Two books to help keep it legal

Model releases are a complicated subject. I've read this book more than once.

I enjoy clicking the shutter a whole lot more than I enjoy digesting and trying to remember the copyright and contracting parts of a photographer’s work. But, it must be done if you are going to venture into the world of selling photos.

I have not made an extensive search of the literature in this area, but I have found two books that I find useful, and I want to share them with you.

Dan Heller wrote a book specifically about model releases: A Digital Photographer’s Guide to Model Releases. Of course, the content is equally valid should you be using film for some reason. You can’t publish a photography book these days without the word digital in the title.

I think the most surprising thing I learned from this book is that some buildings have special standing and cannot be used in photographs for commercial purposes without permission. The Empire State Building, for example, is a registered trademark.  I learned from the next book on this list that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum sued a photographer for selling posters decorated with a photograph of the building. The point is that something can be trademarked without there being a sign or a label to inform the photographer of that fact.

Part of the challenge of staying legal is the amount of fuzziness in the rules and their interpretation. You have to sort of absorb the essence of the subject matter since clarity is all too rare.

This book is for artists working in most any medium, and it covers many aspects of agreements, contracts, and working relationships.

Tad Crawford’s Legal Guide for the Visual Artist addresses model releases along with a wide range of topics related to contracts and agreements about the whole spectrum of business relationships. He tells the artist how to work with galleries, and how to sell rights to their creative works, and more.

Both of these books are written in English as plain as the subjects allow. I recommend them to anyone who is involved in selling artwork, or plans to be.

It becomes obvious from reading these books that maintaining friendly relationships with all stakeholders is the best way to do business. Being “technically right” may provide some legal immunity, but it doesn’t prevent hassles, ill will, or lost business. Let’s all find a way to get along!

On photographing the Wow! factor

One of the reasons photography delights me so much is that around every corner is a photograph that makes me exclaim, Wow! This photo from my recent shoot with Yuri is an example. We had coffee today after our Sunday morning class at Yoga Oasis, and I asked her if she had shown the photos to friends and family. No, she said, they are lodged in the modern equivalent of a shoe box. That is to say, they are on a disk somewhere.

Yuri’s reaction to being photographed is typical. Choose one photo to use as a Facebook profile picture, and let the rest of the batch chill in silent darkness. This is all done in the name of modesty.

I think people only exchange photographs of children, and more specifically of infants. Exchanging photographs of adults seems to break a cultural taboo that is embedded in all non-famous folks. The display of one’s photo might presume too much. There is also the possibility that someone might see a wrinkle they had overlooked if they are given a photograph that they can stare at. My friends have their own wrinkles. They are not concerned about mine.

I invite you to take a little side trip to a gallery on a website that I learned about just this week from my friend Richard for the purpose of seeing some amazing portraits that play up the wow factor. It’s worth a couple mouse clicks if you like great photographs, and it will help me make a point. The photographer is Fabrizio Ferri. The work is gorgeous, and tends toward the dramatic side.

I’ll wait here while you take a look.

You’re back? I hope you were inspired.

When I photographed Yuri recently I encouraged her to project mystery, and she did it beautifully. What I have learned from this shoot, and many others, is that people are not permitting themselves to say Wow! about themselves. They probably are not permitting themselves to say Wow! about anyone over the age of about 12.

The yogi is Jenn Zupancic enjoying her Wow! factor.

I think several things have happened in our society. We’ve become too good to celebrities and not good enough to ourselves and those we love. We say Wow! to videos on YouTube made by strangers, but we don’t allow ourselves the same privilege of showing off our best work.

When I photograph people I always look for the wow factor. I don’t always tell my subjects that because it might be more than they think they want. The life lesson in this is that we all have some Wow! in us, and we ought not conceal it.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. —Matthew 5:14-16

Yuri asked me about the target audience for my photography practice. I’ll paraphrase the Sara Lee commercial. Nobody isn’t my target because nobody is totally lacking in wow factor. Some people don’t know they have it, and some want to “put it under a basket.” I’m here to encourage people to light their house with it. That’s what my photographs are intended to do.

What to wear for your group picture

There is always the question of what to wear when family members unite for a photograph. The spectrum runs from looking totally disconnected, as if some family members had other plans and were suddenly summoned to the shoot, to a coordinated look that shows that everyone received the same memo about the dress code.

Julia, Monique, and Bella create harmony without looking like they are just copycats..

Randomness in attire can work if the pose is non-traditional, but this is rarely what families want in a group photo.

The picture of Monique with her daughters Bella and Julia show a beautiful example of the coordination approach. Denim pants and bluish shirts show that the attire was carefully planned, but it’s not identical. They are not wearing uniforms, but instead have an appealing family resemblance.

Accessories such as the scarf provide visual variety, and they can also shift the mood of a photograph.

The Jonilonis family achieved a similar look with their white shirts. The ladies used scarves to create a distinctive change as the shoot progressed.

Yuri and sister Yoshi chose clothing in a similar color range, and it works beautifully. The warm tone of their shirts was a perfect complement to the radiance coming through the leaves of the massive trees at La Paloma Resort in Tucson.

Yuri and Yoshi present a colorful combination that is a natural match for the blaze of light coming through the trees around them.

My suggestions for dressing for a casual group photograph can be summarized as follows.

• Coordinate your choices, bot don’t try to create exact duplicates unless your group wears a uniform.
• Avoid clashing colors if you can.
• Keep the level of formality consistent. Don’t mix high heels and sneakers, or slogan-covered tee shirts with silk blouses.
• Wear clothes that make you feel good. Don’t drag out something shabby.
• Bring accessories to vary the look in some of the shots. Hats and scarves work well.
• Consider the possibility of a non-traditional pose or two after the formal shots are complete, and decide what clothing changes might be in order.

The mood you have in mind for the photograph should guide your choice of attire and also limit the amount of variation among the people involved. There is no real right or wrong approach, and it is person matter how much consistency you want to achieve. As long as you plan a little bit ahead and keep everyone informed about the effect you want to achieve, you can be confident of getting photographs that you will enjoy and cherish.

Printed books are the new photo album

Single-copy books are now practical for both personal and business applications.

We lived with the awkwardness of photo albums about as long as we lived with film. The digital age brings us the ability to produce books one copy at a time and to stop slipping tiny photos behind see-through plastic pockets. The photo books of today are not shabby looking improvisations from the corner print shop. They could hold their own on a shelf at any of the major book stores. These are books to display with pride.

This new development means that individuals and families can preserve pictures and stories in their own personal books. This opens a flood of possibilities. Families can record their shared history, and they can have books about individual children and even the stages of their lives. Books can commemorate single events such as a holiday celebration or a college graduation.

Hobbyists can catalog their collections, or record the progress of a project such as the restoration of a class car. Books can also be used by businesses in a wide variety of ways.

Books provide the opportunity to combine photographs and other forms of graphics with text. The ability to produce single copies of books provides an extraordinary opportunity for self-expression, and a new business opportunity for the photographer.

This new channel of expression changes the role of the photographer, and potentially expands it. Consider the complex set of tasks involved in preparing a book:

• Coordinate a work flow with the client
• Take new photographs (with all the steps that are involved)
• Work with the clients’ existing photographs as required
• Conduct interviews to elicit content for the book
• Turn the interview content into suitable text
• Design and assemble the book in appropriate software. I use BookSmart, from Blurb

The photographer may be able to provide all of these services, as least while the workload is modest. At some point it will be necessary to involve other people, either for their specialized skills or to help with an increasing workload. Coordinating these arrangements is yet another task for the photographer who launches into book creation.

The most common use of books in professional photography is probably the gather wedding photos. This is just the beginning. A thorough wedding book would include interviews with the family, groomsmen and bridesmaids. It would include photos of the bride shopping for her dress, and so on. It might include shots of the cake being decorated.

Books open a brave new world for the photographer and for those who provide related services. It’s time to have fun with this!

The big picture

Sometimes you just have to think big.

How big is big? In ancient times photos came back from the lab in a format three inches on each side. We used to think a 27 inch television was big. Not so much anymore.

Technology makes it easy to project photographs through your large format flat screen television, and that is a wonderful way to view them. You can really show them off at that size, and the display is free. The bigger your screen, the more you can dazzle your friends.

The images don’t last, however, because you will get an urge to watch Seinfeld re-runs, and the photographs will have to give way, at least for the time being.

There is that occasional rare print that you want to super-size because you want it to be permanently on display as a reminder, or a symbol, or a tribute. The one I am holding in the photo is 20 inches by 24 inches and it shows a group of dear friends of mine. We have large photos in our house that have been on the wall for decades.

How big is too big, anyway? I love touring museums and admiring the scenics and portraits that are 6, 10, 15 feet tall. They are wonderful. The measure of too big, in my opinion, is that it is out of proportion to the place where it is displayed. If you have big walls, you may answer the call to make big prints.

By museum standards, my 20 X 24 that you see above is dinky. We have a much larger space over our fireplace that we need to fill. If only I had just the right photo.

Inspiration from classic painters

Notice the size of the man's head relative to the woman's head. He must be quite close to her.

I did my first shoot using classic paintings to define the poses, and it was definitely a learning experience. I worked from three works by Claude Monet. One of them is shown here.

It was not my intention to duplicate the original piece in all its detail, but rather to reflect the poses and expressions themselves. In this case neither face is visible. The main task in this pose falls to the woman to angle herself correctly.

A couple of challenges surfaced quickly. One of them was to keep the relative sizes of the heads the same. This required the male model, played by me as a stand in for a fellow who canceled abruptly, to be quite close to the woman. Another was the billowy quality of the gown, or whatever that white cloth is in the painting. I made minimal effort to duplicate that shape.

This image contains a number of obvious errors, but I learned a lot from the exercise.

I did not take pains with the light on my face, and as a result it is too visible. This was, after all, just a trial run to discover the sorts of mistakes that a person could make.

There are other inconsistencies. The model’s right arm should be lowered, and her left arm should be raised. I have shots of her in the right position, but they contain other errors.

As a character in my own shoot I had to improvise my placement in the scene as best I could.

There are several lessons from this simple test.

• The painter can record what is in his imagination, and not just what is in front of him.
• Classic work often portrays scenes that a photographer might not ever devise, and if he did he might reject them. Consider Edouard Manet’s famous Lunch on the Grass that combines a naked woman with two formally dressed men who seem totally uninterested in her. The precedent of a respected artist recording the scene gives the photographer some much-needed encouragement.
• Poses in paintings are achieved by many subtle placements, twists, and angles, and it can require many attempts to make all the required adjustments. This exercise requires the photographer to really notice what is going on in the original piece. That is part of the fun of this exercise.

If you eliminate the need for period costumes, sets, and props, and just concentrate on the central characters and their poses and expressions, the task becomes quite achievable.

There is such an enormous range of classical art that there surely is a painting or sculpture for every taste, body style, and age. I’m looking forward to my next shoot.

Not seeing is believing

A piece of fabric suspended from the loft provided a handy way to isolate Yuri from her environment.

One of the things that makes a strong photographic image is the decision on what to leave out. Leaving things out is most easily accomplished by getting close to the subject, providing a backdrop that blocks unwanted elements, and choosing an angle that avoids the extraneous.

We’ve all seen too many photographs that show telephone poles or lamps emerging from heads. I call this brain damage.

Creating a temporary mini-studio in your house is neither time consuming nor expensive. One of the backgrounds I use most frequently is a painter’s drop cloth that I bought from a paint store for less than $20. If you have any skills with aerosol paint, you can modify these pieces of fabric in artistic ways. A full-size backdrop from the big photo supply stores is rather pricy (around $150), so the improvisational paint store methods have their appeal.

It’s best to move the subject far enough away from the backdrop to throw it out of focus. You can also accomplish this by shooting with an f/1.4 lens wide open (shooting at the f/1.4 setting) to limit the depth of field. This particular lens does double duty for shooting in low light (to photograph your favorite band at work without flash) and for throwing backgrounds into the blur with their narrow depth of field.

The simple trick of not showing extraneous material makes it easy to believe you are seeing a much more “theatrical” moment. What the viewer doesn’t see makes the whole setup believable.

This is the whole scene. It does not make an appealing photograph.

The big picture

Sometimes you just have to think big.

Technology makes it easy to project photographs through your large format flat screen television, and that is a wonderful way to view them. You can really show them off at that size, and the display is free. The bigger your screen, the more you can dazzle your friends.

The images don’t last, however, because you will get an urge to watch Leave It To Beaver re-runs, and the photographs will have to give way, at least for the time being.

There is that occasional rare print that you want to super-size because you want it to be permanently on display as a reminder, or a symbol, or a tribute. The one I am holding in the photo is 20 inches by 24 inches and it shows a group of dear friends of mine. I have photos this size in my house that have been on the wall for decades.

How big is too big, anyway? I love touring museums and admiring the scenics and portraits that are 6, 10, 15 feet tall. They are wonderful. The measure of too big, in my opinion, is that it is out of proportion to the place where it is displayed. If you have Big Walls, you may answer the call to make big prints.

By museum standards my 20 X 24 is dinky. We have a much larger space over our fireplace that we need to fill. If only I could narrow the choice to the right photo.

On choosing your light

Direct sunlight is not flattering to your subjects, as this photo of Tom Selleck and Kate Winslet demonstrates.

Photographing in the wrong light is one of the three big mistakes people make when taking snapshots. The other two are cluttered backgrounds and standing too far from the subject.

There are simple rules that can make it easy for you to improve the lighting in your daylight photographs (flash photography is another kettle of fish).

• Windows, and kindred spirits such as covered porches, are your friend
• Clouds are your friend
• Sunrise and sunset are magical
• It’s OK to ask people to move to better light. They will thank you later.
• Judge the light falling on your hand. You will get good at this over time.

The light is coming from a wall of windows to the viewer's right. This is Jenn Zupancic, a Tucson yoga teacher.

The light is coming from a wall of windows to the viewer’s right. This is Jenn Zupancic, a Tucson yoga teacher.

This is Kendra. I use this window frequently. It's like Nature's softbox.

Windows

I know from experience what time of day each set of windows in my house is illuminated. It’s another thing to shoot in someone else’s home. I have more than once taken photographs under a skylight in the bathroom because it was the best light in the house. I’ve also draped fabric over windows in rooms where you wouldn’t think it would be possible to shoot a portrait. Windows produce beautiful light, and you may need to get your subjects quite close to them. I recommend taking many photos with the subject changing the angle of his or her face relative to the window. The camera doesn’t see exactly what your eye sees, so taking more photos can produce some pleasant results that you might not have predicted.

The photo of Kendra shows one of my favorite windows. It faces south, and it is illuminated around mid-day during the summer. Look for the best photo locations around your home and make a mental note of what time of day they are most conducive to photography. By the way, seeing your home environment through this exercise will give you a whole new appreciation of it.

Josh and Jessie near a floor-to-ceiling window to their right.

Josh and Jessie moved very close to the window for this portrait.

Clouds and fog

If the weather gods send you cloud cover for an outdoor shoot, be sure to thank them. Clouds are your friend. The only warning with clouds is that people can get what photographers call raccoon eyes. That is, they go dark and have no sparkle. A tiny boost of flash will fix this. You can also avoid raccoon eyes by posing your subject carefully. Be sure to notice their eyes while you position them for the photograph. Fog produces wonderfully moody photos of both people and places. If you live in a foggy place you might as well discover some use for the stuff.

End of day photos

 

The bug in Sandy’s garden close to sunset.

Sunrise and sunset produce tons of classic photographs. They tend to come out quite orange, but that is part of their personality.  Shadows also take on new meaning at these times of day. They are very stretchy and fun to look at. You have to shoot quickly because the “perfect” moment doesn’t last long.

If you are photographing a scene, as opposed to a person, let the light be what it is.

Photography is the study of light. If you simply take light for granted when you take photographs you really aren’t getting to the sweet center of the experience of photography. Give yourself a treat by paying attention to the light.

Sometimes they last

The photograph on the left is about 40 years old, plus or minus a few full moons. I still enjoy looking at it, and that is really the point of this post. You just don’t know what is going to hold your interest over the long haul.

If you take a thoughtful photograph of someone it can have a lifespan of many decades. It might even catch on with other people and be respected and valued more or less forever.

I’m not looking to the young people in my family to become curators, however. That is not their native disposition. Any prolonged interest in my work would be more likely to come from a person with Michelle’s sensitivities. Wait until you see her book on the antique public-square clock that was lovingly restored by a citizen of Granville, New York. She is a curator extraordinaire.

I spend a lot of time thinking about photography because it’s fun, and because I use it to reveal myself. What to photograph? Why? The second question leads happily to “Why not?”

People rush through their picture-taking with the same hasty abandon they might employ against a bag of Cheetos. Gulp! Gobble! Chug down a bottled-water chaser.

I see nothing wrong with this, but it does represent a missed opportunity to savor the experience of looking at something with a respectful mindset.

Here is a 40-year old picture that has life left in it, in my view. If you reflect on the possibility that your picture might hold up that long, you perhaps will feel a bit more kindness about the act of tripping the shutter. The kindness is for yourself, the subject of the photograph, the camera, and an expression of appreciation that through a series of miracles, all these things have come together.