Author: Leslie Burns

Heather Morton has another must read post. This one is on the role of the Art Buyer and really gives us a good look at where the responsibilities lie.

When you read this, make sure to keep in your mind “How can I use this information to improve how I approach/work with Art Buyers?” That way you won’t fall into getting upset or frustrated when you read about the limitations on an AB’s “power” etc. Hopefully you will come away with the understanding that while they aren’t there to be your advocates, they really do want to push their constituents to use the best photographer for the project.

Wacom promotes EclipseDigital and their rip-off of artists. (Thx Mark H for the heads up!)

I think EclipseDigital has all sorts of bad things going on. For example, you can’t get the full T&Cs until after you give them your contact info and, essentially, sign up (although it appears you’d get it before you upload anything). That is smarmy at best and I have to wonder if it doesn’t actually run afoul of some legalities. Also, just who are they? I don’t trust companies that don’t have real people somewhere on the site–like bios of the execs or something.

But the core issue for professional creatives is the unfortunate promotion by Wacom. For any of you who use or are thinking about using their products, take a moment to complain to them about this. The more they know their core users are upset, the less they will do things like this in the future.

I wanted to let everyone know that I will likely not be posting as much here for the next 17 days. My exams for summer term start on the 15th and will finish on the 20th. I have five exams. I really need to study.

I’ve had to read about 300 pages (more or less) a week this term. There are 13+ weeks in the term. That’s about 3900 pages read. 3900 pages of some of the densest, least exciting words ever put in linguistic order on a page. The kind of reading that makes Leviticus look like a romance novel. It’s been a chore even when some of the cases have been interesting.

But I love it. I love it because I know that the work I am doing know will pay off in the future. When I get the most frustrated, like when I just read three pages and have to read them again because they made absolutely no sense on the first read, I think about why am I doing this: to improve myself, my business, and my clients.

In other words, I keep thinking long-term to get me through the tough work of the now. Then the work I’m doing now becomes something I can love doing.

You can do the same. Sure, for most creative people it is no fun to do the work of creating or working a marketing plan and running a business. You want to make your art, your images, and not have to screw with the invoicing and bookkeeping and mailers and planning, etc. But it is in the doing of the tedious that you get the opportunities to do the art (and get paid for it).

So, if I can do it, so can you. While I’m slogging through making outlines of the law and flashcards and learning the details of the rules, you do some of the not so fun work that makes your business, in the long run, better. Research some clients. Plan some mailers and emailers. Catch up on your bookkeeping. Plan your marketing for next year. And remember to love the work, because it is in the doing that you get to do what you really love.

There is more and more good news globally on the anti-piracy front. Just today comes this news that Pirate Bay is in even more trouble. This time, there’s an injunction against them and a separate one against the group buying the evil company.

By the way, that whole deal may be swirling the bowl anyway.

As a side note, Pirate Bay really are a bunch of weasels. Love the bit in the article about them claiming they never got a summons but there is an electronic trace of someone from their IP accessing it. Talk about being hoisted on your own petard!

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is going after them as well. Go get ’em!

Most hopefully, and this is not getting the press it should, a judge in the Tannenbaum “filesharing” trial issued a partial summary judgement on the issue of whether a “fair use” defense could be used. The judge said, essentially, “No.” In the ruling she issued (ironically, perhaps, by email) she noted that the defense, if used, would, “shield from liability any person who downloaded copyrighted songs for his or her own private enjoyment” and would “swallow the copyright protections that Congress has created.”

Woo hoo! This is a big deal and a win for creators who have to fight the “everyone does it” rationalization. So good news all over in IP law today.

Over on Heather Morton’s fabulous blog, there is a post by Myles that brings up a really important point: it doesn’t matter what tricks you know in Photoshop, if you start with your own way of seeing, your own great images, you will have much better work.

The comments need to be read as well.

I don’t think that computer tricks and skills are bad, that is not what I am saying. I just think that if you start with strong work, strong images you have made, then add strong post skills, the combination can be devastating (in a good way). But if you just take a picture, then use the same skills in post, meh.

And like Myles was noting, it is too easy to get sucked into trend-following if you aren’t making your own best work first.

Think about it: are you making your work or the work you think that people want? Are you making your work and then turning it into what you think people will want? Or are you making your work, using whatever tools are appropriate, and then finding the right people to show your work to?

Only the last option will bring you lasting success.

The first of the new Creative Lube podcasts is now available. You can purchase it individually or buy a subscription for a whole year’s worth of them. A subscription will save you money as you will get at least 2 episodes free (over buying individually), maybe more if I get inspired and post extras.

The purchase is done via PayPal and the podcasts and system are hosted through PodBean. If you have any issues, please let me know. I want this to work for everyone, of course.

I know some of you will be upset about having to pay for the podcasts now. I’m sorry for that and for those of you who choose not to purchase, I’m sorry to lose you as listeners.

The reality is, much like other service providers, I must charge for this information and effort. There is value in this information. I have always put in a lot of effort to produce Creative Lube and, now that they are costing you money, I will not only keep up that commitment, but plan on increasing the quality of effort and materials.

In the future, I plan on touching on issues of social media, email promotions, new media options, legal issues, and buyer survey results, just to name a few. I am always looking for ideas for topics, so please don’t hesitate to suggest some.

For now, the old Creative Lubes are where they were, and are still available via iTunes as well. At some point they will have to migrate. I suggest getting all of them now. They are still free.

Thanks to all of you who have sent me notes saying how you would be fine paying for CL and telling me how much you get from them. I deeply appreciate your support and hope to exceed your expectations with the new Creative Lube.

From an Art Producer (aka Art Buyer), here is what she wants photographers to do and how things work for her. It’s pretty straight forward and interesting. Lots of great info.

I still think she is rare in the dumping of the print promo file, however. I know of many who love print promos.

I bet if someone sent her a mini-book or something fun/cool/different in print, she’d keep it.

In case you missed my post on the BAP Facebook page, make sure to check out this augmented reality biz card. Portfolio in a biz card, plus more.

I want to see a photographer do this, smartly. Way cool.

I’ve been trying to teach photographers that there are essentially two teams left in the photo world: Team Cheapo or Team HighEnd (the middle is gone). Of those two, only one has a chance at long-term survival for the individual photographer. I’m sure you can guess which that is– HighEnd.

Now, HighEnd means different things to different people, and that is fine, but what it doesn’t mean is trying to skate by on the cheap. To be in the HighEnd world will require effort and investment in your business. You can’t do it for a buck and a quarter and good intentions.

Most importantly, it means making great work, of course. That always always comes first.

But, it also means promoting your work as a high value offering. You must value it highly yourself, and you have to put it out to the world that way too. This post from Fresh Produce (Art Producer) shows this concept well in the stock world. Read the interview and look at how Trunk Archive has positioned itself, and how well it is doing in that rarefied atmosphere.

Cheapo can kiss my Polish dupa. You want to make money in this business, join the HighEnd team.

I hope this is the last post on this…. but I wanted to share part of what I emailed to a friend yesterday:

I’ve now read all the appellate briefs and, as much as it sucks, I agree with the court in its decision.

A quote from Corbis’ brief, citing the transcript of the original trial proceedings:
Usher testified that he sent this material to Corbis without making any image count, without separating blank frames from those with images, and without making any listing or inventory of what he was sending. (A-406-408 & A-1177-1178) As Usher put it: “So I jammed everything that I had as it was into a couple of big boxes and sent off a number of a lot of [film] sheets to them.” (A-287)

D’oh! This is the crucial point of the whole damages part of the case. If Usher had made a better record of what was sent, it is very likely the number of lost images, the uniqueness issue and, therefore, the valuation would have been quite different. There are several cases cited by both sides that have images being valued at MUCH higher numbers, but in all of those cases, the exact images were known. Here, they weren’t. That was key.