Here’s a quick slideshow I put together of images of autumn shot on a Leica M9 with a 35mm Summicron ASPH, 50mm Elmar-M and 50mm Nokton.
The whole thing was edited in Aperture 3. The slideshow, text and music were done in Aperture 3 also. The black and white conversions at the end were done using Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro.
Unique. Not run of the mill. That’s what’s we strive for in our work. The constant battle to produce original and creative work. In this digital age though, it’s often too easy to have this work copied and for it’s value to be lost.
Although an award winning hand printer (I have two awards from Kodak), I have completely embraced digital printing with Canon’s excellent iPF6300 large format printer. When combined with paper from Hahnemuhle and Ilford, the results are simply stunning. The downside is that due to the nature of it, it is hard to distinguish original and authorised prints from anyone unscrupulous enough to have stolen the image and run off their own prints.
As well as signing the work, I decided to look into embossing and following a chat with a good friend, decided have my own one made by the folks at City Co Seals. I now emboss my collector’s prints and also use a custom made stamp to authorise and help the collector prove that they have an original.
Give them a call and ask to speak to Grant; they are extremely helpful and very efficient. Do pass on my hellos if you call!
Photo: ©Richard Chambury/Richfoto.com
A quick post to let you know that there’s an interview with me on the Aperture User’s Network done by Thomas Boyd.
Poster design by Tim Allen.Carrying on from my previous post on the value of photography, I had a photographer who was a participant in a previous workshop on the phone to me. He had taken photographs for a client and the design firm who had designed the product (forgive my vagueness – I don’t want to cause any hindrance to this photographer’s situation) was trying to bully him into getting full international usage rights to the pictures; they were apparently adamant on it. This firm has no rights to the images.
This young photographer got on the phone in a panicked state, not knowing what to do. As I explained to him, the licensing rights and the full copyright belong to the photographer; cherish these and do not be forced to give them away. You can negotiate a license of usage to someone who wants to use the pictures. To find out how much to charge, some good guides are to use the automated pricing structure on Photoshelter; go to My Photoshelter page and ‘BUY’ any image. Then click the Downloads tab and fill in the drop down questions to suit the purpose your client wants. This will give you an idea of what to charge. Another is to refer to the NUJ’s Fees Guide.
A favourite of companies trying to get freebies is to promise work in the future in exchange for things like licensing, or to try and get a huge discount. These are just tactics and it’s highly unlikely this work will come. I operate in a different way; I wait for a client to become a regular client who books me constantly; I then offer them freebies – but never at the expense of my core pricing structure.
Photography is just like any other business; everything has it’s price. Stand firm and produce quality work.
If you’d like to buy any merchandise with the poster design on it, please visit Cafe Press.
I’ve been a professional photographer for almost 21 years; it’s a job which I love and an industry which I fell in love with instantly. Photojournalism has always been my passion; never well paid but satisfying morally with an income that would help one get by.
In all this time, I have never seen a photograph be as devalued as it is now. Most companies believe it is a right for them to steal pictures and use them for free. They even set up dodgy ‘rights grab’ competitions which thousands enter into, signing away their copyright or at best giving away rights of usage to the organisers. Young freelance photographers straight out of college easily sign away their copyrights to the papers, being made to believe that is the norm.
The companies who do want to pay, make up fictitious small budgets as a way to say that they cannot afford to pay more than a certain amount and try to bully the photographer into submission. The same people would never dream of trying that on in a shop, but for some reason, photographers are fair game.
My thoughts are that we need to stick to our principles; pictures have a value; our copyright and the rights to our images need to be cherished. Have your rate card and stick to it. Turn away a client who is trying to take advantage. If we don’t do this, our work will continue to loose value and the equipment which now days cost twice what it did a few weeks ago will be well and truly out of our reach. Even worst and most importantly, the power and respect that a photograph has will be lost.
This short video makes the point very nicely; thanks to Keith Meatheringham for bringing to my attention. Definitely worth watching:
Got some wonderful news via email from the Creative Director of the Photography Masters Cup, Basil O’Brien. I’ve had three images nominated in the awards’ professional categories. One image in the Aerial section and two in the Photojournalism section. Alas non of the images went through to win, but three nominations isn’t too shabby!
Photo This & That 