Contracts, Photo Releases and other Nonsense!!

I shot a concert the the other night, unfortunately I was ambushed with a contract at the door, “no signature, no entry mate!” I was told.  Having already travelled 90 minutes to get there I figured I’d sign it, and decide what to do with the images at a later date.  The contract is less ominoous than others that I’ve seen but this had unusual seemingly random clauses that didn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense.  There was no questioning of copyright for once, but other really odd stuff like “images may only appear on a website for a maximum of thirty consecutive days“… why??  who knows, but obviously not very portfolio friendly.  Also the record company who’s contract it was, wanted a byline credit for the record company whenever any of the images were used, again, bizzarre.

I’ll not mention the artist or the record company because I’ve asked to get it recinded, luckily my magazine who commissioned the work is again standing behind me and has told the artists management that there will be no coverage of the artist or event until they drop the contract.

The really bizarre thing is that it hurts the artist and PR agency, because the contract is issued by the record company (not the artists management).  Sometimes I share some shots with the PR/Management comapny as a good will gesture, however the contract I was made to sign disallows this, oops!  I’ve asked at the very least that anyone applying for a photography pass for any of their future gigs should be sent the contract in advance to them to allow them to make the decision whether to attend or not before they travel, rather than getting ambushed on the door!

I’ll keep you updated, in the meantime, I’ve started a thread on Concert & Music Photographers Network to get the feedback from others experiences and thoughts about contracts and photo release forms.

Good shootin’ everyone!

Is the Pap Culture hurting (Music) Photography?

I recently read either read an article or watched something on TV where an old hand in the photography business (it might have been Dennis Stone the Heathrow celebrity photographer), wherever and whatever it was, they were remenising about the kind of access you used to be able to get to stars and how it’s all changed.  Another music photographer recently said that the difference between Paps and most other photographers is that Paps try to make their subject look as bad as possible, other ‘togs do their best to make their subject look as good as possible.  So where did the line become so blurred?  Even in the few short years I’ve been shooting at concerts there seems to be this general anti-photographer feeling, unless you’re hired by the studio/label/PR, at which point you’re introduced by one of the inner circle.  I could have it all wrong, but that’s my feeling about the whole thing.

So my question is, how do we (the music photographer niche) go about winning that trust back and perhaps even going back to the times when proper access was easier to come-by, and when they didn’t have a constant contingent of bodyguards and lawyers automatically assuming everyone is out there to rip them off?

Apologies for the rant.

Getting Back on the Horse!

It’s been a bunch of time since I was out there shooting music, but I’ve accepted a bunch of gigs and feature artist portrait shoots for the coming months, including some really interesting stuff that I’m really looking forwards to.  Some new up and coming bands and some well established artists.  So watch this space, I’ll have some new images up soon.

On a separate note, the Concert Photography Community over at Ning, is growing much faaster than expected and I’ve been quite surprised by the amount of new members every month.  If you’ve not checked it out yet, go ahead and take a look.

Nominate Thinking Rock!!

Most of you will already know that I’m a huge advocate of a piece of organisational software called Thinking Rock.  If you missed my earlier post you can find it here.  If you feel the team that write this software ought to be recognised for an award, click the graphic below, and go ahead and nominate them!!  If they win it’ll all help to make the product better and more complete.  I nominated them for best enterprise product, it seemed to fit best of all.  Nuff Said!

Photoshop Channel Mixer - Black & White Film Settings

I couldn’t think of a better title, so there you have it! I’ve been reading a book over the last couple of days which any serious Digital Photographer should probably have in their library, called “Black and White in Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Lightroom: Create Stunning Monochromatic Images in Photoshop CS3, Photoshop Lightroom and Beyond” by Leslie Alsheimer; I know it’s a big old mouthful, but it’s a great book, and whilst it’s not complete rocket science front-to-back (for example anyone that’s been using Photoshop in anger for a couple of versions should have at least some of this down already) I can almost guarantee that there is useful content in here for even the most seasoned professionals, and for the rest of us mere mortals, there’s a stack of useful information that goes way beyond the basics. So if you’re serious about editing or developing your B & W images in a controlled way, it’s money well spent. It also covers workflow using Adobe Lightroom in some detail too.

Now to the meat of the post, which was the whole reason for this post, that is within the book Leslie talks about some basic Channel Mixer settings which give the appearance of traditional black and white films, the list includes some old favourites like Kodak Tri-X and Ilford HP5, it covers something like 15 films in total. I sat down the other evening playing with these settings, and whilst I quite like the general feel that they use, I’m afraid I have a hard time telling a deal of difference between all but the most extreme ends of them. But my shortcomings aside, for those of you that are interested, I’ve saved them to a Channel Mixer settings file which you can download and import into your own Photoshop. They were created in CS3, but I’m guessing that they’ll work in CS2 and possibly CS also; in CS3 they are also picked up inside the new Black & White Adjustment tool (which is really just a fancy front end to Channel Mixer anyway, but obviously gives you the additional control over the CMYK aspects of the image along with hue and toning capabilities. Anyway, enough waffle, I hope you find them of use, if you don’t believe that they accurately represent the films… Don’t Shoot The Messenger!! I’m simply sharing something I did with anyone that wants to use it. Of course, no one would point out a problem without offering a solution would they?? So if you tell me that they don’t represent the films closely enough, I’ll be expecting your new improved settings in the same message, then I’ll probably amend (or addend) the settings appropriately with your offering. Click on the link at the very bottom of this post for a handy zip (about 6KB) file of the following settings: Agfa 200X, Agfapan 25, Agfapan 100, Agfapan 400, Ilford Delta 100, Ilford Delta 400, Ilford Delta 400 Pro & 3200, Ilford FP4, Ilford HP5, Ilford Pan F, Ilford SFX, Ilford XP2 Super, Kodak Tmax 100, Kodak Tmax 400, Kodak Tri-X.

I know there is much more to making a digital image emulate film, these just offer a simple starting point to work with in terms of RGB response, again, don’t shoot the messenger!!

You’ll need to save them to wherever your user presets live, in the case of a Mac it’s in your user directory under “Library -> Application Support -> Adobe -> Adobe Photoshop CS -> Presets -> Channel Mixer” or alternatively you can save them anywhere and simply use the “Load Preset” option inside Channel Mixer and navigate to the directory at that time.

Disclaimer - Obviously I offer no warranty of any kind with these settings, they’re offered as is, and if you make anything explode, implode, or they screw with your images in any way, don’t blame me. If you’re not sure what you’re doing find someone to help you who does.

Download The Channel Mixer Settings Here!!

One Last thing, if you like these, and find them useful, leave a trackback to this post or if you don’t have a blog or don’t know what a trackback is then just leave a comment on here. It gives me the ability to know whether it’s worth me doing something like this again or not.

Artist Profile - Sean McHugh

Another artist that is probably long overdue for a nod and a tip of the hat is Sean McHugh. Sean is is a fantastic photographer, with a mind numbingly firm grasp on technical aspects of photography to a great depth. Perhaps best known for his work in and around Cambridge University on his site Cambridge in Colour, particularly his amazing low light, long exposure photography, which is some of the best I’ve seen (both of Cambridge and low-light generally). I beleive Sean is now selling his work and you could do far worse than to adorn your walls with a piece of his work. In addition to his work, he’s spent a huge amount of time sharing his knowledge in the form of photography tutorials which 95% of photographers out there could learn something from! I’ve emailed back and forth a few times over the last couple of years with Sean, and he’s agreed to allow me to tag along one evening that he’s out shooting, alas, due to his schedule being even more hectic than mine, the opportunity has not yet presented itself, maybe one day everything will come into alignment and I’ll be lucky enough to get my chance. Sean, thanks for sharing, please know that your work and tutorials are very much appreciated!! Good Luck in your future endeavours!

Artist Profile - Jo De Banzie

Whilst I’m on the subject of paying my respects to the people who have inspired me in my growth so far as a photographer it seems almost bizarre that I’ve written this many posts without actually showing my appreciation for the person who, perhaps more than any other has inspired me and brought out a side of my art that I wasn’t aware existed.  In a single morning she exposed me to more of my artistic and creative side than any other single event.  Please step forward Jo De Banzie!!  Jo is a highly capable artist who brings her talents equally well to photography of all types, including a thriving commercial career in the area of fashion, she also has been known to do a lot in the realm of very well known pop artistes as well as her own very impressive art portfolio which is highly acclaimed by all that I have seen view it.  In addition to this Jo has had time to win a few awards in the last year or two.  Jo, I owe you a great deal, please consider this a huge “thank you” from the heart!!  I wish you all the best in all your future endeavours and I hope to have the opportunity to work with you again sometime.

Damien Lovegrove - Lighting Genius

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to twice have the opportunity to work with one of the finest (in my opinion) Portrait and Social Photographers in the UK (and perhaps the world). Damien Lovegrove is a master of lighting, having a background in Film and TV lighting, Damien has probably forgotten more about lighting than I’ll learn in my time as a photographer. His style of picture is often high key and very artistic, he’s quite comfortable with throwing the rule book out of the window in pursuit of a great image. All of the portrait photographers that bemoan high-key images should spend a day or two in the company of Damien, and realise that an image doesn’t have to be heavy, moody, and serious to make a good portrait, light, bright and airy can bring the most fabulous feeling too. I worked with Damien once on an Annabel Williams course, where we worked with daylight, and once with Damien on his Photoshop course, where again, Damien’s grasp of working with images (as one might have in a darkroom with silver halide) in a non-destructive way, in order to enhance rather than manipulate is fantastic.

But perhaps the one course I’m missing which I suspect would potentially carry more benefit than probably any other is his location lighting course. I suspect this is where Damien’s true love of his art would shine.

He’s released two tutorial DVD’s, one on using natural light and another on using flash, it was discovering these that prompted me to write this and pay homage to the man. I’ve not seen them yet, but I do plan on buying the pair and hopefully in the near future have the opportunity to work with him again on one of his courses.

If you’re looking to learn the business of Contemporary Wedding, Portrait or Social Photography, I personally believe that working with Damien is possibly one of the best places you could spend your money. Many have asked me if Annabel William’s classes are worthwhile, I would say unreservedly yes, they are fantastic, but….. if I only had enough for one class, I would probably look to see what courses Damien had running first, not to take anything away from Annabel, but is simply a testament to how I rate Damien.

I’d love to hear from anyone else reading this that’s worked with Damien or plans to in the future!!

How Do I Get Pit Pass at a Larger Venue?

Kev actually posted the title of this in the comments of an earlier post, so I’d like to take a few minutes to address it and add a few thoughts about variety too…..

Kev, to answer your question, there are a few different ways of accessing the Pit at major venues, but all of them involve working up to it, and will require effort on your part. Your best bet is with a Niche magazine or serious genre specific mag. Firstly they’re normally publishing on a shoestring, and are happy to receive input for free, more importantly you’re likely to be better received if you can do a gig review, it’ll mean they don’t have to send a separate writer to the gig. Once you proved your worth and proven to them that you can produce consistently good quality work, they’ll start to trust you with the bigger gigs safe in the knowledge that you’ll return with something useful to them. Knowledge and enthusiasm towards the genre will show through too. If you hate Jazz, don’t try and cover Jazz, your work will likely lack the sparkle that would show through from a photographer that knows and loves the subject. Niche genre’s might include, Ska, Blues, Jazz, Country (in the UK), Folk, Roots, New Age or any other number of non-mainstream music.

Secondly, find up and comers to the genre that are trying to make a breakthrough or get noticed, there are a few things that they need. Firstly they’ll want to get publicity shots to send out with demo’s of their music this is a great place to show that you can communicate the feel of the genre and the band in a single shot. Try where possible to avoid cliches if you can (if you do this right, you have an opportunity to create a unique look or style for you and your work). These same bands are also probably (thanks to the wonder of home studio’s, mp3’s and the Internet) considering self-publishing an album, EP or similar, which they’ll want a cover done for, and very likely will want it to include them. Both of these things can be done on a quid pro quo basis, i.e. they get the use of your images in their promo material for the price of you being credited as the photographer, and likewise you get to use the work in your portfolio.

Be aware you’ll be trading on your subject matter knowledge again, if you hate Jazz, chances are you won’t know a good band from a bad one, and you’ll be putting your work up with the band, and if the band has little chance of progressing because they sound ummmm not so great…. then you may be wasting your time, and potentially putting your reputation on the line.

Hope this is helpful….. and I hope both you and Tara (Tara posted a comment on the same post) get out there as often as possible and have a bunch of fun!!

Trademark Insanity Partially Resolved

Looks like the Black Mustang Club have been given the go-ahead by Ford to produce their calendars this year.  But if anyone knows the full story on this trademark issue, I’d love to hear it!!