Blue Ridge Region February 2014
Thoughts
With convention just around the corner get your minds open and notepads ready! This will be a SUPER convention! Will the Justice League show up? Will we have to find out who the REAL Superman is through a kryptonite test? Don’t forget to sign up for convention , get your costumes, and get ready for a good time in the state capital!
Cover Image
This months cover image comes from your Secretary. A walk in the park during much nicer weather! EXIF: Canon 5D mkII, ISO 100, 5 stop HDR combined in Nik, f/5.6, Focal length 17mm To have your image featured here, email to
info@michaelsinkphotography.com with details.
this issue From the Governor P.1 From the Lt.Governor P.2
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Article from the Gov. P.3
From the Governor... This being the month of the Virginia PPA annual convention, there will be no separate meeting of the Blue Ridge Region. You should instead make plans to go to the convention, which is in Richmond this year. There’s news from the VPPA Board: a new category of membership was proposed and adopted. Dubbed the “Enthusiast” category, it is aimed at the many accomplished amateur photographers in Virginia, some of whom are going to turn into the Pros of the future before our very eyes. Dues are only $100 per year, and entitle Enthusiast members to attend meetings, conventions and the summer seminar. This classification is, however, not open to folks who charge for their photography.
The VPPA is taking this step because more and better education of both the public and amateur photographers is sorely lacking. All you have to do is look around a bit on the likes of Facebook to see the low quality of photos getting praise to know that we need to do some serious educating. It was noted that camera clubs, such as those in Richmond, Roanoke, meetup groups that focus on photography, and the like have 700, 800, even a thousand members, all of whom love photography, and we need to be talking to those folks. Speaking of which, I will be making a presentation before the Exposure Roanoke meetup group at the Salem Library on February 3rd. Although you might not see this until after the event, it is one more attempt to engage these folks, many of whom are talented photographers. - Michael Corbin
From the Lt. Governor...
Side Notes... Well, how are those resolutions coming along? Keep at it! Convention is almost here, we’ve got some great speakers coming : Joe Edelman Larry Lourcey Steve Ragland and Debi Karen Goforth Andy Armstrong Victor Ha Mark McCall Randy Collier Drake and Richard Busath Ralph & Cindy Romanguera as well as Pre-Con Classes from: Cris Duncan Adrian Henson Victor Ha Nathaniel Dodson Have a great month evertone! See you in a few weeks! Be Super! - Michael Sink, CPP
We would like to sincerely thank Jim Carpenter, Bruce Muncy, and Shannon Turner for providing feedback/constructive criticism at our Annual Print Critique which was held on Monday, January 20th @ Kevin Hurley’s studio. (Thanks Kevin!) This annual event is extremely helpful for new and veteran photographers. We all learn something from these meetings and personally, I feel rather energized after seeing what truly is “merit material”. Thanks again for everything! We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming convention in Richmond, which will be taking place Feb 21-25. What a great way to continue our education! We have some excellent speakers coming in to share their knowledge and expertise so come and join in the fun... Speaking of fun!! Who has always wanted to be a superhero? Well, here is your chance.... come dressed accordingly. T-shirt sales for this awesome event are underway, get yours today! To see more details, go to www. vppa.org. Looking forward to the
creativity and excitement!! Mark your calendars for our monthly meeting for March which will be on the 17th from 1pm-4pm @ Lisa Carter’s studio, located in Sutherlin, VA. We will have Lori Jill joining us to present on Painter in Photoshop. Lori’s bio information will be provided in the March newsletter, but go ahead and “save the date” now! Also, please remember to RSVP to Lisa at lisa@photobylisa.com We are starting to get our meetings planned for the entire 2014 year, so if you would like to provide suggestions/topics, as well as space for some of these amazing photographers, please email me directly at jollyjenphotography@gmail.com. Always open for ideas! See you in Richmond!!! - Jen Chaconas
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Your right to the use of your photographs is crucial to your business, and yet statistics show that only about 1% of us trying to make a living in photography actually secure our copyrights. This is a crucial statistic in the tendency you’ve probably noticed for folks to just take and use any photograph they find anywhere. Even big corporations do this routinely. From news organizations to large advertisers, soccer moms to corporate moguls, almost nobody thinks twice about grabbing one of your photos off your web site and using it for anything that strikes their fancy. If you haven’t found one of your images used without permission this way, you haven’t been paying attention. So how would you feel to find one of your creations being used to promote a political candidate whom you find to be anathema? Or serving as the packaging for a product you detest? How about being displayed by one of your competitors at that bridal fair for which you paid several hundred dollars to set up a booth? That last one popped up just last week in Adrian Henson’s Photographer Friends page on Facebook. The other photographer had taken the image, done some cheesy selective color and painterly stuff to it, and claimed it as their own. And they were showing it off to the crowd to entice business away from the photographer to whom it belonged. Now it makes perfect business sense for Big Business to steal any photograph that strikes their fancy and use it however they want, and if they get caught, only then pay for it. After all, if there’s a 1% chance anybody will come forward to demand you actually PAY for use of that photo, and it costs you the same as it would have to buy it in the first place, the other 99 thefts are free and clear. What a savings. Now think about the odds here: if only 1% of those who catch you have actually registered their work, thus being able to stick you for the big bucks, maybe $10,000 or so for infringement on one photo, YOU ARE LOOKING AT HAVING TO PAY THAT $10,000 ON ONLY 1 IN 10,000 PHOTOS, so your cost is STILL a whopping $1 per photo. And think of all the labor of tracking down copyright owners you would have saved, too. Wow, what a deal. Is it any wonder everybody everywhere thinks nothing of using your work with nary a wave at you? So what are you going to do about it? The answer is register your work. Go ahead, set yourself up to be the one who collects that $10,000 fee when YOUR photo comes around on the merry-go-round. Could you use a few thou windfall like that? Me, too. - Michael Corbin
Upcoming Events February 21-25 - VPPA Convention - Superheroes abound!! March 17, 1-4pm - BRR Monthly Meeting at Lisa Carter’s Studio in Sutherlin, VA, presentation by Lori Jill on Painter in Photoshop
From the Lt. Governor...
Side Notes... Well, how are those resolutions coming along? Keep at it! Convention is almost here, we’ve got some great speakers coming : Joe Edelman Larry Lourcey Steve Ragland and Debi Karen Goforth Andy Armstrong Victor Ha Mark McCall Randy Collier Drake and Richard Busath Ralph & Cindy Romanguera as well as Pre-Con Classes from: Cris Duncan Adrian Henson Victor Ha Nathaniel Dodson Have a great month evertone! See you in a few weeks! Be Super! - Michael Sink, CPP
We would like to sincerely thank Jim Carpenter, Bruce Muncy, and Shannon Turner for providing feedback/constructive criticism at our Annual Print Critique which was held on Monday, January 20th @ Kevin Hurley’s studio. (Thanks Kevin!) This annual event is extremely helpful for new and veteran photographers. We all learn something from these meetings and personally, I feel rather energized after seeing what truly is “merit material”. Thanks again for everything! We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming convention in Richmond, which will be taking place Feb 21-25. What a great way to continue our education! We have some excellent speakers coming in to share their knowledge and expertise so come and join in the fun... Speaking of fun!! Who has always wanted to be a superhero? Well, here is your chance.... come dressed accordingly. T-shirt sales for this awesome event are underway, get yours today! To see more details, go to www. vppa.org. Looking forward to the
creativity and excitement!! Mark your calendars for our monthly meeting for March which will be on the 17th from 1pm-4pm @ Lisa Carter’s studio, located in Sutherlin, VA. We will have Lori Jill joining us to present on Painter in Photoshop. Lori’s bio information will be provided in the March newsletter, but go ahead and “save the date” now! Also, please remember to RSVP to Lisa at lisa@photobylisa.com We are starting to get our meetings planned for the entire 2014 year, so if you would like to provide suggestions/topics, as well as space for some of these amazing photographers, please email me directly at jollyjenphotography@gmail.com. Always open for ideas! See you in Richmond!!! - Jen Chaconas
©
Your right to the use of your photographs is crucial to your business, and yet statistics show that only about 1% of us trying to make a living in photography actually secure our copyrights. This is a crucial statistic in the tendency you’ve probably noticed for folks to just take and use any photograph they find anywhere. Even big corporations do this routinely. From news organizations to large advertisers, soccer moms to corporate moguls, almost nobody thinks twice about grabbing one of your photos off your web site and using it for anything that strikes their fancy. If you haven’t found one of your images used without permission this way, you haven’t been paying attention. So how would you feel to find one of your creations being used to promote a political candidate whom you find to be anathema? Or serving as the packaging for a product you detest? How about being displayed by one of your competitors at that bridal fair for which you paid several hundred dollars to set up a booth? That last one popped up just last week in Adrian Henson’s Photographer Friends page on Facebook. The other photographer had taken the image, done some cheesy selective color and painterly stuff to it, and claimed it as their own. And they were showing it off to the crowd to entice business away from the photographer to whom it belonged. Now it makes perfect business sense for Big Business to steal any photograph that strikes their fancy and use it however they want, and if they get caught, only then pay for it. After all, if there’s a 1% chance anybody will come forward to demand you actually PAY for use of that photo, and it costs you the same as it would have to buy it in the first place, the other 99 thefts are free and clear. What a savings. Now think about the odds here: if only 1% of those who catch you have actually registered their work, thus being able to stick you for the big bucks, maybe $10,000 or so for infringement on one photo, YOU ARE LOOKING AT HAVING TO PAY THAT $10,000 ON ONLY 1 IN 10,000 PHOTOS, so your cost is STILL a whopping $1 per photo. And think of all the labor of tracking down copyright owners you would have saved, too. Wow, what a deal. Is it any wonder everybody everywhere thinks nothing of using your work with nary a wave at you? So what are you going to do about it? The answer is register your work. Go ahead, set yourself up to be the one who collects that $10,000 fee when YOUR photo comes around on the merry-go-round. Could you use a few thou windfall like that? Me, too. - Michael Corbin
Upcoming Events February 21-25 - VPPA Convention - Superheroes abound!! March 17, 1-4pm - BRR Monthly Meeting at Lisa Carter’s Studio in Sutherlin, VA, presentation by Lori Jill on Painter in Photoshop