Privacy and Model Releases

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A ridiculously long, meandering post but first, the disclaimer:

I’m not a lawyer and one look at my bank account will confirm that. You’d be foolish to take my advice without further thought. Although laws are written in black and white, they are anything but. No matter what the situation, there will always be a lawyer who will argue the opposite. Remember that civil laws can vary from province to province.

The short version of this post: Do you need a model release? Yes, no, maybe.

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Privacy laws and model releases go hand in hand. The federal government and most provinces have privacy laws.
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Bureaucratic Red Tape

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From shooting assignments at four large companies over the past three weeks:

• For an editorial portrait of an executive, that executive’s telecom company required every e-mail to be cc’d to the following people:

– the photo subject’s executive assistant

– the executive assistant’s assistant

– the director of national marketing and communications

– the communications senior manager

– the public relations senior manager

– legal affairs

– the social media manager

– an outside public relations and marketing agency

– building management

– building security

 

• Another corporate client had to add me to its vendor list. To do this, the company sent four documents for me to complete. One of these documents was five pages long. The documents were then sent to three people at two sister companies in two countries.
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Braking for photography

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Have you been shopping for car tires recently?

The cost of new tires for my car, here in Toronto, ranges from $80 to $220 each. The higher priced tire is almost triple that of the cheaper tire. What’s the difference between the two?

The more expensive tire is made better, handles better and lasts longer. Another key difference is that more expensive tires stop quicker than cheaper tires. Better quality tires have, by design, better braking performance.

Higher priced photography also has, by design, better braking performance. High quality photography will stop people’s wandering eyes faster and get their attention quicker. Getting attention for your business is the goal of corporate photography.

If potential customers are speeding through your web site, zipping past your newspaper or magazine advertisements, or not bothering to slow down to read your content, then you might need to improve the braking performance of your marketing materials by using better photography.

 

Photography Sandwich

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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

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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).

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Press releases need a good story to tell

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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.
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Corporate art and copyright

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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 . . . )
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