Photoshelter's new Copyright Guide

Copyright Guide from Photoshelter

Robert Adams - the American West

Robert Adams is an amazing photographer and you can see and hear him in an Art21 video explaining his vision and how he stumbled on his subject matter. 

The Role of the Artist Assistant

What do we think of the role of the artist assistant?

"But what's most striking about the artist-assistant relationship is how it is airbrushed from public consciousness. Behind every great artist might well be a highly skilled team of assistants, but that truth is suppressed for fear of shattering our illusions: the lone-genius myth helps sales, and is partly what gives an artwork its mystique." - Stuart Jeffries,The Guardian, Friday 22 March 2013

If you decide to buy art, do you care that the artist hired people to do the actual work? If this holds for a painter or a sculptor, does it hold for a writer? Or a photographer? What are the limits and when does it affect the value of the work? Will knowing the actual working 'craft' person make some items more valuable in the future? Can 'craft' people be used by artists in art fairs or in competitions? If Hirst or Hockney or Emin use assistants to do the actual work, at what level of professional development can an 'artist' hire help to step in and make the work? My understanding is that a "Rembrandt" done by an assistant, or mostly by one is worth much less today that for a painting done by the Master. Does that still hold true? If so, will it continue to hold true. 

Comments welcome. 

Easy Image Stablizer for Any Camera

Top 10 Signs You Are Obsessed w/Photography

• You can actually tell what kind of camera someone is using from over 30 feet away.

•  You have tried to claim ‘Photoshop” as a medical expense because it’s good therapy.

• When planning a vacation, your main concern is finding a hotel that offer WiFi so you’ll be able to upload your photos to the web, daily.

• You own more than one camera bag even though you only have one camera.

• You refer to cleaning up after dinner as “post-processing the kitchen”.

• You can’t remember the date of your best friend’s birthday, but you know all the specs of your camera and lenses by heart.

• When attending a wedding, you are more interested in what the photographer is doing than what the bride and groom are doing.

• When you see a photo of a model, you find yourself more interested in what lighting was used and how much processing may have been done.

• You understand that 22 is actually smaller than 5.6

• When gazing upon a beautiful landscape you think to yourself, “That’s lovely, but it could use just a bit more saturation.”

Side by Side - the move from film to digital in Hollywood

Netflix has an interesting documentary on the comparison and move from film to digital. Called "Side by Side", it has major Hollywood film makers discussing the pros and cons of film and digital. Includes a discussion of the Canon 5D and 7D - cameras created at the request of Reuters so their photographers could create film and stills for their websites. I think you will find it quite interesting. I did.

Note: development of movie film cameras has ceased. 

Bear Quints - the photo of a lifetime.

Click to see Tom Sears and the Bear Quints photos.

Black bears typically have two cubs; rarely, one or three. In 2007, in northern New Hampshire , a black bear sow gave birth to five healthy young. There were two or three reports of sows with as many as 4 cubs, but five was, and is, very extraordinary. The photographer learned of them shortly after they emerged from their den and set a goal of photographing all five cubs with their mom - no matter how much time and effort was involved. He knew the trail they followed on a fairly regular basis, usually shortly before dark. After spending nearly four hours a day, seven days a week, for more than six weeks, he had that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and photographed them. He used the equivalent of a very fast film speed on his digital camera. The print is properly focused and well exposed, with all six bears posing as if they were in a studio for a family portrait. He has an updated 2008 image of the family.

Who wouldn't want to have a chance like this.

Facebook Camera Groups: OMD, NEX

"Olympus OM-D EM5 User Group (Global)" is a Facebook group that posts a lot of images for the Olympus OMD E-M5 that I moved to last year. I thought you might be interested in some of the images that are possible with this camera and its group of lenses. I love this camera and it is perfectly sized and priced for my purposes. If you need something smaller for street shooting, or for travel (or for weight - it is lighter) this is an option.

For those interested in the NEX: "Sony Alpha Nex Digital Camera Tribe" could be fun.

Ezra Stoller, Photographer

The photographer who made architects famous...