Thursday, February 18, 2010

More Copyright Issues

A few days ago I offered a couple of 4x6 prints to be displayed in the office of the BLM area we are currently staying in. The owl at left is one of those images. I put my name and my website information on the bottom of the print but I neglected to put a (C) copyright statement there too.

Today I was informed that one of the volunteer officials from the office intended to take my print to town and make copies of it. The person telling me about it was all agog about all the comments that had been made over those two images. Such comments about how perfect the lighting was, and that a former Natl. Geographic Photographer ( I can't confirm this but was told that one evaluated the images) had commented as to how good the shots were, and so on.

This is something that I have come to expect from my photography. People see it and tell me how wonderful it is, they will even drive to do town 20 miles away to have copies made to frame and give to their friends. But will they buy them from me? Only if I catch them first and this is rare!

I informed the lady that wanted the copy that I would provide one for her, and not to have copies made since I still hold the copyright. She was OK with that and said she would return my print to the office for display again.

In the future I will be putting copyright statements on my images and will include something that says that it cannot be copied in any form without my express written consent. I will probably go back to that office and write this on these two images in the next couple of days too.

An uncle once made an interesting statement to me as I watched him being repeatedly stung by angry bees as he was stealing wild honey from a hollow tree. He said "it's just totally amazing what a guy will do and endure, to get something for nothing." The same thing applies to your photography. People will steal you blind if they can and never even consider it theft unless you catch them at it.

I'll be doing more on this topic so keep an eye out for additional posts.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

1 comment:

  1. EmilFebruary 18, 2010 at 10:06 PM

    Copyright everything. Leave no print untouched. I used to put 'Sample' over the face of everything that would not tolerate a copyright. Then they rant about how the picture is damaged goods. But copy it they will, and send one to all their friends.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Photography Tips

Here are a few things you can do to improve your photography that will apply regardless of what camera you use. These are the basics that every photographer should know and do to get reasonably good pictures out of any camera.

Make sure you have a clean lens. Don't just blow the dust off, but use a clean cloth suitable for cleaning lenses and do it right.

Set up so your camera is stable and won't move as you press the shutter. You can do this a number of ways. If you will be handholding the camera, hold your elbows in against your sides, and stand with your feet apart with one slightly forward of the other. You can also lean against a solid object like a light pole, tree, building or whatever. The best method though is to use a tripod or monopod. I have both but I like to carry the tripod best. If I want to use it as a monopod I just extend only one leg and us it as I would a monopod. I'll add instructions about to how to use these tools later.

Finally the "First" basic thing you need to do is read your manual and learn what all the parts of your camera are for and how to use them. If you understand how your meter works and what white balence is you'll go a long way to getting that shot you want when the light is wierd and you are wondering why your pictures are all dark or yellow instead of like what you saw on the monitor or in the viewfinder.

I'll expand on all these topics in the coming weeks and months so you'll want to check back and see what I've added from time to time.