Photographer's Rights: One More Time

I have written previously about issues involving the rights of photographers. Those posts can be seen here and here.

Well, it can always get worse. Check out this poster:




I am at least pleased to say that this was not the work of the USA.....though it certainly could well have been. Nope, this one is from England.

Want the full story?

Check it out on Carol Wright's Photo Attorney blog......the story is here.

The most absurd part of it is that, as Attorney Wright points out, ".......in days where most everyone has a cell phone camera, it's ironic that the larger your camera, the more likely that you'll be hassled. Terrorists are prone to be more discreet."

I am all for stopping terrorists, but this has to be about the most ineffective method around and simply encourages others others to, once again, violate the rights that one has to simply make photographs!

Stone Abstracts By Mark Graf

For the last month or two, fellow blogger and photographer Mark Graf has intermittently written in his blog about photographing rock samples, particularly Pietersite, as part of his 'Inspired By Stone' project. Ever since seeing the images he has posted as part of this project I have simply been mesmerized by them as well. I am equally amazed by the concept of how many beautiful compositions can be found within just a few square inches. Mark talks a bit about how he made the photographs here. I think I might have to give this a try myself.

Pietersite Macro
Copywrite Mark Graf
From His Blog "Notes From The Woods"

Have a look at his rock, shell, and wood abstract gallery here. The images are truly beautiful and open up a world that few take a close enough look at.

Insects

About a week ago, I wrote a post about bird photography and mentioned that it is not the type of photography I usually do, but offered up a picture or two anyway. Along the same theme of photographic sub-specialties that I don't frequently undertake is insect photography. In a way, it is similar to bird photography in that those that devote a good portion of their time to photographing insects can come up with the most amazing images.......when you view them it can feel like you are entering a new and surreal universe. Though this image is far from generating that type of feel, it is one that I have liked ever since I took it on a workshop with John and Barbara Gerlach several years ago.

Crab Spider
Copyright Howard Grill

One of the reasons that I like the image is that it demonstrates some of the concepts of composition that I would typically apply to much larger subjects. I like the way the markings on the body of the spider echo the color of the flower as well as the way the two portions of the flower on the left and right droop downwards, echoing the angle of the markings on the spider's body. On a larger scale, I liked the gentle diagonal made by the whole flower across the frame, instead of its being straight up and down.

I find it interesting that the qualities that contribute to making successful images can generally be applied to most subjects.

Focus Magazine Collectors Edition

One of the photography magazines that I have been reading regularly is Focus Magazine. It is, in my opinion, an excellent and very worthwhile publication. I am writing about it now, however, because I wanted to call attention to a very special issue that I just finished reading and is currently available at news stands. Well, actually, I have never seen one at a news stand per se, and while I have a subscription, I do know that it can be found at Barnes and Noble.

What is so special about this issue? This month, the editors have grouped together a large number of past interviews with various photographers from older issues and reprinted them together in one location. There are interviews here with some of my favorites including Michael Kenna, Paul Caponigro, George Tice, and an interview with Arnold Newman that took place just prior to his recent death.

Definitely a worthwhile read!

Bird Photography

I am constantly amazed at the level of devotion as well as the exquisite results that dedicated bird photographers like Arthur Morris are able to attain. Such photography is truly a sub-specialty and, like most areas of expertise, the casual dabbler simply can't expect similar results. Some might argue that this is because of the specialized and expensive equipment that is needed. However, it goes well beyond equipment. It requires the interest, the study, and ultimately the love of the subject and the genre to achieve the type of level of excellence that Mr. Morris has attained.

With that said, during my trip to Sanibel Island in December, I couldn't help but try to take a few shots of the herons that would land outside our condo in the evenings. I knew these hand held shots wouldn't be perfect......but they were fun to take!

Little Blue Heron Silhouette
Copyright Howard Grill

Little Blue Heron Portrait
Copyright Howard Grill

Overlooking Special Opportunities

A recent experience made me realize how easy it is to overlook special photographic opportunities that may exist right in ones own backyard.

For 17 years I have been living a mere 10-15 minute walk from Phipps Conservatory, which a wonderful botanical garden. Needless to say, I have often photographed the outdoor gardens, but never the indoor ones because of the much lower light levels. Little did I know that if you are a member (which I am) you can bring a tripod inside from 9:30 - 11:00AM on Sundays. Thanks to Bob Egan, whose wonderful show "In Search Of Color" is still on display at Phipps, for letting me know about this member benefit.

Two Tulip Abstract - Indoors At Phipps
Copyright Howard Grill

I was able to bring my tripod in two weeks ago and am signed up for this Sunday once again.

I guess the lesson is that if there is someplace nearby your home that would be interesting to photograph, but there seems to be a limitation to doing do......just ask and maybe you will get lucky. Had I asked about photographing Phipps years ago there would have been many cold winter mornings spent photographing flowers and plants! It does make the idea of next winter more palatable though.

Canna Lily - From Past Phipps Excursions
Copyright Howard Grill

Unfurling Spring Growth - From Past Phipps Excursions
Copyright Howard Grill

A Dirty Word: Wrap Up

Please feel free to check out Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this series.

After starting this experiment with micro-stock, here are some of my 'wrap up' thoughts.

Cons:

I don't think there is anyone that would say that the fees that photographers earn are adequate. Nonetheless, the micro-stock industry is surely not going away. Even the 'big boys' like Corbis and Alamy have figured this out, with Corbis recently starting their own micro-stock portal called Snap Village and Alamy now offering royalty free images on their site as well. Gone are the days when micro-stock sites offered dull, technically poor images taken with a point and shoot camera (if there ever were such days). The images accepted at this point in time are technically excellent (if not art...but then again, they are usually not meant to be art) and often contributed by 'professional' photographers. No longer can one really feel that they are contributing to the 'downfall' of photography by joining, as the mass effect, at this point, with so many images and photographers involved is really self sustaining.....it will go on no matter how many more people choose not to participate. In essence, the industry is an outgrowth of the 'digital revolution'. As I have seen in my own profession, once a 'critical mass' is reached, trying to control a phenomena by not participating becomes an exercise in futility.....so the issue is assessing how one might glean benefits (and determine if there are enough benefits) if they were to participate.

Time. It does take time to prepare images and then to keyword and upload them.

You don't find out exactly if and how your images are used.....there is a loss of control.

It isn't necessarily art. The buyer isn't purchasing your images as 'art'.


PROs (as they apply to me):

You force yourself to process images that have just been laying around for a while. These are mainly images that I was interested in taking, but was not planning to make fine art prints from....and therefore they just lay on the hard drive in RAW format. Now there is a reason to 'develop' them. There are actually one or two that I have decided to print since processing and seeing them in the finished state. Some of the shots will end up on my website.

I hate to admit it, but it is 'fun' when your image is downloaded.

There is some revenue being generated from images that otherwise would have just sat on the hard drive. Exactly how much revenue remains to be seen from this ongoing experiment. Time will tell wether it is 'worth it' or not.

If you aren't a big winter fan, it does make photographing objects around the house and indoors a bit more interesting.

The experiment is unfinished. I am curious as to the thoughts of others who may have given micro-stock consideration. If you tried it, what do you think.......if not, why not?

A Dirty Word, Part 5

Please feel free to have a look at Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this series.

So I am sure people are interested in knowing exactly how much are we talking about in terms of sales. Clearly, the amount one can make is dependent upon how much time and effort they are willing to put into it. Let's just say there are not many people who make a living doing micro-stock, but there are many people who use it as an adjunct to their earnings, particularly if they are a professional photographer who has many images from photo shoots that they are not going to otherwise use.

But, of course, that isn't really the question at hand. The question is how much can someone like me (or you) make? Let's assume that you have a regular day job, that you enjoy photography and try to go out to photograph at least once every other week, and that you have a number of images already that you never thought about trying to sell via micro-stock. Further, lets assume that you particularly enjoy nature photography, that your primary interest is in making fine art photographs, but that during the winter months you might toy with taking shots of some interesting objects when it really is freezing cold outside. That is me in a nutshell (is it you?).......so how much?

Well, part of it depends on how many images you have available at any given agency and how long they have been out there for. In some instances and at some agencies it depends on how frequently you upload, in terms of gaining exposure. So, after all that, I will give you my numbers, with the following caveats. The first is that I have only tried this as an experiment for two months. The second is that start up is slow, as you must get accepted, upload, and have your images approved. The approval process can take anywhere from less than 24 hours to 1-2 weeks depending on the agency. By the end of the first month, I only had about 15 images live and online. At the end of the second month I had about 50 live.

My earnings for the first month was $37.00 and for the second month it was $78.93, for a two month total of $115.93.

It took some work to get the images up, for sure. Besides spotting them, quick processing, and converting to jpg there was also the process of adding keywords and uploading.

It is a little uncertain to me at this point, after only two months, and with the caveats above as to what the likely potential is given time constraints etc. Will this month's revenue double again, as it did from the first to the second month? I don't know. But I have no problem letting you know once the results are in!

One benefit that I can see is that I have many images that I probably would still be thinking about processing that are now actually 'developed', at least to the point of being able to show on the computer even if not optimized for printing.

I will do a brief wrap up of some thoughts regarding my micro-stock experience for the next post and then move on to something totally different.