Dead Ducks

While exploring an area near near Quake Lake in Montana we came across a boat coming to shore with a few duck hunters. One of them was a young girl who apparently got a couple ducks. Being a city boy I’m not used to seeing blonde girls holding any type of carcass, so I thought it would be a good photo opportunity. The girl obliged and as her family looked on with bewilderment I took some pictures of the girl, her boat and her dog.

IBID RIP

iBid is a “boutique” stock agency. The work in their collection was amazing and not the normal crap you find in every other stock agency and its damn sure you wouldn’t find anything as creative in a microstock agency.

If you go to their website as of today this is the message you will see:

“Ibid launched in 1966. In a time when photography was simple, life was simple and people wore more hats. Morton Shapiro, photographer and Ibid’s daddy, wanted to create a resource of high class and totally unique images. Simple. We are still here and we’ve grown up right. And we keep on providing the world’s finest creatives with the best conceptual photography. Because it’s what we do. We love photography. We’ve been at the heart of the industry as it has grown and developed over nearly 40 years. We have adapted, evolved. We remain true to Morton’s original idea. We have kept our eye for beautiful, ‘real’ photography.”

Unfortunately, I just received this email:

September 27, 2007

Dear ibid Photographer,

It is with deep regret but a clear head that I must inform you that ibid will cease operations as of December 31, 2007. We will continue to collect on any outstanding sales made prior to that date and will forward payment to you in the usual time frame. As of January 1, 2008, ibid relinquishes any right and license which it had to publish and market for commercial use your photographs, and beginning as of January 1, 2008, you are free to allow anyone else to use your photographs for any commercial use whatsoever. As of the end of the calendar year all of ibid’s license agreements with its photographers are terminated.

I have decided it is time to face the new reality of the stock photo industry. After forty years of a very good run it is no longer a business environment in which ibid can reasonably exist without cannibalizing its collection. We simply cannot compete with the giants that outsell us by undercutting prices and have successfully turned lower standards into the art buyer’s habit and necessity. In short, we have become an anachronism; too excellent for mediocre times.

Each and every image that has ever graced the ibid collection has been an outstanding expression of the great art of photography. We thank you for the honor of representing your work and wish you the fame and fortune you all deserve.

Sincerely,

Joann Shapiro
President, ibid

It is too bad to see this. At least they didn’t make things worse by moving everything to microstock pricing or royalty free pricing like other agencies that used to promote quality rights managed images.

I don’t know how things will play out for them, but I’m glad to see something new to offer photographers like the new Photoshelter Collection.

Bob Loblaw

The other day I was talking to someone about junk mail and I couldn’t remember the name of Greendimes. I knew I had mentioned it here recently, so I said something like “oh, its on my blog.” Right as I said it, I thought to myself, “how lame does that sound?” I mean really, who the hell am I to have a blog? Who in their right mind would want to read my blog (Hi Mom).Ok, if I constrain my blog to photography then I have some (small) reason to have a blog. I read other photographers blogs all the time and find some of them interesting. They range from the self aggrandizing to the completely pointless to the downright informational. I will say that I’m not that thrilled when “photography” bloggers start talking about non-photography related subjects (no Mr. Photog, I don’t want to know your opinion on the Republican candidates for the 2008 election). Admittedly, I’m somewhat guilty of this myself.Oh well, you know what they say: “opinions are like ass holes, everybody has one.”  Unfortunately, unlike ass holes, people have way too many opinions.I’ll try to keep things on topic… starting tomorrow. Bonus points if you know what the hell the title of this post means.You can stop reading now Mom.

Cool

They say you can learn as much about the photographer who takes a picture as you do about the person being photographed. I was never really sure about that, especially when it came to my work. What did my images say about me?Then one day my friend and assistant Emily Merrill said something that struck a chord with me. She said that I’m always trying to make people look cool. I never really thought about it, I just did what I did. But in looking back at most of my photographs, I can see some truth to it, for the most part. I’m not talking about some kind of ultra-look-at-how-cool-I-am kind of cool. To me its a subtle cool. My subjects tend to look like they don’t give a crap. And in particular, they don’t give a crap about being cool. Because, anyone who gives a crap about being cool, isn’t cool.If pressed, I would say that this subconscious desire to make people look cool stems from my lack of coolness. I mean, I think I’m cool, but doesn’t everybody think they’re cool? Unlike a lot of people, I can admit that outside my own head, I’m not cool. Usually it’s high school where people become paranoid about coolness. I wasn’t unpopular in high-school. I wasn’t one of the kids that all the cool people made fun of. I wasn’t one of the cool kids either. I wasn’t particularly anything. I was pretty shy back then and I had my few friends and that was about it. So, not a dork, not cool… just, there.Oh, don’t think I’m trying to pour my heart out here and get sympathy for feeling left out in high-school (who wasn’t… and I’m not talking to you Johnny Tango, we know you were cool in high-school). But if I had to pinpoint where my preoccupation (if you can call it that) for coolness began, that would be it.So now that I have this realization about my images, how will this affect the way I work? Will I now attempt to knowingly make people look cool, when before it was just the way I worked. If I do that, things may seemed forced. And anytime something is forced, it doesn’t usually work. Who knows. Maybe I should do the opposite, maybe I should make people look uncool or quirky. I just don’t feel like that would be me. So, maybe I should just get out of my head and do what I do.What I listened to last week:The Rolling Stones, Exile On Main St.What I watched last week:Mad MenWhat I read last week:Image Makers, Image Takers

We All Could Have A Little Work Done

I’ve been reading interviews with a few of the leading fashion/editorial/advertising photographers working today. These are the photographers taking the cover photos of the top fashion magazines. Photographers shooting the latest ad campaigns for top designers. These are the photographers that are likely known to people who know nothing about photography. Whenever one of the the photographers was asked about the extent of retouching done to their photos they would say they do no retouching to their images.I had to laugh at that. Are these photographers, who are clearly at the top of the photographer food chain, so vain that they can’t admit that their images have had work done to them? What is it about their ego that can’t let them admit that their images need work after the photo has been taken. I think that we’ve seen more than enough evidence to the contrary. I’ve seen images from great photographers before any work was done to them, and trust me, they all needed post production to get them to their final state. Why do some think this is a bad thing?Maybe when they say “they” don’t do any retouching to their images they’re playing a game of semantics. Because, I’m quite certain that they don’t do the actual retouching. These are photographers that have people to do things for them (one even seemed to take pride in the fact that he didn’t even know the type of equipment he was shooting with). Maybe the magazines/clients are getting the top retouchers to do it for them behind their backs.Who knows. Whatever the reason, its silly they don’t want to admit their images have had work done. Of course, none of my images are retouched at all.What I listened to last week:The Kinks, Muswell HillbiliesWhat I watched last week:Entourage Season FinaleWhat I read last week:Chasing CoolPhoto hair/makeup: Veronica Sjoen