Photography Sandwich

No Comments

Different breads, various vegetables, a number of cheeses, an assortment of meats and a selection of dressings. There are many ways to combine these ingredients to produce a sandwich. And each sandwich would taste quite different.

Different ideas, various lenses, a number of camera angles, an assortment of lighting styles and a selection of editing techniques. There are many ways to combine these ingredients to produce a photo. And each photo would look quite different.

Just as every restaurant has a different recipe for common foods such as a club sandwich or a grilled cheese, every photographer has a different recipe for common corporate photography services such as a business headshot or a product shot.

While some customers may shop only for the cheapest sandwich, most people will prefer to order a good-tasting sandwich. Similarly some people may shop for the cheapest photographer but others will prefer the photographer who can produce the best pictures.

When looking to hire a professional photographer for your next business project, instead of shopping price, why not shop photography? After all, when the work is done, you’ll be displaying a photograph not a sales receipt showing what you paid.

 

Hello, this is me

No Comments

It should be no surprise to anyone that many celebrities and politicians don’t actually make their own tweets on Twitter. They either have an assistant, an employee, a small staff, or a PR company, who write and send each message.

It might come as a surprise to some that not every “selfie” posted online is actually a self-portrait taken by that person. A new(?) trend is having someone else shoot one’s “self-portrait” as this provides for more picture possibilities. This probably defeats the concept of a selfie.

Some folks will even use a professional photographer to shoot their selfie. But this is now a portrait rather than a selfie, unless you define “selfie” as being a picture of yourself.

If a professional portrait photographer does a self-portrait, is it a selfie or a portrait? Some of Yousuf Karsh’s most well-known portraits are self-portraits (also here, here and here).

Continue reading →

Press releases need a good story to tell

No Comments

Years ago when I worked at a daily newspaper, the photo editor would each morning sort through the pile of press releases on his desk. On busy days, he would simply throw all of them in the garbage without reading any.

“Sorry folks, we’ve got real news today,” he would say as he pushed all the press releases into the trash.

On slow news days, he would look through the press releases and summarize the bad ones as: “Help me make more money,” “Help me sell more crap,” or “Give me some free advertising.”

“Don’t these people know we’re a newspaper? Where’s the news?” he would say as he dumped the rejected press releases into the garbage.
Continue reading →

Corporate art and copyright

6 Comments

A recent magazine assignment had me photographing in a Toronto law firm’s office. The reception area, conference rooms and hallways looked more like an art gallery than an office. It’s become common for corporate offices to be decorated with original artwork.

When hired to shoot an executive portrait, a corporate photographer might be tempted to photograph the person in front of a piece of office artwork because it adds a point of interest. But beware of copyright issues.

(I’m not a lawyer so don’t believe anything you read here . . . )
Continue reading →

Artist Resale Rights

2 Comments

If a Canadian photographer sells a print to someone, that person can resell the print any time they want, for any price. The photographer has no say in the matter and does not get any portion of the proceeds. The Canadian Copyright Act currently does not include the right of resale nor a droit de suite. However these rights can be reserved by contract.

Private Member’s Bill C-516 (Artist’s Resale Right Act), a proposed amendment to the Copyright Act, is still before Parliament. It proposes “a right to a [5%] resale royalty on any sale of the work for five hundred dollars or more that is subsequent to the first transfer of ownership by the author.”

The proposed Act would apply to public resales by art dealers, museums, art auction houses and art galleries, but not to private sales between individuals.

Some countries, art dealers and auction houses already recognize an artist’s resale right.

But sadly, unlike other countries’ laws and the USA’s proposed ART Act, Canada’s Bill C-516 excludes photography.

 

Please check the date of this article because it contains information that may become out of date. Tax regulations, sales tax rules, copyright laws and privacy laws can change from time to time. Always check with proper government sources for up-to-date information.

 

For old time’s sake

No Comments

Last week, I photographed a small conference involving a number of mayors, several municipal, provincial and federal government bureaucrats, a few university professors and some company presidents.

As is my routine, I made sure every finished picture had an embedded photo caption which included the name and title of each person in the photo. Fortunately for me, everyone wore a conference name tag which made identification fairly easy.

But several name tags were partially obscured by clothing. No problem! As long as I had a partial name or job title, I could do a Web search to (eventually) find the full information.
Continue reading →

Canadian photographers and spam

No Comments

In a few days, on July 1, 2014, Canada’s new anti-spam law comes into effect. It will probably affect many professional photographers.

Two things to remember: (i) the law is brand new and nothing has been tested in court, and (ii) I’m not a lawyer.

Basically, the law states that a business cannot send a commercial electronic message without having the recipient’s prior consent.

What’s a “commercial electronic message”?
Continue reading →

css.php