Posted in PhotoBlog
Sawtooth Lake (click image to see larger)
Been processing a few more photos from the Sawtooth Lake hike. This photo was actually from my second hike to the lake that week, when my Dad and I went up. I would really like to spend the night up there next year and do some predawn work around the lake; consider it added to the list.
Posted in Photography
Just a real quick post: Saw a note a few minutes ago about a photo contest being run by the Idaho Statesman in cooperation with Idaho Camera. First, both of these companies are reputable and I’d have no problem doing business with them in most cases. I don’t usually do photo contests, but since I run a “Outdoor Idaho Photography” group on flickr I clicked the link to check it out for a possible announcement on our forum. And right there in plain sight is the reason I don’t do photo contest and why you should ALWAYS read the rules.
“Photographs and Articles submitted to the Idaho Statesmen and Idaho Camera shall become the property of Idaho Statesmen and Idaho Camera and may be reproduced and distributed in print, electronic, or other form for perpetuity.” source
If that doesn’t give you chills, you don’t value your work enough. For what it’s worth, that’s essentially all of the fine print, there is no link or reference to a “complete set of rules” or such. I realize that publications have to have a copyright release as part of their submission guidelines so they can print your photo in the paper or display it as a winner on their website. Some contests handle this gracefully, and I’ll participate. But many, if not most, grant themselves the right to sell prints and some, as in this case, claim to own the work. Perhaps, just perhaps, that’s not what they intended but rarely do court cases revolve on intent instead of what was written in the contract.
There are plenty of resources on the internet regarding photo contest and what to look for in the fine print of your local contests. It’s accepted they won’t send you back the print you sent in, and there will be language to that effect, that’s standard. You should expect to see language saying that you the photographer grant the company license or permission to print the photo as part of the photo contest. Read closely and be sure you can live with the “license” or “permission” you are granting. Stay far away from “own,” “become property,” “exclusive” and “perpetuity.” Always make that there is wording to the effect of: “the original photographer retains the copyright” For more information on photo contests and why many of them are bad, really, really, bad. Search google, there are plenty of rights grab stories out there. For further information about contests and photographers rights as well as examples of good and bad contests; visit: pro-imaging.org/content/view/164/161/
UPDATE:
Examples
VERY BAD: Costco Photo Contest
Good, specific rules: Maine.gov photo contest
More links: are yougambling with your copyright by entering that photography contest?
Another local, Bad photocontest. Farm Bureau of Idaho
Posted in Photography
Angie Stevens and The Mark – Boise Curb Cup 2009
I’ve been meaning to post this for a bit now. But we all know how things seem to come up, it’d been a crazy week and then came the holiday weekend. I had to put down the computer and step away from the internet for the last four days; it was nice.
Last week Joy and I went to the first annual Boise Curb Cup. I’m not sure there’s a good way to describe it, but imagine 130 different, some really different and all very random street performers gathering for a two hour competition. We didn’t hear about the event until the day before, one of my wife’s friends was going to be among the performers. But we were able to rearrange our schedule to see it.
Looking at a list of 130 entries and knowing that we had two hours that meant less than a minute per individual or group. That’s not counting getting stuck in a crowd, crossing streets etc. Yeah. not gonna happen. So somewhat randomly and based on name alone I circled 10 groups that I wanted to see, Joy added two that weren’t already on my list, together we marked a few more as 2nds.
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Posted in PhotoBlog
Sawtooth Lake – Black and White (click for larger)
Sawtooth lake is one of the prettiest places on earth, it’s the largest alpine lake in the Sawtooth Mountains and a pleasant 5 mile hike UP to it. I spent a couple of days there this summer, so this won’t be the last Sawtooth Lake area photo you’ll see.
Posted in PhotoBlog
A Hawk hunts over a field on an overcast cold winter day.
This winter while I was visiting the Parents, Dad and I took a ride up the road a bit to photograph a few birds. That area has one of the highest concentrations of birds of prey I’ve ever seen. Much more than the Snake River Birds of Prey NCA in Southwest Idaho. I knew we’d get a few hawk photos and maybe a few bald eagles and a Golden or two.
The Idaho Mountains have four types of winter days. 1) Crystal clear and warm (i.e. almost UP to freezing temperature). 2) Overcast and warm, which means it is, has, or is about to snow. 3) Overcast and freakishly cold, which means it’ll be spitting snow all day. 4) My favorite, Crystal Clear and Freakishly Cold, the best days to be out playing in the snow. I’ll mention too, that its clear a lot more that is it overcast.
This day was Overcast and Freakishly cold. Most of the day was sub zero. Because of the light and lack of contrast, it was a tough day to shoot. But a few shots did work, one of the two best ones has been on my flickr account for a while: Rough-Legged Hawk. This photo however has been sitting in my todo folder since.