Shooting Raw as Insurance against CopyRight infringement

There is an absolutely astonisihing amount of people that shoot only jpg's and then they are asking on various forums how to stop theft of their images from their websites and the other forums they love to post on....and the answer is........YOU CAN"T........if you can see it on your computer screen it can be stolen.....It is just a fact of in the age of the internet and the WWW................

Question pop up all the time like: Can i sue so and so for copyright infrinment or for using without permission???? the answer is yes...but is most like going to be a huge waste of your money, as the theif will lie and say they did not know it it was stealing they had been told anything on the net is fair game...fair use and anyone can use anything they want anythingme they want and I'll have the web guy remove it and promise never to do it again.......and the thief willnot even cross his fingers as we were taught to do if you did not intend to keep your word........
The judge will rule in your favor but only require the thief to remove your images...no cash award ...not even to pay for your lawyer........if you can prove the image(s) is yours........
Since all camera can produce a jpg image it could be hard..especially if the thief has a piece of software that allows him to change the data in the exif portion of the jpg image.......all he needs to change is the date the image was taken........now prove it is yours.............

Did you register your image with the US Copyright Office (or the copyright office in your country), if not then the battle could bode ill for you..........

SO....................................................................................

shoot raw.......do not want to process your images, you're perfectly happy with them as camera generated jpgs....that is cool then shoot raw + jpg and use the camera generated jpg for what ever you do with your images.................

I shoot  raw+jpg (small) for quick sorting of images, especially from weddings.....I sort using windows photo viewer.........but I do process the raw files and then delete the jpgs that the camera made........I can afford to shoot raw+jpg becasue I have more than 1 memory card...they go on sale and I buy 2 or 3 or more....right now I won 12 - 8gb Transcend cards....they have been as good for me as Lexar and SanDisk, both of which I have owned and used.....Transcend is quite a bit less expensive and just a reliable..........

Anyway the bottom line is the raw file can be insurance against image theft as it cannot be uploaded or viewed on online forums or galleries...it can be attached to emails or transferred by ftp.....I use FTP to transfer my raw files to my image processor in Phoenix Az........HappyFish.com.......then they transfer my finished files back to me..........
I never let anyone have my orignal files I transfer copies.........................

RAW files can be PROOF of OWNERSHIP in court as to who really owns and image.........

BlueGrass Visions - The Lexington Ky. Project

Well I just received notification that the BlueGrass Visions book has been printed and the contributor copies will be arriving very soon......can't wait to see which ones of mine are in it.......Actually I am waiting on the email that has the contact sheet of published photos to add to my portfolio........and the check of course. LOL....LOL...LOL... :-}}

How to be a GOOD PHOTO ASSISTANT

How to be a GOOD PHOTO ASSISTANT ......................................


The title says it all......I read this great article on being a good PHOTO assistant by photographer / blogger Scott Bourne ......Here is the Link to his Article http://tinyurl.com/25pzpbs If you know anyone that is wanting to be an assistant print the article out and give it to them or at least email them the link to the article.................

Post Processing of Digital Images

I started in Professional Photography a little over 30 yrs ago.....At that time there were 4 or 5 Professional labs (plus a plethora of 1 hr labs) here.  i tried each Pro lab out with a roll of film and decided on the Quality of work, customer service, price, & if they were open on Saturday mornings as to who got my business..........so now I was able to shoot, put my film in an envelope with instructions as to what I wanted, slip thru a mail slot in the building and go pick up in 3 or 4 days.......Life was good I could concentrate on shooting and honing my craft.........

Digital came and I was with a processing lab...all the labs still printed but as to the actual Processing of the image, was left upto the photographer.......that means new computer, or at least a better than low end computer, software like photoshop or painter or some other processing software...which is now cutting into my shooting time or sleeping time :-}} ........so I was on the search for a processor that I could trust to turn my images into wonderful files for printing.......well the search literally took a few years.......basically because there did not seem to be any one doing that work, secondly because when I did find a random person claiming to be a professional processor they charged more for processing than I charged to shoot a wedding.........so I was backed into a corner.....it was not that I did not want ot learn to use photoshop but simply a time issue for me.......I like to work in photoshop but just like my 4x5 darkroom in the past, i wanted to do my fine art work myself and leave the weddings and portraits to others.........so I searched on I started seeing a few processing companies pop up here and there but still none that fit the bill with me......mostly because they had minimum quantity for wedding images and they would not mess with fewer images, so no portrait processing....so I searched on............then I found a mention of a company Called HAPPY FISH Professional Album Design and Post Processing ........ Looks promising.....sent an inquiry, got a very profession and swift reply......I asked questions that were actually answered on the the home page, but not once was a scolded for not reading the website......I was politely and professionally given answers and they have pricing set from 0 (yes zero) image on up.........so you can send them 1 image to run thru Lightroom or several hundred or more..........pricing is very good I believe...as I write this I am FTP'ing almost 400 images to be processed............

Life may be great once again........if I can concentrate on the shooting and let Happy Fish be my processor and not have to double or triple my prices just to pay the processing........


My FTP service is FileZilla an open source FTP software.....seems to work good but it is slow...or it could be the amount of stuff open and running at same time that is slowing it down........

I am anxious to see Happy Fish's results with my files..........

TRIPOD STABILITY

I use a Giottos Tripod that has a removable / repositionable  center column.....so I need extra stability to keep the cam from shaking during exposures when I have the center column in a weird angle.....

I get that extra stability from a grocery bag.....before I go any farther...You can carry expensive "sandbags" to fill with sand, dirt , rocks or whatever to get more weight to stabilize the tripod and center column......but why spend $15 - $50 for a specialty item When at your local Walmart or Grocery Store yu can get a "green" recyclable reusable grocery bag for the huge price of 99¢ to $1.99......that is all you need and they fold up very small also and do not weigh hardly anything and are machine washable (at least all that I have had are)........I started useing them by accident.....I was out shooting flowers and got my center column in about a 45° angle......and needed a bit more stability due to the wind.......looking in my car there was the grocery bag....it has loop handles....what the hey......it worked....it was dirt cheap and it serves multi purposes.....groceries and photography.

Have a great week / weekend.......Keep Shooting.......................

Garage / Yard Sell

Garage Sale: Thur-Sat 2738 S Yellowstone Court ....Pro Photo packs/bags, Lots of CD's, books & and non photo related items also...juicer, food processor.....Ice Packs...not blue ice but Medical type: have a special foam in them...man are they great and some small foam chests.........lots more.....

I Really Really Hate Having MY Eyes Dilated............

I Really Really Hate Having  MY Eyes Dilated............well it is not so mujch ahving the dilated but having to drive afterwards.......every year I beg for an early morning appointment and every year
I told there are none available.......my reasoning... the Dr. office is on east side of town.....I live on west side........going to Dr. Office wit ht he rising sun beaming into your eyes (prior to dilation) is not a real problem....I have dark sunglasses.............HOWEVER driving home after dilarion and driving into the yello/orange ball of light in the western sky is total hell.......I do mean total hell......a total of 4 pairs of sunglasses just so I could try to see and of all the stupid idotic stuff to run into (not actually run into as in crash) this idiot in a black car had a silver sunshde covering his rear window and the sun was reflecting off it directly into my eyes.......2 police....yes 2....1 city and 1 state passed right by him and did not even look his way......it was shift change time and the hiway was packed, so I could not pass this idiot at all.....now I sit in the dark with lighter sunglasses on as the  brightness of this screen is killing my head.....I already had a headache from the drive from the Dr.s office but this is adding to it..........


Well the visit to the Dr. was a success, I guess.......he was all compliments on my check up.....he siad I had better eyes than a lot of his normal patients ......by normal he was refering to non diabetic patients........so my eyes were really really really good since I have had diabetes for around 12 yrs now......so I can handle a little headache, knowing that the diabetes has not started damaging my eyesight as of now.......which is good since I am a photographer................