TIPS60 - Handling clients within your old and new paradigms

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here a few thoughts about paradigms for old clients verses your new clientele that you might be dealing with. I'm John Harrington. In a situation where you're raising your rates, you're increasing how you charge for the work that you are providing, dealing with contracts in a different way, however you are changing your business model if it's a substantial change, all of your existing clients may actually not react very well to it. They may object to increased pricing or what have you. So the important thing to do as you're evolving in a new business model is to leave your existing clients in the old paradigm the all the way of doing business. That will help you pay your bills and continue to pay your bills. As you evolve into a new business model then your business model could be more expensive and your old clients may not understand. But, as the phone rings with new clients, providing them with your newer rate structure, you're more sustainable rate structure, is really the way to evolve from one business model to a better and newer business model.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - The real value of accepting credit cards from your clients

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here are a few thoughts on the value taking credit cards. I'm John Harrington. We take credit cards from our clients because it makes their lives easier. It also allows for us to do business with certain companies. Some government contracts require a triple bid process unless the charge is on a credit card. That insures that oftentimes we'll get a job because they don't have to bid it out because they're not putting out a purchase order and writing a check for it. Making us a payment with a credit card. Credit cards are also great because if you're dealing with say, a consumer client, consumers are more likely to actually make a larger purchase when they're using a credit card than they will if they have to write you a check, or in fact hand you cash. So the value of a credit card is not to be underestimated. You can get credit cards from your bank where you do business with for a nominal monthly fee, next to nothing. You can also get them from clubs like Sam's Club or Costco where they offer credit card services for small businesses.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Product Commentary - Eizo Monitors

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Eizo monitors are really the top of the line when it comes to monitors. Workflow, color calibration, having the widest gamut necessary. Now if you don't know what gamut is, gamut is basically how much information within an area of color that can be displayed. If you consider that the full spectrum of colors is one gamut. Nothing can actually replicate a full spectrum of colors. Instead, you want to look at something like an sRGB which has a very small spectrum of colors, Adobe 1998, another spectrum of colors. So by having an Eizo monitor, Eizo monitors are great because they have the widest gamut of any really commercially available monitor out there. It's going to give you the truest rendition of colors it's going to give you the broadest spectrum of colors for the images that a you're trying to display and view on your screen to make sure that the color is just right. So we strongly encourage you to consider Eizo monitors for that.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - The importance of having general business insurance

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here a few thoughts on the value of insurance. I'm John Harrington. In the business of photography and frankly, again, in any business that you're in, having insurance is a no brainer. You need it for your health, you need it for you to be able to drive around. You may not be required to have insurance for your business, but you really should be. If you talk to any lawyer, any accountant, they're going to tell you you have to have insurance. Insurance is a tax deductible expense. In many instances, you won't be able to rent equipment without insurance and if you're going into a commercial building or even a hotel they're going to require you to have what's called a certificate of insurance. That proves it if something goes wrong while you're working in that venue, in that building, that you'll have insurance to cover the accident. No one ever plans for an accident that's why they call them accidents and that's why you need insurance. So, I strongly encourage you to get insurance for your photography business.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - When to walk away from a deal and identifying red flags

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here a few thoughts on maybe when to walk away from a deal. I'm John Harrington. A lot of times, when you're dealing with clients who are initially overly difficult on the phone, who are nickel and diming you during the estimating process, who were calling and requesting a lot of hand holding, also for clients who are contacting you and saying, ""Hey, can you tell me how to do this?"" and give me all of your information without actually booking you, signing on the bottom line and so that you know that you're that photographer. There are a lot of red flags that get raised when you're talking to a prospective client about whether or not they're going to be difficult to work with. Some clients are just not the right clients for you and you need to walk away from them. Other clients you need to explain to them that there is a fee and there is a charge that is associated with all this additional services that we provided to you. Trying to explain to you what's necessary or walk you through things that are typically are handled on the client side of things. So there are red flags in just be comfortable walking away.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Delivering To Clients When You Say You Will

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here a few thoughts on delivering when you say you will to your clients if not sooner. I'm John Harrington. Here's the thing about delivering images, nobody likes it when you're late. You don't like it when a clients late, clients don't like it when you're late, but ultimately when you're delivering your images after the shoots been done you want to absolutely make certain you're delivering your images on time. If you can deliver them a little sooner, that's great. We do charge a rush charge with our clients if our turnaround time is two business days but the clients want it same day or or next day there is an additional charge, because they're asking for us to bump them up in front of everybody else to do the post production work necessary to get the images done. But it's important to make certain that you deliver those images when you say you will. If you can deliver them sooner, a little bit sooner that's great. If you're offering the client that courtesy to accelerate the turnaround with no additional charges thats your prerogative. But you want to make sure you have a schedule of when you say deliver the images so the client knows when to expect them.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

Alamy's Fuzzy Math: When a 10% Royalty Reduction isn't 10%

Alamy recently announced they would be adjusting the percentage of royalties they would be paying by 10% - in their favor. The reality, is, though, that it's actually going to impact your revenue by much more than that. It is important to note that Alamy pays one rate to the photographer when they have a "Direct" sale via their website, and one rate to the photographer after an Alamy "Distributor" (a.k.a. sub-agent) licenses an image, so both are provided. Here's how their numbers break down:

Alamy's 10 point Royalty Rate Reduction	Direct Sales	Distrib Sales
Previous Royalty Rate to Phototographers	60%	40%
New Royalty Rate to Photographers (10 percentage point reduction)	50%	30%
Commission Paid by Alamy to Distributors on their Sales (unchanged)	NA	40%
Example: $1000 gross sale	Direct Sales	Distrib Sales
Gross Revenue Received by Agency	$1,000	$1,000
Distributor Commission	$0	$400
Net Sale After Distributor Commission	$1,000	$600
Effect on Alamy's Share of Sales Revenue	Direct Sales	Distrib Sales
Alamy Old Share of the Revenue	$400	$200
Alamy's New Share of the Revenue	$500	$300
By Dropping Photographer's Royalty by 10 points, Alamy Increased Revenue	25%	50%
Effect on Photographers' share of Sales Revenue	Direct Sales	Distrib Sales
Photographer's Old Share of the Revenue	$600	$400
Photographer's New Share of the Revenue	$500	$300
Alamy's 10 point drop in Photographers Royalties Reduced Photographers' Revenue	17%	25%
Can this royalty reduction ultimately increase revenues to photographers?
Alamy has implied that this reduction in photographers' royalties will be invested into improvements that will result in increased gross sales revenues, and by extension, increased revenues for photographers. To increase gross sales revenues, Alamy must either increase its prices to customers (doubtful) or grow its sales, or both. Let's do the numbers.
How much would Alamy need to increase sales in order to provide photographers with the same revenue received under the old royalty rate?	Direct Sales	Distrib Sales
After reducing royalties by 10 points, Alamy must increase sales by these percentages in order to provide the same revenue to photographers. Note: This is the minimum, providing 0% benefit to photographers. To provide any benefit to photographers, Alamy would need to beat these percentages:	20%	33%
Do you believe that given current market conditions and trends, Alamy will successfully increase worldwide direct sales by a minimum of 20% and worldwide distributor sales by a minimum of 33% ? If they don't hit these minimum targets, photographers will experience drastic reduction in royalty revenues from Alamy. If they hit these minimum targets, photographers will be revenue neutral.
If Alamy successfully grows its sales so as to meet the growth percentages indicated in the above section, what is the benefit to Alamy?	Direct Sales	Distrib Sales
If Alamy achieves sufficient sales growth to provide photographers with the same revenue received by photographers under the old percentage (0% benefit to photographers), the net revenue to Alamy after paying photographers/distributors will have grown by:	50%	100%
Although Alamy is unlikely to increase its prices to customers, it is helpful to consider an example. Using the $1000 example sale referenced above, let's see how much Alamy would need to increase its prices in order to provide photographers with the same royalty revenue received before the 10 point royalty reduction.
	Direct Sales	Distrib Sales
Example: gross revenue on a sale	$1,000	$1,000
The royalty revenue to the Photographer at the old royalty rate was	$600	$400
To provide that same revenue to the photographer under the new royalty rate, Alamy would need to increase that $1000 sales price to	$1,200	$1,333.33
This increase in pricing to customers would be	20%	33%
Alamy's Share of the $1000 sale before dropping photographer's royalties and before increasing sales was	$400	$200
The amount received by Alamy under the new scheme, after increasing sales sufficiently to provide photographers with the same revenue as photographers received previously	$600	$400
Amount of the increased revenue to Alamy	$200	$200
By decreasing photographers' royalty rate and by then increasing sales sufficiently to provide photographers with the same royalty revenue as received under the old royalty rate (a 0% benefit to photographers), revenues retained by Alamy increase by	50%	100%

(Continued after the Jump)

Is this fair? Well, it's a business decision. However, let's take a step back. The 50/50 percentage hasn't been fair for at least a decade. Why?

Back in the analog days, it cost money for a New York-based stock photography agency to receive, catalog and store your images. Once that effort was made, when a call came in, for, say, a Time Magazine stock request, an image license for 1/4 page was about $250. There was physical labor involved in locating the image, filling out the tracking sheet and delivery memo, packaging the image for shipping, and then, when the image was returned, confirm the image wasn't damaged, and then re-file it, all for a 50/50 split of $250, or $125 to the stock house. I'll even include a few years where the stock house was converting their libraries from analog to digital, and so they incurred those costs.

Now, it's all digital, with little to no human interaction required, yet not only did the 50/50 split persist, but it's eroding away even further, and unfair.

Now more than ever, photographers need to be their own distributors. You will see Getty Images making a similar shift in percentages in the near future. We'll tell you why, when they announce it.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - The business-critical matter of prices being based upon your costs

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here are a few thoughts on how you might set your prices as a photographer. It's complex, but it's simple. The simple side of the equation is what you set your prices at have got to be more than what it costs you to be in business. I know that sounds like a simple concept, but most people don't understand what it costs to be in business. If you do not know what your cost of doing business is, you need to sit down at the NPPA's calculator on their website. Check out the URL below. Go to the NPPA business calculator and calculate your cost of doing business. Once you've done that, you know what you need to charge at the very minimum in order to stay in business. After that pricing gets to be a little bit more complicated, but understand that prices have to be more than costs. It's really a simple concept that most people don't focus on when they're starting out they just think, ""Oh it's a few hundred dollars, that'll be fine."" Not when it costs you twice that to be in business.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Choosing Your Business Entity - S-Corp, LLC, or Sole Proprietor?

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:There's a big difference between being an S-Corp, an LLC, and a Sole Proprietor. I would strongly encourage you, for a variety of reasons, to strongly consider being an S-Corp. An S-Corp gives you really substantial tax benefits. I am not an accountant nor am I a lawyer, so this should not be construed as legal advice or tax accounting advice. So talk to your lawyer, talk to your accountant about this. But a Sole Proprietorship is a great way to start your business. I started my business and ran it for over twenty years as a Sole Proprietorship. I then took a second look and really should have done it sooner and determined that an S-Corp really was the better way to run the business. By being an S-Corp it actually costs you less in taxes, it allows you to write things off differently, and here's a big deal from someone who has been audited by the IRS, the probability of you being audited by the IRS, when you're an S-Corp, is a fraction of what it is when you're a Sole Proprietor. Sole Proprietorship who write off in Schedule-C's often get audited and certainly at a much higher rate than an S-Corp. So look carefully at your options.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Keeping & gaining clients in a challenging market

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here a few thoughts on gaining new clients in a bad market. I'm John Harrington. One of the ways in which you can work on growing your client base in a bad market, one where the cyclical nature of the economy are ups and downs and people may not be ringing your phone, calling you to ask for you to do this work is to reach to clients that are a little more insulated from the ups and downs of the economy. Move to that next tier up, but doing that you when you deal with clients that are not so concerned with whether the economy is down or not because they are all higher tier client. Maybe they're planning for six months or a year out and you can deal with those clients, work with those clients, step outside your comfort zone and talk to somebody who you may have thought was out of your league before, but now is someone that you have the time to reach out and speak to, talk to, and convey to them at you're confident and capable of doing the work that they're looking for. And also do something like reaching out to past clients who may have forgotten that you exist. Those clients may not be happy with who they are using or may all of the sudden realize that they need new head shots or new other types of photography.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Product Commentary - Apple Time Machine and Network Attached Storage backup solutions

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here a few thoughts on network attached storage. I'm John Harrington Whether your using Apple's Time Machine for your computers as we are, or using network attached storage which is a third party brand that will still work with Apple computer's or if you're using a PC in using network attached storage having these systems in place as a part of your systems workflow is really important. One of the things that happens a lot as you sit there and watch the progress bar go by is you're processing images or otherwise doing things on the computer. The worst progress bar to watch is when your computer is backing up multiple gigs, hundreds of gigs of storage and you're sitting there trying to wait for your computer get backed up. If you have a system of workflow and schedule set up so that you can actually back up your systems at night, you can actually let your computer do all that backup overnight. So get your self a Time Machine and get set up. It's a no brainer if you're not a Mac user, get some network attached storage do the same thing.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Should you volunteer your services to get your name out?

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here a few thoughts on volunteering your services as a photographer. I'm John Harrington. Volunteering your services as a photographer really shows your clients what your work is worth, nothing. Don't volunteer your services as a photographer to get your name out there. If you're going to volunteer for any reason, make certain the client knows what the value is that you bring to the services you are providing. Talk to them ahead of time about providing them with an invoice and exchanging checks, letting them know that maybe you're doing in kind volunteering and get your name in the program as a thousand dollar supporter or five hundred dollar supporter some variation of recognition of the value of the services you bring. But understand that is highly unlikely that this client, after you volunteered your services, is going to turn around and then pay you what your worth for those services down the line and they more than likely will recommend you to other people in need of volunteer photographers and they'll share that you volunteered your services for ""X"" organization you'd likely would volunteer services for the other one.So volunteering your services is risky business.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

Orphan Works Returns

While much has changed in the legal and business landscape since the last effort to produce a workable Orphan Works Bill, much remains the same. As a result, Monday, October 22, 2012, The US Copyright Office is submitting a request via the Federal Register for comments on the current state of play for orphan works. Specifically, they are seeking to hear from all parties regarding what has changed in the legal and business environment since their 2006 report. Comments are due by January 4th.

(PDF here). Starting Monday, it will be available to read here.

Also starting on Monday, October 22nd, 2012 your comments can be submitted at this link: Orphan Works comments submission page.

(Continued after the Jump)

It is critical that photographers understand that the future of photography as a viable revenue stream depends upon you making your voice heard on this matter. While the various trade organizations will serve to collect voices, and you should participate, you should individually make your voice heard.

You, as the photographer, are the rights holder. However, this doesn't just extend to individuals- if a rights holder is a corporation that employs photographers, this will affect them too.

There are several things you need to know and consider as you submit comments to the Library of Congress.

1 - One of the many issues from the last round of orphan works is that there was no mechanism for a rights holder to stop a user once an infringing use was found. Further, rights holders would be compelled to enter into a license with the user. Not withstanding the fact that this could cause a rights holder to breach a separate exclusivity contract they may have previously entered into, with the current offerings of millions of images via microstock at $1 or less, there needs to be some mechanism for defining "reasonable" fees that a rights holder must accept.

2- There needs to be a neutral not for profit registry that will be the best solution to implement whatever results in a law....by neutral I mean one that is owned and controlled by its users and not subject to a takeover or buyout by a Google or a stock agency. The best (and only current) example of this is the PLUS Registry, which actually was started at the behest of the last Register of Copyrights, Marybeth Peters. You can create a free user account now by clicking here.

3 - There needs to be protections written into the law so that someone doesn't create a stock photo agency of images for which a "diligent search" has been done and documented, and then these images are sold/licensed, or a "service of convenience" fee for access to these images, is created. If this is not expressly forbidden - it will become a business model where the rights holder not only can't stop it, and must accept a small fee to permit it, but also, could find themselves competing to license their own work against that of an organization set up to aggregate orphan works.

You can't fight this to make it go away this time. It's probability of passage is far greater this time around, and if your voice isn't heard it will affect your current and future revenue - guaranteed. Currently, the United Kingdom has a law - better written with better requirements than the past US versions, so know that this ship has sailed.

If the new law is similar to the past ones proposed - here's what you can expect:

• Any business or person will be able to make use of your photographs for any purpose, forever, without your knowledge or permission, simply by failing to find you. 
•  The infringer may, for example, use your photographs on billboards, brochures, magazine advertising, web sites and in any other media, commercial or editorial. 
•  The infringer may use your photograph to promote political or social causes or extremist views that you find morally objectionable and repugnant. 
•  The infringer may use your photographs in competition with your own attempts to market your photographs. 

 The infringer may modify your photographs and use them to create new derivative works, then claim copyright ownership in those new works.  Of course, with thousands of people and companies making unlicensed, uncontrolled and unknown uses of your photographs, you will be unable grant any of your clients an exclusive license, nor could you reliably assure any client that one of their competitors is not also using your images under an orphan works exemption. You simply will have no idea when or where your images are being used, and as a result, you will forfeit your exclusive rights on the day that the amendment is passed.

If at some point in the future you happen to discover these usage, you will have no legal means by which to stop the infringer from continuing to make use of your photographs, even if you have registered your works with the US Copyright Office. As long as the infringer pays you a fee that the INFRINGER believes and agrees is reasonable, the infringer may continue to use your photographs for any purpose indefinitely. You would not be entitled to penalize the infringer by requiring a price that is out of line with the marketplace. Remember that in today’s image licensing marketplace, the vast majority of image licenses are priced at $1 to $5 for nearly unlimited usage.

While there are a growing number of companies offering services purporting to "protect your rights," and while we are likely to see many for-profit "registries" pop up in the marketplace, virtually all of these companies are using rights protection as a front to attract your attention, in order to sell you other products or services. Remember also that the moment that any of these companies achieves success, it will be acquired by one of the large stock agencies or media conglomerates, who will then control access to all of your rights information. Of course, any of these companies could fail, wiping out all of our data. We've certainly seen that happen before.

Whatever happens, we must prevent any commercial company (Getty, Google,Microsoft, etc) from gaining control over our rights information. Looking to the future, this information, and the control over it is the key to the future of our profession, as it will allow automated systems to identify rights holders and distribute fees and royalties when images are used. We must not hand the keys over to any corporation.

For this very reason, long before the first Orphan Works bill, Marybeth Peters proposed that the rightsholder groups join forces with groups representing image users, and create a non-profit, cooperative system for identifying rights holders, images and rights information. The trade organizations then did just that, forming the PLUS Coalition, creating standards for identifying rights and rights holders, and then developing a non-profit registry system to which any company (for-profit or non-profit) may connect. It is, if you will, a global "hub" for image rights information, owned and controlled by its users -- the photographers, illustrators, stock agencies, publishers, design firms, ad agencies, museums, universities and libraries. When completed, a search of the PLUS Registry will search all other registries connected to the PLUS hub, whether those registries are for-profit or non-profit. Importantly, we maintain control over the hub and the information stored within it. While you're at it, consider becoming a supporting member of PLUS, by making a small contribution to support the continued development of the Registry.

Again - you must get involved and make your voice heard. The US Copyright Office cannot give the full picture of needs to the Congress - if your voice is absent. They are asking for it, and you would do yourself a grave disservice if your voice was silent. Speak up for yourself, and others.

----------------------------

Related Links:

• 6/9/09 - Orphan Works "In the Coming Weeks"
• 5/23/08 - Orphan Works and Licensing Exclusivity
• 5/16/08 - What Are the Odds? The Orphan Works Likelihood of Passage
• 5/15/08 - Apathy Gets You NoWhere
• 5/9/08 - Orphan Works - Senate Markup
• 5/6/08 - Orphan Works - History in the Making
• 4/30/08 - Orphan Works 2008 - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
• 4/28/08 - Orphan Works Act = A Thieves Charter?

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Protecting the valuable asset of software serial #'s

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here a few thoughts on one of the really valuable assets in your business, serial numbers. I'm John Harrington. Serial numbers are a really important part and component of your business. It cannot be stressed enough, if you lose a serial number and you have to do a reinstall at two o'clock in the morning you're in trouble and if you're on deadline your in even more trouble. I strongly encourage you to protect and keep your serial numbers in a secure place. We put three copies of each one of our serial numbers into a file folder in our filing system. Whether that's three copies of the back of the CD-rom case that we got or it's three copies of the email with a highlighter run across the serial number so it reminds us what it is. Keeping a serial number safe and secure is really important when you have to do reinstalls and for upgrades. In addition, you want to place your serial numbers in your address book, on your smart phone, or in your computer so that it's in just one more place where it's easily accessible for you.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Professional organization memberships, are they worth it?

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here are a few thoughts on professional trade organization memberships. I'm John Harrington. For many years I've been members of a variety of different professional trade organizations and I strongly encourage you to consider each of them and in many cases all of them. Each different organization is doing something slightly different and is well worth having your membership in the organization. Whether it's the National Press Photographers Association the White House News Photographer Association the ASMP the American Society of Media Photographers or the APA American Photographic Artists or even the PPofA Professional Photographers of America. They all bring something to you and make your life better. Whether it's discounts on equipment, discounts on or access to health insurance, professional listings on the internet so that you can be found and get assignments. All of them are worthwhile and in fact at under a thousand dollars combined for all of those trade organizations it should be an expense you're making every year. It's well worth it.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Why bother sending estimates to "low budget" clients?

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here a few thoughts estimating for clients with a low-budget. I'm John Harrington. So if you get a phone call from a prospective client who wants you to estimate their job and when you talk about budget they tell you ""Oh, we only have three hundred dollars and for you, your walking out the door rate is six or seven hundred dollars. The question becomes well, do I even bother should I even waste my time? The answer is yes. Because the client may just be fishing for a lower price and if you don't even estimate then they're not even going to consider you. But the other thing that could happen is, if you would have normally sent an estimate in for seven hundred fifty dollars for that project and the other two photographers they called also are sending in estimates for seven hundred and fifty, then the other two photographers would be considered for the job and you, because you didn't bother to send the estimate, don't even get considered. It's important that you send that estimate in because it helps the client understand what you're really worth, what the project's really worth, and in the end you might actually get the job when they only had a few hundred dollars to begin with.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - A Few Thoughts on Upgrading from a Nikon D3 to a D4

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here a few thoughts about the Nikon D3 versus the Nikon D4. I'm John Harrington. The Nikon D3 is a great camera. We in turn went from the D3 to the D3s and have used both of those cameras for a long period of time and we're exceedingly happy with it. We didn't necessarily see the need to bump up to the D4 at first blush. Our first considerations were, we're fine with the D3 D3s because we really just looked at just the file size bump. But, once we actually got a chance to put our hands on it to try it out some of the things like the high, even higher high ISO capabilities that the D4 had as well as the extra low light focusing capabilities really needed a no-brainer to pick up the D4. Now, that's not to say that we've gotten rid of the D3's and D3s', we still use those cameras. They're still great cameras, but when it comes to cameras and getting the best and using the best the D4 really is a definitely a worthwhile pickup.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - A Few Thoughts on choosing between the Nikon D4 to a D800

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here are a few thoughts on the Nikon D4 versus the Nikon D800. I'm John Harrington. We really like the Nikon D4, but truth be told, we really like the Nikon D800 as well. We actually got the D4 first and then decided well we'll get the D800 as well. We think that both cameras are two different tools that need to be in the same tool chest. If you need that extra megapixel and you're shooting under a controlled environment and you don't have to go up to those crazy high ISOs that the D4 can go to, the D800 is a great tool. We use it for magazine covers when were doing a lot of work with magazines. When we're trying to do advertising work, or were shooting tethered straight into the computer. A D800 as a great camera, but the D4 is awesome. We do not use D4 using, you know, continuous high you know maximum shutter frames per second, we're not that type of photographer, but the D4 is great. The file size is awesome the high ISO is just incredible. So as we're sitting here saying D4 vs D800 it really is both.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Workflow and dpBestflow - Digital Photography Best Practices

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here a few thoughts on the best practices for digital photography workflow. I'm John Harrington. I could sit here and tell you till the cows come home how to do digital workflow, how we do digital workflow, but there's a really great resource I can't stress enough the value of and that is something called dpbestflow. Dpbestflow was created by the ASMP in coordination with the library congress to come up with the system that demonstrates for you best practices and how to manage your digital archive. How to archive it properly, keep the archive, transition it from one one system to another system. So check out the URL below, dpbestflow. Can't say enough good things about it, it will help you understand what the best practices are for managing your images from ingest through workflow, proper and secure workflow, all the way to archiving. Also, delivering images to a client of the said and known standard. It really is an invaluable resource so check out dpbestflow.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Website Do's and Don'ts - Your Self Portrait

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:Here a few thoughts on self-portraits on your website. Self portraits belong on your website, but really only in your bio page in your about me page. You need to have a self-portrait that's flattering, not one that shows you goofing off making silly faces or otherwise doing stupid things. You need to have a bio picture that has a nice expression. In other words you're a photographer you should be showing a bio picture that shows you attractively lit, not looking like an idiot and just generally needs to be a flattering picture. Not doing that, not having that, and not having any bio leads people to wonder whether or not you're someone they want to hire. People make a connection with the eyes in the face when they see a portrait photo on your website. To have a flattering have attractive bio picture lets people know that you're willing to put yourself out there visually and that that's what you do for a living is make great pictures and the great picture you make starts with yourself.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Website Do's and Don'ts - Your Biography

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT: Here are a few thoughts on what your biography should include on your website. I'm John Harrington. Bios on your website, or biographical sketches of you on your website need to really reflect who you are, but you don't want refer to yourself as a flighty person. You don't want to refer to yourself as a goofball. You don't want to refer to yourself in some kind of way that looks like you do you're just there to have fun and happenstance will take pictures for you. You're there to do a job. You need to let the client know you can do that job and you can do it right. Make certain there are no typos. I know that sounds like a no-brainer,but I come across photographers' websites everyday that have typos, bad grammar, and otherwise unintelligible speak on their bios. So make certain, when you're putting together a bio, you have someone else read it. Make sure everything is spelled right, capitalization is correct, it's really important that you're not only does your bio reflect who you are, but also should portray you in an excellent light.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Should you upgrade your equipment?

Here is one in a series of videos by the author of Best Business Practices for Photographers John Harrington, who also publishes the blog PhotoBusinessNews.com. In this segment John discusses the benefits of upgrading your camera equipment.

(Continued after the Jump)

"TRANSCRIPT: Part of your workflow for your business, your equipment workflow if you will, is the importance of planning for and upgrading your equipment. If you're Nikon shooter you probably shouldn't be shooting on a D2 right now or D2x. If you're Canon shooter, you probably shouldn't be shooting on an EOS IDs Mark I or Mark II. You need to be using current model equipment. It really does provide you with better quality visuals, better quality images, and not just about size, but of noise issues. The same holds true for computers. You should be upgrading your computers, you know, every eighteen months to two years. Again, that same time frame for your still cameras. Lenses maybe not so much so, but still cameras, computers should be getting upgraded. Software should be getting upgraded. You should not be working on photoshop CS1. Or any other older version it's not going to be able to open the files as you need and it really is gonna slow you down. So, I would strongly encourage you maintain a plan for upgrading your equipment. "

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Keeping Your Memory Cards Organized

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump. This segment is about organizaing your memory cards.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT: Here a few thoughts on organizing your memory cards. I'm John Harrington.

Obviously, we use memory cards for all the cameras were working with these days. Were no longer shooting film, as much as we have a nostalgic impression of film, we are shooting all digital. Organizing our memory cards so they don't get lost, files don't get misplaced is really critical. So one of the things that we do when were organizing our memory cards, is as we have fresh memory cards, memory cards that haven't been shot. We'll have them in our card wallet like this. When we shoot them well actually turn them over so that the back side of the memory card, with our phone number and contact information, is on it. Now. When we're done and bring those images into the office, well actually use post-it notes we use a set of 3M post-it notes here. The post-it notes get pulled out. They're actually just the right size for a memory card. They fit on the back, let us put some notes on there about exactly what's on there.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Sticking with your marketing campaign

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump. This one offers a few insights into the importance of sticking with your marketing campaign.

(Continued after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT: Here a few thoughts on marketing and sticking with your campaign. I'm John Harrington.

When you're out there putting your information out in front of a prospective client some marketing studies have shown that you actually need to have that information in front of that client nine times in order for them to do business with you for the first time. One of the challenges, of course, is every time you place your information in front of a client they really only, one out of every three times is they only ever see consciously. So if one out of every three times they are seeing your information consciously and you need to actually put your information in front of them consciously nine times that's twenty seven times. Twenty seven marketing outreaches. So when you're starting your campaign, getting your information out there and you're sending out two or three promo pieces or promo emails or however you're getting your marketing information out there, don't be discouraged when you find out that no one's responding to you after the fourth, fifth or even tenth attempt. Because the reality is they've only ever seen it a few times. So stick with your marketing campaign.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - Do you need a business license for your business?

Here is another of our videos offering tips and insights into the business of photography. In this one, we discuss the need for a business license, and other considerations.

(Transcript and comments (if any) after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:
Here are a few thoughts on whether or not you need a business license for the photography business you're running. I'm John Harrington.

Lots of businesses require business licenses some are far more formal than others. As a photographer there's lots of things that you worry about and you may not be aware that in your jurisdiction you actually may need a business license. So you want to look into your jurisdiction and whether not a business license is required for the services that you're providing, You have to be very careful and make sure that you're working within all of the rules and regulations of the town or city that you're living in.

There may be even state licensing requirements, you have to provide them with a tax ID or some other document the show's that you are paying taxes. Sometimes you need be paying sales tax depending upon the type of service you're providing and your jurisdiction. Be sure to check with your local jurisdiction and your accountant about all these things. Your accountant is one of your best friends when it comes to finding out things like this. So business license - definitely look into it and see if you need one.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

TIPS60 - An Introduction to the TIPS60 series

Here is an introduction to the TIPS60 video series - another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.

(Transcript after the Jump)

TRANSCRIPT:
Hi I'm John Harrington and over the next - I don't even know how long - we're gonna talk to you in small sixty second blocks about a variety of different things related to the business of photography. We're going to talk a little bit about marketing, we're going to talk about business essentials, accounting software, everything that I can think of under the sun to talk to you about.

Hopefully, I can keep each time down to sixty seconds or less. So over the next couple of I don't know how long, we're going to be trying to do one a week, maybe a few more as time permits and share with you some businesses insights. As you know I'm the author of the book ""Best Business Practices for Photographers"", a book has that been really well received and so what I'm trying to do now is to put a face to the name and get some more information out there so that people can grow their business and become successful photographers.

So, hopefully, over the next months, years, or so we'll be talking to you once a week on video for about sixty seconds about the business of photography and how your business can grow and prosper.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

The Value of an Upgrade

Wish it were the case that we could return to the days where a 1960's era Hasselblad could be loaded with the latest and greatest advances in film technology to make an amazing photograph. I remember the days when I could "upgrade" from Ektacrome (EPP) to E100G, or even the E100VS. I loved going from Fuji Astia to Provia and the various speeds of Velvia. The technological advances in those films are decades ahead of when the cameras they could be loaded into were designed.  For many reasons this is unfortunate, yet, for many more, we live in an era where our ability to produce images that are amazing. And then, you have people who still think it is acceptable to not only use Photoshop CS3, but then complain that it won't work with the raw camera files because you couldn't upgrade to, say, CS5. Really? I'm not even suggesting in this case that you make it to CS6 (although you should), because even though I have CS6, I also use CS5 to process my Nikon D4 files. 

If you consider that it costs you about $200 every 18 months for the upgrade to a product you use almost every day, why would you be so cheap as to not want to be able to afford about $0.37 a day on your software upgrade? Or, if you are complaining about using an older computer, consider that a brand new MacBook Pro runs $1,200, and if you replaced it in 2 years, that's $1.64 a day for your ability to use it, or, heck, if you are crazy and amortize your computer over the IRS allocated 5 years, then it's only $0.66 a day, but really, WHO uses a computer that's over 5 years old other than your mom, who just surfs the web and types a few Microsoft Word files from time to time? 

Professionals use professional tools. At $70 a month for your internet (Verizon FIOS 15/5Mbps), you're paying more per day ($2.33) than the cost to keep your computer up to date and upgrade Photoshop ($1.64 + $0.37 = $2.01). Computers don't last forever - they're not designed to.  Hard drives are designed to last approximately 10,000 hours. A $100 hard drive thus, costs you $0.01 per hour, or $0.24 per day to own, until it is prone to crash. 

And as to compatibility, who remembers the Kodak Photo CD format? (PCD)? (info here ) The last update was December 1998, and it's difficult (at best) to access those files in the latest version of Photoshop. Zip Disks? Who can open those with ease? What about using the Nikon scanner software with the latest computer? Time and technology march on. So should you. And, who's fault is it that the latest Nikon software doesn't run on the latest Dell/Windows 7/Mac computers? Not them. Yet, the scanner actually does work just fine if you use a third party scanning solution like those from Vuescan, Hamrick, or Silverfast (see here )  Like I said, technology marches on. (and even 4 years ago, a Mac, for example, was comparably priced to PC's according to Tom's Hardware, here, so stop complaining about the price of a Mac!) Is it smarter for Nikon to put their money into maintaining every flavor of NikonScan for the few people who still need it, or encourage you to spend a few bucks with a third party vendor?  And why haven't you either already scanned all your film, or, smartly, outsourced all your scanning to a vendor?

And then there are the people who upgrade both their cameras to the latest camera, and then complain about the cost of upgrading their computer from time to time. Who does that? It's a tool folks - a necessary one within your workflow. The camera captures the images, but the computer handles everything from there. 

If you want to run the cheap route, and maintain compatibility for years to come, shoot JPEG only. While you're at it, upload using your dialup, or carry your portable Osborne or TRS-80 booted into DOS into the local library and use their free internet. I am sure you can also plug in your Polaroid Sprintscan and save on that power suck and scan all your C-41 you shot in bulk-loaded film cartridges that has aged velvet light traps. Seriously folks, we're professionals. There is value in maintaining a working line of products that are in keeping with the times. I am not suggesting you need to be "bleeding edge", nor even "cutting edge", just keep up so your "edge" doesn't dull, and don't blame the manufacturers for delivering a product and software line of products that make our lives easier and more rapidly get us back to doing what we got into this for in the first place - making great images.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

Earning a Living as a Photographer

Being a professional photographer - and the definition of that would be best encapsulated here - is a challenge. We've written before about the fallacy of the pride in being a starving artist. In most every profession I can think of, you put in your time financially challenged, with some modicum of success as a result of years of hard work. Most people understand that you pay your dues, and then you can do okay. Yet, as photographer James Maden points out in his most recent article on SportsShooter.com - Should You Become a Professional Photographer - "There can be few other careers where you regularly work for the world’s largest companies like the New York Times and Time Magazine, are at the pinnacle of your career yet don’t earn enough to make a living." 


As Madelin notes, and is also cited in the British Journal of Photography, the winner of one of the world's most prestigious photojournalism contests, Samuel Aranda, was quoted as saying "They called me yesterday around 7pm, and told me that I had won the World Press Photo," Samuel Aranda tells BJP in his first interview of the day. "At that exact moment, I was checking my bank account because I didn't know how I was going to pay my rent this month. I was crunching numbers to make it work."  Aranda, in his early 30's was on assignment for the New York Times, and is represented by the Corbis agency. "

This state of affairs is a problem.

(Continued after the Jump)

Countless photographers - extremely talented photographers - find themselves several months past where Aranda found himself crunching the numbers, their having to stop shooting professionally, for financial reasons. Either they don't have healthcare and go bankrupt having to pay the bills from a health issue, or they can't afford the rent because they're not being paid enough, or even because a corporate monolith has a 60/90/120 day pay cycle, while the photographer has to pay all their bills every 30 days. 


The experience and talent that shutters operations and moves on to a career that is less fulfilling, and also, making less of a difference in the world - is lost. Sure, a young upstart with a clean credit rating, all their school loans deferred for 6 months after graduation (or, maybe, paid for by parents), will step in.  Then, 6-12 months later, they will find themselves in Aranda's shoes - crunching the numbers to pay the bills, but without the award that *might* bring in a few more assignments to further defer eviction, or bankruptcy. 


One of the biggest concerns of historians as the digital photography evolution is taking place, is while almost every photographer is making many more photographs than they ever did before, not only is the storage medium not as permanent as film/prints, but that people will just delete things, causing a historical void. The only think worse than this, is for talented professional photographers to either have never entered a financially unviable field, or having had to close up shop after the bills outweigh the income, thus creating an even greater void.

Nothing, of course, will happen with clients raising their rates, until there is a void of photographers available to fill assignments.  I once had an experience where a colleague who was charging $200 or so to a client for years was unable to do an assignment, and the client called me. For that particular type of assignment, my rate was just under $1,000. I did that one, and 2-3 more that year, and then I heard through the grape vine that my colleague was upset with me because I had used up the client's budget, and so there was no more work. That seemed to be an odd perspective. I would have preferred he appreciate that my assignments illustrated that the client was willing to pay more, and that, in the future, he might consider a higher (and more sustainable) fee, and that the client would, no doubt, have to raise their budget in future years (or borrow from another line item in their overall budget) to pay for photography.  Sometimes, photographers are their own worst enemies.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]

Citizen Journalism Fails Viewers at the BBC

Fact-checking took a holiday at the BBC today, as a credit line of "photo from activist" was used to identify propaganda promoting the activist's cause, on the front page of the BBC's website for an article titled "Syria massacre in Houla condemned as outrage grows." The problem? Among the many, is that this photograph, purported to have been taken on or about Friday, May 25th, 2012 in Houla, Syria, and represented in the photo caption as "believed to show the bodies of children...", was actually taken on May 27, 2003, 9 years earlier, in Al Musayyib, Iraq, by photographer Marco Di Lauro, a photojournalist for Reportage by Getty Images.

The front page of the website, below, shows the image in it's mis-credited and mis-represented form:
The image here shows the image on Di Lauro's website, with the proper caption:

"An Iraqi child jumps over a line of hundreds of bodies, in a school where they have been transported from a mass grave, to be identified. They were discovered in the desert in the outskirts of Al Musayyib, 40 km south of Baghdad. It has been estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 Iraqis had been reported missing in the region south of Baghdad. People have been searching for days for identity cards or other clues among the skeletons to try to find the remains of brothers, fathers, mothers, sisters and even children who disappeared when Saddam's government crushed a Shi'ite uprising following the 1991 Gulf War."

Di Lauro, who is a freelance photographer represented by Reportage by Getty Images, also licenses this image on the Getty website here.

As noted above, there are many problems - here are a few of them:

(Continued after the Jump)

Problem? Taking an Activist's image
It should not be the case that someone whom is identified as an "activist" should be given the credence of a journalist, and have their propaganda disseminated under that banner. A statement they make is (and must be) fact-checked, as should any visuals they provide. BBC Director of the World Service and Global News, Richard Sambrook, who wrote in Nieman Reports, from The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, of "Citizen Journalism and the BBC" during his tenure at the BBC, wrote at the time (Winter, 2005) "...From now on, news coverage is a partnership." Sambrook notes, accurately, "How can our journalistic reputation be protected when we are not fully in control of our content?" Indeed, Mr. Sambrook. This "partnership" was violated by an activist with their own agenda.

Problem? Citizen Journalists
It must be said that Sambrook is not now at the helm of any BBC division, but he was a reporter for the BBC and left in 2010. Surely, Sambrook's imprint was left on those who came after his departure. Sambrook defends citizen journalists, with initiatives like the BBC Action Network's iCan, saying "As someone who supports this new direction, I don’t suggest the BBC staff abdicate their responsibility for accuracy, fairness or objectivity. There will always be a central place for editorial judgment to be applied. That judgment is the essential brand value of major news organizations. As we open up to contributions from the public, we must do so in a way that is consistent with our editorial values." At that same time, Sambrook authored another article for Nieman Reports, touting "The BBC’s College of Journalism" writing "The BBC is establishing a College of Journalism to raise and support editorial standards...the College of Journalism will also focus on ethics and values and building knowledge on key themes and issues, such as Europe and the Middle East...So far, 10,000 staffers have completed an online editorial policy course (the biggest BBC interactive training initiative yet), and 8,000 staff members have attended workshops on sources and attribution." It is clear that whomever edited the article must have missed that workshop on sources an attribution.

In that same issue of Nieman Reports, Santiago Lyon, at the time (and still) Director of Photography for the Associated Press and Lou Ferrara, who was an online editor for the Associated Press, wrote in an article "With Citizens’ Visual News Coverage Standards Don’t Change" that "‘In an era in which digital alteration of images is increasingly easy, credibility is everything.’" In fact, as they note of an image they saw on a BBC website, they (the AP) went through the process of locating the citizen photographer, obtained rights, and then distributed the image. Lyon's team, no doubt, also vetted the veracity of the image during that process. Of the veracity of all citizen journalism content "The same journalistic standards that are currently applied to mainstream media sources will need to be applied to all citizen-produced material. Verification is crucial."

Problem? Stealing from someone
This activist saw it fit to steal from a photographer. Di Lauro puts his life on the line to make a living and produce images that reveal to the world what is happening. He should be afforded the ability to continue to do so, and copyright, and rights to his images, gives him the ability to continue to tell the story.

Problem? No fact-checking. 
The caption attempts to offer an out, indicating "This image - which cannot be independently verified - is believed to show the bodies of children in Houla awaiting burial." According to the BBC, and other news sources, while there were at least 90 people killed, 32 were children under the age of 10. In 30 seconds, I was able to count about to 25 bodies in the row second from the left, and multiply that by 3 for the 3 center rows of the 5 depicted, and that's 75 estimating that there are also 25 on the two outer rows depicted and we're at 125. Clearly, there are way more than 32 bodies in this photograph, and there are even more than 90.

Clearly, more questions needed to be asked of the source.

Problem? No correction listed
An update of the story just before 8am GMT, did not list a correction, or editorial note about the mis-credited and mis-characterized photograph. The BBC simply made it as if it didn't exist and never did anything wrong. Di Lauro, and Getty Images have recourse for the theft of his intellectual property. While they of course have recourse with the activist, they also have recourse with the BBC as well.

Problem? Di Lauro had recourse - but his recourse would be much less, or non-existent, if Orphan Works had existed
There have been many conversations about the "orphaning" of photographs, whereby someone strips the metadata and and other indications of image ownership from an image, and then uses that image for their own purposes and ends, and when the actual creator of the photograph is identified, they are unable to stop the uses of their image - whether in an accurate depiction of something, or, in this case, as propaganda completely disconnected from the reality in the image. While it is reasonable to assume that a news organization, presented with the evidence of falsehood, would remove a mis-representing image, commercial entities, or uses where the users don't care or are otherwise unsavory, may well keep the image up, under the misguided notion that the end justifies the means. While the efforts to make orphaned works legally allowable in the United States (a dubious at best consideration relative to signatories to the Berne Convention, which would likely apply in this UK use) went away a few years back, the effort continues to percolate with people who believe much of intellectual property should not be given any control by it's creators. I would hope that even those orphan works proponents would agree that the theft of intellectual property in this manner should not be allowed in whatever final form they hope for in their legislative efforts.

In the end, it was because Di Lauro became aware of the theft of his image and the mis-characterization of it that the BBC no longer has it on their website. It was not because of the efforts of the editors of the BBC doing their due diligence. According to the screen grab the story was updated at 04:40 GMT, and the screen grab we have is timed at 12:26 GMT, so for at least 9 hours the BBC was profiting off of Di Lauro's image, and that is assuming that the photo was first posted during the 4:40am update, and taken down right after the screen shot was made. A screen shot a few hours later shows a video instead. How many other times has this happened? Whether it's a CNN iReporter, Fox News' uReport, being an MSNBC Citizen Journalist, or a part of the BBC's Action Network's iCan, Citizen Journalist representations must carry at least as high a burden of proof as that of professional journalists, if not higher. Interestingly enough, The BBC closed up their iCan experiment because, according to BBC News editor Peter Horrocks in this article "the level of involvement in it compared to the cost was inappropriate." As such, in April of 2008, just 5 years in, the grassroots effort wasn't working. While the iCan effort isn't exactly comparative to iReporters or uReporters, the notion of laying the responsibility on the public at large for engaging in reporting is fraught with pitfalls and risks. The BBC took a risk while their standards were on holiday, and that risky move failed them miserably.

---

Please post your comments by clicking the link below. If you've got questions, please pose them in our Photo Business Forum Flickr Group Discussion Threads.

[More: Full Post and Comments]