PhotoShelter

This week one photographer spends some quality time with the man who plans to publicly burn the Koran, and another spends time at a festival of testicles (seriously.) We also take a look at the rehab efforts for oil-soaked birds, a series of Tea Party portraits, and a collection of beautiful documentary work made in Panama.

Shout-Outs are a regular Friday thing, and you can be part of it too. Send us suggestions! If we think it's worth shouting about, it will show up here in the blog on a Friday. To submit something, scroll to the bottom to see how.

MAKING A BURNING STATEMENT
Chip Litherland, a photographer based in Sarasota, Florida, shot a series of images recently of Pastor Terry Jones, who is planning the controversial act of burning the Koran on September 11th. The images were shot for an assignment for the New York Times. Great stuff.
 
Pastor Terry Jones | The Man Planning on Burning the Koran on Sept. 11th - Images by Chip Litherland

Photographers who use prominent watermarks are losing business. Image theft is a valid concern for a professional, who makes their living based on receiving money for the use of their creative works, but I think watermarks do harm to a photographer's business for a variety of reasons.

First, in our survey of professional photo buyers, an overwhelming majority of them stated that an image with a prominent watermark is less likely to be licensed than an image without any watermark at all.

Second, images that are heavily watermarked are less likely to be shared by others via social networks. For example, let's consider those photographers who use the embedded slideshow gallery option available through PhotoShelter. These are great little social media tools that allow other people to post your images on other websites - all while always maintaining a link back to your site. (Also known as "going viral.")

If the photographer places a prominent watermark on top of the images, people will be less likely to pass it on to others, or to post it to their blog, or share it.

Third, the presence of a prominent watermark sends a subtle signal to a photo buyer that you might be a difficult person to work with. That you're more concerned with someone using your images without permission than you are about the images themselves. Some people may actually shy away from contacting you for this very reason.

I think it's important to build excitement about your images, and that's really difficult to do if you've got watermarks all over them.

If you don't watermark your images, will they be used elsewhere without your permission? Most likely, yes. But is that really a problem - or is it an opportunity?

Image security and copyright protection are perennial hot topics. As online content sharing continues to evolve photographers face new opportunities, and challenges, for striking the right balance between promoting and protecting their images online.

There are a lot of options for protecting your images online, but none that comes with a guarantee.  In the end it comes down to understanding your rights and finding the level of security you are personally comfortable with.

We asked Carolyn Wright, The Photo Attorney to share some tips on keeping your images safe as they travel across the web.  She went a step further and showed us some useful things photographers can do to increase the likelihood of recovering what you are owed if your image copyrights are infringed upon.

Carolyn's tips offer ways to add some piece of mind to your online image sharing.

Copyright Carolyn E. Wright, Esq.
www.photoattorney.com
All Rights Reserved

It's almost a must now for photographers to post their images online.  With the advantages of a broader and more accessible market, the Internet also has the disadvantage that it's much easier for others to steal your work.  But there are things you can do to protect your photos.

1.  Register your copyrights to your photos.*  When a photo is not registered with the U.S. Copyright Office prior to the infringement (or within three months of the first publication of the photo), a copyright owner may recover only "actual damages" for the infringement (pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 504 (b)), instead of statutory damages.  Courts usually calculate actual damages based on your normal license fees and/or industry standard licensing fees.  You also may recover the profits the infringer made from the infringement if they aren't too speculative.  Unfortunately, actual damages usually don't amount to much so that attorneys will not take your infringement case on a contingency basis. 

People are always asking me for the names of web designers who I trust, and to be honest, finding a good web designer is not easy. There's no shortage of them out there, though. Search "web designer" in Google and you'll soon be overwhelmed with choices from designers with incredible looking websites and work samples from all over the globe.

But how can you read between the lines and find one that will be right for you?

With that in mind, I've decided to share the 5 things I look for when evaluating a web designer. Quite simply, I look at their work and evaluate them based on their past performance, not solely on what they say about themselves on their website.

If you're in the market for a web designer that really "gets it" when it comes to photography, I hope you find this list helpful.

This week I get to dip into my still very vivid memories of the 80's by including a reference to MCHammer. A cool new emerging photojournalist gallery show is about to open, a few nice website expansion ideas you can steal, a whole bunch of Superheros all in one room, and more make up this week's Shout-Outs.

Shout-Outs are a regular Friday thing, and you can be part of it too. Send us suggestions! If we think it's worth shouting about, it will show up here in the blog on a Friday. To submit something, scroll to the bottom to see how.

CAN'T TOUCH THIS, SO TWEET IT INSTEAD
Rapper MC Hammer used the "Tweet This" button on a gallery of photos shot by Billy Suratt. Hammer tweeted "Check out this cool photo on @photoshelter" to his 1.9 million followers.

He liked the images so much, he kept on sending out links. Here's the transcript:

@MCHammer Check out this cool photo on @photoshelter http://bit.ly/bjggMr

@MCHammer Great photo !!! @photoshelter http://apexmediawire.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/G0000z5aPJq9seWg/I0000mK1fkhSsk5o/1

@MCHammer Two dancers in the air !!! @photoshelter http://bit.ly/94Q6PK

@MCHammer SOUL Man @photoshelter http://bit.ly/dy6bvC

Hammer rose to fame in the late 1980s with hits such as "U Can't Touch This," has won three Grammy Awards and was the first hip hop artist to have an album reach certified diamond status. He performed during the Kentucky State Fair on Friday, Aug. 20, 2010 at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky and photographer Billy Suratt of Apex MediaWire was there.

Hard to believe its been a full year already since we sponsored and hosted the first Magnum Expression Photography Award.  Procrastinators beware, the deadline for submitting your photos for consideration in the 2010 award judging is rapidly approaching.  You have one week left.  If you have a knack for really strong documentary photography, you don't want to miss this chance to win $10,000 among other incredible prizes.   



The Award was established by Magnum Photos and HP with the goal of raising awareness and inspiring change through projects using photography as an expressive medium. Its mission is to discover and illuminate compelling documentary photography.  The Award encourages photographers worldwide to share their documentary projects.  There are no limitations on the subject matter.  The judges will be looking for compelling projects that go beyond the surface level to provide fresh and engaging perspectives on a chosen subject.

A panel of four Magnum photographers -- Jim Goldberg, Martin Parr, Trent Parke, and Mark Power -- and one HP Large Format Printing representative will select 20 finalists. One chosen winner will receive a $10,000 grant to support the continuation of his/her work, HP's Large Format Designjet Z3200 Photo printer for fine art printing, archival pigment inks, fine art paper and additional prizes from contributing partners Blurb and PhotoShelter. Two honorable mentions and the remaining 17 finalists will also receive awards to support and encourage their photographic work. Participation is at no cost and photographers worldwide are encouraged to submit.

We love supporting projects like this, which give us a chance to welcome new photographers into the PhotoShelter community, as well as gives our members a chance to get their work recognized. 

Get more details on submitting your photos for the Expression Award here:
http://expression.magnumphotos.com/

If you already have a PhotoShelter account set up, you'll need to access your account and submit images here:
http://www.photoshelter.com/mem/forum/magnum

Good luck!

If you're a huge hoops fan, over 30, and have $15,000 to spare, the Michael Jordan Flight School might be for you. If you're a huge hoops fan, are over 30, and don't have $15,000 to spare, then you might want to be Gary Bogdon's friend.

You might know Gary from his work with Sports Illustrated like his cover of Tim Tebow. A few years ago, when we were chatting, Gary mentioned that he was the official photographer for the MJ Flight School. And two weeks ago, Gary called me up and invited me to be his guest in Las Vegas to witness the camp for myself.

I don't consider myself to be particularly impulsive, but I like to hit the tables, and I sure like basketball, so I figured "what the heck." A few minutes later, I bought a ticket to Vegas to rub shoulders with Air Jordan.

Before you yell "junket" at the top of your lungs, let's consider the business of photography for a moment. Gary was a former Miami Herald staffer who hobnobbed it with the likes of Bill Frakes and Brian Smith back in the day. But several years ago, he decided to pull the trigger and go freelance, and like all smart freelancers, he splits his work between editorial and commercial work. And a key to his on-going success is his constant desire to diversify the type of work that he does, and the Flight School is no exception.

When I am not busy working on PhotoShelter things, I am usually busy practicing my other hobby: hitting the tequila bottles.

My wife and I run a tequila blog, and we've been temporarily living in Mexico for the past 4 months so we can get closer to the industry - to learn as much as we can, strengthen our ties, and develop unique content for our blog.

In July, were invited to attend the Mayahuel Awards, which is like the Academy Awards for the tequila industry, run by the Mexican Academy of Tequila Tasters. Some very influential people in the tequila world were present, and one very smart photographer was using it as a fantastic marketing opportunity.

Ben Olivares is a Guadalajara-based a freelance photographer who has made the tequila industry his specialty. He shoots images of agave plants (which are used to make tequila), agave fields, and the tequila production process.

Ben Olivares has made the tequila agave landscape his specialty. This image of spider in an agave field shows the very iconic Tequila volcano in the background.

His images were printed large and were hanging on the walls, and each attendee received several free photo postcards and a wall calendar filled with his pictures. All of these items contained his branding and website address, and people were snapping them up like crazy.

It was immediately obvious to me that he successfully dominated the tequila photo niche - and it didn't take very long.

How did he do it? His process for successfully conquering his chosen niche is not some special secret that only he knows. I met with Ben in his home last week, and we talked all about this. He followed a recipe that all "Master Marketers" do.

Ben happens to live right smack in the middle of the tequila region of the world. He grew up with agave plants and tequila surrounding him - yet it wasn't until later that he realized it was a viable photography niche.

"I was so close to it, I didn't even see it," he said.

Photographic niches are everywhere, although sometimes they can be difficult to spot. But once you find one, how do you go about successfully marketing yourself into that niche?

Based on my conversation with Ben (see the video below), and other marketing-savvy photographers like him, I put together a list that contains 6 steps that anyone can follow.

This week one photographer turns old bikes into beautiful pictures, and other has a photo contest that's not a photo contest - and her mom is a judge. A greasy world record is set and documented by another photog, several others declare their inspirations, and - can you believe it - Halloween is coming!

Shout-Outs are a regular Friday thing, and you can be part of it too. Send us suggestions! If we think it's worth shouting about, it will show up here in the blog on a Friday. To submit something, scroll to the bottom to see how.

BIKES AS FURNITURE
Andy Gregg has a series of images that show recycled bicycle parts being used to make really cool-looking furniture. The furniture looks great, but his images are even nicer. That's a double compliment - considering he made both the photos AND the furniture.
 
Bike Furniture Design - Images by Andy Gregg

Gregg also runs the website, bikefurniture.com, where he accepts bike part donations (re-recycled!) and sells the finished results.

"What types of pictures are people selling through PhotoShelter?"

I get this question all the time, and my answer usually frustrates the person who asks.

"It depends on the photographer," I always say.

The truth is, there is no easy answer to this question. Photographers are all very different - the way they shoot, the way they market and promote themselves, the products and services they sell, and their pricing structure - are different for each individual.

In an attempt to find a less frustrating answer to this question, I emailed 26 random PhotoShelter members who had made at least 1 sale since Jan 1, 2010.

My question: Tell me the story of your first-ever PhotoShelter image sale.

Of those 26 photographers, 11 responded with useful information, 2 of them said they weren't interested in sharing their secrets, 4 mailboxes were "currently full" and the email bounced back to me, and 9 didn't respond at all.

The 11 brave photographers who decided to share their experiences are: Karim Sahai ; Dean McCartney; Meridith Kohut; Norm Yip; Warren Diggles; Jerry and Marcy Monkman; Paul Sharpe; Neil Wade; Bronson Dorsey; Tyson V. Rininger; and Aaron Reed.

Their answers show that photographers are using PhotoShelter in many different ways, to market and sell many different types of products and services.