Black Star Rising

Stop Whining About Copyright Infringement and Start Doing Something About It

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

When photographers have their work stolen and used by businesses, publications and individuals without permission and in violation of the photographer's implicit copyright, it is usually the photographer's fault. It is also the dividing line that separates professionals from amateurs.

Tags: ((copyright)), ((photography business))

Chasing Infringers

Traditionally, the way to protect your work from copyright infringement has been to register it with the copyright office and pursue infringers with the threat of a lawsuit. For some professional photographers, this is actually a profit center. Not for me. I can't stand the idea of using this method of protecting my work as a way to make money.

Instead, the best way to avoid infringement is not to give anyone the chance. A very successful example of this strategy is music for sale on iTunes. You can listen to a sample, but to hear the whole thing you have buy it. When photographers show work online that is big, has no watermark and no meta data in the image file, it's ripe for infringement and misuse.

My experience on my own blog has taught me that large pictures should never be posted online. Over the years, I've discovered that several images I published early on have been misused. I've found some instances of infringement through my Web tracking software. Who knows how many other businesses, organizations and people have infringed my work? This was a mistake on my part, and I've learned from it.

I can almost hear the advocates of copyright registration now, arguing that these infringers should be punished. But the reality is that pursuing infringements, for most of us, is a waste of time that diverts our attention from more important things. So I chalk up those early instances of infringement to a learning experience and move on.

Even large media companies are finding out the hard way just how difficult it is to track down and sue people who have essentially stolen their intellectual property, most often in the form of music or video.

The iTunes Approach

So why not, instead, do what iTunes has done?

Showing work on the Internet is an integral strategy for any photography business today. Think of images online as a contact sheet. Size them appropriately.

I don't post anything larger than 400 pixels. And my slideshows don't allow the viewer the ability to click through individual images, thereby decreasing the chance that people will infringe on my work.

It's time to stop whining about copyright infringement and start doing something about it -- by tightly controlling the viewing conditions and access to your images online. This is the surest way for professional photographers to profit from their intellectual property while avoiding infringement.

[Sean Cayton and his wife and business partner Cathy own and operate a wedding photography business in Colorado Springs. Since starting their business in 2001, they have photographed over 150 weddings. Sean and Cathy chronicle their lives and their business on their blog. Sean also keeps a journal of his musings on the business of photography, Photo Biz by Sean. He can be reached at sean@caytonphotography.com.]

Six Ways to Help a Laid-Off Photographer Get Started as a Freelancer

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:19:34 +0000

I was, at one time, a staff photographer for a magazine. So was this other guy. Rather than let one of us go, they offered us both half-time. I said yes, panicked that I was; he said no, and left. I thought this meant I could stay, but I was wrong. This began a rushed effort to become self-sufficient and my own boss. It didn't come at an opportune time -- but with Corporate America, it never does.

Tags: ((freelance photography)), ((photography advice))

Today, the staff photographer is an endangered species, with layoffs a constant drumbeat in the industry -- and new freelancers born every day. If you're a freelance photographer as I am, your first inclination might be to worry about the increased competition. But I encourage you, instead, to embrace your new brethren -- for their sake and yours.

Help Me Help You

Why help these laid-off staffers? Because they don't know the ropes. And because, if you don't help them, they might take assignments for less than they're worth -- which will create downward pressure on rates for all of us.

I know it sounds counterintuitive, but you need to help these folks get work. Really. The question is -- how?

If your normal rate for a wedding is $3,500, or covering a press conference is $750, or your family/pet/child portrait sitting rate is $350 and an enlargement is $950, then rather than trying to convince your newfound friend to charge those rates, just book the job on their behalf -- at those rates. By doing so, you will show your friend what they're worth, so they will apply that same rate structure to people calling them directly.

Everyone, from time to time, gets a call for job they can't take. Don't just forward the job on to your friend and hope they negotiate it wisely. Make sure it's done at the right price by accepting the job, hiring your colleague to do the assignment, and then passing the payment on to them.

Six Ways to Help

Here are six other areas where you can help a newly minted freelance photographer:

1. Creating contracts. If a photographer has been a staffer for a while, it's likely their last agreement to provide photography was done on a handshake. If a photographer has only been a staffer for a couple of years and started straight out of school, they, too, probably don't understand the importance of a contract. Give them a copy of yours (preferably in a Word document so they can edit it) to get them started.

2. Buying equipment. They likely need help getting their equipment set up. They may have been given their old equipment from their place of work, but in most cases the gear is probably on its last legs. Redundant camera bodies, and lenses ranging from ultra-wide - 14-24mm Nikon, or 16-35mm Canon, all the way to 200mm lenses for each, plus two strobes, and a Jackrabbit/Quantum battery pack will be sufficient.

3. Buying software. Laid-off staffers may have laptops, but might not be clear about the importance of backing up images or buying legal copies of the software they'll need. Don't start them off on the wrong foot by giving them copies of your software. We recommend they get full versions, registered in their own name, of Photoshop, Photo Mechanic, FotoQuote, Microsoft Office 2008, and QuickBooks Pro.

4. Talking to clients. Share your war stories and how you learned to secure the rates you deserve. Be sure to tell them that when the client says, "Oh, you're the first photographer I've talked with that has a problem with _____," where the blank is "work-for-hire", "wanting to be paid," "charges for post production," or "wanting a contract signed," they're probably lying.

5. Online marketing. This one's tricky, because if you're not careful, you'll teach your new freelancer how to compete with you. But you can help them get a Web site up, and explain to them that online marketing is critical. The notion of having a printed portfolio these days applies to 10 percent or less of the assignment work out there (much of which is in the advertising field), so an online portfolio is the way to go.

6. Pricing and rates. The first thing you should do is send them to the NPPA's pricing calculator. This calculator works for the vast majority of photographic fields, and gets your colleagues thinking about the true costs of doing business -- which in turn, will assist them in calculating what they should charge. The biggest problem with photography rates today is not that they're too high; it's that photographers fail to contemplate the total costs of being in business, and thus price jobs too low.

I went to dinner recently with a colleague who thought he'd won his golden ticket; it was a staff job at a community newspaper. Less than three months later, he was laid off. Guess what? He wasn't even eligible to collect unemployment. Everyone is replaceable. No one is safe. In this environment, learning to be self-sufficient -- and helping others to do the same -- is more important than ever.

[Washington, D.C. photographer John Harrington has been with Black Star for 17 years, traveling throughout Cuba, Mexico, and Eastern Europe. Closer to home, he's covered Washington's many historical events, from inaugurations to state funerals. He blogs at Photo Business News and Forum.]

Do Embedded Photojournalists Actually Work for the Pentagon?

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Do Embedded Photojournalists Actually Work for the Pentagon?

By Dennis Dunleavy, communications professor and Black Star Rising columnist
Is the work of embedded photographers in Iraq the kind of journalism we should expect -- and demand -- in a democracy?

Conflicts always arise when an embedded photojournalist crosses the line from what the military deems acceptable to what the photographer believes is an underreported truth. Inevitably, the military wins these conflicts.

The Case of Zoriah Miller

This comes to mind after Zoriah Miller, a freelance photographer, was removed from his embedded assignment in Iraq for making pictures of U.S. soldiers killed in combat. Miller's graphic images of dismemberment and grotesque disfigurement -- posted to his personal Web site -- stirred up controversy within the ranks of Marines responsible for managing the conduct of journalists under their watch.

Miller's experience reminds us that the rules governing a photographer's conduct in Iraq are still very much managed by the Pentagon. It is hard to argue with Miller's professed motivation of making the war appear more real, but his disregard for protocol after accepting the terms of the embed could lead to problems for future journalists.

At this stage in the war, with the public focusing on rising oil prices, the housing slump, and the presidential election, there appears only minimal media interest in tracking U.S. casualities in Iraq or Afghanistan unless the losses are significant. Miller's crusade in reporting the human costs of the war seems to be, for some, self-serving, ideological, and way too late to make a difference.

Nevertheless, this case does raise important issues about military/media relations and the future of journalism. Reporting from the Middle East has become nearly impossible for most Western media, especially freelancers. Access to the conflict, without the assistance of the military minders, is both extremely dangerous and expensive.

Avoiding Eye Contact with Reality

Throughout the war, the American public has seemed willing to accept the coverage restrictions. Although the media has made occasional attempts to fight for more latitude, the military has had its way in controlling the hearts and minds of Americans. While some members of the public did protest the military's ban on media coverage of soldiers' funerals, their demonstrations failed to capture the nation's interest.

It's fair to ask whether the American public really wants to see the realities -- the blood and guts -- of this conflict. If the public were faced with daily pictures of dead U.S. soldiers, I suspect the war would have been called on account of gore a long time ago. Clearly, the media has acquiesced to the military's demands to keep offensive images off our breakfast tables. In the end, it can be argued that the American public has not been given a candid view of the war.

Not surprisingly, Miller's case has received only cursory coverage in the mainstream press. It appears that Miller's crusade to speak truth to power will inevitably do little good in a culture that is well-practiced in avoiding eye contact with reality.

[Dennis Dunleavy teaches and writes about visual culture, digital photography and ethics, new technologies, and society. For more than 20 years, he worked as a correspondent and photojournalist across the U.S., Central America, and Mexico. Today, he is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Southern Oregon University. He is the author of The Big Picture blog.]

Finding True Independence as a Freelance Photographer

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

The most successful freelance photographers share one thing in common: they dictate the terms and conditions under which they work. Unfortunately, the reality of the market today is that few freelance photographers operating a small business are able to achieve this level of independence. Publications, wire services and even portrait subjects increasingly demand that photographers sign contracts, giving away their rights, before any work is done.

Tags: ((photography business))

How can a photographer turn the tide against this reality of the marketplace? It's a question I've struggled with my entire career.

When I was a newspaper staff photographer, I had no power or leverage. The work I created for the newspaper was made-for-hire, meaning that it belonged to my employer. But when I became a freelance photographer for a metro newspaper, the terms and conditions of my work were more favorable.

For several years, I was able to work on a handshake and invoiced the paper for both assignments and reuse. I also distributed my work to a stock agency for sales of secondary use. Four years later, I'm still receiving quarterly checks for the images I submitted to my agency.

A Marketplace Shift

After a while, though, a market shift occurred. Media conglomerates wanted to own all of their content outright (oops, it's not really theirs) and be able to resell and market the work for additional profits. Editors for the newspaper where I worked demanded I sign a non-negotiable "written agreement" (another term for contract) stating that the work I created for the paper would be owned entirely by them. If I refused to sign the agreement, I would no longer receive any assignment work from them.

Over time, this became the standard contract that was distributed throughout the editorial marketplace. In many cases, the terms of the contracts expanded to include ownership of all of the outtakes, prohibition of secondary sales to another a publication or agency, and the indemnification of the publication from lawsuit.

Indemnification is one of the most egregious demands of media companies. It basically means that the photographer is liable for any lawsuits brought about by the work after it's published. I'm still at a loss for words on this one.

Today's reality is there is little work being done by freelance photographers that doesn't fall under at least some of these conditions -- and it spells disaster to anyone looking to grow a business as a freelance photographer.

My Solution

The question then becomes not only how to avoid unfavorable agreements, but also how to create a space where you, the small business owner, can dictate the conditions under which you work.

I've found weddings to be a great answer. Rather than being handed a contract, I distribute my own. If a client wants to negotiate the terms and conditions of the contract, I can easily do so and typically the client will end up paying more for my services. Finally, I am able to work amicably rather than hold a grudge or feel ill-will toward my client. This is the type of job satisfaction you can't find working in the world of newspapers and magazines.

From my point of view, this is one way to change my negotiating position. I won't ever have to say "yes" to an assignment editor, and I feel better that I'm not participating in a system that allows media companies to take income from photographers and call it their own.

[Sean Cayton and his wife and business partner Cathy own and operate a wedding photography business in Colorado Springs. Since starting their business in 2001, they have photographed over 150 weddings. Sean and Cathy chronicle their lives and their business on their blog. Sean also keeps a journal of his musings on the business of photography, Photo Biz by Sean. He can be reached at sean@caytonphotography.com.]

How I Created My First Coffee-Table Book

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

For the past three years, I have photographed the Battle of Gettysburg reenactment held annually by the Gettysburg Anniversary Committee. This year was the Civil War battle's 145th anniversary, and participation in the event was significantly larger than in past years. Every five years the anniversary committee produces "the big one" -- and they did not disappoint, with more than 15,000 reenactors and ticket-holders in attendance over the Fourth of July weekend.

Tags: ((photography books)), ((photography advice))

A Personal Project

As a Maryland-based photographer, I feel lucky that I live within an hour's drive of most of the historical events and monuments in the area. These reenactments are a great opportunity to create photographs of subjects that you would seldom capture any other time of the year.

Persons dressed in period clothing set up camp and stay in character throughout the weekend of battles, skirmishes, and harsh daily living. These are men and women dedicated to reliving history not only for themselves, but for the thousands of guests and tourists visiting the area.

As a photographer, one of the biggest challenges of this year's event was the overwhelming number of people. With so many reenactors being transported via hayrides to open fields, it was sometimes difficult to get around -- even though my father and I received VIP passes provided by a family friend.

Despite the challenges, it is truly a one-of-kind experience that presents endless photographic opportunities -- which is why I keep going back year after year.

After the event, I started thinking about how I wanted to use my images from the past three years. I was not contracted to cover the reenactments; it's a personal project I've taken on with no pre-defined market in mind. Initially, all I really wanted were some nice framed enlargements to hang in my home.

Creating a Book

Upon culling through my own photographs followed by my father's best-composed shots, I realized that we had enough great images together to produce a high-quality coffee-table book. Since the images might appeal to Civil War buffs generally, I decided to use an online service to create, publish, and market our photo book to this audience.

As this was my first photo book, I looked around before choosing a service provider. I decided on Blurb after reading positive reviews online. What sold me was its ease of use, as well as being able to produce my book and market it through their bookstore commission-free. Books you design through the service are affordable and offer options such as softcover, hardcover, and image-wrap, where the image is embedded in the hardcover itself.

Blurb's big competitor is Lulu, which offers a more comprehensive marketing vehicle, allowing you to obtain an ISBN number for your book and providing access to their distribution partners such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. As you might imagine, however, Lulu charges fees and commissions for access to their marketing tools; I also suspect their design software may not be as intuitive as Blurb's software application. That said, I've found strong advocates for both sites online.

Ultimately, I'm very happy with how the book came out. Titled "Civil War: Battle of Gettysburg, Remembering America's Past through Images," it's 40 pages long and available to preview and purchase. You can check it out here.

It's been exciting for me to shoot the reenactments at Gettysburg the past three years. And now, I'm equally excited about sharing my work with others as a coffee-table book. With tools like Blurb, it's easier than ever to share personal projects in this way.

[Ryan Shapiro is a Germantown, Maryland based freelance assignment photographer who specializes in portraits and fine art scenic images. Past clients include Harvard Graduate School of Education, George P. Johnson Company, Marriott International, and Netherlands-based The Engineer Magazine. For more information, please visit www.digitalfotopro.com or contact Ryan Shapiro at (301) 379-4594.]

Print Media Layoffs Are an Acceptance of Defeat -- Not a Strategy for the Future

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

There has been a lot of talk over the past several months about the shift from print to online methods of news delivery. Reductions in advertising revenue have resulted in reporters, photojournalists, and other newspaper staff being laid off, while management looks at ways of generating sufficient revenue from a Web presence to keep their business going.

Tags: ((newspapers)), ((photojournalism))

I spoke with my wife about this a few weeks ago. I mentioned to her that more people are receiving their news online. They are able to be more selective about what they read and, in turn, can avoid much of the advertising that surrounds all stories in newspapers and magazines.

She disagreed. My wife takes a ferry to work every morning. Looking around the several hundred people that she travels with, she told me that most have newspapers, her included. A few days later I took a commuter ferry myself and was intrigued to witness exactly what my wife had described -- a sea of newspapers. There is still a tendency to enjoy leafing through several pages of news for the purpose of reading those stories that are important to you, as well as finding out about new subjects.

A Downward Spiral

With this in mind, how strategic is the plan for newspapers to lay off the very staff that they need to find stories and photographs that sell the paper in the first place? Surely, laying off journalists and photojournalists in order to offset the loss of ad revenue is an admission of defeat, and will cause a downward spiral over time, ending up in a defunct newspaper.

Would it not be more effective to give journalists and photojournalists the training, resources, and opportunities they need to go and find the stories required to attract more readers? More readers equals more advertising revenue. It's a simple equation. Less journalists, fewer good photographs, and a greater reliance on a broader spectrum of news, gathered from wire services, will result in dissatisfied local readership -- effectively driving people away, and to the Internet, in search of the news that they want.

I am not advocating for more ads. When I pick up a monthly fashion magazine or men's journal, it is shocking to see as many as the first 100 pages given over to double- or single-page advertising spreads, with more ads dotted too frequently through the publication. A book of advertisements is not what I want. I am looking for content.

But content is getting thinner and of lower quality as publishers weigh up the cost of content production against the profit from ad sales. Are we reaching a tipping point where ad revenue will no longer provide the majority of income for a publication? Is there another revenue model that needs to be considered?

People Are Willing to Pay for Quality

Millions of people pay for cable TV. Millions pay for Internet access and then more for subscriptions to specific online content. Those options allow users to minimize their exposure to advertising and be able to focus more on the information they seek -- whether that information is about the oil industry in the Niger Delta, or the current mental state of a Hollywood teenage starlet.

Those who have used the Internet for some time likely have come across free e-mail services. Many of them offer an "ad free" option in return for an annual fee -- and they get substantial revenue from that option.

If media organizations can offer valuable, entertaining, captivating stories about local, national and international subjects, readers and viewers will pay for them. And as those media organizations establish a reputation for being great at what they do, ad revenue will follow.

I am not suggesting that there will ever be a complete shift away from ad-supported media to 100 percent subscription-based media. But I am suggesting that laying off the resources required to sell more papers which, in turn, will drive further reductions in ad revenue, is exactly the wrong thing to do.

Instead, we need to innovate, to find new ways to present our work, online and in print. Motivate readers to want our publications, not just by producing better work, but by providing context and getting readers involved.

A recently bought my first issue of Monocle magazine. Yes, it has ads. Yes, it is higher priced than others. But its tagline, "A Briefing on Global Affairs, Business, Culture & Design," is completely supported by amazing content, a huge variety of excellent photographs, and interesting inserts that educate me about many topics. There is even a manga-like comic section in the back for some lighter reading.

No Time to Panic

Radio was going to be the death of newspapers -- didn't happen. TV was going to wipe out radio -- also didn't happen. Video was going to reduce the need for TV stations -- likewise.

The Internet was going to negate all of the above. Guess what? It isn't going to happen.

And the sooner that we accept that, and begin to understand that there is viable business to be had from print publications, the sooner we can stop worrying about where the next paycheck is going to come from and, instead, focus on doing a better job every day.

[With more than 20 years of photography experience, San Francisco-based photojournalist Mike Fox has been published in many leading magazines, newspapers and Web sites including Newsweek, Business Week, the Los Angeles Times, and CNN. Mike's corporate work has secured Fortune 100 clients, and he has been invited to join the faculty of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco in Fall 2008. Mike is developing a new initiative, the One Life Foundation, to reengage audiences in catastrophic events such as famine, disease, poverty and homelessness. His work can be found at www.mikefoxphotojournalist.com, www.newchannelproject.com and www.1lifefoundation.com.]

Up Your Price with Limited-Edition Photography

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:13:30 +0000

At Black Star, we like to feel that we're helping photographers realize their ambitions. We provide them with the sort of interesting, challenging and rewarding assignments that any photographer would be happy to fulfill, whether that's creating portraits of some of the world's leading executives, joining a shoot for an ad company's billboard campaign or telling a story in images for one of our media clients.

Tags: ((photography advice)), ((photography business))

Sometimes, though, a photographer really wants his or her work to hang on someone's wall. And with photography, including photojournalism, increasingly being embraced as an art form, there's an opportunity to market your work as an artist would -- by selling limited-edition prints of your best work.

The Ultimate Accolade

Making photographs as art is hugely satisfying for any creative photographer. Being able to sell single prints of an image for thousands of dollars and knowing that your picture is going to decorate someone's home or office is, for many, the ultimate accolade. You might believe that a photograph you've created is good -- but when someone is prepared to pay you a large slice of income to see it every day, you've got tangible evidence that others agree with you.

Of course, all photographers sell prints. But the difference between a photographer who offers copies of his or her images online and someone whose works are genuinely valued isn't just the price he or she charges; it's also the idea that the buyer is picking up something that others don't have -- a work that's unique, exciting and valuable.

Most of that feeling comes from the quality of the picture. Some of it, though, comes by limiting the number of prints available.

For photographers, this can be a tricky issue. A painter only produces one version of a work of art, but photographers can produce as many prints as they want of a photograph. Today, digital photography seems synonymous with image ubiquity.

Making an image available to everyone who wants it can bring in more sales -- just as stock photography can be more profitable for some photographers than assignment photography. But as with stock photography, it also devalues the sale price of a work. Art buyers looking for exclusivity don't want to see the same image on someone else's wall.

How Many Prints is Too Many?

There are a number of issues to bear in mind when considering selling limited edition prints. The first is the figures; limiting the number of prints available will mean that you can charge more for each print. But it also caps the amount of income that the image can generate. You want to be certain -- or as certain as you can be -- that the total income generated by your limited editions will be higher than the amount that the unlimited prints would have earned.

Of course, there's no way to figure that out for sure. But knowing how quickly and at what prices your unlimited prints sell and comparing those figures to the sales figures for limited prints should provide a useful guide. In practice, you might find that you're accepting a lump sum in the short term in place of a small, long-term stream that could be worth more overall.

You'll also have to consider the number of prints you want to create. There's no industry standard here, but copyright law defines a work of photography visual art as:

a still photographic image produced for exhibition purposes only, existing in a single copy that is signed by the author, or in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are signed and consecutively numbered by the author...

That figure might be a good place to start, but the fact that photographers also have the option of limiting the number of prints in different sizes makes the situation more complicated. Getting those figures right is always going to be a matter of experience, an understanding of the value of your own work, and a knowledge of your market. (Limited edition prints can actually help with this: keep a record of who owns which number in each series and you'll be able to build a database of buyers and contact them each time you complete a new work.)

The Suffering Artist

There are other things you can do to increase the perceived value of your photographs. Signing them (ideally somewhere unobtrusive) can help to lift a print into the art world. And providing the buyer with well-written caption information -- even a detailed description of the subject -- can enhance the feeling that the buyer is picking up a work that's special, and make them sound knowledgeable when the photograph becomes a topic of conversation.

Keep in mind, of course, that numbering and signing prints can be time-consuming. You won't simply be able to pass on orders to a printer who can handle the packaging and shipping. You'll have to receive the prints, add your name and pencil in the numbers before sending them on yourself.

And that's one of the biggest problems of joining the art world: photographers are expected to enjoy their work; artists are supposed to suffer for theirs.

[Anh D. Stack is editorial director of Black Star.]

Notes from the VisCom Classroom: Teacher Goes Back to School, Part 2

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:57:27 +0000

Notes from the VisCom Classroom: Teacher Goes Back to School, Part 2

By David Weintraub, photography instructor and Black Star Rising columnist
Wow! Who knew there was so much to learn about teaching video? My wife and I just returned from a week at the Maine Media Workshops, where we attended a course called "Film and Video Teachers." As the name suggests, this course is aimed at professional teachers --those who currently teach video and filmmaking, and those who may do so in the future.

"Intense" is not the word for this course. Under the tutelage of Bart Weiss, a Dallas-based filmmaker and educator, we worked 12- and 14-hour days to go over such nuts-and-bolts issues as camera use, audio recording, editing with Final Cut Pro, and critiquing. Along the way, we also touched on designing assignments, screenwriting, storyboarding, creating shot lists, working with actors, location scouting, and the future of video. As I said, wow!

Kid in a Candy Store

My favorite part of the course came on Wednesday, when I got to be the camera operator on a short film written and directed by one of the other students. At the University of South Carolina's School of Journalism, where I teach, our Visual Communications sequence incorporates video into many of the courses -- so I have had some experience shooting and teaching video. However, I have never before had the opportunity to work on a film with a director, cast, and crew.

What a treat! I felt like a kid in a candy store. We had access to first-class equipment, including a Canon high-definition video camera, a variety of audio-recording gear, and studio lights. More importantly, we had a developed concept and a story to tell.

Although this was not a production class per se, everyone treated Wednesday's efforts as more than just a role-playing exercise. The writer/director, David Kapferer, burned the midnight oil writing and revising his script and preparing a shot list. Two local acting students were recruited as the talent. Maggi Morehouse served as production coordinator and recorded sound. Ian Tiley also recorded sound and served as stunt driver for one of the action sequences. When we needed a tracking shot of the two actors running, Sally Oliver volunteered to drive -- or, rather, coast downhill -- with me and Ian filming and recording from her SUV.

Although the finished film lasted barely two minutes, the production lasted all day.

The Take-Away Message

What was the take-away message from this shooting exercise? There are probably as many ways to teach video as there are teachers, but I suspect they sort out into two basic methods: 1) send students off with a camera and see what they get, or 2) have them follow the time-honored process that we went through in our course -- concept development, scriptwriting and revising, creating a shot list, location scouting, and working as a team to make the film.

Sure, with luck and autofocus, students can sometimes create interesting videos. These would be the moving equivalents, I suspect, of the snapshots I see in the beginning photography course I teach -- the students are merely taking photographs. What I strive for is to get my students to "make" photographs. As I learned in Maine, the same is true with video. As Bart, our instructor, constantly reminded us, the goal is not merely to record what happens in front of the camera -- the goal is to craft a meaningful story.

With video, of course, much of that crafting takes place in the editing process. Although I loved shooting, I knew that I needed to bite the bullet and begin to tackle Final Cut Pro. So this is where our attention turned on Thursday and Friday. The Workshops offers several week-long courses devoted to Final Cut Pro, but Bart gave us the basics in a couple of hours -- a nearly impossible task.

Final Cut Pro, like Photoshop, is a seemingly infinite resource: whatever you want to do, there is probably a way to do it. What we wanted to do, of course, was edit our movies -- download the footage and get to work! Wisely, Bart walked us through the various set-up menus that Final Cut Pro offers -- something we will surely need to do with our students. He also made sure we understood the importance of "Log and Capture," especially on a film of any length. So the take-away message from the editing sessions was this: with Final Cut Pro, preparation is key -- the more you do in advance, the easier it is to edit your footage.

Student Films

We also spent some time viewing and critiquing student films -- some that our students had shot and some that Bart provided. Most were too long, and many had too much setup at the start, the visual equivalent of burying the lead -- people getting out of bed, people walking into buildings and down hallways, etc.

The most glaring fault -- and one of Bart's pet peeves -- is the unauthorized use of copyrighted music. Why is this so bad? First and foremost, audio supports and sometimes carries the entire production, improving good filmmaking and even covering up for the visual flaws of bad filmmaking. When we watch a student production with a soundtrack lifted from Psycho or Rocky, whose work are we reacting to and, ultimately, grading -- the student's or the composer's? If we watched with the sound on mute, would the student film seem as good?

Second, having unauthorized copyrighted music (or any other unauthorized element, for that matter) as part of a student film prevents that film from ever receiving distribution beyond the classroom. What if the film is really great, and the student wants to enter it in a contest or festival? Tough luck, unless the filmmaker wants to undertake the difficult process of getting permissions after the fact -- and in time for the contest or festival deadline.

Finally, allowing students to simply download a soundtrack for their film means they will never learn one of the most vital filmmaking processes -- collaboration. Forcing students to come up with an original soundtrack -- written by a friend or a fellow student in the music department, or perhaps synthesized on the computer -- means they will learn the art of working with others, which is so important in filmmaking (and in life).

Worth the Struggle

In addition to the lessons I've described, my experience being a student for a week taught me something else. At the University of South Carolina, we expect a lot from our students, and we sometimes forget the pressures they are working under -- whether from school, work, family, or other causes. I see most of my students for only 2.5 hours of class time per week -- and perhaps during office hours. But they are probably working 12- and 14-hour days, just like I did in Maine. They may be tired, hungry, stressed out, whatever.

So the next time one of my students seems demanding, listless, restless, or ready to give up, I hope I'll be able to remember when I felt the same way during my week in Maine. And then I'll be able to tell them that, yes, Virginia, learning really is worth the struggle.

How to Create Depth in Landscape Photography

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:19:00 +0000

One of the toughest visual concepts to communicate in a landscape photograph is depth: the sensation that you're looking at distance when, in fact, all you're really looking at is a flat sheet of paper.

Tags: ((photography tips))

The Importance of Depth Cues

Photographs, of course, have only height and width; they have no real depth -- so you have to make an extra effort to create that feeling of space and distance. Photographers (and painters) use a series of "depth cues" or optical tricks to create the illusion of depth on a flat sheet of paper.

Perhaps the simplest depth-illusion cue to exploit is linear perspective -- or using lines to lead the eye to a distant spot to enhance the feeling of space. There are lots of readily available linear cues in outdoor scenes, including roads, railroad tracks, tree lines, fences, etc. and often you can use them in combination to strengthen the illusion.

In this shot, for example, I've used the road as the primary depth cue, but I've used the rolling lines of fence on the left and the telephone poles on the right as secondary cues. The longer you stare into this image, the more you can feel the spaciousness of this rural Iowa scene (shot near Prairie City, Iowa).

More on Depth Cues

For more on depth cues, I encourage you to read the depth cues tutorial on my Web site. Remember, the more "real" you can make your landscapes, the more impact they'll have and the more emotional connection your viewers will have to your work.

[Jeff Wignall is a photographer and writer and the author of numerous books on photography, including The Joy of Digital Photography, The Kodak Guide to Shooting Great Travel Pictures, Kodak's Most Basic Book of 35mm Photography, and Winning Pictures. Check out the Joy of Digital Photography Blog and Jeff Wignall's Travel Blog.]

Getty, Flickr and the Land of Really, Really Bad Ideas

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:17:09 +0000

Just when you thought that Getty Images was in its last throes of existence, before its massive content library gets broken up by the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman and sold off for pieces, Getty comes in and lowers the bar that much further. The only upside to the impending Getty breakup will be the mass exodus of the creative content producers (especially the prolific ones) who decide that PhotoShelter or Digital Railroad are the only two platforms where they can get their images sold.

Tags: ((stock photography)), ((Getty)), ((Flickr))

What the Deal Means

PDNPulse has written about it, as has Thomas Hawk. Here's my take.

Getty, in conversations at what I am guessing is the CTO level, decided to do this deal with Flickr, likely after seeing PhotoShelter announce a portal between them and Flickr, and then get shut down by Flickr.

For months and months, PhotoShelter made outreach to Flickr in an attempt to get a commercial key (link) for an application plug-in (API) that would make a direct connection between Flickr and the PhotoShelter system, so that photographers could send their own images back and forth between their Flickr and PhotoShelter personal archives. Flickr never responded.

But did PhotoShelter really need a commercial API? Users were just sending their own images to themselves, and services like SmugMug use the Flickr API in the exact same way. So PhotoShelter obtained a non-commercial API, which is freely available to anyone who wishes to use it for their own personal use. Within a short time, Flickr shut them down, without explanation, and would not engage them in discussions about either API permission key.

For some reason, however, Flickr has decided that it in their best interests to have Getty trolling around Flickr for the best Flickr producers, and locking them up in exclusive deals to represent their work. But these photographers would get a paltry percentage of their sales, and I have to ask the question: Is Flickr going to be a silent recipient of a percentage of all those sales?

Why wouldn't Flickr buy the entire PhotoShelter or Digital Railroad platforms, and scale that technology up to serve the three million images they get each day? Could it be that this deal is a precursor to Flickr acquiring a piece of the Getty pie (from a content or delivery platform standpoint, or both)?

PhotoShelter Puts Its Money Where Its Mouth Is

When I spoke at the PhotoShelter Town Hall Meeting last year, Grover Sanschagrin was asked whether PhotoShelter might be bought by Getty. He said no.

Then, to make himself perfectly clear, he said, "Let me be more clear -- over my dead body."

Getty clearly was interested. Allen Murabayashi, the CEO of PhotoShelter, in his reaction to the announcement of the Getty Images/Flickr arrangement, made a bold statement that puts his (and Grover's) money where their mouth is. He said:

... one of Getty Images' Executive VPs started contacting us as early as July 2006. Initially it was to use PhotoShelter technology to provide a way for non-Getty photographers to submit images. But once the PhotoShelter Collection was announced, they wanted access to our content because we provided ready-to-license, edited content from thousands of contributors around the world.

They contacted us in July 07, September 07, October 07 and November 07, and we turned them down for one simple reason: It was a terrible deal for photographers (then, as it is now), and did very little to alter the fundamental imbalance in the stock industry.

Now, that's conviction.

I know that the people at Getty think they understand this business. Trust me, they don't.

You can start at the top with Jonathan Klein, Mr. Investment Banker turned "lover of photography"; Mark Getty, who, when the stock tanked, essentially got family money by way of Hellman & Friedman to take the company private; Mr. Failed Commercial Photographer Bruce Livingstone, and just continue to work your way down.

There are a lot of people there who just don't get it. Those who do are probably polishing their resumes right now looking to make a move, realizing that the company has finally completed their turn in the direction of the land of really, really bad ideas, and the iceberg that lay ahead is emblazoned with the name Hellman & Friedman, which is sure to sink the Getty Images ship.

[John Harrington has been a Black Star photographer for 17 years, traveling throughout Cuba, Mexico, and Eastern Europe. Closer to home, he's covered Washington's many historical events, from inaugurations to state funerals. He blogs at Photo Business News and Forum.]

Tips for Creating a Winning Portfolio

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

As part of my work for Black Star, I review a lot of photographers' portfolios. Usually, I treat it as a perk of the job. I'm getting paid to look at beautiful pictures created by some of the world's most talented photographers. What could be bad about that?

Tags: ((photography advice)), ((photography portfolios))

Not the photos, of course; they're usually fantastic. It's the portfolios themselves that often fall short. They may give me a good understanding that the photographer is talented, creative and skilled -- all of which I'm looking for.

But too often, they don't give me a clear idea of the sort of pictures I'll get back if I send the photographer on an assignment. That's the other thing I'm looking for -- and it's no less important.

Don't Tell Clients Everything

Many photographers go about creating their portfolio the wrong way. They try to assemble a collection of images that shows off all their skills. They want any prospective client to understand all of their capabilities.

But clients don't need to know everything that a photographer can do. They just need to know that they can do the job -- and while that job might change, the demands of different types of clients tend to be fairly similar.

Most of the clients Black Star works with are either commercial or editorial. They're looking for different things, but if you focus on just those two categories -- and they're very broad -- it becomes much easier to create a persuasive portfolio.

Start by choosing the images that appeal to you the most. All photographers have images that give them that gut feeling that says, "This one's special." That's a good place to begin.

You have to be careful, though. You want to choose images that are special because of their arrangement, lighting and look -- not because of what you had to do to get them. That's not an easy distinction to make sometimes, but you have to try to look at your photos objectively.

After you've selected your best images, group together those that have a common style. This is very important. Photographers often display lots of different styles to show their versatility, but I'd much rather see a portfolio with a clear voice.

You might not be suitable for every job, but I'll know which jobs you are suitable for -- and whenever they come up I'll turn to you because I'm confident you can do it. If you show lots of different approaches, I won't know which one you'll use on the assignment.

Editorial vs. Commercial Clients

As for the types of images you should choose, this is where an understanding of what the different client types are looking for is so important.

In general, editorial clients want to see how you handle both concepts and people. If they send you to take a picture of a personality to match an interview, they want to know what you can get out of him -- just as the journalist's editor would want to know what the reporter would get out of him.

So to appeal to editorial clients, make sure you have plenty of portraits. Celebrities, if you have them, are good even if they aren't your best shots.

Also include some images with a good story. I might ask about them, because those stories can tell me a great deal about the way you work and how you might handle a future assignment.

Commercial clients tend to be more interested in a photographer's visual style. To win these kinds of assignments, make sure you include images that place an emphasis on appearance rather than concept. Shots that use particular lighting techniques can be a good choice.

Again, you'll want to have a clear voice -- no one wants a big surprise when they get back their photos -- so try to keep the style consistent.

Finally, save a little space in your portfolio for your personal work. I always enjoy looking through those, and that's where you can show off some of the versatility you're so keen to share.

Creating an effective portfolio is time-consuming. It takes time to find the right images, let alone edit them, arrange them, caption them and display them. Not only that, but it's a project that you'll never finish; you'll continue updating it throughout your career.

And when you're done, inevitably you'll find that people react in completely unexpected ways to your photos. You can consider that a perk of your job.

[Anh D. Stack is editorial director of Black Star.]

Taking an Interest in People Is a Reward in Itself

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

According to Mark Twain, "America and England are two great nations separated by a common language." He was right. For many Americans arriving in the U.K., it's a shock to discover that American English can be vastly different from English English. When we think we fit right in and don't stand out from the natives, it's easy to make some embarrassing mistakes. (Don't ask for an order "to go" at a British restaurant; it's a "take-away.")

Tags: ((photography advice)), ((photography business))

Lately, I've been reading about autism. Asperger's syndrome is a type of high-functioning autism where the language skills are better than with other forms of autism; people with this condition are often found in higher education as professors. They have the capacity to lock in on a subject and stay focused. In the movie Rain Man, Dustin Hoffman showed us the savant aspect of autism with his ability with numbers. He also showed another aspect of autism -- being clueless about things around him.

As a photographer, I study people and how they act and react to all sorts of things, so that I can photograph them and show who they are. As a result, I have over the years become an armchair sociologist. I'm fascinated with people's behavior, especially within groups.

Converting the Natives

I have watched missionaries in Africa "convert folks," only to find out that the locals were just being kind and didn't want to embarrass them. These missionaries were used to how people respond "back home" and were unaware of the foreign culture.

In parts of America, people are extremely polite. It's difficult to know where you really stand with them. In other parts of the country, people don't hold back their feelings and, unless you are accustomed to this behavior, it's easy to take it personally. Sometimes your best friends will point out your worst faults, yet your worst enemy is always pleasant to you.

The most successful business people try to win and hold clients for the long run -- not just long enough to close a sale. If we focus on selling a product and just finding a one-time buyer, we are focusing on the short-term. Like the missionary who thinks she has "converted a soul" but has not learned the culture, it's a short-sighted approach to life.

Many successful people I have encountered are collectors. They may collect baseball memorabilia or classic cars or art. They enjoy finding something and holding on to it. I think this is also how they feel about people. They enjoy "collecting" them and keeping them around. They are interested in developing a relationship with these people -- not just conducting a transaction.

In some cultures, it is rude to immediately jump to the transaction or point of the visit. You must spend time with a cup of coffee or tea, talk about families and complete other cultural necessities before getting down to business. Most cultures reward those who pursue relationships and not just transactions.

With Relationships Come Rewards

I believe if we focus on connecting with people, the rewards will follow. On the other hand, I believe focusing on rewards, rather than relationships, is the surest route to failure.

It's easy to tell the difference when you deal with people. How many people have you met who made you feel like you were important to them? How many made you feel that you were just a stepping stone on their path to success? Which of these did you look forward to meeting, or working with, again?

Showing an interest in other people and cultures is not only good business. It's a more personally rewarding way to go through life.

[Stanley Leary is a Black Star photographer who has been telling stories for more than 20 years as a photojournalist. His work has appeared in Newsweek, Business Week, Sports Illustrated, Wired, Chicago Tribune, NY Times, World Book Encyclopedia, Information Week, Popular Mechanics, Technology Review, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, and many other publications.]

What Are Your Creative No-Fly Zones?

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Adman Ernie Schenck coined the phrase "creative no-fly zones" to describe places where copywriters and other creatives shouldn't go in their work. The no-fly zone encompasses ideas that are not only tacky, but likely to offend the public. One example Schenck cited was an Ohio car dealer whose ads promised customers "a jihad of savings!"

Tags: ((advertising photography))

Naturally, the dealership made the news -- for all the wrong reasons. Other examples of "no-fly zone" creative might be public service announcements so graphic they scare children, even though they're intended to change behavior in adults. Or nasty political spots that accuse a candidate of (insert scandal here).

The thing is, that type of work is a lucrative career choice for many in advertising.

Paparazzi Shots and Wedding Photography

I got to thinking that photographers must deal with the same issues. There must be assignments you wouldn't take on no matter how much money you were offered. Or would you?

The genesis for this was twofold. First, I saw a clip on TMZ about how local surfers attacked a group of paparazzi trying to take pictures of Matthew McConaughey catching a wave. Having watched Point Break enough times, even I know you don't hassle locals, bra'. In their retreat to safety, it was comforting to know at least one photographer had the good sense to capture the slowest of his brethren getting trounced. (Evidence for the lawsuit, you know.)

Second, I had a discussion with an award-winning photographer last month in New York City. We were covering an event honoring advertising's "golden age" -- and on hand were many of the original Mad Men of Madison Avenue. During a break we talked about stuff only two 20+ year vets would. Changes in the business; the fact that he no longer shoots film, only digital; and so on.

I jokingly asked if he shot weddings, figuring that as with most of the photographers I know, the mention of weddings or babies would make his eyes roll. After all, these were the equivalent of doing coupon ads for any self-respecting art director. Sure, they may pay the bills, but they're a creative black hole from which your soul never returns.

"Yes," he responded.

So later, after the shock wore off, I checked out his site -- and the stuff was good. Casual. Spontaneous. Genuine. Not at all like the typical stuff you see for most weddings. My preconceived notions hadn't allowed me to think this was possible. After all, here was a guy who shoots everything: major event openings around the world, portraits, products, famous bands, politicians and CEOs. Why would he need to shoot weddings?

Contrast this photographer's story with another photographer I knew who had studied under Ansel Adams, and who one day almost had a heart attack when someone had asked (quite seriously) if he did baby pictures.

What Are Your No-Fly Zones?

So is paparazzi photography in your no-fly zone? How about wedding photography? For some, these options are off the table. For others, they are a lucrative -- and even fulfilling -- career choice.

Putting the question to the pros out there: What are your no-fly zones?

[Bill Green has been a designer and art director on a wide range of brands for nearly 20 years. In addition to his current consulting work, he can be found spending way too much time on his blog, Make the logo bigger. E-mail him at makethelogobigger@earthlink.net.]

How Professional Photographers Can Generate New Business with Flickr

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

At Black Star, we don't work directly with Flickr -- but it's hard not to notice the photo-sharing service's influence. With nearly five million contributors and more than 150 million images, Flickr has become the elephant in the room for any photographer who would choose to ignore it. Flickr's photo streams and groups are prime destinations for those seeking to upload their images and improve their skills.

Tags: ((Flickr)), ((photography business))

Buyers Are Increasingly Looking to Flickr

Frankly, when it comes to professional photography, Flickr is pretty lightweight for an elephant. Most of the photos are little more than snaps, and the bulk of the photographers are hobbyists or less. If Black Star needed a photographer, it certainly wouldn't be the first place we'd look.

But Flickr has become the first place many buyers look -- and some of these buyers are the sort that any professional would love to work for. Toyota commissioned Rebekka Gudsleifdottir, an Icelandic art student with a large Flickr following, to shoot a series of local billboards for the Prius. Microsoft bought images for Vista from a number of Flickr photographers, including a Kuwaiti medical student, and media organizations as large as the BBC and The Economist use the site as a free source of visuals for their blogs.

We don't think Flickr is ever going to be an efficient resource for the sort of high-end clients that Black Star serves. They'll always prefer to outsource the photographer-hunting to a company that's done the vetting, knows the photographers and can make sure that even the toughest assignments are completed properly and on time. That's not going to change.

But there's no question that new opportunities are being created by Flickr -- including for professional photographers. If you're a pro who isn't using Flickr to promote your work and business, it's time to seriously consider doing so.

Promoting Your Work with Flickr

The best way to begin using Flickr is to upload a selection of your images to a stream, organize them neatly into sets and collections, and provide plenty of information in the photo and set descriptions to explain the shots. In effect, that gives you another portfolio that's easy to create, and you only have to do it once.

To make it easy for potential buyers to contact you, all you need to do is include a link to your own Web site in your profile. Mike Goldberg, a semi-retired photojournalist from Boston now living in Jerusalem, has done just that on his Flickr stream. It's not difficult to do, and it might guide at least some buyers browsing Flickr to your professional showcase.

Even more powerful, though, is Flickr's ability to help you build a brand. Because most photographers on Flickr are amateurs or semi-pros, a professional with a good track record can quickly become a leader. Photographers such as David Bean, who runs one of the site's largest professional groups, have become well-known among professionals, hobbyists and buyers, too, for the expert help and advice they provide to other photographers. It's a very effective way to show off your expertise, build a name and see it spread across the Web.

The best strategy here is to focus on a niche. Flickr is filled with broadly labeled professional photography groups, but there's still room for groups that look at one particular aspect of professional photography -- whether that's photographing oil rigs, shooting executive portraits or recording press conferences.

Once you've created the group, you can bring in other photographers to help run it, while you benefit from the name recognition. It might not lead directly to new jobs, but billboard ads don't lead directly to sales, either. They increase your brand awareness -- and that is valuable.

Marketing Books to Flickr Users

Finally, you can use Flickr to branch out a little.

Many of our photographers have revenue streams beyond the commissions that we provide for them. They teach at universities, and, of course, they publish books of their photography. Those services and products are aimed at a very different market from the one we usually serve; they're targeted at photographers -- the same as Flickr's market.

If you have a book to sell, Flickr could be the best single place to market it. Create a collection that contains samples of the images in the book. Set up a group to offer advice on the type of photography depicted in the book (it's likely that almost every member would buy it). And include plenty of links to Amazon, so that people who enjoy the images can order it right away.

We all know that Flickr wasn't originally designed with professional photographers in mind. It wasn't built as a commercial site, and it doesn't do commerce particularly well.

But anytime you get five million people together who are interested in photography, business opportunities are created -- especially for the more enterprising pros out there.

[Anh D. Stack is editorial director of Black Star.]

When Will Newspapers Hit Bottom?

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

I remember when I had my first layoff scare five years ago. It was the most stressful, nerve-wracking thing I'd ever experienced. I had not been at the newspaper for a year at that point, and to see so many veteran reporters and editors let go was intimidating. I spent the next few months watching my back, even though I knew that since I was at the bottom of the food chain (and pay scale), my job was probably safe.

Tags: ((newspapers))

My memory is a little fuzzy as to when we had layoffs versus buyouts versus different people being "forced out," but over the next four years I saw at least one a year. In 2007, there were three, with two more early in 2008. Now, my old newspaper (I left voluntarily earlier this year) is about to lay off more people this week or next. I am scared for those who are left, because it has become clear that no one is safe.

The Hits Just Keep on Coming

That's true of all papers. Just look at what's happened over the past few weeks:

June 12 -- Times Community Newspapers (Northern Virginia) lays off photo staffs, leaving only three photo editors to shoot for their 15+ weeklies;

June 25 -- Palm Beach Post cuts 300 jobs (half the staff);

June 25 -- Baltimore Sun and other Tribune properties announce layoffs of 20 percent of editorial staff (at many properties it is more like 25 percent) and reducing news content by 50 percent;

July 1 -- Hartford Courant cuts 25 percent of its staff.

Choosing to leave, as I did, is better than being forced to leave -- but only slightly. I can see newspapers reaching a tipping point now that so many journalists have left. They have taken the heart of the newspaper business with them.

The layoffs have created a lifestyle of fear and paranoia. Who will be next?

Will I lose my job because I'm paid too much? Because I've been at the paper too long?

Because the boss doesn't like me? Because I didn't kiss up to the right people?

Or -- perhaps -- because my job can be replaced by free content from readers or wire agencies?

No One Is Safe

People aren't losing their jobs because of incompetency. In fact, often the opposite is true. We've seen layoffs claim award-winning, hard-working, passionate people, while leaving inferior employees in place. This does terrible things to morale in the newsroom -- not to mention work quality. Who can focus on writing in-depth stories, or working a little bit harder to get a better photo angle, when you are constantly thinking about who'll be next?

I feel compassion for all of those in the midst of this crisis, and I think that journalism students need to pay close attention to what is happening. When I graduated college in 2000, the job market was good. It was still competitive and difficult to get a job at a good "photo paper," but there were opportunities, with the promise of moving up as your skills improved.

That is no longer the case. Job openings are scant, and cutbacks ensure even fewer openings in the future. If I were a student now, I would not be looking to newspapers for a job. I would study something else and continue to feed that passion on the side, so I would be able to support myself after graduation.

It's sad to see a profession die right in front of our eyes. Many journalists have told me they think the newspaper industry will "hit bottom," and that then things will slowly start to improve. Unfortunately, each time I think we've hit bottom, we've had more cuts.

A Void to Fill

When you eliminate half the news hole, it's not so difficult to lay off half the staff. In fact, I'm dreading the day when corporate owners decide that they only need a handful of editors and can get reader-submitted content, so there is no need for any of us. Europe has been there for years.

That would be truly tragic. Now more than ever, we need journalists to be our watchdogs. We need credible sources. We need news.

But if newspapers ultimately choose to abandon this responsibility, I am hopeful that grassroots organizations will emerge to dig through the crumbled remains and take over the role of the fourth estate.

[Heather S. Hughes has worked as a photojournalist for a variety of newspapers and publications, including the St. Petersburg Times, America 24/7, Virginia 24/7 and Time magazine. Most recently, she was a staff photographer for the Daily Press in Newport News, Virginia. Among her experiences, she has covered the LPGA, 9/11 at the Pentagon, Hurricane Isabel, Queen Elizabeth's visit to Williamsburg, and numerous local sporting events.]

Who Owns My Photos -- My Publication or Me?

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Black Star Rising received the following question from a reader, Darren Gibbins of Fargo, N.D. --

Can you tell me what legal rights I have to publish images I've made throughout my photojournalistic career on my website? Some have suggested that the images belong to the various newspapers I've worked for. I've also been told websites are considered editorial content and I am free to use my images on a site to promote my photography with or without a newspaper's consent. Please help.

Tags: ((photography law)), ((copyright))

Darren, that's a good question. When photographers work for newspapers (or other employers), they sometimes wonder who owns the copyrights to the photos -- the photographer or the newspaper? Generally, if you are employed full-time for a newspaper and it is in your job description to shoot for the newspaper, the newspaper likely owns the copyright.

Work for Hire

The Copyright Act defines it as a "work for hire" -- "a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment." See #10117 USC 101. If you are not an employee of the newspaper, then you own the copyright unless you have a written agreement with the newspaper that specifies that all the copyrights to the photos belong to the newspaper/hiring company.

Sometimes, however, there is a dispute as to whether you are an "employee" of a company. The case that is most cited to determine whether you are an employee is CCNV v. Reid. There, the court explained:

In determining whether a hired party is an employee under the general common law of agency, we consider the hiring party's right to control the manner and means by which the product is accomplished. Among the other factors relevant to this inquiry are the skill required; the source of the instrumentalities and tools; the location of the work; the duration of the relationship between the parties; whether the hiring party has the right to assign additional projects to the hired party; the extent of the hired party's discretion over when and how long to work; the method of payment; the hired party's role in hiring and paying assistants; whether the work is part of the regular business of the hiring party; whether the hiring party is in business; the provision of employee benefits; and the tax treatment of the hired party.

The Copyright Office has prepared a circular to assist in understanding the application of this law.

If you are a full-time employee and do some part-time shooting for the company and/or shoot on company time, it is a judgment call as to whether the photography is within the scope of your employment. But if you get a statement/agreement in writing from your employer to confirm that it isn't, it will be helpful later if there is any dispute.

Determining Fair Use

If the newspaper or employer owns the copyrights under the "work for hire" law, it is as if you never shot the photos. You then may use the photos without permission only if the uses fall under "fair use."

While editorial use is one of the factors considered by a court to determine whether a use is fair, it is not the only factor. Jt is always a judgment call until a court gives a final ruling whether the use of a photograph is fair.

Check out this blog entry at Photo Attorney to learn more about what comprises fair use.

[Carolyn E. Wright is a licensed attorney dedicated to the legal needs of photographers. Get the latest in legal information at Carolyn's popular Photo Attorney blog. Carolyn offers tips on copyright, contracts and other legal issues in her book, Photographer's Legal Guide. NOTE: The information provided here is for educational purposes only. If you have legal concerns or need legal advice, be sure to consult with an attorney.]

Notes from the VisCom Classroom: Teacher Goes Back to School

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

What happens when the teacher goes back to school? Where I teach, in the School of Journalism at the University of South Carolina, we're bullish on video. Under the fearless leadership of Professor Van Kornegay, our sequence head, we strive to incorporate video instruction into most of our visual-communication courses. For example, in Introduction to Visual Communications, we have our students work in groups of four to produce short videos on the various topics covered in the course. We then start each class session by showing the video that relates to the topic of the day. Through this exercise, the students get their hands on a video camera -- some for the first time -- and also learn basic editing and audio skills using iMovie.

Tags: ((video production)), ((photography education))

Watching the videos gives us the chance to introduce specific subject matter, such as typography, color, and design. But we also get to discuss what makes a good instructional video -- elements such as pacing, transitions, and, above all, an upbeat, even humorous, mood. Other courses, such as Advanced Photovisual Communications and Advanced Visual Communications, incorporate video in assignments and final projects. However, we currently do not have a stand-alone video course. So, last fall, we began discussing how to get one in the curriculum. I volunteered to draft a syllabus, and with input from all the other faculty in the Visual Communications sequence, we now have a course ready to present to the curriculum committee.

As Maine Goes, So Goes the Nation

Meanwhile, I was checking the Web site for the Maine Media Workshops when I noticed an intriguing week-long workshop called "Film and Video Teachers." This course, scheduled for July 612, is being taught by Bart Weiss, a Dallas-based independent film and video producer/director. The course will focus on curriculum development, the selection and use of cameras and editing software, finding the best textbooks and training manuals, designing student assignments, and critiquing student work. In other words, nearly everything this teacher needs to learn in order to teach a stand-alone video course. What luck!

Well, to make a long story short, this teacher is headed back to school. My wife, Maggi Morehouse, who is a professor of history at the University of South Carolina Aiken, is also enrolled -- she has been using video to collect oral histories and hopes to teach her students to add video to their research skills. The Workshops are located in Rockport, Maine, a drive of about six hours or so from Cape Cod, where we spend our summers. I'll report on our experiences in the course in my August "Notes from the VisCom Classroom." In the rest of this column, I'd like to share with you my thoughts about the new course I hope to teach in the spring of 2009. I'm sure my week in Maine will provide a rich influx of new ideas and teaching methods.

Video Course, Of Course!

The goal of the new course is to help students develop the skills and techniques needed to produce high-quality videos and multimedia for use in a variety of mass media applications, including interviews, personality profiles, documentaries, event coverage, and persuasive communications. Students will be evaluated on the basis of video and multimedia assignments, along with other tests and exercises. We will also need to develop a language and a methodology to evaluate and critique video and multimedia. We are striving for technical and artistic mastery of the medium.

I've found it useful, when designing a course, to break it into segments -- this makes the design more manageable, and it also forces you to define exactly what you want to accomplish during the semester. In the case of the video course, here are my instructional segments: Technology, Video Basics, Preproduction, Production, and Postproduction. The Technology segment will introduce the students to the hardware -- camera, tripod, lighting kit, audio recorders, microphones, earphones, portable hard drives -- and the editing software, which in our case will be Final Cut Pro.

Under Video Basics, I hope to cover different camera shots (long, medium, close-up, extreme close-up), composition, camera angles, focus and depth of field, exposure and white balance, panning and tracking, along with various output formats, including small-screen applications such as the iPod and iPhone. We'll also discuss the principle of A-rolls, B-rolls, cut-aways, and shooting to edit. The purpose of the Preproduction segment is to introduce the students to concept development, scripts, shot lists and storyboards, working with models and talent, sets and location scouting, props and wardrobe -- all the things you need to do before you even unpack the camera.

Production is the meat and potatoes of the course. This is where students will go out, usually in teams, to shoot their assignments. They'll need to keep a written list of shots, called a camera log, and mark each scene with a slate, to make editing easier. My proposal calls for four assignments during our 14-week semester. I think we'll start out with a simple interview, perhaps using available light, to get things rolling. Then the assignments will become more complex -- perhaps a short informational video, followed by event coverage or a short documentary, and finally, some form of persuasive communication. The trick here, as with any course, is to provide enough instructional lead time so that the students are prepared for each new assignment, without relying on too many lectures (borrring!).

The Postproduction segment will cover downloading and archiving the videos; editing video and mixing audio; adding still photographs, infographics, and special effects; working with titles, and producing DVDs. It is my hope that students completing this course will be able to add another layer of skills to their already multilayered approach to visual communications -- and I'll bet it won't hurt them in the job market one bit either! Stay tuned for my next column, where you'll read about how the teacher (and his syllabus) fared during his week as a student.

Followup: Where I Was Coming from When I Wrote the Same-Sex Weddings Post

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:25:44 +0000

Living in a community as conservative as mine can be difficult. People tend to judge you. Sometimes, in fact, I get phone calls -- the anonymous kind. They call to tell me how much trouble I'm in, what I've done wrong and whom I've upset.

Tags: ((wedding photography)), ((same-sex marriage))

It's scary to answer the phone with a number that's listed private and get verbally abused. I'm a business owner. I have a family. And I try to do good work here in my community. But because of the clients I choose, or the subject matter, or where I advertise my business, I'm guaranteed to get these kinds of calls from time to time.

Make no mistake. They can be hate-filled.

Once, a caller berated me for a newspaper ad I shot, showing a military man and his new wife walking together. His wife was pinching his bottom; it was supposed to be a cute picture. But the man on the other end of the phone insisted I would never get any work in this town again, and that the guy in the picture was in big trouble -- although you couldn't see his face and he wasn't identified.

I got a call this week, too. He called at the end of the day. He wanted to know about a photograph of mine that was published on the cover of the Colorado Springs Independent. It showed a man and woman in an illustrative picture about "staycations," of all things.

The man on the phone told me that he was a photographer, and he was certain the woman in the picture was actually a man. I politely told him he was mistaken, but he insisted. You see, he was sure he knew the circumstances of the picture, what was being photographed and why -- the hidden agenda.

I hung up on him.

This is where I was coming from when I asked in my June 18 post, Will Photographing Same-Sex Ceremonies Hurt or Help Your Photography Business?

I didn't ask the question to show off my biases or tell you my views on gay marriage. I was wondering how it would affect me -- and I wondered if any of you had the same concerns.

I think, of the 37 comments on the post, the best response was the first one. The commenter said to do the right thing. And I will do the right thing.

But I also don't think it's insensitive to take into account the social norms of my community. The propensity for hate. And how difficult it can be to take these kinds of phone calls.

[Sean Cayton and his wife and business partner Cathy own and operate a wedding photography business in Colorado Springs. Since starting their business in 2001, they have photographed over 150 weddings. Sean and Cathy chronicle their lives and their business on their blog. Sean also keeps a journal of his musings on the business of photography, Photo Biz by Sean. He can be reached at sean@caytonphotography.com.]

Minneapolis Paper's Video Push: Innovation or Desperation?

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

The Minneapolis Star Tribune, a fine newspaper with a rich history, is getting gussied up for the era of video. Editor Nancy Barnes describes the transformation -- complete with hair and makeup tips for the paper's ink-stained wretches -- in Sunday's edition.

Tags: ((photojournalism)), ((video))

Ready for Their Close-Up?

Upon reading the piece, two very different analogies sprang to mind. The first: the ugly duckling (you know, the one that becomes a swan). The second: poor, delusional Gloria Swanson descending the spiral staircase in Sunset Boulevard, announcing she's "ready for my close-up."

Which will it be for the Star Tribune -- and for newspapers generally?

Here are a couple of excerpts from Barnes' piece:

In the last year, we have trained nearly half of our photographers to shoot documentary or breaking-news video. Once you could get this only on TV. Now we're determined to provide it to you on our website. We're also training reporters to bring along a very basic video camera on breaking-news assignments. They'll be asked to shoot video as well as collect information. Later this summer, we're bringing in experts to coach us in editing video and producing programming...

Rick Sennott started as a photographer when newspapers were mostly black and white and the Web didn't exist. He was among the first to get trained in videography -- and is now leading the way for our staff on breaking-news videography. His goal as a photojournalist is to "produce images that act as a channel for true understanding and give a clear voice to the people being photographed. ... Today, they literally talk, cry or sing in the video we are producing on a daily basis."

Happy Faces All Around

The article goes on to quote other staffers talking about how excited they are about adding video to their repertoires.

What do you expect them to say? They're being interviewed by the boss!

I'm glad that Barnes is telling her audiences about her newspaper's plans. But the reality is, these changes are going to bring more work -- and more pain -- for many people. And this is happening at a time when staffers are seeing their colleagues laid off all around them. So it's probably best to drop the happy faces and be real.

Barnes writes:

Hundreds of thousands of our customers still want a print newspaper; we expect that to be the core of our business for many years to come.

Define "many years." Five? Ten? Maybe 20, at the outside?

Here's the reality: ultimately, there's not going to be an ugly duckling story for newspapers -- at least not in the sense of introverted print journalists suddenly transforming themselves into look-at-me TV personalities.

What's going to happen is that, as print outlets become true multimedia outlets, they're going to hire a mix of on-air talent and behind-the-scenes talent, like they have at most TV stations, where ink-stained producers do the work and teeth-whitened reporters get the glory.

The ultimate impact, for most print outlets, is that the news product will suffer, because more staffers will be focused on how they look, rather than what's going on in the world -- and there will be fewer staffers overall.

Too harsh? Can you tell I used to be a newspaper reporter?

What do you think?

Here's Why to Add Your Name and Copyright Notice When Posting Photos Online

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Copyright infringement is much too common these days. To reap the big statutory rewards (of at least $750 and up to $150,000 for willful infringements, plus costs and attorneys' fees) from prosecuting infringements, you must have registered your photograph with the U.S. Copyright Office prior to the infringement or within three months of publishing it (making it available to the public).

Tags: ((copyright)), ((photography law))

Most photographers haven't registered their photos, so they must prove "actual damages" from the infringement. Usually, this is your normal license fee plus any profits the infringer made from the unauthorized use of your photo. Often the "profits" damages can be difficult to prove (especially for editorial uses). So you are left with potentially recovering only a license fee.

Many infringers then will ignore your demand for payment because they know that it will cost more to sue than what you can possibly recover. Copyright infringement cases have to be prosecuted in federal courts; the filing fee alone is $350 -- about the amount of many standard licensing fees for photos.

The DMCA Makes Recovery Easier

But the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides a great alternative to recover damages for infringements. The DMCA can be found in Section 1200 of the U.S. Copyright Act. Section 1202 makes it illegal for someone to remove your "copyright management information" from your photo to disguise the infringement when used. The great news is that the copyright management information need only be your name, identifying information, or copyright notice to qualify.

Many photographers place watermarks including their name, Web site, and/or the copyright notice on their images to prevent someone from infringing them. With digital technology, it's fairly easy to crop or clone over the mark.

But if you can prove that the infringer removed or altered your information to use your photo in an unauthorized manner, you may recover for that removal under the DMCA. The fines start at $2500 and go to $25,000 in addition to attorneys' fees and any damages for the infringement.

What the Statute Says

The pertinent part of the statute is included below:

Section 1202. Integrity of copyright management information . . .

(b) REMOVAL OR ALTERATION OF COPYRIGHT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION.
No person shall, without the authority of the copyright owner or the law:
(1) intentionally remove or alter any copyright management information . . .
(3) distribute . . . copies of works . . . knowing that copyright management information has been removed or altered without authority of the copyright owner . . . knowing . . . that it will . . . conceal an infringement of any right under this title.

(c) DEFINITION. . . . "[C]opyright management information" means any of the following information conveyed in connection with copies . . . of a work . . . or displays of a work, including in digital form . . . :
(2) The name of, and other identifying information about, the author of a work.
(3) The name of, and other identifying information about, the copyright owner of the work, including the information set forth in a notice of copyright. . . .

Section 1203. Civil remedies...

(b) POWERS OF THE COURT. In an action brought under subsection (a), the court . . .
(3) may award damages under subsection (c);
(4) in its discretion may allow the recovery of costs by or against any party . . . ; [and]
(5) in its discretion may award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party . . .

(c) AWARD OF DAMAGES. (1) IN GENERAL. . . . [a] person committing a violation of . . . 1202 is liable for either
(A) the actual damages and any additional profits of the violator . . . or (B) statutory damages, as provided in paragraph (3).

(3) STATUTORY DAMAGES. . . .
(B) At any time before final judgment is entered, a complaining party may elect to recover an award of statutory damages for each violation of section 1202 in the sum of not less than $2,500 or more than $25,000.

And the even better news? You don't have to have registered your photo in advance to recover under this statute. So now you have an even better reason to place your name, identifying information, or copyright notice on your photos.

[Carolyn E. Wright is a licensed attorney dedicated to the legal needs of photographers. Get the latest in legal information at Carolyn's popular Photo Attorney blog. Carolyn offers tips on copyright, contracts and other legal issues in her book, Photographer's Legal Guide. NOTE: The information provided here is for educational purposes only. If you have legal concerns or need legal advice, be sure to consult with an attorney.]

Online Tools to Stay Competitive in the Digital Age

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:29:00 +0000

I saw an interesting snippet in the news last month that total ad revenue across print media had actually declined; it was reported as a "first." Whether a first or not, it's significant. It explains why newspapers are working so frantically to expand their Web sites -- and why they are asking photographers to expand their skill sets. The good news is that the Internet gives news gatherers some exciting new options for presenting stories with multimedia and video.

Tags: ((photography tips))

The San Jose Mercury News, led by photojournalists Richard Koci Hernandez and Dai Sugano, has made great strides in the development of multimedia versions of news stories. Many times I have found myself shooting alongside Dai -- the difference being that he was recording audio as well as catching frames.

Dai originally used the M-Audio Micro-Track recorder, a product that had its quirks, like a built-in rechargeable battery that caused plenty of problems. He has since moved on to more sophisticated equipment. Together, Richard and Dai have helped drive the acceptance of multimedia visual presentations of day-to-day news stories.

Exploring Your Multimedia Options

A growing number of photojournalists have embraced video and multimedia as additional -- not alternative -- forms of story delivery.

Pulitzer Prize winning photographer David Leeson of the Dallas Morning News routinely used a video camera while embedded with the U.S. military in Iraq in 2003. His blended delivery of video and stills was a groundbreaking departure from the usual photo essays. Since picking up the video camera in 2000, David has created more than 70 short features and seven documentaries -- and has won numerous awards for his video work, including an Emmy and an Edward R. Murrow award.

Now, more and more photojournalists are to exploring their multimedia options -- either out of curiosity, or because their employer has slapped a video camera in their hands and told them to start shooting.

To bring together photographs and audio quickly into a multimedia slideshow, many of us have used Soundslides. Those looking for something a little more sophisticated might choose a tool such as Fotomagico. And those with video production experience might prefer Apple's Final Cut Pro -- but for many multimedia projects, this is the equivalent of using a bazooka when a BB gun will do.

Once you've produced your presentation, depending on who it's for and how you plan to use it, you may need an online hosting service of some sort. YouTube is popular, but the video playback quality is appalling. Recently I hosted some slideshows and videos on the VII Visionaires site on Ning. This allowed me to embed code in my Web site and blog that played back the videos. And the quality is pretty good.

VUVOX Does It All

Recently, though, a better, free alternative has come along in the form of VUVOX (which was recently acquired by eBay). All online, a VUVOX account allows you to upload images, audio and video, and assemble these media components into a number of different delivery formats.

Check out my blog for one example of how you can present your photographs in a refreshing and interactive format.

Protecting Your Work

Of course, the Internet not only brings us alternatives for the delivery of our work; it also brings an increased risk that our work will be stolen. Anyone who has been following the progression of the Orphan Works legislation must be feeling somewhat nervous about the potential outcome. Professional photographers need all the help they can get to protect the copyright on their work, especially online.

Fortunately, there is a new tool, called TinEye, to help us track the use (permitted or otherwise) of our images, together with the ability to spot manipulation of our images. Check out this demo to see an excellent illustration of how this technology works. And sign up for an "invitation" to try out the current beta version. Yes, there are other photo tracking technologies out there, but TinEye is particularly innovative and, apart from anything else, the people there are really nice.

Keeping track of new technologies released on the Internet is a great way to secure those competitive advantages that will keep you one step ahead in your photography career. More and more of these technologies are available at no cost, while the polish and performance of these applications is always improving.

[With more than 20 years of photography experience, San Francisco-based photojournalist Mike Fox has been published in many leading magazines, newspapers and Web sites including Newsweek, Business Week, the Los Angeles Times, and CNN. Mike's corporate work has secured Fortune 100 clients, and he has been invited to join the faculty of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco in Fall 2008. Mike is developing a new initiative, the One Life Foundation, to reengage audiences in catastrophic events such as famine, disease, poverty and homelessness. His work can be found at www.mikefoxphotojournalist.com, www.newchannelproject.com and www.1lifefoundation.com.]

If You Don't Know Your Cost of Doing Business, Chances Are It's More Than You Think

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0000

You never really know your cost of doing business until you start doing business. No matter how thorough you are in your advance planning, it's likely that expenses you never imagined will impact your bottom line.

Tags: ((photography business)), ((photography advice))

The best way to learn the true cost and profit margin of your business is to track your income and expenses. This may sound elementary, but it can be quite a challenge if you're operating a small business with a handful of employees. Because I'm no expert in tracking my expenses, I hired a bookkeeper, started using Quickbooks and retained an accountant to review my finances quarterly and prepare my tax documents.

It's important for me to pay attention to my finances so that I can stay focused on my goals. This means taking the time to record any payments received for my bookkeeper to reconcile, as well as saving all of my receipts and making regular transfers from my business account into my savings.

An Independent Contractor Is a Small Business Owner

A common mistake among freelance photographers is failing to track expenses and revenue. I made this mistake when I began freelancing for newspapers. I didn't equate being an "independent contractor" with owning a small business. I generated receipts for my customers, paid quarterly estimates, kept a stack of receipts of my expenses, and that was about it. As a result, I didn't have a clear picture of what was coming in and how much was going out.

Each year, when I filed my tax return, I discovered how much money I made and how much I spent against my earnings. After several years of this, I could see that I was just treading water. And that's how it seems to go for most freelance photographers.

I finally realized that an independent contractor is a small business owner, and I resolved to put all the numbers together. I found that by learning how much operating my business cost, I had the knowledge I needed to grow the business and become profitable.

Hit the Books to Grow Your Business

By returning to my books regularly and examining my expenses and my revenue over time, I've been able to plan ahead and make better business decisions. I've also been able to invest in my business, handle more debt when I needed to, and save more for the future.

Learning what your actual cost of doing business is, and then learning how to manage it, is a fundamental step to shaping a photography business that can grow and prosper.

[Sean Cayton and his wife and business partner Cathy own and operate a wedding photography business in Colorado Springs. Since starting their business in 2001, they have photographed over 150 weddings. Sean and Cathy chronicle their lives and their business on their blog. Sean also keeps a journal of his musings on the business of photography, Photo Biz by Sean. He can be reached at sean@caytonphotography.com.]