batovision

<p>it depends on how much cash you plan to make. if its enough, go hire an attorney and give them seed cash to get Nascar and the photo subject to sign their lives away. that's so you can sue the attorney if anything goes wrong. Otherwise, depending on the state, you're doing about a half dozen violations of state law and maybe a couple of federal laws. Personal use is one thing. Editorial, sure! for cash, commercial sales? sorry kimosabe! FINE ART - well, did you earn cash, if so NO. if its educational/informational, possible..... I still say pay the lawyah if its serious, its a deductible biz expense anyways...... ya have to spend money to make the money. especially the BIG MONEY.<br>

so figure out the level of what you want to do, one print on your wall is one thing, 1000 selling a month thru <a href="http://www.cafepress.com">www.cafepress.com</a> is another.... no one wants your pennies, but MAKE A BUNDLE and see how fast everyone speaks up and finds YOU with their bill plus attorney plus court costs and all that noise.<br>

now, sell it to a magazine as editiorial, then get permission from the mag for reprints.... its a wash.</p>

<p>its a standard operating practice for any city/state/fed to do bids, go register and you'll get RFP's and maybe even business, it might happen. I worked for a city for 24 yrs. HOWEVER, there are guidelines specific to each municipality that state what "purchasing procedure" is used, and for small amounts, its a direct payment to the first vendor they find, then above a certain amount, its a bid for the best price except certain categories like professional engineering and architectual stuff which is best qualified, period, and those folks set their own price. its a chapter in each state's legislation, on the web nowadays. oh - cities have figured out there's something wrong when one of six bids seems to be missing a DIGIT. MAINLY fill out the paperwork correctly and you can get paid. Find out where is the setting for the direct payments and bill below that.<br>

during the bid process, its a secretive thing BUT WHEN THE BIDS ARE OPENED its all now public record, which means YOU CAN REQUEST information on past bids, who was awarded and the awarded amounts. it gives you an idea of how the playing field is....<br>

the background checks for childhood contact, thats part of state law. fairly recently enacted, but sure enforced, so get used to it. oh: some require "drug free workplace" papers, too! then might ask for immigration paperwork from any employees you might have....<br>

Now, what I've seen happen - you find someone that's an existing "consultant" for said "government group", give them your bill, they multiply it by five and get that paid thru their resources, you get your bill paid. I think some people call themselves "lobbyist" that do that. no joke, its in the news on an occasional basis, and funnier than a mob movie script. its how you get paid $100,000 for a fuse. you might need that amount for lawyer and bail, before it gets taken away by a judge as ill gotten gains..... then a tax bill.<br>

lastly - if THE RIGHT big-shot wants to hire you, let it be their issue. they call the dept head and say sweet things like "figure it out or get fired".... its a great country.</p>

 

<p>buy the olympus, its a great cam. do NOT buy panasonic, their service is horrible and will not repair their camera equipment with the "not economic to repair" excuse. I sent my 8000 to the factory and had it back repaired in under ten days..... send a NEW unused cam to panasonic and they refuse to repair nor accept return puchase. vendor refused to accept return, too. I ate $700 for a panasonic right out of the box. the olympus just has a procedure to clean after salt water that involves two hours in fresh water I had not a clue about. the tough 8000 takes images as good as my nikon D80 with a zeiss lens! </p>

 

<p>great stuff, I do in two minutes what's an hour in photoshop. the more severe photos take both. my models LOVE the effect from it. crack is sold two blocks away from the capital, in any country. save the money from crack and spend it on the software, its CHEAP AS HELL ALREADY. and the software lasts longer than the crack, too......</p>

<p>get the book "photographer's market 2009" and sell pics to magazines and newspapers. editorial photos don't need releases.</p>

<p>I whole heartedly reccomend anyone ZEISS as my 1.4/50 does the most realistic colors and hardest focus than anything I've seen on my nikon D80. this is "high end" for DSLR type price range. if you want REAL "high end" get a digital hasselblad, a zeiss lens for that..... so the camera and lens cost more than some houses, the house doesn't get paid to do magazine photography or take photos out of airplane with a parachute, right?</p>

<p>the visual difference between the glass of the zeiss and the nikon are very dramatic.</p>

<p>if you enjoy long hikes with hundreds of pounds, and miss your military backpack, take as much as you can cram into a large backpack. if you want to ENJOY yourself there and its a family vacation as opposed to a location shoot, go light. I went with my nikon D80 and a zeiss 1.4/50 manual focus so I could do existing light photography at night with all the pretty lights. never turned on the flash, even at night! my zeiss prime makes my nikon zoom look almost unhealthy. no lie.</p>

<p>you can do any of several things.....<br>

you can tell her to sue you if she wants, that way she has to come up with cash for lawyer and likely can't afford one......... its a gamble...<br>

you can call an attorney, pay them retainer, they go and talk to the model, settle out of court. <br>

btw, you need to add a paragraph to your release where they also wiave right to final inspection or approval of product, explicitly, so they ain't got dp dang question.... kinda LATE for that last model, use for the next one....<br>

OR you could only use the very very best ones and have the model pick out her favorites, save yourself the trouble of even looking thru them. I have friends tell me their favs from batches of my multitude, and I mostly use that...<br>

besides, there's 100,000 new models turning 18 this minute, why fret over ONE? not worth the time, trouble, agitation, disgust, MUCH LESS cash at a lawyer..... if her photos were worth MILLIONS, it would be another story, but you plan on spending on an attorney to chase HOW MUCH? save the cash and send me half for saving you all that headache....<br>

I by policy will take out of circulation ANY photo a model complains about..... our shoots have hundreds of photos, one is NOT a big deal... too many MORE beautiful ones to haggle about photos and WOMEN ARE NUTS about body parts - my dawtah's all girl rock band does great photos and THEY ALL complain about either: a nose, an arm, an eyelash too small, butt too large, butt too small, legs too short, body too long, neck too thick, neck too think, GET THE IDEA? after a shoot one model told me she hated her whole body so I offered to do audition so she can find HER OWN replacement to walk around and do her work for her..... one web posting later I had four new ones instead of that wonderfully delightfully tormented beauty, as she was VERY beautiful but just had a major complex........ oy vey.....</p>

<p>so, either be a pain and publish something provocative, or be nice and see what it is she likes, it MIGHT be the same as you like..... wow, what a concept!</p>

 

<p>flyer distribution on public property must be licensed thru your municipality and you can get fined for posting them on utility poles and such, in some cities. check the building and zoning department. then, depending on where you live and want to post, you might have to pay for a permit and they have regulations on the size and other facets of your ad, and can be fined if you don't comply to the inch.....</p>

<p>of COURSE, its a "free" country.....</p>

<p>I bought the 50/1.4 and it totally blows away my entire collection of nikon lenses on my D80. I always manual focus, its something left over from 20 yrs with a TLR seagull that had no electricity running thru it ever, so losing autofocus was zero big deal. for portraits, its gorgeous, simple stunning pics it takes....</p>

<p>try a zeiss 50/.14..... what a world of difference! clearer images, tighter focus, if you can handle a manual lens....</p>

<p>the camera ONLY matters after the lens is sufficient for the job.... first figure out if you absolutely MUST have a zoom, a prime is infinitely better. find a REALLY REALLY good used shop like ritz (<a href="http://www.ritzcam.com">www.ritzcam.com</a>) or B&H camera and buy the largest f stop lens your cash can take you to..... an f2.8 would be great.. if the lens isn't "fast" enough, ANY camera has to work that much harder..... then ask yourself, "what is the final usage of these images???" and if its THE WEB, don't bother ever buying another new camera.... if its printing, and small prints, the D50 and a new D99999 model won't still make a discernable difference at equal settings. if its LARGE, Mother-Of-God prints, like the 24x30's I consider a medium size, then the camera expense is worth it.... but for press purposes, the lens is more important and your camera is FINE. I use a stock nikon 18-135 for 80% of my work, but my best work comes from the Zeiss 50/1.4 I use on occasion for some of my models... set it to Shutter Mode, put your speed up to 1/1000, Iso to 1600, and let it fly on a 2.8 lens! it sounds like so much fun I might take up sports photography, the only sports I've done is sorority volleyball fer mah dawtah... </p>

<p>for large ticket items you want to buy from someone certified to exist, be in regular professional sales, factory certified, have humans in this country doing their sales, be "sue-able" and "find-able" for when a empty box shows up on your doorstep. for the savings, the risk and hassles are waaay tooooo much. maybe you get lucky, get a real deal and good equipment.... maybe you're not so lucky.... I shopped around, found B&H has really polite and very helpful near geniuses working with them and they had reasonably good prices and spent the wind..... most camera places TEAR APART and sell individually what comes with the camera manufacturer's package, so buying the manufacturer's NEW product from a certified good place like B&H actually saves in the long run. buy your D90 a Zeiss prime, learn to focus manual. the camera is just the "foot in the door" but don't go crazy. buy a training DVD for it, a couple of books other than the manual. B&H and most of the better places have packages that include a lens for savings off both.... two decent lenses, the kit zoom lens, usually a 15-110 kind of range, plus a 50/1.4 zeiss prime, and you're good for 99.2% of all photography. Ritz camera (<a href="http://www.ritzcam.com">www.ritzcam.com</a>) has exquisite quality used lenses after you have the main two lenses, and any specialty stuff comes after that - lensbaby, pinhole lens, fisheye, etc......<br>

don't get tied down on nickels and dimes, would you buy a cheap scalpel if you were going into surgery???? with a bent handle??? dull edges? discolored? figure it like this, with this camera you MIGHT multiply your investment by a factor of a million.... or likely eat the cost as an expensive hobby.... either should be enjoyable...... the clue: what you DO with your photos..... I like to merch mine - greeting cards, calendars, photobooks, t-shirts and all that: <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/batovisioncards">www.cafepress.com/batovisioncards</a>. I blow some up for art gallery exhibitions, large photos of smallish flowers do amazing well..... my kit repays for itself every month.... and I do low volume sales as I like having a low work load, lets me meditate and play music, do other things. buy the book "photographers market 2009"..... 'nuff said.... concentrate on MAKING money with your photography, not spending it.... one last one: www.aipress.com for the freelance photog's organization who has a magazine dedicated to making cash with a camera. enjoy your reading, new edumacation, lifetime of learning, and may you get to do photos at the Olympics!</p>

 

<p>I do existing light inside dim nightclubs with my D80 and my neekon 2.8 70-200, iso maxed out and speed at 1/60 and get great pics that with some post turn out really incredible. then I also drop in a ZEISS 50/1.4 prime and I think the camera has better sensors than my eyes, my feet now become the zoom, not a big deal and Zeiss glass is much much much cleaner than all my other lenses and then some. my camera lives on manual, always, including focus and exposure and I never look at the meter, so the zeiss is just as usable at the autopilot enabled nikon lenses in my collection of 20+ assortment. "Fast" is just a relative reference as to how much light comes in thru the lens as the aperture becomes larger. also a term as to how quick your money will go on the lens..... rreally fast lens= really fast money spicket on yer wallet!</p>

<p>It depends on what you expect from your camera store.... if its camera sales, forget it! catering to people that buy cameras is one thing.... however if its derivative merch sales, like QUALITY german paper, frames and photo display items, photopens, photo pillow cases, etc. that's different. then if you sell wall space for exhibits to local photogs, like an art gallery does, you have something cooking.... add small concession stand, charging $3 for $.25 bottles of water and all that. and speaking from someone that does derive revenue from photos of strippers (dancing on coffee mugs!), all is possible with planning, patience, perserverence..... make it into a community photo hangout, give space for photogs to exhibit and sell, take a cut ala art galleries.... diversify your sales..... have a hangout corner, like the MAC stores do with their "guru corner"..... its a different business model from the traditional plan for camera stores, but it works...... invest minimum, sell high demand items..... buy used quality stuff and sell that, HOLGA cameras and them kinds of things..... make a million, send my 10% to certified charities.....</p>

<p>The lady that ran the photoshop that developed my photos for years took my first print as a 8x10 monochrom sepia output on good photo paper, put it on her "gallery wall", and sold it for $175. two rolls of 120 later, she'd sold 11 prints more, for higher amounts. don't devalue your photographic art..... find cheap but nice used frames at salvation army type locations, a $1 frame ups the price $20.... then double the intended price, make a sign as that for "regular price" with a "50% off " thing on it.... people like sales.....<br>

sell big and opulent prints for high amounts, next to them have 8x10's for $49 on sale from $99....<br>

oh: solarize and mess up with all the colors on purpose, the prints will sell more and for more, its "higher" art.....</p>

<p>it depends on your subject. I do weekend photos of bridges, flowers, and trees and sell the prints enlarged and transformed artistically as "high art". I buy orchids for photos and sell merchandise from the orchid photos, like large enlargements, posters, etc. see <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/batovisioncards">www.cafepress.com/batovisioncards</a> for the merch line I sell online from assorted photos I've done on weekends. I also do photos for models and dancers, sell merch with them on it thru their performance venues. they make STUPID CASH from their clients from their image merchandise. get the catalog from neil enterprises. I could make a living at the swap meet with a table full of flower enlargement photos. I don't, I have other passions that I spend time on - music, poetry, glamour photography. I hope you have the time to get those photography magazines and read them cover to cover, get instructional DVDs on photography, go to <a href="http://www.aipress.com">www.aipress.com</a> for "money from photography" magazine and inhale all that, and enjoy reading lots of photo books. <a href="http://www.amherstmedia.com">www.amherstmedia.com</a> has THE BEST photo books, I have a shelf of their books. so GOOD LUCK! go take photos of the next beatles or madonna or marilynn monroe.</p>

<p>I have a seagull TLR that I bought for a little more than $100 and I LOVE the thing... then I got a Kiev MF SLR that blew my mind away. the 88.... the lenses are less $$ and larger than my nikon d80's..... the images from either are MUCH better than my dslr.</p>

<p>THE BEST PLACE is hot shots, 305-260-9255, in miami on flagler and 57th ave. they develop my medium format really well and do an outstanding job with my digital prints, have dye sub printers and all that fancy stuff.</p>

<p>first, they had to scan your pic, so its not like a RAW image file, they already got an inferior print...... second, you can't dedicate your time to the few scofflaws and people that likely didn't have a criminal intent, more like dumbness related to copyrights.... third, you can use the situation to learn from it, and offer custom printing for your customers for birthday announcements, holiday cards, party announcements, graduation announcecments, etc, when you take orders from customers for pics, make it an UP FRONT pitch for pics.... 99% of my pics are done with that in mind already, my first pics were a friend's daughters pics for a holiday card to send to family.... the cash is NOT in the pics, its in the derivative merchandising...... my second assignment was image mugs for a friend's strip joint, now THOSE SOLD for a lot.......<br>

if someone were to approach me like they did you, i'd tell them flat out, "yew po' THANG! hell, mah oreegeenal looks much better and that paper's dang nasty....., can I show ya how its done fer a few nickels mo'! hell, yew even scanned at a low resolution, I can see color problems from here, that child ain't supposed to be GREEEN like that, is they?"<br>

but then, I do this for fun and to entertain the hell out of myself, mostly, the cash just SEEMS to follow..... the important thing is to MAINTAIN decorum, smile, have FUN with it, make the most from each experience and figure that its better to have one happy dumbass that spreads YOUR WORK at her expense, as each photo IS AN ADVERTISEMENT for YOUR mind's eye that you use to take photos with, each copy STILL represents you, than it would be to create a ruckus, cause anything negative, or be other than professional and dignified. On occasion in every business you find a few difficult moments and people that test us, it can't be cause for us to think poorly of other clients or stop what we do... DO what you enjoy, photography..... don't let the biz end stale you.....<br>

if you wanted to be a pain, find out if she scanned it at home or at an establishment..... the first situation , any legal recourse would be a waste of YOUR money, for the second, you'd have to go thru the motions of turning them in for copyright infringement, and a few years later you'd settle out of court...... it is worth your time, effort, energy, and passing minutes of life to do that? for onesy twosy, NAH...... if it was a daily rampant thing, yeah.... <br>

so, take advantage of the situation, befriend the lady, GO to that grad party if possible, and use things to their best.... at the end, she's still advertising and promoting YOUR talent with each copy she makes....</p>

 

<p>work you do is WORK FOR HIRE, the work belongs to the person you sign a contract to do the work for.... I refer the lady to the clients, who pay for a delivery of media.</p>