to go:
http://board.photosource.com/register.php?1
WAYS TO DO IT -- Professional Photoshop Image Enhancing Tutorials - In this fine article, you'll discover tutorials that deal with enhancing images, adding unique and impressive effects, and recreating digital replications of popular traditional photography techniques.
http://sixrevisions.com/photoshop/22-professional-photoshop-image-enhancing-tutorials/
SOME TIPS FOR THE BEGINNER
http://ecommerce-journal.com/articles/15038_how_to_make_money_online_through_your_lens
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YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR -- BlackStar report: “These days, with so much cheap and free photography flooding the Web, it's easy to forget what quality corporate photography is all about. Assignment photography may not be a company's lowest cost-option, but it often delivers the best value.”
http://rising.blackstar.com/when-only-assignment-photography-will-do.html
RICK SAMMON’S’ CREATIVE STIMULUS - Here are a few ideas that may stimulate
the creative artist within. At the very least, I hope they distract you from the stock market graph.
http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2009/03/cs-4u---creative-stimulus-for.html
DOWNSIZING AT KODAK -- Kodak Cuts CEO's Salary 15% - Kodak is looking to save money wherever it can. All U.S.-based Kodak employees will have to take a week off without pay between now and the end of the year. And Kodak has suspended its stock dividend. http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/05/kodak-cuts-ceos-salary-15.html
IN MARCO POLO’S FOOTSTEPS -- Masterfile, a stock photography company based in Toronto with offices in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, has announced that it is expanding operations in South Asia by launching local service for clients in India.
http://www.abouttheimage.com/4100/masterfile_opens_office_in_hyderabad_india/author2
OLYMPIC PROVIDER AGAIN -- Getty Re-Ups With U.S. Olympic Committee. Soon after losing the NFL contract, Getty Images has announced it has renewed its commercial licensing partnership with the U.S. Olympic Committee through 2012. Getty also remains the official photo partner of the International Olympic Committee.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/04/getty-reups-with-us-olympic-committee.html
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FLASH - Dreamstime launched a Flash browser providing their buyers with a cleaner experience and larger previews when browsing search results. As it’s Flash, it’s instantly available from the new button on the search results pages with nothing to install.
http://www.microstockdiaries.com/this-month-in-microstock-april-2009.html
On Sale This Week
CAREFUL WHAT YOU PUBLISH Defamation law is not as simple as many lawyers and other people may have you believe. There are several elements necessary to prove a cause of action
for defamation, and one of the most overlooked elements is publication.
http://www.defamationlawblog.com/2009/04/articles/defamation-basics/you-dont-want-to-overlook-this-element-of-defamation/
Q. What does copyright do for photographers?
A. Copyright gives the creator or author of a work the power to control the work. The owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to control if, when, how and how often his or her work can be used or copied.
Copyright is not a single right, as the word may suggest, but is a bundle of rights. Any part of the bundle can be retained or sold, leased or given away, either individually or in groups. The ability to dispose of any portion of the bundle of rights is reserved exclusively to the owner of the copyright.
For example, if a company is authorized to use a particular photograph in a brochure, the brochure is the only place that the photograph can be used. The use of the photograph in an advertisement without permission would be a violation of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner. Similarly, if a person is authorized to use an illustration for advertising purposes for only one year, the illustration cannot be used for more than one year without permission.
Source: http://www.photolaw.net/faq.html
Search Engine
Optimization for Flash
It used to be that if you used flash in the pogramming of your website, you wouldn’t get many visits from customers who were using a search engine to find you. . A major misconception has been that Flash-based applications are SEO-unfriendly and can't be indexed by search engines such as Google. That is the myth Flash expert Todd Perkins has dispelled in his new Adobe Developer Library book, Search Engine Optimization for Flash (O'Reilly, $29.99).
Perkins demonstrates what you can do to make your website searchable no matter how much Flash it contains. Search Engine Optimization for Flash shows you how search engines work, what constitutes a search-engine-optimized (SEO) site, and what to watch out for in the way of SEO pitfalls.
It makes for an indispensable resource if you use Flash and want to be sure your audience can easily find your site through SEO. (Search Engine Optimization).
·
A DVD that should be on every stock photographer's bookshelf:
Rohn Engh's
"How To Market YourPhotos"
21-sections that will put you
in front of the competition.
You'll learn new ways
to start using the Internet
to direct photobuyer traffic
to your website.
You'll learn why you should stop
using the old ways..
and how to re-awaken former customers
with the new ways.
Rohn Engh is author of the popular "Sell & ReSell Your Photos."
TENSE TIMES. Pakistan Police manhandle photo-journalist in PESHAWAR: The police here Saturday manhandled a photographer of a local English newspaper when he was trying to take a picture of a police official taking illegal power connections from an electricity pole.
http://www.newssafety.org/index.php?view=article&catid=125%3Apakistan-media-safety&id=12193%3Apolice-manhandle-photo-journalist&option=com_content&Itemid=100400
BACK THEN -- London Zoo revealed in 'earliest' colour photo - One of the earliest photographs taken at London Zoo - believed to have been captured around 1906 - has been revealed for the first time, at an exhibition in Hampshire.
http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/London_Zoo_revealed_in_earliest_colour_photo_update_news_281222.html
PRESERVATION IN ACTION -- Rediscovered Robert Capa Photos Published Online - The "Mexican Suitcase" negatives, shot during the Spanish Civil War by Robert Capa, David "Chim" Seymour and Gerda Taro, have been preserved and scanned by the International Center of Photography.
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/photojournalism/e3i06056b3e434534841a00b3b78207dcbc
Six Steps to Taking Control of Your Back Taxes
http://taxes.about.com/od/taxtrouble/a/back_taxes.htm
YOU ARE LOOKIN’ GOOD! -- Camera Filters: So Good, You'll Call Them Magic - Hollywood Black Magic. Filters remove unsightly blemishes and wrinkles while providing a smooth transition in the highlights. Filters are available in popular professional rectangular sizes for HD, DV, and video as well as screw-on sizes for professional DSLR photography.
http://www.creativepro.com/article/camera-filters-so-good-youll-call-them-magic
Five Canon products win prestigious Technical Image Press Association awards. They have been recognized with "Best Product 2009" awards by the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA),
representing 29 photography and imaging magazines across 13 European countries.
http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=21410
FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET – World's Fastest Camera: Shutter Speed Half a Billionth of a Second. The Steam camera not only shoots images just 440 trillionths of a second in length, it can rack up an astonishing six million of them in a single second. World's Fastest Camera: Shutter Speed Half a Billionth of a Second.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/05/worlds-fastest-camera-shutter-speed-half-a-billionth-of-a-second/
PHOTO TREAT – AOL's MediaGlow Launches Pixcetera Application on Apple App Store The app mirrors the functionality of the Pixcetera.com site,
http://www.pixcetera.com by allowing users to experience
amazing photography in a variety of categories.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AOLs-MediaGlow-Launches-bw-15119806.html?.v=1
THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL -- Kodak quarterly loss doubles; halts dividend. Eastman Kodak Co's quarterly loss doubled, as the economic downturn continued to pinch demand, and the photography company said on Thursday it would stop paying its quarterly dividend. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/04/30/afx6360459.html
STILL GOING UP. Wall Street Journal Only Top 25 Newspaper To Report Circulation Increase - Newspaper sales have been declining since the early 1990s, but the drop has accelerated in recent years. Circulation revenue has largely held up, though, because of price increases.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/27/wall-street-journal-only-_n_191667.html
EAGLE EYE -- Gigapixel Photography. This new idea of hyper detailed panoramic images is one of the coolest thing to hit the web since Google Earth. Imagine looking at a skyline shot of New York City and being able to see what the person on the 85 floor of the empire state building is
doing. http://www.manolith.com/2009/04/30/gigapixel-photography/
FINDING WHERE – 35,000,000 Flickr Photos, Mapped. Scientists at Cornell University have super-computed the geotags of 35 million Flickr photos, creating photography heatmaps for locations around the world. Their conclusion? People really, really like taking pictures of landmarks.
http://gizmodo.com/5232419/photography-heatmaps-created-from-35-million-geotagged-flickr-shots
TAKEAWAY: Think if the exact location and I.D. of a landscape shot were known of some of the antique photos that are discovered in attic trunks. Today, such photos are discarded for lack of irrefutable identification and not chosen for history books, coffee table books, PBS documentaries, etc.
100 years from now, the heirs of your photo collection will be happy that you persisted in tagging your photos.
"Your PhotoStockNOTES newsletter is very useful."
- Takashi Yoshida, Photographer, Chuo-ku Tokyo, Japan
"Attorney Joel L. Hecker is a much appreciated voice that does a good job of disseminating copyright case law"
-Gary Lester
UP TO DATE @the WH -- The White House has started posting official Obama administration photographs on Flickr. High-res files are available for free use under a Creative Commons license.
But please note, although –as a taxpayer, you’ve already paid for them, they are not considered by the Creative Commons license to be public domain.
Here’s an example of how creative-types are using the photos for fun and enjoyment.
IS THAT GOLF? Obama's Flickr Stream Is Encouraging Creative PhotoShopping. (The license does not include Public Domain permission.)
WANNA BE CELEBRITY -- Fad Alert: Hire Your Own Paparazzi. Here's a non-traditional business idea: Fake paparazzi for hire. The pitch: Customers pay photographers to follow them around to make them look famous. Think bachelorette parties, show opening, etc.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/04/fad-alert-hire-your-own-paparazzi.html
Smithsonian Magazine 7th Annual Photo Contest
Smithsonian magazine's seventh annual photo contest allows the magazine and its readers the chance to see the world through your unique lens. Contestants may enter photographs in five categories.Each represents subjects of special interest to the magazine. Fifty finalists will be selected, ten for each of five categories. Smithsonian will notify the 50 finalists by February 28, 2010. From these 50 finalists, five category winners and a grand prize winner will be selected. The entries of all winners and finalists will be published on the magazine's Web site on February 28, 2010.
Category winners will be awarded $500. The readers' choice winner will be awarded $500. The grand prize winner will receive a four-day, three-night Smithsonian Journeys Grand Canyon Weekend Adventure for two, or the wholesale cash equivalent.
For information: http://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/
The National Wildlife Photo Contest is open to ALL photographers worldwide who are at least 13 years of age. The contest ends on July 20, 2009. There are 3 divisions and 7 categories. Up to 20 photos can be entered for a $15 fee. Only digital image files are acceptable and they must be uploaded to our website. Cash prizes totaling $25,000 plus other prizes will be awarded. Entrants retain their ownership and other rights to their photos except that they grant the National Wildlife Federation limited use and contest promotion rights.
http://www.nwf.org/photozone/enterphotocontest.cfm?s_src=&s_subsrc=&CFID=6382238&CFTOKEN=c9235b4a78df083e-BFC49A05-5056-A84B-C33C4B03C06E811C
Winning images will be published in the December 2009 issue
HOLD YOUR BREATH – Photography contest uncovers underwater treasures. As technology advances and prices drop, photographers can get their hands on new nifty features. One example is a growing number of cameras (and camera casings) that can be used underwater and come out unscathed. http://news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-10000812.html?tag=rsspr.6249600&part=rss&subj=news
RIGHTS-GRABBING AGAIN. -- In Britain, Campaign Photo Awards - One of the veterans of the rights-grabbing industry, an early pioneer of rights assignments on the backs of cheques and more-usage-for-less-money sign-this-or-else agreements, Haymarket is at it again, and this time it's the Campaign Photo Awards.
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/campaign-photo-awards
BLOG GUY – News Journal photographer selected state's top blogger Jason J. Molyet, a longtime News Journal photographer, won first place recently in the blogging category of the annual statewide Associated Press Society of Ohio awards.
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20090504/NEWS01/905040309/1002/rss01
"The American Cowboy - Symbol of the American West" Cowboy Photography Workshop"
October 8-13, 2009 - Belle Fourche, South Dakota
http://www.syabi.com/images/details/i_syowa2/syowa2_003.gif
http://www.outdoorphotoworkshops.com/nucleus/index.php
AFTERMATH PHOTOS -- The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has acquired 300 photographs by Ishimoto Yasuhiro, a key figure in both American and Japanese post-World War II photography.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/arts/theater/6401753.html
“What makes photography a strange invention—with unforeseeable consequences—is that its primary raw materials are light and time.”
- John Berger
May 1923 - Richard Avedon was born in New York City. He became one of America's most famous fashion and portrait photographers.
May 1895 - Documentary Photographer Dorothea Lange was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. She was hired by the Farm Security Administration to photograph migrant workers during the depression.
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
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May 28th 2009
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27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Those Summer Vacation
Stock Photos
Most photographers don’t like to draw attention to themselves. But as a stock photographer, you’re most successful images are going to be those that include people.
Here’s a tip when photographing in public, especially at parks and recreational areas.
Usually, when you’re photographing in public, it’s best to look like a pro photographer, (multiple cameras in photo bag or slung around your neck, name tag on your breast pocket, tripod under arm). You get attention. Strangers are happy to appear in your photo. They suspect you’re from a national, major magazine. They’ll earn their ‘fifteen minutes of fame.’
When you are photographing in public, pay attention to the clothing you wear.
PHOTOGRAPHING IN THE PARK
However, if you try that ‘professional’ wardrobe in a city, state, or national park, … --you’ll get the attention of the Park Manager.
He or she will have a clipboard and a commercial license application to fill out. Their job is to protect park visitors from tripping over photographic equipment, cables and other paraphernalia.
If it’s not your intention to make a Hollywood production of your photo outing – there’s no need to go through the application process that commercial stock photographers must apply for.
In your travels this summer, you'll no doubt venture into some of our National and State Parks. It’s better to dress like a tourist (straw hat, shorts, Hawaiian shirt) so as not to attract attention. Avoid using wires, reflectors, and professional models – if the situation allows.
MARKETING TIPS
If the national and state parks are destinations for your stock photography, remember the marketing rule: Don’t come back from your trip with “great photos” (the kind that are displayed on post card racks) and then ask, “Where can I sell these?” Instead find markets before you go and shoot.
Request a brochure(s) from the park you will be visiting. Visit their website for picture ideas. Also, check out the local gift shop at the park for postcards when you arrive. These views will give you a general idea of the best locations and angles to shoot, the lighting, and compositions. (Don't forget to include photogenic people in your photos to enhance the marketability.) A red shirt or jacket always helps. Keep one in the trunk of your car.
The laws change from park to park and from state to state. Here are some sources of information.
National Park Service, 12795 West Alameda Pkwy, Denver CO 25287.
Looking for info about a certain park?
http://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm
History of the Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/
A horror story about Park Rangers:
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/3020
Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and best-selling author of "Sell & ReSell Your Photos" and "sellphotos.com," has helped scores of photographers launch their careers. For access to great information on making money from pictures you like to take, and learn how to sell pictures, and to receive this free report: "8 Steps to Becoming a Published Photographer," visit his website, PhotoS ource International or call 800 624-0266
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
The Case of the Undeleting Photo
For the most part, when you delete a photo from your digital camera or computer, it’s really deleted. Sure, you may have the Recycle Bin on your computer and could get it back, but if you’re like most of us, you keep the Recycle Bin pretty well emptied. And for purposes of this discussion, we’ll not mention the backup files you’ve maintained all these years.
So, here’s an experiment you can try yourself. Upload a photo to Facebook. Make a copy of the actual URL of the photo (not the page that contains the photo). Then, delete the photo after a day or so. One month later, use the URL and see if the photo is still there.
There’s a very good chance it will be. But, how can that be if you deleted it 30 days ago?
Researchers at Cambridge found that nearly half of the social networking sites don’t immediately remove photos when requested to do so. Why? The reason has to do with the way big sites are managed.
To speed response, the content is replicated across many servers, often in diverse geographical locations. Thus, it can take a while for all the copies to be deleted.
Photo-centric sites like Flickr are quicker to remove all those copies. And of course, once the photo gets out into the world (i.e., the broader Internet), consider it out of your control.
Then, there’s the Wayback Machine ( http://www.archive.org ), which archives web pages practically forever (although they do honor owner removal requests).
Love Photoshop But Too Expensive?
Here’s a free alternative: http://www.gimp.org
Here’s a comment I found on eFLuxMedia: Probably the most powerful free image editor available is GiMP, an open source program that now rivals Photoshop in features and usability, many believe. GiMP offers a customizable user interface, so you can set it up to provide you with just the features you need so that you're not overwhelmed with options.
GiMP has its own plug?in system, and over 100 free plug?ins are already available. What's more, you can use GiMP to open and save files in formats supported by most other image editing software, including Photoshop.
If you give it a try, let us know what you think about it
. 1 800 624 0266.
TiVo Is Watching You!
What a shock it was to TiVo users a few years back when they collectively discovered that their viewing habits were being recorded and uploaded to TiVo’s computers for detailed analysis and aggregation.
Now, TiVo is set to launch a local version of its StopWatch ratings service, in its escalating battle with Nielsen for TV viewer demographics.
This service is scheduled to start with the Fall TV season. They can track second-by-second whether commercials are being watched or fast-forwarded. Just which markets it will monitor is not yet determined.
Bill Hopkins is the Webmaster of PhotoSourceFolio, where photographers
display photos and a regular contributor to PhotoStockNotes. Send comments to Bill via email. Fax: 1 818 831-0916. For on-line questions, contact Bill on the Kracker Barrel.
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
WHERE ARE YOU LOSING THEM? Google Analytics for Photographers: Kim Larson shows how to set up conversion funnels to track Web site visitors who do not follow through on desired actions, such as completing an online form.
http://rising.blackstar.com/video-google-analytics-for-photographers-creating-a-funnel.html
WINDOW ON WINDOWS -- Jeff Wignall: Sometimes, the Best Shots Are Just Outside Your Window - When you're doing travel photography, it's easy to think of your time in airplanes and hotels as a pane…-- a window pane, that is. But in photography as in life, that's the wrong way to look at any experience.
http://rising.blackstar.com/sometimes-the-best-shots-are-just-outside-your-window.html
STARTING OUT -- The Beginner's Guide to Concert Photography. Getting Access: For small to medium venues, you may not need a press or photo pass to bring your camera and take some shots. However, contact one or more of the bands and ask permission to take pictures. This is made very easy through MySpace or the band's website. They'll usually offer to put you on the guest list, with the expectation that you'll post or provide them with the pictures. Most smaller indie bands are more than happy to have you come out, so don't be shy about contacting them. http://www.examiner.com/x-10963-Austin-Indie-Music-Examiner~y2009m5d26-The-Beginners-Guide-to-Concert-Photography
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Got a business law question?
Here’s a good place to go to get a free answer:
http://www.justanswer.com/
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE? Getty Images supposedly in talks to buy ITN. Sharehlders report that detailed discussions to sell a majority stake in the British “News at Ten and Channel 4 News” to Getty Images, the international picture agency.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/20/itn-sale-getty-images
TAKEAWAY: No doubt Channel 4 News has abundant archival footage. Keep alert, your next camera may be video.
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
BUYING MICROSTOCK? Here’s a Primer. The Right Value for your Money - How do you determine the best value for your money, when licensing a microstock image? Look at the license terms and juggle the images “use” against length of use, place of use, etc.
http://seanlockedigitalimagery.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/the-right-value-for-your-money/
BAIT AND CATCH – Fotolia Launches Free Stock Photo Service. A micropayment site, Fotalia, has lauched a new brand called PhotoXpress, which offers a library of almost 350,000 images at no charge. You get 10 a day. http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/stock-and-syndication/e3i82a4bef380199312974144c62567b0db
HIGHEST PRODUCERS Ever wondered who is Numero Uno at iStock and how many images he has contributed (Since end of May 2009)? Total Contributors: 29036;
Exclusive Contributors: 4135 (14.24%); Last statistics update: Monday, May 25th; Total Downloads (of 29036 Contributors): 63.396.378; Total DLs 24h (of 29036 Contributors): 21.836; Total Files (of 29036 Contributors): 4.533.620.
Check out the top people here. http://istockcharts.multimedia.de/
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
BELTS TIGHTEN AT NEWSWEEK -- As part of a move away from day-to-day news coverage, Newsweek has ended its White House photo pool involvement. The money-losing magazine says it is heading in a new editorial direction—less breaking news, more analysis—and plans to drop its guaranteed circulation from 2.6 million to 1.5 million by January 2010. The magazine has cut 160 positions in recent years and now has a staff of about 400. http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/editorial/e3i4ac338fdce0587a7637b2ce4f73dfca5
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
PILFER = TAKE AND USE. Copyright discussions can get hot and heavy, especially if they’re penned by eloquent adversaries. Here’s an example.
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/pilfered-magazine#comment-236 .
And it continues with another subject: Reed contract - Reed Business information (RBI Ltd) has recently made another of their periodic attempts to get photographers to sign up to a rights-grabbing contract. This has happened every few years since the 1990's, with significant lack of success.
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/reed-contract
TAKEAWAY: Is “ART” for everybody, or just for “The Few”? If copyright law did not exist, would artists (photographers) continue to make it their livelihood?
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Are Your Copyrights Protected?
by Joel Hecker, Esq
A primary purpose of estate planning is to insure that assets and property are distributed as intended. Although laws vary from state to state, one general concept is universal: the more organized you are, the easier it is for your executor to marshal your assets and to make sure your wishes are honored in a timely fashion.
By the very nature of a professional photographer’s work and creative efforts, one of the most valuable assets is ownership of copyrights to his or her body of work. Although copyright is an “intellectual,” as opposed to a “physical”asset, for estate purposes, it is treated in the same way as any other asset.
Copyright is a bundle of “intellectual” property rights, which include the rights to reproduce, distribute, display, and perform the copyrighted work, and prepare derivative works based upon it. It does not include the original work which is a “physical” asset. Therefore, while you may identify your particular works as part of bequeaths in your Will, that does not necessarily include the rights under copyright to the works, which are separate assets.
Accordingly, for example, you may leave original prints, chromes or digital files to one person, and the right to make reproductions and commercially exploit the photos (copyright rights) to someone else. Moreover, the right to receive royalties on your work usually flows from copyright ownership and not from ownership of the original.
Take a moment to think about whether you know how many copyrights you own and which, if any, copyrights are registered with the Copyright Office in Washington D.C. If you cannot identify what your copyrights are, or the location of the original negatives, chromes and/or digital files from which reproductions can be made, think of the problems you will be causing your executor!
GET ORGANIZED
The simple answer is to get organized. This should encompass all relevant information, including a list of all your intellectual property, either by individual images, or category of work, or by job or assignment. Information about subject matter, date of creation, date of first publication, or registration information with the Copyright Office, all known uses of the images, all payments received, if it is subject to any licenses (including stock photo agreements), what royalties are due and when should be made available. The physical location of the work should also be accessible. Any appraisal or valuation that you have (or might want to obtain) would be very helpful.
Want to read more?
http://photosource.com/psn-article/copyrights.html
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Available Light
– Photographic Techniques For Using Existing Light Sources,
by Don Marr and published by Amherst Media, Inc., marketing[at]AmherstMedia[dot]com.
Review by Joseph Stanski First and foremost, this book deals with rediscovering our sensitivity to available or natural light. And for the most part, deals with just portrait photography. Nowhere in the book does it address available light in say, landscapes, night, or wildlife photography. With that said, this book is instructional as well as informative. Some of the chapters challenge you with projects to take up that will enhance your observations of natural light.
Don starts out with describing Overcast Day light. He uses, with great illustration examples, the technique of subtractive lighting. He then goes on to describe other methods of controlling this type of lighting; with his Tunnel of Light, Short Light, and then Controlling the Quality of Light with this type of lighting. Don explains clearly with great illustrations of each way he uses this type of lighting in maximizing its potential.
Chapter 2, Sunny Day, he shows us some Quick Fixes For Bright Sun as well as some neat ideas with Photographing Children, Shadows and Color, Open Shade, A Short Primer on Color Temperature, Different Qualities of Light.
Chapter 3 thru 7 address other types of lighting, like, Backlighting and Flare, Window Light, The Daylight Studio, Natural Reflectors and as well as Finding Light (my favorite).
In Chapter 8, Don briefly explains Composition and “using light as well as good composition as a compositional element” with Rule of Thirds and Power Points, Leading Lines, Symmetry, Extra Space, and Color, Contrast and much more to improve your photography.
In the final Chapter, Creating Studio Lighting at Home, Don describes different places in our homes that can aid use in creating those studio type lighting effects one sees in the high end studios.
Each chapter in this book illustrated and deepen my understand of photographing under available lighting situations. Coupled with Don’s illustrations and the wonderful “Projects” at the end of each chapter, this book furthered my understanding and education of the creative uses of available light. I must say, I would not hesitate to recommend this book to stock photographers.
to order:
http://www.photosourcefolio.com/bookstore.htm#1584282525
Reviewer Joseph Stanski has been an agricultural stock photographer for the last twenty-five years. He has published in many ag-oriented magazines as well as national publications. He retired as a schoolteacher and is currently teaching photography and running his stock photography business in Southeast Iowa. morningstar138[at]hotmail[dot]com
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
It's coming in June . . .
A DVD that should be on every stock photographer's bookshelf:
Rohn Engh's
"How To Market YourPhotos"
21-sections that will put you
in front of the competition.
You'll learn new ways
to start using the Internet
to direct photobuyer traffic
to your website.
You'll learn why you should stop
using the old ways..
and how to re-awaken former customers
with the new ways.
Rohn Engh is author of the popular "Sell & ReSell Your Photos."
Comng in June!
Watch for our pre-publication sale.
Watch for our pre-publication sale.
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
DON’T TAKE MY PICTURE! Appeal Court curtails police right to photograph protestors - A legal challenge over the power of the police to photograph peaceful protesters succeeded at the Court of Appeal recently. Two out of three judges agreed there had been a disproportionate interference in the right to privacy when police surveillance teams photographed a protesting campaigner and followed him.
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=43676&c=1
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
CAPTURING THE DEPRESSION YEARS -- Library Of Congress's Depression Photos Debut On Flickr. The Library of Congress and Flickr have teamed up to introduce folks to a huge collection of photos, with most of the B&W images dating back to the 30’s and early 40’s. http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/05/22/library-of-congresss-depression-photos-debut-on-flickr-0
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
BATTERY PLUS -- Run your camera on air. A new type of “air-fuelled battery” could give up to ten times the energy storage of betteriescurrently available. "The air-fuelled battery could be suitable for a wide range of electronics and will run on any air." explained Professor Peter Bruce of the Chemistry Department at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland.
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Airfuelled-Battery-Could-Last-Up-to-10-Times-Longer-11624
QUIET PLEASE. -- Nik Software says that Dfine 2.0, its popular digital photographic plug-in offering photographers advanced and powerful noise reduction for their digital images, is now available for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 and higher.
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Nik-Software-Dfine-20-Update-11623
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
TABLOID TRAIL – Bankruptcy Looming for Annie Leibovitz? Gawker is reporting today that the rental house that sued Annie Leibovitz may be preparing to file an involuntary bankruptcy petition against the photographer. http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/05/bankruptcy-looming-for-annie-leibovitz.html
WORKFORCE SHRINKING AT AP -- The Associated Press is quietly offering buyouts that include $500 for each year of service and increased pension benefits to several hundred veteran employees, according to AP and a News Media Guild statement. http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/photojournalism/e3ic8543054a8a9084d4bba1c9c5093a1a1
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
"I've dealt with PhotoSource International for over ten years. Their PhotoSourceBOOK and PhotoSourceBANK combination has, by far, been my best investment in advertising my stock photography work. I recommend Rohn Engh and his work highly when I conduct my seminars and my classes."
- Betty Sederquist Photography, Lotus CA
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"The PhotoSourceBANK is sure worth the investment ($4.95 a month). On my PhotoSourceBank site (www.photosource.com/1338) a photobuyer recently found a specific butterfly she needed. The resulting sales will pay for my membership for many years to come! Thank you PhotoSource." - David Liebman, Photographer, Norfolk, VA.
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
WILDLIFE IN EUROPE -- Wild Wonders of Europe - a photographic project set to reveal the natural treasures of the European continent to over 700 million people Worldwide. The photo competition celebrates the joy of wildness, reminding us all about why nature matters in our lives, and more important, why we need to protect it. http://www.wild-wonders.com/photo_competition_faq.asp
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Gitzo-supports-Wild-Wonders-of-Europe-11621
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
“If you find a job you love, you never work a day ...” - Flip Schulke
27 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
1906 - June 14th - Photographer Margaret Burke-White was born.1940 - The first cystoscopic photographs were published (in the Southern Surgeon). They were taken in color by Drs Edgar Garrison Ballenger, Harold Paul McDonald, and Reese Clinton Coleman of Atlanta, Georgia.
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
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May 20th 2009
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19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
The easiest way to jump…
From No Sales … to Big Sales
If you’ve been making pictures for months, or even years, but have few sales (or even NO sales) to publishers* to show for it – that’s a clue that your images need a jolt of vitality, a spark of spirit and dynamism.
And what would that ‘spark’ be?
First of all, I know you’ve mastered the essentials of photography, or you wouldn’t be on our mailing list. You know good composition, lighting and color. And just as important, you have good technical awareness and knowledge.
But here’s a latent talent that you probably have, being a visual artist, that you may not have thought to develop. It’s the art of telling a story.
Check out your collection of photos from the past. Do some of them tell a story? Can you “read into” your photos to the extent that’s there more to the picture than just a display of elements: a tree, a desk, a truck, a flower, a mother/child?
Successful stock photographers are those who have learned to tell a story with their photos. Their photos express an emotion, or share knowledge, or make the viewer think.
We all have the ability to tell a story. A bedtime story to our children; relating an exciting experience at a football game; a fishing saga; a re-enactment of a friend’s mishap on the golf course; an explanation to a group of students; or an excuse for being late to a dental appointment. These are all spontaneous stories that you relate to family and friends every day.
You can infuse this interest and excitement into your photos. Just how you tell your stories is your hallmark. You set yourself aside from other photographers and establish a unique brand for your photography style.
In the first paragraph above, I say, “making pictures.” Why didn’t I say, “taking pictures?” A camera can be more than just a tool to take photos.
It’s admirable to capture beautiful scenes with your camera by ‘taking’ them. But you offer more thought-provoking pictures for your audience if you let your images – tell a story.
*In case you forgot, the average art director at a magazine or book publishing house has a $35,000-a-month budget for photography. (A month, not a year…)
Rohn Engh is the best-selling author of “Sell & ReSell Your Photos” and “sellphotos.com.” He has produced a new eBook, “How to Make the Marketable Photo.” For more information and to receive a free eReport: “8 Steps to Becoming a Published Photographer,” visit http://www.sellphotos.com
Want to publish an article from PhotoStockNOTES in your BLOG? Let us know which article and we’ll give the go-ahead. I 800 624 0266 extn 21 Ask for Bruce Swenson
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
MARKETING TIP (From Sell & ReSell Your Photos, Page 285.) Uncle Sam will pay you up to a $1000 a year to stop calling your photography a `hobby' and start calling it a business. IRS guidelines encourage you to get serious about your photography and to use your tax write-offs. You have three years before you have to show you sold a picture or made a profit. All you have to show is intent. It's a government incentive to encourage you start up your business.
FREE HELP from the Small Business Admistration. Online business course “Starting A Business” and other online courses about operating a small business.
http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/plan/index.html
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
STARTING OVER -- Early Lessons - When the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ceased its print editon, four of them who had been staff photographers decided to form their own business, a full-service photography studio http://rising.blackstar.com/early-lessons.html
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
NYT’s NEW BLOG -- The New York Times Launches Full-Screen Photo Blog. After more than a year in development, The New York Times launched a large-format photo blog Monday to showcase. In a sign of how online publishing is often run on a shoestring, the blog has no dedicated staff and no budget for photography photojournalism projects. It will showcase work shot for the Times’ print edition, personal projects by Times photographers, wire service photographs, and work provided for publication at no cost. http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/photojournalism/e3i07c80a70350aca72c7cf0e67d3a7fb19?imw=Y
TAKEAWAY: Now I wonder what that last line means, “at no cost.” Perhaps it means the NYTimes is offering a credit line in exchange for photos. If that’s the case, it’s a no-no in our business. STOP IT! –RE
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Nokia E63 Unlocked Cellular Phone with GSM/WCDMA Technology, USA Version, Ruby Red
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Nikon Coolpix S560 Digital Camera, 10.0 Megapixel, 5x Optical, 4x Digital Zoom, 2.7" LCD Display, Graphite Black
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19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
COPYRIGHT HARMFUL? Economist Copyright poll - A poll at The Economist on the motion : "This house believes that existing copyright laws do more harm than good."
http://www.economist.com/debate/overview/144
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/economist-copyright-poll
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Digital Photographers! Want to discover a powerful way to know exactly what photobuyers at hundreds of small publishers of books and magazines want in the way of photos, and how much they'll pay for them - every week -- week after week ?
You'll be able to build a mailing list of buyers who use your category of photos. Those clients can last you a lifetime!
Every Friday morning we send you 5 (five)new hot contacts who currently need photos.
These are not $1--$2 microstock listings. The PHOTOLETTER listings pay $25, $50, $75 per photo, one-time use, and $200 to $300 per cover.
Only $27.00 per month to receive this marketletter every Friday morning.
Rohn Engh
PS: The photobuyers know us well -- and depend on photographers like you. We have published the PHOTOLETTER since 1976 and haven't missed a Friday morning!
More info:
http://www.source-photo.com/
1 800 624 0266
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
OLD-TYME FLIX -- National Geographic snaps up BBC Photography series, “Genius of Photography”. Outright Distribution has sold BBC2 documentary series to National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) as part of a raft of other post-MipTV sales. Produced by Wall to Wall, the series offered a comprehensive history of photography and was originally produced for BBC2 and BBC4. http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/2009/05/nat_geo_snaps_up_bbc_photography_series.html
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. -- "Free software for your Mac that helps you organize, share, and enjoy your photos based on the people who are in them." But the terms of service provide: In order for Blue Lava to make the Service available to you, you hereby grant Blue Lava a royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide right and license....
http://www.photoattorney.com/2009/05/sharing-love-and-your-photos.html
LUBE JOB -- Canon's beleaguered 1D Mk III and 1DS MkIII have encountered yet another problem, Oil Spots on LPF Surface. -- Canon Recalls Flagship Cameras.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/05/canon-recalls-flagship-cameras-for-lube-job/
http://tinyurl.com/qk2cmu
ULTRAVIOLET - Nikon: EUV program alive and well. Responding to an analyst, Japan's Nikon Corp. insists that its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography program is still
alive and well.
http://www.eetimes.com/rss/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217500676&cid=RSSfeed_eetimes_newsRSS
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
KEEPING UP -- Selling Through Galleries; Charting A Course For Making Fine Art Photo Sales - As the markets for both consumer and commercial photographers keep warping and changing, many photographers are looking for alternative revenue paths. http://shutterbug.com/columns/business_trends/0409business/
WEAK DOLLARS & POUNDS -- Alamy's financial statement for Q1 2009 - Alamy notes that "the decline in average price has been exaggerated in this report by the weakening of the UK pound (GBP) against the US dollar between Q2 2008 and Q1 2009".
http://www.stockphototalk.com/phototalk/2009/05/alamys-financial-statement-for-q1-2009.html
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
EASY STORAGE -- Introducing YuuWaa, a new way to store digital data - YuuWaa is the first consumer storage product to combine a secure USB stick with online storage capacity meaning you can backup, access and share all your important data, music, videos and photos anywhere and at any time. http://dpnow.com/5898.html
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
“I would recommend PhotoSource International and PhotoStockNotes to anyone!”
- Gerald W. Bowers, Photographer, Borger, TX
"Thank you for your wonderful newsletter, PhotoStockNotes. I have really enjoyed it over the past few years."
-Richard Kelly, Photographer, Pittsburgh PA
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
FATTENING THE BOOTY -- The National Trust photographic project has lost a high profile photographer in a competition rights row. Renowned photographer, Simon Norfolk, has pulled out of the National Trust’s photographic project in protest over rights-grabbing terms in an associated competition run by the conservation body.
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/national-trust-lose-high-profile-photographer
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
BATTLING STEREOTYPES -- Alessandra Sanguinetti Wins National Geographic Magazine Grant - "Alessandra has an original way of seeing that brings freshness to a subject which is of great importance, but can be difficult to convey past stereotypes," said Susan Smith, National Geographic Magazine's deputy director of photography.
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/editorial/e3i9731bda8fc678b4428332bb937b92782
BUGGERING ON -- Annie Leibovitz acknowledged "difficult financial times" at the 25th annual ICP Infinity Awards ceremony ICP that honored her and Letizia Battaglia which attacted over 700, many of them international photographers.
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/editorial/e3i5d4ce2397955e3fd3ee59893f3fabfff
DOWN DEEP -- Abandoned Iron Mines Inspire Photo Exhibit. Photographer Christine Flavin's photos at the Michigan Iron Industry Museum illustrate the beauty of such sites. The 2002 Quecreek rescue illustrated their dangers; seven coal miners escaped unhurt from an inundation in West Virginia.
http://ohsonline.com/articles/2009/05/20/abandoned-iron-mines-inspire-photo-exhibit.aspx.
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
SIGHT UNSEEN. -- Visually impaired photographers display mind-boggling shots. Twelve visually impaired artists, a few of whom are totally blind, recently showed some amazing images as part of an exhibit called Sight Unseen at the University of California at Riverside.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10238900-1.html?tag=mncol
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Photolucida Part 3: Reviews of Work By Alejandro Cartagena and Angela Bacon-Kidwell - PDN asked three of the 2009 Photolucida reviewers to single out one or two portfolios they liked and tell us what struck them about the work, what if anything they would have changed about the project. http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/features/pdn-online/e3i5d4ce2397955e3fdafa3bc21df4d9b81
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
"When words become unclear, I shall focus on photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence." - Ansel Adams
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
1906 – May 2nd – The birthday of portrait and fashion photographer, Philippe Halsman, born in Riga, Latvia (1906). He took photos for Vogue and for Life.
19 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Raza Khan, a driver and fixer who had worked with many photojournalists and writers covering Pakistan, was killed in a car accident on Saturday while driving photographers Lynsey Addario and Teru Kuwayama from the Jalala refugee camp to Islamabad.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/05/the-importance-of-the-fixer.html
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
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May 14th 2009
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May 14th 2009
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13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Can I Compete
With Microstock?
There’s no doubt about it, microstock is here to stay. And, as an entry-level stock photographer, if you’ve ever asked, “How can I sell my photos for ads, brochures, flyers, posters and calendars ?” –microstock can be photo-heaven for you.
Microstock is the place where a person can purchase photos for just one or a few dollars, or up to $500, -depending on the client and situation.
The “carrot”, of course is the revelation that your photo just might be able to be sold for $500.
If you’re not quite sure what microstock is, invite yourself to a viewing by clicking on any of these:
www.istock.co ; www.fotalia.com ; www.alamy.com ; shutterstock.com
Over the years, microstock has increased in number and improved in quality. But the predominantly "general" type of photos at these sites don't fit the bill for most book and magazine publishers, -the area of our concentration here at PhotoSource International.
If you check out the magazines on the rack at Wal-Mart or the airport, or the books at Barnes & Noble, or your teen's high school textbook, you'll find they include very few "generic" pictures. (Generic, meaning general, non-specific images that can be used as layout fillers, general illustrations, or ad backgrounds.)
It's not that editorial photo editors don't like microstock generic photos (if they had a job at an ad agency they'd love them), but rather that a photo editor’s job is to match the targeted content of the text in the magazine or book with specific photographs. Simple as that.
A customer who buys a book or magazine expects on-target information in the special-interest periodical, book, or publication -and that includes not only the text, but also the drawings and photos.
Putting a generic $1 photo in their layout opens up the possibility of a catastrophe for the photo researcher or editor.
Like what? Well, the same microstock photo might appear elsewhere, in a public brochure, newspaper or magazine advertisement, or worst-case scenario, in a competitor's publication.
Persons who invest in a publication, book, magazine, textbook, coffee table book, etc. expect exclusivity. They don't expect to see the same photo used elsewhere.
Many a fledgling photo editor has been burned in the early days of microstock photography, when they jumped on this source of inexpensive photos and used a picture that a month later (or the same month!) was used elsewhere in the publishing world.
There's a saying in the photo research industry, "If the photo costs a dollar, it could also cost your job." Publishers want to give their readers distinctive, relevant, well-researched text and photos. That's how they stay in business.
NO THREAT
The perceived threat of competition from $1 pictures available on the Internet is not so strong when you look at what's happening when it comes to the selling of your editorial stock images.
On the photographer's side, editorial stock photographers have learned to personally keyword their photos with targeted words that guide the photo researcher to their site or a site like the PhotoSourceBANK, which has guaranteed high buyer traffic.
Photobuyers have discovered they can use the Internet to find the best, exact, exclusive photo for their publishing project. Using a text description and a popular search engine such as Google, Yahoo, or MSN, they type a "long tail search" (using several words to describe what they need) into the search bar*. This connects the buyers t o photographers' websites or sites that feature the work of many photographers.
KEEPING TABS
This system, of course, is in its infancy, but is the way of the future. The time is now to carry a notepad along with you in your photographic forays - overseas, or your local region, or your backyard. Every time you snap a picture, jot down several descriptive keywords you could use to identify it. Just the word 'camel,' 'weed,' or 'airplane' is no longer viable in your descriptive database (meta tags). Expect to describe each image in four or five words, because that's what the photobuyers will be using in their Google search.
You may ask, “Will photo editors buy my photos if they don’t have specific descriptive words riding along with them?” The answer in today’s Internet climate is, yes, but it might be a long wait.
- - - - - - - - - -
Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and best-selling author of "Sell & ReSell Your Photos" and "sellphotos.com," has helped scores of photographers launch their careers. For access to great information on making money from pictures you like to take, and to receive this free report: "8 Steps to Becoming a Published Photographer," check out his website at www.photosource.com
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
THERE’S A BRIGHT SIDE “For those who shoot digitally, images that are dull are an extremely common problem. Although sensors get better all the time, digital cameras can tend to produce photos that are dull, or lack light clarity and contrast. There is a simple way to correct this exposure issue however in the computer. Using a program that has levels (exposure curve modification) you can quickly bring the life back to your images.” -- Liz Masoner
http://photography.about.com/b/2009/05/11/fixing-dull-photos.htm
SAMPLE FAVORITES -- 2009 Photolucida Reviewers Discuss Their Favorite Portfolios - Photolucida portfolio reviewers discuss their favorite work in a three-part, slideshow feature over the course of the next week.
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/features/pdn-online/e3ic3df7625da5868c15038534d17be785c
CHASING THE STORM -- Camille Seaman On Shooting Storm Clouds -- Fine-art photographer Camille Seaman shot the images in her latest project, "The Big Cloud," last summer on a storm-chasing tour from central Texas through North Dakota.
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/features/pdn-online/e3i605e3e8798d54f4898821db8e36456ab
SPRING CLEANING -- “If you had dust spots, one of the first things you used to have to do is use the Spot Healing brush to get rid of them. But if you haven't tried it yet, getting rid of dust spots on an image has gotten a bit easier as of the release of Adobe Camera Raw 5.2. You can now clean things up as part of the raw conversion process.Kudos to Adobe for making the removal of dust spots much easier.” -Bob Johnson, Earthbound Light
http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/camera-raw-dust-spot-removal.html
FRESHEN UP -- Five Questions to Ask Before You Redesign Your Web Site Your website site is your first impression for most prospective clients. And just as you update your albums and portfolio periodically, it is important to update your site to keep your online images fresh.
http://rising.blackstar.com/five-questions-to-ask-before-you-redesign-your-web-site.html
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
THE SCARE THAT WAS -- White House Releases Air Force One NYC Photo-Op Picture. Here's the photo that caused so much commotion in New York City and has now cost a White House official his job.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/05/white-house-releases-air-force-one-nyc-photoop-pic.html
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
MARKETING TIP (From Sell & ReSell Your Photos, Page 239.): Harvest the fruits of your labor. Get your product to market. It's one thing to plant a garden, it's another thing to persist and to keep it continually weeded until it's harvest time. Starting something is easy. But to follow through on your intentions isn't easy. Winston Churchill (in a nine-word speech to students at Eton) said it best: Never give up. Never, never, never, never, never, never.
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
-- FINDING, FILING, and FUNDING. -- Asset Management Help for Photographers - One of the main tasks for digital photographers today is asset management: how to file, find, protect, and re-use their photos. The best solutions can be found in The DAM Book, Second Edition, a guide to managing digital images efficiently and effectively.
http://www.creativepro.com/article/asset-management-help-photographers
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
They’re talking about point and shoot cameras on the Kracker Barrel this week – and the tipping point seems to be somewhere between 8 and 10 meg.
A recent Esquire magazine cover shot with a video –
http://board.photosource.com
To register for making a helpful comment on the Kracker Barrel:
http://board.photosource.com/register.php?1
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
A NON-SUMMIT -- Microsoft Cancels 2009 Pro Photo Summit. For the last three years, Microsoft has invited photo professionals to its campus in Redmond, Washington, for a Pro Photo Summit. Another summit was scheduled for this July. But after surveying participants and finding many of them were unwilling to spend money on travel, Microsoft called off the event.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/05/microsoft-cancels-2009-pro-photo-summit.html
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
A+ to D- - Getty Makes Plans for Photos.com, Runs Into iStock Friction. In the last few days, a series of announcements on the iStockphoto forums indicate that Getty plans to make some changes to Photos.com. For starters: The worst-performing photos on iStockphoto will soon be available on Photos.com (as well as on the higher-priced service Jupiterimages Unlimited).
GOOD SOURCE -- A new blog with the aim of providing frequently updated, high quality stock photography content to both photographers and clients, is multi-ethnic photo provider, PhotoEdit Inc. The agency is (www.photoeditinc.com), is located in Orange County, California and specializing in a variety of candid and realistic multi-ethnic and multi-cultural imagery.
http://www.pr.com/press-release/150731
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
BACK IN THE SADDLE. Co-Founder of iStockphoto Joins Rival Fotolia As North American President Patrick Lor retired shortly after Getty Images purchased iStockphoto in 2006 for $50 million. According to Lor, his non-compete contract expired with Getty recently, which left him available to get back into the stock photography business.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/06/co-founder-of-istockphoto-joins-rival-fotolia-as-new-ceo/
DEMOCRATIZED/ROYALTIZED PHOTOGRAPHY - “We hear you and understand you aren't happy with the royalty percentage. We'll see what we can do, but don't expect miracles. [...] Subscription on iStock is not good enough.” A Subscription Update from Andy Goetze.
http://www.stockphototalk.com/phototalk/2009/05/istockphoto-subscription-update.html#more
THINK MICROSTOCK -- Generating Ideas: The Foundation of Good Stock Photography - This is a guest post by well-known traditional stock photographer John Lund, better known as “master of conceptual stock photos”. Who better to learn from about generating stock photo ideas than him.
http://www.microstockdiaries.com/generating-ideas-the-foundation-of-good-stock-photography.html
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
If you operate your stock photography business out of your home, it’s even
more important these days that you cut your expenses.
Here’s a product that shows you just how to do that.
It’s called Home-Made Energy.
Click here for
“7 reasons why YOU NEED home made energy”
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
NEW NAME -- "PCPhoto" To Reduce Frequency, Drop "PC" From Name.
PCPhoto, a magazine that covers consumer photo gear, is cutting its frequency from nine issues a year to seven. The magazine will also get a new name: Digital Photo.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/05/pc-photo-to-reduce-frequency-drop-pc-from-name.html
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
SPEAKING OUT -- Bite the Hand - Photojournalist Ken Jarecke on why he regrets not having been more of a pain in the arse over the last fifteen years - and the effect he thinks it's had on the industry.
http://kennethjarecke.typepad.com/mostly_true/2009/04/bite-the-hand.html
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
WHAT’S UP? -- A new UK-based site, Photolegal.com, aims to produce fortnightly podcasts. The format is a couple of photographers talking with an IP lawyer and covering topical legal matters affecting photographers ranging from copyright to access rights.
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/photolegal-com-podcasts
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Photographing Jewish Weddings:A Complete Handbook for Professionals
by Stan Turkel
a review by Joseph Stanski
I love weddings. Most of all, I love ethnic weddings. Mainly because, I get to participate
and be a part of, another culture; and Stan Turkel’s book on Jewish weddings does just that; takes you into another culture; the Jewish cultural wedding.
Stan Turkel leaves no stone unturned as to defining a Jewish weddings. He begins Chapter 1 - Types of Jewish Weddings by defining the three major denominations, Reform Judaism, Conservative (Masorti Judaism) and Orthodox Judaism. And than introduces us (the photographer), to proper protocol with interacting with family members.
In Chapter 2, Marketing For Jewish Weddings, the ability to market your image successfully is very important to an Orthodox and non-Orthodox family. “Your marketing strategy must take this into account, as separate marketing efforts are required for each.” Timing, Buying Influences, and Wedding Packages and Shooting Styles are all very important considerations with the proper marketing of a Jewish wedding.
Chapter 3, Photographing the Orthodox Wedding is great. Stan illustrates and explains both the traditional photos you should get, as well as the tradition behind those photos. In doing this, Stan introduces us to the Timeline, The Bride’s Images,The Bride and Family Images, Finishing Up With The Bride’s Images, The Groom’s Images, The Groom and Family Images, The Kabalas Panim,The Ketubah, The Tena’im, The Badeken, The Processional and Chuppah, Yichud, The Photographs after the Chuppah and finally the Reception.
In Chapter 4, Stan goes over the Conservative and Reform Jewish Weddings, with The Back to Back Ritual, The Ketubah Signing and the Badeken, The Chuppah, The Reception, The Hora and finally, The Detail Shot with these types of Jewish weddings.
This is the kind of book you have in your photographer’s bag when you go a Jewish wedding to photograph it - to help guide you through, both the tradition and the photographing process. It assures, that you don’t miss one photo opportunity, thru ignorance or miss step.
In his final chapter on Equipment, Stan thinks of everything, from the first-aid kit, sewing kit, job-specific clothing and finally, your Yamaka. I would highly recommend this book to stock photographers, as a well illustrated and documented look into photographing a Jewish wedding.
Joseph Stanski has been an agricultural stock photographer for the last twenty-five years. He has published in many ag-oriented magazines as well as national publications. He retired as a schoolteacher and is currently teaching photography and running his stock photography business in Southeast Iowa. morningstar138[at]hotmail[dot]com
Published by Amherst Media, Inc., marketing[at]AmherstMedia[dot]com
For info:
http://www.photosourcefolio.com/bookstoreone.htm#1584282541
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Did you try to sign up for last weekend’s MOTHER’s Day special?
Mother’s Day is Gone…yes, but it’s not gone from here…
I’m sorry about the glitch.
…on our Order Form for the special offer for “mothers’ day one-half off” last weekend….
If you tried to sign up for it --but the code “Mom” did not work
on your computer… …it was our fault.
It works now…
So I’m extending the (1/2 off) offer ‘til midnight tonight Thursday, May 14th (at midnight).
Go here for the Order Form.
Follow the Green Arrow that will show you where to type in the word “Mom”. That’s the key that will get you the half-price for PhotoLetter or PhotoDaily.
Go here https://www.photosource.com/cart/mom.php - for the order form.
Rohn Engh
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
MAYBE... SUSPECT In Britain police “stop and search” powers are changing. A pilot project under an anti-terror legislation in which police officers will be required to have "reasonable suspicion" before they can stop and search someone.
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Review-of-Section-44-of-the-Terrorism-Act-2000-11542
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
CLOSER LASER LOOK -- More on the world's fastest camera. The technique hinges on an ordered spreading of the colours in laser light. The camera's "shutter speed" is just a half a billionth of a second, and it can capture over six million images in a second continuously. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8025211.stm
http://media.www.lawrentian.com/media/storage/paper409/news/2009/05/08/Features/ArpaE.UltraFast.Photography.And.The.Swine.Flu.Virus-3737293.shtml
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
STILL PHOTOGRAPHY TAKING A BACK SEAT? Is it really the death of still photography?
Esquire debuts the world's first print magazine cover captured from a video source. What could it mean for SLR photography? http://gear.ign.com/articles/979/979350p1.html
TAKEAWAY: Of course, of course. Video will be the camera of choice. We’ll witness the same resistance when digital equipment arrived. Publishers will love it because the choice of picture selection will be greater.
UNIQUE VIEW --... -- NASA releases 3D photo collections of space station, Mars rover - NASA announced it has released a set of 3D photo collections of the International Space Station and its Mars rover. The photos were created using Microsoft's Photosynth technology, which automatically stitches together hundreds of images from standard digital cameras.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10235596-52.html?tag=mncol
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A pro says, NO!” . . .
Flickr is an image and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community platform. In addition to being a popular Web site for users to share personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers as a photo repository.[2] As of November 2008, it claims to host more than 3 billion images -- SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA
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Ever heard of Flickr? Do you have your photos posted on Flickr? If you do, here’s an example, Jim Domke, a photographer professional sent me recently. It illustrates the mind-set that some visitors to the website have.
From Jim:
“Rohn: FYI: Here's a note I recently got from a photo editor interested in
publishing one of my photos . . . I said no.
You get a byline, but no money! Stock photography on the cheap. There ought
to be a law.
So much for marketing on Flickr!
Jim….”
----- Original Message -----
From: "vnvnvnvnvnvn"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, vbvbvbvbvbvbvb 4:14 AM
Subject: [Flickr] cvcvcvvc: fgfgfgfgfgfgfgf Photo Short-list
> You've been sent a Flickr Mail from cvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcvcv.>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> :: vbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvb Short-list
>
>
> Hi vbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbv,
>
> I am writing to let you know that one of your photos has
> been short-listed for inclusion in the seventh edition of
> our vbvbvbvbvbvbvbbv Guide, to be published at the end of
> this month.
>
> http://www.vbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvt/p=vbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbv=vbvbvbvbv
>
> Clicking this link will take you to a page where you can:
> i) See which of your photos has been short-listed.
> ii) Submit or withdraw your photo from our final selection
> phase.
> iii) Learn how we credit photos in our vbvbvbvbvbbvbv Guides.
> iv) Browse online or download the sixth edition of our
> vnvnvnvnvnvnvnvnvnvnv Guide.
>
> While we offer no payment for publication, many
> photographers are pleased to submit their photos, as vbvbvbvbvbvbv
> Guides give their work recognition and wide exposure, and
> are free of charge to readers. Photos are published at a
> maximum width of 150 pixels, are clearly attributed, and
> link to high-resolution originals at Flickr.
>
> Our submission deadline is Wednesday, vbvbvb,vbvbvbvb. If you happen
> to be reading this message after this date, please still
> click on the link above (our vnvnvnvnvnvnvn Guides are updated
> frequently - photos submitted after this deadline will be
> considered for later releases).
>
> Best regards,
>
> Jane Doe,
> Managing Editor
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To reply to this message, click here:
> http://www.flickr.com/mail/xvxvxvxv
> To update your email settings, click here:
> http://www.flickr.com/accountvcvcvcvcv /
>
> The Flickr Team
>
Ø www.flickr.com
TAKEAWAY: Don’t despair. In any creative field, the artist has to start somewhere. And we tend to forget those “training wheels days.”
I don’t know of any painter, photographer, dancer, speaker, musician who, when they were first starting out, didn’t give their services for free to get their foot in that heavy door of acceptance with a potential client. Professional creative people will rarely admit (or can’t remember) that a freebie to a prospect got the whole thing rollin’ .
Impoverished clients, non-profit groups, start-up businesses will capitalize on this phenomenon and expect not to pay artists for their work. Yet they will pay the plumber, the electrician, the janitor and so on.
What can you do about it? Try barter. Agree to do the freebie –but ask for payment in whatever product they produce. You might come out the winner. –RE
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
"Your PhotoStockNOTES letter of today hit a positive nerve for me. It made me feel just like a young pup again! And sometimes positive reinforcement is needed for someone that has been around for a while." -
Jack Hamilton, Photographer, Milwaukee
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
INTERNATIONAL JURIED PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
CALL FOR ENTRIES - All Photography - Amateurs to Pros June 30th 2009
Entry fee: $25, additional entries are $10 each.
Information & Entry Form at www.artistshavengallery.com
Contest is open to all US and International photographers working with digital or film cameras. Multiple categories and no entry limit. The competition will be juried by the Executive Director, Coral Springs Museum of Art.
Artists’ Haven Gallery 2757 East Oakland Park Blvd Ft Lauderdale FL 33306
Tel: 954-817-4893 Web: www.artistshavengallery.com Email:elaine@artistshavengallery.com
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CONTEST WOES -- Photography Contests: License to Steal? As digital cameras and online photo-sharing spur greater interest in photography among hobbyists, He has followed a trend that he finds increasingly disturbing: -- photo contests that reward you by stealing your photos. http://rising.blackstar.com/photography-contests-license-to-steal.html
TAKEAWAY: The real winner in most photo contests is the sponsor.
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
GARDEN CLIP -- International Garden Photographer of the Year nnounced - The overall winner of the £5,000 prize for the best single image is UK-based photographer, Jonathan Berman. His winning entry is titled, “In Tresco Abbey Gardens.”
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/International-Garden-Photographer-of-the-Year-announced-11540
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Minneapolis STRATEGIC Marketing Plan Workshop
Presented by MARATHON 1 800 228 0629
OUTCOME: To assist you in creating a comprehensive marketing plan for attracting clients to one or more of your target markets through compelling brand-building marketing strategies.
· May 18, 2009 - May 19, 2009
· 9am - 5pm first day, 9am - 4pm second day
· Hilton Minneapolis
· 1001 Marquette Ave.
· Minneapolis, MN 55403
· (612) 376-1000
Fee: The $695 tuition includes registration for up to two studio members. Luncheon is provided.
You will receive a business questionnaire to complete and return to Marathon before the workshop. This information will help the workshop staff determine how best to assist you during the various work sessions. A laptop is required at the workshop.
Marathon is prepared to help in building a business that allows you to follow your passion and create long-term professional successis prepared to help in building a business that allows you to follow your passion and create long-term professional successis prepared to help in building a business that allows you to follow your passion and create long-term professional successis prepared to help in building a business that allows you to follow your passion and create long-term professional success
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
“Pain from the change is less than the pain from remaining the same…” ..H.T. White
13 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
1959 – Photographs in color of the heavens (the Great Nebula in Orion, Crab Nebula, Veil Nebula in Cygnus and the Swan) were published in May 1959 issue of National Geographic magazine.
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
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May 7th 2009
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May 7th 2009
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06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Obama Hope Poster
Is it Copyright Infringement?
By Joel Hecker, Esq.
A new case in the United States District Court of New York, Shepard Fairey v. The Associated Press, may be the basis for an important “transformative” analysis of fair use. It concerns Fairey’s creation of an illustration of President Obama which was used in a series of posters, the most widely known of which is the “Hope Poster.”
Shepard Fairey is a 39-year-old artist who lives and works in Los Angeles. He copies part or all of existing photographs or artwork, a practice he calls “visual reference.” Photographers consider this “appropriation art” to be blatant copyright infringement.
AP, a not-for-profit membership cooperative corporation, is one of the largest news organizations in the world.
The Underlying Photo
One unusual aspect of the case is that the underlying photo used by Fairey is in dispute. Mannie Garcia, a professional photographer employed by AP, created a series of images at a 2006 event about Darfur held at the National Press Club. The actor George Clooney was sitting beside the then Senator Obama.
Fairey claims he used a cropped version of a photo of both Clooney and Obama. AP claims the underlying photo, also taken by Garcia, is only of Obama and, when overlayed onto Fairey’s illustration, shows the two are exactly the same.
The Posters
Fairey claims his illustration and posters were part of a series of iconic works he created to support the presidential candidacy of Obama.
The first one, Obama Progress, is identified by Fairey as an abstract graphic rendition of Obama gazing up and to the viewer’s right, colored in a palette of red, white and blue, with the word “Progress” in capital letters beneath the image of Obama. Fairey then created a second poster with his same illustration, which became known as Obama Hope since the word “Hope” replaced “Progress.” By the summer of 2008, Obama Hope had become, according to Fairey, a “ubiquitous symbol” of Obama’s candidacy and pervasive presence across America.
The third poster, entitled “Obama Hope Mural,” was created for an art exhibition held in Denver during the Democratic National Convention, in conjunction with Obama’s nomination for President. The fourth poster, Be The Change, has the Obama illustration flanked by images of the United States Capital Building and White House with a cheering crowd beneath the illustration.
Immediately following the election, Fairey created a fifth image, entitled Yes We Did with the Obama illustration in the upper center with additional visual elements. Finally, on January 17, 2009, a large-format, hand stenciled collage incorporating the Hope poster with other visual material, was unveiled at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Fairey’s Complaint
The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment that Fairey’s illustration of Obama and posters incorporating this illustration constitute fair use under the Copyright Act and do not infringe any AP copyright.
Fairey claims that he used the Garcia photo of Obama and Clooney solely as a visual reference, which transformed the literal depiction contained in the photo into a “stunning, abstracted and idealized visual image that creates powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message that has no analogue in the original photograph.”
Fairey further claims that th e original photo previously published depicted a factual occurrence, while his image was fictional and highly creative, that only a portion of the photo was used (with Clooney cropped out), and therefore the amount of the taking was reasonable.
Finally, Fairey claims use of the photo in the illustration imposed no significant or recognizable harm to the Garcia photo, or any market for, or derivative of, it. In fact, to the contrary, Fairey claims the posters have greatly enhanced the value of the photo.
AP’s Counterclaims
On March 11, 2009 AP filed its answer to the complaint, as well as counterclaims for direct and contributory copyright infringement. The gist of the counterclaims is that Fairey was fully aware that the Garcia photo used was copyrighted, and that Fairey copied all the distinctive and unequivocally recognizable elements of the photo in their entire detail (including the heart and essence of it), as well as its patriotic theme.
AP also alleges that Fairey’s profits on his illustrations already exceed $400,000, with a great deal more expected. AP further claims that Fairey has a prior history of wilful disregard for the property rights of others and cites numerous instances of his misappropriating works from other artists. These acts and the failure to give any attribution to the original creator, says AP, constitute a consistent pattern of copyright infringement by Fairey and proves Fairey was acting in “bad faith.”
AP compares these claims to Fairey’s highly sophisticated understanding of licensing and a highly protective copyright protection program of his copyright and trademarks, as well as his work. AP alleges specific examples to support this contention.
AP also contends that Fairey’s copyright registration certificates for his various Obama works constitute a fraud upon the Copyright Office, since he did not acknowledge that the illustrations are derived from the Garcia pre-existing work. Therefore, according to AP, these registrations should be cancelled.
Summary
This case has the potential for far reaching importance in interpreting the concept of fair use in copyright as it applies to appropriation art. At the moment, it is unclear how far an artist can go when using copyrighted work in the name of art without it being considered to be copyright infringement.
Most interested photographers believe that this direct taking of Garcia’s photo constitutes copyright infringement, and that this is not even a close call. In any event the case will be watched closely by the photography and artistic community because it may determine how far someone who is, or claims to be, an artist can use an existing copyrighted photograph as reference for new art.
© Joel L. Hecker, 2009
Attorney Joel L. Hecker lectures and writes extensively on issues of concern to the photography industry. His office is located at Russo & Burke, 600 Third Ave, New York NY 10016. Phone: 1 212 557-9600. E-mail: HeckerEsq[at]aol[dot]com.
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
From time to time, here at PhotoSource International, we learn of personnel changes in the industry. We publish them here for your use.
Company: GEO MAGAZINE
Name: Scot Jahn
E-mail: jahn.scot[at]geo[dot]de.
Replaces:
Name: Nadia Masri
E-mail: masri.nadia[at]geo-ny[dot]de
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Company: MAXIM MAGAGAZINE
Name: Melissa Martinez
E-mail: mmartinez[at]alphamediagroup[dot]com
Replaces:
Name: Advije Sheji
E-mail: asheji[at]alphamediagroup[dot]com
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Company: OUR STATE MAGAZINE
Name: Deanne O’Connor
E-mail: doconnor[at]ourstate[dot]com
Replaces:
Name: Craig Smith
E-mail: csmith[at]ourstate[dot]com
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Company: SWEAT MAGAZINE
Name: Joan Westlake
E-mail: editor[at]sweatmagazine[dot]com
Replaces:
Name:Glen Swain
E-mail: editor[at]sweatmagazine[dot]com
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
MARKETING TIP Using a picture identification and cross-reference system can be a good investment for you. Time lost trying to locate pictures can mean lost sales. Take the lazy man's approach - know where everything is. Check out our discussion group, The Kracker Barrel, on the Web, http://www.photosource.com/board where fellow stock photographers discuss various filing system options for you.
If you want to ask a question on the Kracker Barrel, here's where to go:
http://board.photosource.com/register.php?1
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
WAYS TO DO IT -- Professional Photoshop Image Enhancing Tutorials - In this fine article, you'll discover tutorials that deal with enhancing images, adding unique and impressive effects, and recreating digital replications of popular traditional photography techniques.
http://sixrevisions.com/photoshop/22-professional-photoshop-image-enhancing-tutorials/
SOME TIPS FOR THE BEGINNER
http://ecommerce-journal.com/articles/15038_how_to_make_money_online_through_your_lens
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
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OUR QUALITY CONTROL POLICY. We at PhotoSource International expect our subscribers to submit only the finest quality pictures to photo editors. We assume that the photographers who subscribe to a valuable marketing tool like the PHOTOLETTER or PHOTODAILY recognize the responsibilities involved in presenting their work to editors and publishers. However, if we receive a complaint from a photo editor(s) that a subscriber has submitted pictures of low technical quality, or pictures which were unsolicited and therefore inappropriate to the photo editor's needs (and serve only to take his or her time in processing), we reserve the right to cancel the subscriber’s subscription to the market letter and refund his or her unused portion. This policy protects you, the stock photographer. Our list of quality picture buyers grows as our list of quality stock photographers grows.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR -- BlackStar report: “These days, with so much cheap and free photography flooding the Web, it's easy to forget what quality corporate photography is all about. Assignment photography may not be a company's lowest cost-option, but it often delivers the best value.”
http://rising.blackstar.com/when-only-assignment-photography-will-do.html
RICK SAMMON’S’ CREATIVE STIMULUS - Here are a few ideas that may stimulate
the creative artist within. At the very least, I hope they distract you from the stock market graph.
http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2009/03/cs-4u---creative-stimulus-for.html
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
DOWNSIZING AT KODAK -- Kodak Cuts CEO's Salary 15% - Kodak is looking to save money wherever it can. All U.S.-based Kodak employees will have to take a week off without pay between now and the end of the year. And Kodak has suspended its stock dividend. http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/05/kodak-cuts-ceos-salary-15.html
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
IN MARCO POLO’S FOOTSTEPS -- Masterfile, a stock photography company based in Toronto with offices in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, has announced that it is expanding operations in South Asia by launching local service for clients in India.
http://www.abouttheimage.com/4100/masterfile_opens_office_in_hyderabad_india/author2
OLYMPIC PROVIDER AGAIN -- Getty Re-Ups With U.S. Olympic Committee. Soon after losing the NFL contract, Getty Images has announced it has renewed its commercial licensing partnership with the U.S. Olympic Committee through 2012. Getty also remains the official photo partner of the International Olympic Committee.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/04/getty-reups-with-us-olympic-committee.html
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FLASH - Dreamstime launched a Flash browser providing their buyers with a cleaner experience and larger previews when browsing search results. As it’s Flash, it’s instantly available from the new button on the search results pages with nothing to install.
http://www.microstockdiaries.com/this-month-in-microstock-april-2009.html
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
On Sale This Week
Woman's Tote Bag
- - -
Pocket Digital Video Camera
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
CAREFUL WHAT YOU PUBLISH Defamation law is not as simple as many lawyers and other people may have you believe. There are several elements necessary to prove a cause of action
for defamation, and one of the most overlooked elements is publication.
http://www.defamationlawblog.com/2009/04/articles/defamation-basics/you-dont-want-to-overlook-this-element-of-defamation/
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Q. What does copyright do for photographers?
A. Copyright gives the creator or author of a work the power to control the work. The owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to control if, when, how and how often his or her work can be used or copied.
Copyright is not a single right, as the word may suggest, but is a bundle of rights. Any part of the bundle can be retained or sold, leased or given away, either individually or in groups. The ability to dispose of any portion of the bundle of rights is reserved exclusively to the owner of the copyright.
For example, if a company is authorized to use a particular photograph in a brochure, the brochure is the only place that the photograph can be used. The use of the photograph in an advertisement without permission would be a violation of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner. Similarly, if a person is authorized to use an illustration for advertising purposes for only one year, the illustration cannot be used for more than one year without permission.
Source: http://www.photolaw.net/faq.html
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Search Engine
Optimization for Flash
It used to be that if you used flash in the pogramming of your website, you wouldn’t get many visits from customers who were using a search engine to find you. . A major misconception has been that Flash-based applications are SEO-unfriendly and can't be indexed by search engines such as Google. That is the myth Flash expert Todd Perkins has dispelled in his new Adobe Developer Library book, Search Engine Optimization for Flash (O'Reilly, $29.99).
HTML IS NOT ALWAYS NECESSARY FOR SEO
Perkins demonstrates what you can do to make your website searchable no matter how much Flash it contains. Search Engine Optimization for Flash shows you how search engines work, what constitutes a search-engine-optimized (SEO) site, and what to watch out for in the way of SEO pitfalls.
It makes for an indispensable resource if you use Flash and want to be sure your audience can easily find your site through SEO. (Search Engine Optimization).
·
http://www.photosourcefolio.com/bookstore.htm#0596522525
·
Search Engine Optimization for Flash is a book on how to optimize Flash content for search engines.
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
It's coming in June . . .
A DVD that should be on every stock photographer's bookshelf:
Rohn Engh's
"How To Market YourPhotos"
21-sections that will put you
in front of the competition.
You'll learn new ways
to start using the Internet
to direct photobuyer traffic
to your website.
You'll learn why you should stop
using the old ways..
and how to re-awaken former customers
with the new ways.
Rohn Engh is author of the popular "Sell & ReSell Your Photos."
Comng in June!
Watch for our pre-publication sale.
Watch for our pre-publication sale.
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
TENSE TIMES. Pakistan Police manhandle photo-journalist in PESHAWAR: The police here Saturday manhandled a photographer of a local English newspaper when he was trying to take a picture of a police official taking illegal power connections from an electricity pole.
http://www.newssafety.org/index.php?view=article&catid=125%3Apakistan-media-safety&id=12193%3Apolice-manhandle-photo-journalist&option=com_content&Itemid=100400
06 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
BACK THEN -- London Zoo revealed in 'earliest' colour photo - One of the earliest photographs taken at London Zoo - believed to have been captured around 1906 - has been revealed for the first time, at an exhibition in Hampshire.
http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/London_Zoo_revealed_in_earliest_colour_photo_update_news_281222.html
PRESERVATION IN ACTION -- Rediscovered Robert Capa Photos Published Online - The "Mexican Suitcase" negatives, shot during the Spanish Civil War by Robert Capa, David "Chim" Seymour and Gerda Taro, have been preserved and scanned by the International Center of Photography.
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/photo-news/photojournalism/e3i06056b3e434534841a00b3b78207dcbc
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Six Steps to Taking Control of Your Back Taxes
http://taxes.about.com/od/taxtrouble/a/back_taxes.htm
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
YOU ARE LOOKIN’ GOOD! -- Camera Filters: So Good, You'll Call Them Magic - Hollywood Black Magic. Filters remove unsightly blemishes and wrinkles while providing a smooth transition in the highlights. Filters are available in popular professional rectangular sizes for HD, DV, and video as well as screw-on sizes for professional DSLR photography.
http://www.creativepro.com/article/camera-filters-so-good-youll-call-them-magic
Five Canon products win prestigious Technical Image Press Association awards. They have been recognized with "Best Product 2009" awards by the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA),
representing 29 photography and imaging magazines across 13 European countries.
http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=21410
FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET – World's Fastest Camera: Shutter Speed Half a Billionth of a Second. The Steam camera not only shoots images just 440 trillionths of a second in length, it can rack up an astonishing six million of them in a single second. World's Fastest Camera: Shutter Speed Half a Billionth of a Second.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/05/worlds-fastest-camera-shutter-speed-half-a-billionth-of-a-second/
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
PHOTO TREAT – AOL's MediaGlow Launches Pixcetera Application on Apple App Store The app mirrors the functionality of the Pixcetera.com site,
http://www.pixcetera.com by allowing users to experience
amazing photography in a variety of categories.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AOLs-MediaGlow-Launches-bw-15119806.html?.v=1
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL -- Kodak quarterly loss doubles; halts dividend. Eastman Kodak Co's quarterly loss doubled, as the economic downturn continued to pinch demand, and the photography company said on Thursday it would stop paying its quarterly dividend. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/04/30/afx6360459.html
STILL GOING UP. Wall Street Journal Only Top 25 Newspaper To Report Circulation Increase - Newspaper sales have been declining since the early 1990s, but the drop has accelerated in recent years. Circulation revenue has largely held up, though, because of price increases.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/27/wall-street-journal-only-_n_191667.html
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
EAGLE EYE -- Gigapixel Photography. This new idea of hyper detailed panoramic images is one of the coolest thing to hit the web since Google Earth. Imagine looking at a skyline shot of New York City and being able to see what the person on the 85 floor of the empire state building is
doing. http://www.manolith.com/2009/04/30/gigapixel-photography/
FINDING WHERE – 35,000,000 Flickr Photos, Mapped. Scientists at Cornell University have super-computed the geotags of 35 million Flickr photos, creating photography heatmaps for locations around the world. Their conclusion? People really, really like taking pictures of landmarks.
http://gizmodo.com/5232419/photography-heatmaps-created-from-35-million-geotagged-flickr-shots
TAKEAWAY: Think if the exact location and I.D. of a landscape shot were known of some of the antique photos that are discovered in attic trunks. Today, such photos are discarded for lack of irrefutable identification and not chosen for history books, coffee table books, PBS documentaries, etc.
100 years from now, the heirs of your photo collection will be happy that you persisted in tagging your photos.
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
"Your PhotoStockNOTES newsletter is very useful."
- Takashi Yoshida, Photographer, Chuo-ku Tokyo, Japan
"Attorney Joel L. Hecker is a much appreciated voice that does a good job of disseminating copyright case law"
-Gary Lester
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
UP TO DATE @the WH -- The White House has started posting official Obama administration photographs on Flickr. High-res files are available for free use under a Creative Commons license.
But please note, although –as a taxpayer, you’ve already paid for them, they are not considered by the Creative Commons license to be public domain.
Here’s an example of how creative-types are using the photos for fun and enjoyment.
IS THAT GOLF? Obama's Flickr Stream Is Encouraging Creative PhotoShopping. (The license does not include Public Domain permission.)
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WANNA BE CELEBRITY -- Fad Alert: Hire Your Own Paparazzi. Here's a non-traditional business idea: Fake paparazzi for hire. The pitch: Customers pay photographers to follow them around to make them look famous. Think bachelorette parties, show opening, etc.
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/04/fad-alert-hire-your-own-paparazzi.html
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
Smithsonian Magazine 7th Annual Photo Contest
Smithsonian magazine's seventh annual photo contest allows the magazine and its readers the chance to see the world through your unique lens. Contestants may enter photographs in five categories.Each represents subjects of special interest to the magazine. Fifty finalists will be selected, ten for each of five categories. Smithsonian will notify the 50 finalists by February 28, 2010. From these 50 finalists, five category winners and a grand prize winner will be selected. The entries of all winners and finalists will be published on the magazine's Web site on February 28, 2010.
Category winners will be awarded $500. The readers' choice winner will be awarded $500. The grand prize winner will receive a four-day, three-night Smithsonian Journeys Grand Canyon Weekend Adventure for two, or the wholesale cash equivalent.
For information: http://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/
The National Wildlife Photo Contest is open to ALL photographers worldwide who are at least 13 years of age. The contest ends on July 20, 2009. There are 3 divisions and 7 categories. Up to 20 photos can be entered for a $15 fee. Only digital image files are acceptable and they must be uploaded to our website. Cash prizes totaling $25,000 plus other prizes will be awarded. Entrants retain their ownership and other rights to their photos except that they grant the National Wildlife Federation limited use and contest promotion rights.
http://www.nwf.org/photozone/enterphotocontest.cfm?s_src=&s_subsrc=&CFID=6382238&CFTOKEN=c9235b4a78df083e-BFC49A05-5056-A84B-C33C4B03C06E811C
Winning images will be published in the December 2009 issue
HOLD YOUR BREATH – Photography contest uncovers underwater treasures. As technology advances and prices drop, photographers can get their hands on new nifty features. One example is a growing number of cameras (and camera casings) that can be used underwater and come out unscathed. http://news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-10000812.html?tag=rsspr.6249600&part=rss&subj=news
RIGHTS-GRABBING AGAIN. -- In Britain, Campaign Photo Awards - One of the veterans of the rights-grabbing industry, an early pioneer of rights assignments on the backs of cheques and more-usage-for-less-money sign-this-or-else agreements, Haymarket is at it again, and this time it's the Campaign Photo Awards.
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/campaign-photo-awards
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
BLOG GUY – News Journal photographer selected state's top blogger Jason J. Molyet, a longtime News Journal photographer, won first place recently in the blogging category of the annual statewide Associated Press Society of Ohio awards.
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20090504/NEWS01/905040309/1002/rss01
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
"The American Cowboy - Symbol of the American West" Cowboy Photography Workshop"
October 8-13, 2009 - Belle Fourche, South Dakota
http://www.syabi.com/images/details/i_syowa2/syowa2_003.gif
http://www.outdoorphotoworkshops.com/nucleus/index.php
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
AFTERMATH PHOTOS -- The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has acquired 300 photographs by Ishimoto Yasuhiro, a key figure in both American and Japanese post-World War II photography.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/arts/theater/6401753.html
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
“What makes photography a strange invention—with unforeseeable consequences—is that its primary raw materials are light and time.”
- John Berger
05 May, 2009 | Posted by: psn
May 1923 - Richard Avedon was born in New York City. He became one of America's most famous fashion and portrait photographers.
May 1895 - Documentary Photographer Dorothea Lange was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. She was hired by the Farm Security Administration to photograph migrant workers during the depression.
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