Reality Check

Ask any student in a high school photography class what they want to do when they grow up and at least half of them will tell you shoot for National Geographic. I will admit I was one of those until 1. I saw a video about NatGeo photographers in the jungle that were suffering through the humidity and flocks of mosquitos in their eyes, ears, and nose and 2. I actually picked up a copy and read the last page that had a photo of a charging animal (I think it was a hippo) and the story of how the photographer got the photo. It was shot over his shoulder has he was running away.  He almost died.  Which isn’t a new thing for NatGeo photogs. I bring this up because I stumbled upon this list. It’s pretty amazing and makes you think twice if you want to risk your life for your photos.

 

http://thephotosociety.org/reality-check/

Copyright, licensing, and pricing OH MY!

I think I’ve mentioned before that I went to school for 4 years and got a BA in general art (the semester before I was a freshman was the last semester they offered a BFA in photography so BA in art was the only option).  And now it seems as though I’ve learned  more about photography since I’ve graduated than when I was actually attending classes.  It also could just be because I’ve shot more that I understand things better.  However, looking back I don’t see how I was EVER allowed to graduate without knowing more about photography law and licensing.

So now I’m in the real world trying to get photography jobs and only have a little tiny clue about how to protect myself and my photos.  I did learn that you always need a contract – even for a friend’s or family member’s photos – and that the minute you click the shutter button the photo is copyrighted to you unless stated otherwise (like ‘work for hire’ or something similar). That’s pretty much the extent of my knowledge on how to protect myself.

If you’re like me or you saw ‘work for hire’ and though what the hell does that mean, here is an AMAZING resource I found that simplifies the big points we as photographers should definitely know. And the author is from Atlanta so he gets a few cool points from me 🙂

http://www.diyphotography.net/photo-licensing-look-basics/

Thank you Jeff Guyer.  I will definitely be checking out more of your stuff.

 

Happy learning!

-Lindsay