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All the Best
All the best of the Holiday Season
To all my friends and clients, long known and newly met, I just wanted to wish you the very best of the holiday season and in the coming new year.
I try to use the holiday season to reflect on the year that passed and plan for the year that has yet to be. This past year has been very challenging to everyone, but there are often surprising highlights. Sometimes we just need to take notice of them.
Although, there as been no lack of issues this year, many of them unexpected and unusual, this has also been the most successful year so far for ZWCX Photography in both projects accomplished and for business in general. I’ve had the opportunity to bid on larger and more varied projects. I’ve also had setbacks and failures, sometimes in unexpected areas.
I try to remind myself that the important thing in life is not about getting knocked down, but in getting back up again. Failure can be a guide towards the idea that works rather than a negative statement about yourself. Failure is a learning opportunity, not an act of fate against you. Failure is the fuel you use for success, not the wall preventing you from reaching it. Failure is often an opportunity in disguise.
If you, like many of us, had to stare failure in the eyes this year. Use it, learn from it, perhaps life is just pushing you in the direction you should have been following in the first place. Do not allow it to define you or break your spirit. Make changes and keep going.
“If you’re going through hell – keep going” Winston Churchill
May 2011 be a better year for everyone
Istockphoto Photo Hits the wall
iStockphoto hits the Wall
Well, it’s seems karma still seems to work. Fast or slow, it eventually shows up. Stock photography is a difficult business and no longer limited to pure professionals. The rise of micro stock (defined license fees for any use for a very low rate, sometimes called Rights Free or RF), along with wide spread digital camera use resulted in a lot of people (with cameras) submitting photos for sale to companies, such as iStockphoto.
In the beginning micro stock agencies (stock photography for a very low price and broad rights granted) was based on several important factors. First. the rise of the Internet enabled a very efficient (and inexpensive) distribution mechanism. Second, the rise of digital cameras and their wide spread purchase by enthusiasts, created a supply of photographs of reasonable quality in the hands of naive photographers.
Most micro stock agencies sell their work very in expensive, usually $1 to $10 dollars, but they often keep 75-80% of that revenue to for themselves. My primary problem with micro stock agencies is the fact they keep such a high percentage rather than the rates they charge. Professional photographers avoid such unfair agreements, but enthusiasts lack both the experience and the financial need to sell their work. Happy and flattered to be published, they viewed this revenue as free money.
This gravy train lasted quite awhile until several things happened. First, the market has become saturated and few new areas to move into and enthusiast photographers have changed. Some now depend on their stock revenue, even if they are not a full time professional and many have begun to understand how much the agencies are keeping of the sale.
Now, iStockphoto, one of the larger micro stock agencies has managed to ignore these changes and walk into something rather sharp. They foolishly tried to change the deal with their contributors. Not happy with only paying 20%, tey tried to change it to 15%. Carefully couched in warm positioning words, the facts were unmistakable. They were going to reduce their payments to contributors by 25%.
Wow, the naive enthusiasts they had done business with in the beginning suddenly develop teeth and claws. Their contributors erupted and turned the full power of the internet on them. Suddenly emails, websites, and Facebook groups were all dragged into the street and set on fire. Mailing lists and discussion forms were manned and iStockphoto found itself under fire from a lot of sides. They even took the fight into Mordor itself with enraged postings consuming the iStockphoto blogs on their own site.
iStockphoto has responded with press releases, positions statements, and interviews with the senior management. Warm words and familiar tones have failed to stop the fury. At this point it’s not clear if the rates will be changed or if contributors will move to other firms, but it is clear that nothing will be the same again.
So, from the rest of us in this rather difficult business called photography: “Welcome to the trenches and pass the ammunition”. Perhaps the stock photography market will become a little more interested and a little more photographer friendly.
If you want to read more, type “istockphoto rates” into google and see what happens…
Tagged Business, markets, rates, stock
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Digital Workflow Resource
Best Practices Explained
One on of the real challenges of digital photography is workflow, which is basically everything you have to do once you’ve taken the picture. It is also one of the real differences between digital and film photography. In the film days, it was basically file cabinets of negatives. With digital, it’s managing the electronic information that is your photography from capture to storage and beyond.
Several excellent books exist on Digital Workflow (or Digital Asset Management), one of my favorites is:
The DAM Book
Digital Asset Management for Photographers
Second Edition
by Peter Krogh
Digital Asset Management
The Association of Media Photographers (ASMP), of which I am a member, received a significant grant from the Library of Congress to promote photographic education. As part of this objective, the ASMP has introduced the www.dpBestflow.org website to document and explain photographic best practices and workflow.
www.dpBestflow.org
Peter Krogh, also a longtime ASMP member, was heavily involved with developing the content for this site, along with a lot of highly experienced and talented photographers from the ASMP.
If you’re trying to make money from your photography, you owe it to yourself to check out these resources. I think you’ll find it well worth your time.
Also posted in book, workflow
Tagged asmp, best practices, book, Business, dpbestflow.org, workflow
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Magnum sells Archive
Magnum Sells it’s Archive
http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/content_display/features/pdn-online/e3i8decb5ca03594f57edb6fec52a3fe9e6
Well, It’s been an interesting few weeks in the photo industry.
Magnum, perhaps one of the most famous photo agencies in the world, has sold it’s photo archive. Many journalists and photographers are shocked and upset at this news and more than one is claiming the sky is falling.
Now that the news has had time to sink for people and much of the noise has dropped off, I though it was time to look at this event with a clear and reasonable view.
Magnum, for those who may not be aware, was one of the first photography agencies set up by photographers for photographers. Magnum photographers have covered most , if not all, the major political events since there founding in 1947. In fact, Magnum was started because most photographers were not treated well by other agencies and often had trouble maintaining ownership of their work (sounds kinda familiar – the more things change, the more they stay the same). Magnum has included some of the most famous names in photography as founders and/or members. Henri Cartier Bresson is considered the founder of modern photojournalism. Robert Capa is considered the definitive war photographer. Magnum photographers have, in many ways, shown the modern world the power of photography as a journalistic tool.
…but they sold their archive….
The magnum archive contains some of the most famous photographs of the past century, from Robert Capa’s dying solder in the Spanish civil war to the tanks in Tianamen Square. Magnum photographers have been there and came back with photographs.
….but they sold their archive….
Well, let’s look at that. Although Magnum was one of the first agencies to defend photographer’s copyrights and license them to clients instead of selling all rights, Magnum has also often been short of funds. Magnum is a co-operertive agency, with all members sharing in risks and rewards. It also likes to focus on longer term and more difficult to cover subjects. There are plenty of shooters for the lighter subjects, but Magnum tries to cover the deeper elements of the human condition.
….but they sold their archive….
Yes, they did. For 30 million dollars, which is no small amount of money and they sold it to Dell. In fact, Dell purchased with the express intention of protecting it and making it more widely available then it had in the past.This was not a trival purchase, nor did Magnum consider it for just money
Dell invested the time and effort to transport this precious library in the safest means possible. It’s not like photographic archives can be just shipped by fedex somewhere. They also invested in the facilities to store it properly. This is from the days of film and most of the material is in the form of negatives, all of which can age and detriotate over time.
They also invested the time and money to have Magnum archivists come over and educate them in the notes on the material, the proper storage, and how this material should be treated. This was an investment for reasons more than money.
So, the result is the Magnum archive is now in the hands of a group with deep pockets, so they can protect it as well or better than Magnum itself. It’s in the hands of a group who plans to use its deep pockets to make it more accessable, which is something Magnum probably could not have afforded in the same manner. Finally, it puts a healthy amount of money in the hands of Magnum so they can use to support more the great work they have delivered in the past.
I think this is a win-wion deal for everyone involved, including ourselves.
Interestingly enough it appear that this sale may only apply to Magnum’s US archive and the4 individual photographers are retaining their copyrights. More from the British Journal of Photographer here.
Magnum itself discusses the sale here.
I think Magnum has been very smart in this transaction. They have placed some of their most valuable work in a storage facility better than they could probably afford themselves. They will be available in a manner that does not increase their workload and it gives them some much needed funds to continue doing what they do best.
Also posted in copyright, famous, magnum, photojournalism, Professional Photography, Uncategorized
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More Harlan Ellison
Truth is Stranger than Fiction, as Fiction has to make sense
Well, some time ago I posted a fantastic link to a video on Youtube with Harlan Ellison expressing his views on paying the writer. Since I am both a journalist and a photographer, I posted it here as he thoughts apply to both.
What I didn’t know until today is some of the details behind the posting of this video. In the strangeness that is reality, it seems it actually came from the author of a blog I read. (Well, he is not the original poster, but he put it up on his blog).Not only that, Harlan’s words seem to have had an effect, as the youtube poster sent Harlan some money for posting it – and received a very interesting reply
The original video is here
Now, least anyone look at me and wonder why I have not sent him $25. Well, I am referencing it for educational purposes and (currently) this blog does not engage in any commercial activities. I would happily share revenue with Harlan, but their isn’t any…
- Scott -
Also posted in Harlan Ellison
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Final day of Imaging USA
Well, Tuesday was the final day of the conference. Since I can take carry-on back to Canada I went shopping at think tank bags for some gear.
I am a huge fan of the think tank bag equipment and intend to have some mote detailed reviews here in the future. The only problem with their equipment is deciding on what to get. The think tank booth was connected with Drurys who are local to Nashville, but very well known.
One item was sold out, but Drurys is going to ship it to me for free. One more example of good customer service being the real reason to do business with a company.
My last two seminars were two excellent events. The first was how to use social networking in your business and the second was a discussion of the retail art market. I found them both educational and entertaining. I think one of the real values of attending Imaging USA is the seminars. To be able to see an impressive series of presenters in a venue that is both pleasant and isolated from the work and life distractions is well worth the effort of traveling. I tend to view Imaging USA as part work and part vacation, as I also take the time during the event to consider where things are going in my career/life/etc and to consider what changes or ideas I can implement to improve things.
So, I will close this both with my Positive and Negative list (in no particular order of priority):
Negative
- Having the Toronto airport decide to not allow carry0on luggage, forcing me to pack my camera gear
- Having United loose my luggage and force to calculate just how big an insurance claim I might need.
- The food prices at the Gaylord hotel, which definitely took advantage of the difficulty in leaving for somewhere else.
- Having the seminar schedule changed so no seminars happened while the vendor booths were open (If I wanted to just shop, I would go to the mall).
- Having Seminars start at 7:30am and finish at 7pm is a mistake.
Positive
- Seeing a series of impressive seminars by some very talented photographers.
- Afternoon naps to deal with the huge gap between seminars
- Enjoying the impressive facilities at the Gaylord Hotel. It is a totally enclosed environment, which means ignoring the -2C weather outside.
- Meeting some great new friends and seeing some old ones.
- Going back to my room for money to buy beer tickets and having the doorman had me one as I entered again.
- Being met at the airport after a long trip.
American Photo Steps Up
Well, just when I thought the spirit of free speech had left the US publishing environment, American Photo magazine steps up to the plate. This month they have a cover story on controversial photography and matched the article by printing a selection of the work – including on the cover itself.
Now, these are not pornographic or even nudes, which turn up regularly in photographic magazines. These are controversial for all the right reasons, they expose a view that others may find uncomfortable or they portray the human condition in a less favorable light. In other words, they force us to look at ourselves or think about things we would rather pretend didn’t exist.
What I was also impressed with is they explained the background behind the photograph and sometimes the price the photographer paid for presenting the work.
One of the most moving pieces is a picture of a little starving African girl trying to make it to a feeding station. A short distance behind her is a vulture waiting for her to fail. It’s a disturbing picture of what is probably an all too common occurrence in some parts of the world. After the shot, the photographer chased off the vulture and carried the girl into the station. This was not a posed work, but rather what he saw there – and this was not the only staving person in the area.
For his efforts, he received a well deserved Pulitzer Prize, but also an unusual amount of abuse. For many people seemed to want to kill the messenger and blamed him for the situation, as if he was responsible for girl’s plight. Personally, I think people just hated being shown something they wanted to ignore, which is fact that a lot of people on this planet are starving to death. To deal with this reality, people sent him death threats, nasty letters, and many other forms of scorn. Unfortunately, it turned out to be too much for him and he committed suicide less than a year later.
Photojournalists have a difficult job. They need to travel horrible locations and face horrible situations with enough human compassion to capture a photograph that explains to the rest of us what’s happening there. Besides the physical risks involved, it also requires them to risk a lot of physiological damage. Conflict photographers are just as likely to get PSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) as combat veterans.
American Photo is to be commended for presenting this work in a fair and balanced manner. To present it all is probably a challenge, as I expect they will be receiving nasty letters from a variety of special interest groups. Hopefully, they will continue to step up and show this type of work.
The self-censorship of the modern press is disturbing and dangerous. The desire to avoid controversial subjects or views in the interests of maintaining audiences or market share or advertisers risk losing the freedom of the press that was fought for in the first place. It’s not safe speech, commonly held views, or government approved statements that need to be protected – even the most repressive regime allows this already. It’s the dangerous speech, the speech that offends some and makes others think that needs to be defended. This is the type of speech that needs a Charter of rights and freedoms or a bill of or rights or the protection of high courts. This is the speech that tells us what’s actually happening and makes us consider what should happen. This is the speech that gives us the knowledge to vote properly and forms the foundations of a free and just society. Without it, we are nothing.
As Voltaire said a long time ago “I may not agree with what you’re saying, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it.â€.
Here’s to American Photo for doing their bit to maintaining this freedom and this tradition.
Also posted in photojournalism, Professional Photography, Uncategorized
Tagged Business, magazine, photojournalism, rights
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Canadian Copyright Law under review
The Canadian Government is in the process of reviewing the existing copyright laws with the intention of “correcting” them. They have started a consultation process with the public and the following is my response:
1. How do Canada’s copyright laws affect you? How should existing laws be modernized?
As a professional photographer, my only value to a client is my skill, training, and experience. My only asset is the photographs I create and my only protection from abuse is the copyright laws. My clients are larger, better financed, and better able to endure a legal process that an individual such as myself. Even if in the right, I am unable to sustain an extended legal process without destroying my business and the people who depend on me. They are many and I am one, so they can steal from me without some form of protection.
Canadian copyright laws need to be modernized and improved, but they need to remember and reinforce their purpose. That purpose is not to protect the interests of large corporations, but to protect the individual creator from abuse from both individuals and groups, such as corporations. Canadian copyright law currently fails in this mission, as registration does not use a sample of the work, copyright infringement is difficult to detect and to punish, and there is no support in the legal process for enforcement or restitution. Willful infringement, which should suffer the most penalties, is not even recognized properly. To protect my work, I am forced to register my copyright in the US and use the Berne convention to protect myself in my own country. It has forced me to turn to the American legal system for protection in my own country. This is wrong and a complete failure of the system – this is what needs to be corrected.
2. Based on Canadian values and interests, how should copyright changes be made in order to withstand the test of time
The laws must be changed to use the strength of the state, in the form of the legal system, to protect the individual creator. Of all the parties involved, they are the most vulnerable and the most underrepresented. This is not the individual who copies materials, as this requires neither skill not artistic talent, but rather the individual who can create art and intellectual property. This person strengthens our country with every creation and this person deserves the protection of copyright laws with strength and focus.
3. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster innovation and creativity in Canada?
4. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster competition and investment in Canada?
5. What kinds of changes would best position Canada as a leader in the global, digital economy?
All three of these questions are answered in the same response.
A true registration process that includes a sample of the work to be protected and a certificate. Infringement against registered copyrights should have mandatory penalties of a magnitude that is noticed by the largest infringer – corporations. Each infringement should be fined individually and legal services at a free or reduced cost should be made available to individual content creators.
J.R Rowlings created an industry unto itself and one of the most successful book series in history. She would have failed had she not been able to protect her work through copyrights. Most poetry, painting, and photography is created by individuals (although some photography is created by a team led by an individual). Without copyright laws, there would be no value in our creations and there would be no reason for us to focus on the effort. The result would be a grey and mediocre world full of endless slight variations of the same idea. The ease of copying does not increase the creativity of the copier, it simply weakens the efforts of the creator. This is the very reason copyright laws must ecist.
The value if the individual creator is rarely noticed, except in hindsight, but it is their creative efforts that bring true value to the world. The arts are often how the value of a society is measured and without individual creators there would be no arts, with solid and strong copyright laws there are no true creators, just copies.
Regards,
–
Scott MacQuarrie, CPP
Certified Professional Photographer (www.certifiedphotographer.com)
ZWCX Photography
www.zwcx.com
99 Bronte Rd, Suite 123
Oakville, Ontario, Canada L6L 3B7
416-818-4449 scott@zwcx.com
Also posted in copyright, Uncategorized
Tagged Business, Canadian, copyright, laws, protection, rights
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Color Management in Firefox 3
Live and In Color!
Colour management is a critical issue for all professional photographers. We invest significant time and money in equipment to create proper profiles of our monitors, printers, projectors, and even the cameras themselves.
Unfortunately, one of the largest populations of viewers of our work has been unable to take advantage of this investment in color management. That group would be web users, who are often viewing our website and work online. Without color management, we are helpless against the color errors on the audiences monitors.
Now, with an embedded profile, the data is there to display the colors correctly (as defined by the photographer and their equipment). Until now, web browsers simply ignored this data and used whatever default profile they considered correct.
Until now.
I recently discovered that Firefox 3 has enabled color management. It’s not well documented and not easy to find, but you can turn it own.
Here’s how:
1) enter about:config in the URL bar (BTW, this bar has a LOT more functionality than you would expect)
2) Click through the warning. Basically, you can fubar yourself nicely if you randomly change items here.
3) look up gfx.color_management.enabled (use the search function, as it’s much easier)
4) The default is false (no idea why,as it only uses a different profile when it finds it). Right click and set it to true.
5) Restart Firefox and see the colors as the work’s creator intended.
Hopefully, the next version of Firefox will have this on by default and other browsers will start following this example.
No Contest
…..that includes a rights grab
Photography contests are wide spread and very popular for both amateur and professionals alike.
For the amateur it’s a chance to measure themselves against their peers and see just how good they really are at photography. For the professional, it’s much the same thing, but also an excellent tool to distinguish yourself from the other shooters in the market. It becomes one more credential and a means to get noticed. Many a mailing to clients has begun with the announcement of a contest win.
Most photography contests are well run, serious, and fair. Unfortunately, this is not the case for all of them. There is a rising a subtle trend in photography contests that has developed almost unnoticed. Almost, but not quite, as many of the professional organizations have started warning their members of this threat.
Threat? What threat? Well, some of these contests have some interesting clauses relating to rights and permissions. Now every contest needs to promote itself and often does so by using the work of previous winners. . All contests have an entry rule that grants the contest management the right to use the work of entrants for self promotion. They need this rule to operate and everyone benefits. The contest can promote itself and the winners and runner-ups get the attention they deserve.. No problem here.
The problem happens when these rules include the permission to use winners work for any purpose at all. This permission often includes being able to license it for any purpose, including advertising and even to third-parties.
What this means in simple terms is the contest management can use your work as part of their own picture library and license it to anyone and everyone. I’ve even seen contest rules that prevent the photographer from licensing their work themselves without permission. In other words, they own every photograph entered into their contest – and they often charge $10 for each entry. This means that the poor people entering these contests have actually paid to have their work stolen from them.
This is not an isolated event or a particular contest. It’s happened in quite a few and not just contests for amateurs , even some professional contests have tried this nonsense. Of course, smart professional photographers belong to professional organizations, such as the PPA (Professional Photogtrapher’s of America), ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers, and others. These groups represent thousands of professionals and can bring a lot of attention to something that affect us.
These groups and others have notified their members repeatedly of these rights-grabbing contests and even managed to get some very high profile contests to adjust their rules correctly.
So….read the contest rules carefully before you enter and if you think they are asking for more rights than the contest self-promotion, decline to enter. There are plenty of well managed contests you can enter. Voting with your feet and your dollars will help drive these unfair contests to either be fair or be gone.
Tagged asmp, contests, ethics, PPA, Professional Photography
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