joeb

I have been getting Stephi Stewart's emails. Mostly to understand

what she is advising. Not much of interest until today. She sent a

link to Bridal Bloopers:

http://www.bridalbloopers.com/

The one bridal blooper photo was submitted by a photographer. I guess

any publicity is good publicity. I would never submit a photo to a

contest like the one Stephi is sponsoring. I see too many issues both

legal and philosophical. Even if you have a model release in your

contract, the "false light" provisions could easily apply to blooper

images. I also don't want to support or have my contact info on one

of her sites.

On the other side of the coin, if you release your images how do you

word the release? Your customer could upload an image. If you still

own the copyright, normally you would have a copyright/courtesy credit

with the image. A release to print images or upload to a personal web

page is all a bride needs to use the images.

If you use a limited release when you sell or give the bride a CD of

images, please post your release.

Get a release and you will be all set. I would not plan on selling these with out one. Ask the car owner. I would offer a matted 11x14 print or tee shirt to the owner.

You might be ok. Why risk it.

My understanding is that the Actors Equity contracts require 24 hours notice for photography.

I shot in a local theater. Either from the balcony or rear of the theater (300 seat). I use a 80-200 2.8L on a 1.6 crop DSLR at ISO 800 and F2.8-F4 and no flash. Shutter speed ranges from under 1/50 to 1/250. The 200 mm will isolate one or two actors. The lighting at the edge of the stage can make wide shots difficult. You either blow out the middle of the stage or have a very dark edge of the stage.<div></div>

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#cr

Above is a link to the text I posted. Lots of info on copyrights if you can wade though it all. The copyright starts as soon as you record the image. The copyright may not have any value. You may need a release from a painter to sell an image of his painting. Your copyright is superceeded by his.

Museum's limit photography because they want to control images made of their art. If the work was created before 1923, you could take a photo of the work and sell it. You would own a copyright to your image. The museum may own the art and a copyright to reproductions they have comissioned but, they do not own the copyright to an original work produced before 1923.

The school may have a proposal from one of the bigger players in the school market.

The studio may be offering this service free to the school. Worth asking what prompted the question. Setting up a workflow to merge images, variable text / barcodes and fixed text is not trivial.

You do not have to register copyright immediately. Within 3 months of publication will preserve all your rights in the US.

If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner.

If you need fast turn arround, .JPG's may be needed. I shoot raw also. Outside the camera does a good enough job with most images like you have. With challenging lighting raw would be a must.

Did you pay the model? Was the shoot TFP or TFCD(time for prints/time for CD)? If TFP/TFCD I would tell the agent "I will be distroying the images if we can not come to an agreement. I will inform the other models that ___ has not released the images and any use of the images with ___ in them could make them the subject of a law suit. I will consider any use of these images copyright infringment. Please tell the model." If you paid the model or the agency and don't get a release, you could file a small claims suit.

I would not sign away any rights to the agency. I think the agent wants this or payment from you.

I saw mention of limit to marked trails on the web site. I thought the marked trails mention was focused on the alpine region. I don't remember boardwalks in late 60's / early 70's when I visited the pond with my boyscout troop. Even back then I remember stories of tree'd visitors to the pond when a bull or mother with calf took offence. I remember a lot of scrub and alder like growth with open areas between. You could get pretty close if you wanted. I guess the restrictions are better then seeing someone mauled by a moose.

The website also mentioned only 224 vehicle parking spaces are available in the whole park and 48 in Roaring Brook. Are these limits shared with the camping use or are these day use spots?

Not that the two Sigma lenses represent overwelming third party support but the second paragraph may need a change from "lack" to "limited selection".

http://www.adorama.com/SG185035OM.html

http://www.adorama.com/SG18125OM.html

No info on the "state of the Moose" or foliage in Baxter. In Western Maine and the White Mountains isolated trees are turning. In an other week or two we might be at pre-peak in this area. I did find the following:

No special permits or authorization is required for still photographers, painters, writers or other artists, but please be aware of all Park rules and regulations. Please feel free to contact the Park Director or Park Information/Education division for assistance with special projects.

an individual/organization intends to possibly produce products for sale as a result of visiting the Park, they are defined as commercial.

To this end, we ask commercial users to be thoughtful in their advertising and realize that increasing visitation to the Park will only lead to limiting use further. If possible, references to Baxter State Park and specific locations (such as Sandy Stream Pond) should be avoided and generic terms (?northern Maine wilderness, secluded forests, pristine wildlife areas?) used instead. Thank you for your assistance as we try to comply with Percival Baxter?s wishes for this unique area.

Only one Photograapher is listed as a Commercial User.

http://www.baxterstateparkauthority.com/other%20resources/index.html

I have used the Canon Camera Museum to look up info in the past. I like this format with comparison lists generated. I compared the 80-200L I own and the 70-200 F2.8L that replaced it. I found some of the differences interesting.

I then compared the museum's info with yours. The museum has the intro price in Japan and depth of field charts that are not in your database. Neither the intro price nor the charts would be something I would try to find. On the other hand info on hoods and tripod collars, which are in your database, are things I would look up.

I am impressed. Thanks.

Is a late payment fee in the contract? Payment was in the contract, right? Yes, they did break the contract. If you wanted a late fee or any other penalty you needed to spell it out in the contract. I would not sign a contact that had late fees and other penalties beyond the retainer / deposit. Do your competitors charge a late fee? You need to make the retainer large enough to be ok if the wedding is canceled.

A contract requires balance. A retainer balances out the chance the wedding is called off or date changed. My understanding is you can make a new contract but can not unilatteraly change a contract. I am not a lawyer nor do I play one ...

http://alcancompositesusa.com/product_detail.html?uid=gd40c8c3818a3bf

You may want to look at Sintra. Most sign shops can get it. Shipping is expensive for 4x8 sheets. Most plastics distributers stock some of the 10 colors. The material has plastic sheets with a color matched foam core. More stable than normal foam core.

Used 80-200L. Produced September 1989 - March 1995.

or

EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM just introduced.

The 80-200 will get you the speed and image quality of the 70-200 F2.8L that replaced it. The 75-300 or 70-300 with IS might be better handheld. Even a monopod would help. Is he shooting at 300 mm now? Could he shoot at 100 mm or 200 mm and crop the image?

I have not upgraded. I use CS on an older PC. I too thought there was a speed hit in the upgrade. I found this site

http://www.driverheavendownloads.net/photoshop/index.php

with benchmarks of both CS1 and CS2 on various platforms. I came to the conclusion that I need a faster computer.

The CS2 results for the operations tested are faster. The benchmark only tests the processor and memory. It does not test any other areas. Loading and saving images, the set up of program, scratch, and image areas all effect how I use photoshop. The results favor Intel processors. In the real world you may have multiple programs loaded or larger images and the i/o processes have a major impact on the speed of photoshop. I think this benchmark accurately reflects the processor/memory speed of the systems tested.

I shot my first wedding Saturday. My back up flash batteries were

dead. I need to add a large pack disposable AA's. I had a couple of

hot lights with me as back up. I used them for the interiors. 95% of

the shots were outdoors.

Here's a shot from the wedding.<div></div>

If used, keep an eye out for a 80-200L. I have one and it is giving me the "L" disease. Watch out or you may catch it too. My other zooms pale in comparison.

The issue with this lens is that Canon no longer has parts to support repairs. The price has been rising in the past year since I bought mine. You should be able to find one for less than $800. I paid $560 without the tripod collar.

I too think your prices are too low. The Kodak hosting for your event shots is not benefiting you. I use a third party to host and sell prints of my event photos. Here are some photos I uploaded for an actor I photographed at a Deertrees Theater performance:

http://www.fototime.com/inv/F93C38AD67A7128

The prices I set are reasonable and I get some revenue on these prints. Many people will order prints from a service like this even if they have a cd. If you are going to the trouble of uploading images, give yourself the opertunity to benefit.

The sevice I use charges $25/yr per 500 MB. So, that would be your only out of pocket expense. There are other sites that will handle all the details. Check them out.

Stay away from Fryeburg, Maine Oct 2nd-9th if you don't like traffic.

http://www.fryeburgfair.com/

The fair attracts 15,000-30,000 paid attendence each day. I've seen traffic backed up a mile or 2 into NH on 302. Actually it's a great fair. Tuesday - Thursday are the least crowded days. Monday is woodsman's day with contests. Plunty of good photo ops if you can avoid the traffic. Since you received a recomendation for the Kancamagus, I figured a heads up might help.

I would ask the last 4 artists how they did. It could be a great deal.

Here is an inexpensive Gallery for comparision:

The local coop gallery in my area sells $100K+ in art/year. The fees for exhibiting artists are membership in the guild $25/yr, Gallery space $25/month, 15% commission. You also have to work approximately 80 hours/year. They spend $10K in advertizing/year. They have 62 spaces in the Gallery. Wall spaces are 6'x7'.

http://foliage.visitnh.gov/index-flash.html

NH foliage map

Beaver Brook Falls, Colebrook, NH

http://docs.unh.edu/NH/dxvl34nw.jpg

Early October may be a little late. I found the location on the way to Moose Alley in Pittsburg, NH. You also have Dixville Notch in NH and Grafton Notch in Maine close by. Both notches have falls worth visiting. If you can time it for pre-peak or peak after a rainy day the color and water should be great. Current water flows are low.

Here is a link to old topos for NE/NY:

http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/nhtopos.htm<div></div>

The Olympus Evolt E-300 may be a dead end. The Camera uses a smaller sensor then the rest of the DSLRs. In the digital world quality is related to size and generation of the sensor. Generally the newer and larger sensors give better results. The Olympus only uses 4/3 format lenses. The Canon, Nikon, and others use both small format and full frame lenses. A full frame macro lens for one of the other systems is much more likely to be usable 10-20 years from now.

None of the DSLR's have in camera editing thst you mention. You will need to do this with a computer. You can either use the software bundled with the camera, your operating system, or buy PS Elements (or any under $100 package) to crop and resize. If price is an issue buy a used DSLR and a macro lens.

I find it is easyier to shoot raw and do white balance on the computer. Raw is the equivilent to film negatives in traditional photography.

You are looking for a product line Kodak has discontinued. i looked on B&H and still see new models for $350 and up. When the current inventory is exhausted, supply and demand will take over.

Some of these older projectors were built to a higher quality standard. The price today has nothing to do with the price 20-30 years ago. If demand for the older projectors is higher than supply the price will rise.

If you don't like the price for a used one buy a new one. . . While you can.