Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Atlanta Busy Bee
Busy Bumble Bee in Atlanta Traffic I-75 from Sid Hoeltzell Photography Inc on Vimeo.
This was a sight. A very busy bumble bee being blown about by
traffic winds off I-75 on the easy to Clayton, GA
Atlanta traffic hid this little busy bee powerhouse... magisto video
Monday, October 21, 2013
Gravlax time coming
https://vimeo.com/77447033
Gravlax preparation time coming from Sid Hoeltzell Photography Inc on Vimeo.
This is a high speed short low res deal about the preparation of the holiday Gravlax. It really is the best thing I can prepare... some of my clients request it yearly...
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Getting to the beautiful Georgia countryside was the essence of the trip
Teaching the students about location food photography was the gravy... we brought home the bacon.
We almost brought home some trout
http://www.magisto.com/video/LwIMJ1oMQiAxT01pYw
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Georgia On My Mind...And In My Hard Drive
 |
| Buying shade...priceless |
I spent four days in the Smoky Mountains of Georgia teaching the Miami Ad School Photography students about the wonderful world of photography...I busted their balls. As a photographer, it was very invigorating to be in a new environment. I got so turned on by everything, I couldn't put my cameras down. (iPhone, Sony A55, Nikon D800, Phase P30
 |
| Iconic looking beacons for spacecraft |
 |
Neon signs to attract tourist like flies to old nuts. What kind of advertising uses this technique?! What's the matter, don't pecans sell well? |
 |
| READ THIS CAREFULLY KIDS. Lucky Spa with an icon that looks phallic... And they tell you to take a left at Adcock. Please...get the sensors on this one. |
 |
One of the most beautiful moments of the trip.
|
 |
| This tree was barking at me. |
 |
| Helen, Georgia This town exploded with Oktoberfest and bratwurst. People were slinging beers everywhere ~ and parking, not a problem. Ja Ja. My lederhosen were too tight to laugh. |
 |
| That cotton...I've always wanted to photograph a cotton field. |
 |
| Oh my God. These ribs were the best. Smoke n' Pig BBQ ~ St. Louis style ribs |
 |
| Another neon sign. Thank you Jesus...you're really shellin' em' out. |
 |
| Now I have a sense of scale and perspective in my life. Again...thank you Jesus for the Black Pearl hauling me up to Georgia. |
 |
| Cruisin' back to Miami in the Black Pearl. |
Giraffas Food Session at Sid Hoeltzell Studio
Sid Hoeltzell Giraffas Shoot from Sid Hoeltzell Photography Inc on Vimeo.
Miami Food Liquor Photographer, Sid Hoeltzell creating seriously delicious food photography for Giraffas Steakhouse chain.
©Sid Hoeltzell
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Miami Visual Collective Group Show 2013
Miami Visual Collective Group Show from Sid Hoeltzell Photography Inc on Vimeo.
The Miami Visual Collective's first group show at Border's Miami
WOW, the Miami Visual Collective had our first group show. Well attended with the fantastic five showing their "art and commerce" sides. The show is up and running till November 2013 at the Miami Center for Photographic Arts (Borders), 1601 SW 1st Street, Miami, FL 33135
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Contracts and Copyright Law - How to Best Protect Yourself
Contracts and Copyright Law - How to Best Protect Yourself
The Basics Photographers often do not realize or remember that we actually own the copyright the moment we create an image. Many photographers believe that this copyright protects our images, when unfortunately it does not. The reality is that copyright is all about the usage agreed to and how we are compensated. If you are a cautious photographer and register all of your copyrighted images with the Library of Congress, this may eventually reward you with a lot of money, save you money, or arbitrate a dispute in your favor. But the key point is to always register and define your usages and transfers of usage rights. During the 30 years I have spent in the photography industry, I have been involved in several usage rights cases. In my experience I have found that if you are very clear with your licensing agreements in your invoices and your job description, you will not run into problems. Most of the time clients are willing to work with you, but there are reckless ones out there and that’s why it is important to take the necessary precautions.
Covering Your Bases Creating a clear and distinct set of job descriptions and usages for all your assignment photographs is the most important thing any photographer can do. Regarding all your other work... register it with the Library of Congress. Statistically, it is said that about 90% of all photographers do not register their images with the Library of Congress. Fortunately, it's not a scary process. Registration is simple and there’s even online help available. The benefit of registration is that it will potentially help you somewhere down the line, perhaps during an infringement proceeding. This has been instrumental for me a few times over the years. The last time I needed to verify my copyright was in Federal Copyright Court against a French software company. I had registered images with the copyright office and after three years I won a very large federal copyright infringement case against that software company. The result was satisfying. They lost big and paid me a large sum of money. It took three years of my time but I was protected and in the end, that is what mattered.
Negotiating Usage Rights As I mentioned above, the most important thing that photographers can do is create very specific job descriptions. Be sure to list different angles, or potential angles, and different options for photographing the work. In short, list as much as you can to cover any potential usages that may occur. In the next part of your invoice list the client’s usage rights. This means listing all of the specifics of how the images can be utilized. You need to be extremely clear here, as you are specifying the rights granted to your client and protecting yourself at the same time. My standard process is to do a photo fee and then include a one-year usage as described. Then I do a separate section where I include additional usages to give the client options for a greater value. Instead of granting unlimited usage, I recommend that you offer your clients breakdowns according to the media they will actually be using. For example, website usage may be for an additional two years with a 50 percent fee increase, whereas a national print ad would be for an additional two years at a 100 percent fee. The specifics are up to you but the point is to get the client to think about what they need and make sure they are actually paying for it. Make sure that you negotiate and release the values that they're requesting for a specific time. It is important to realize that 100% unlimited usage in all media areas is way too expensive. Also, when they start changing the job in the middle of the session, stop right away and pull out the signed estimate from your files. Advise them that if they "bought a flight from NYC to Miami" and they need the flight to stop in Atlanta and West Virginia you have no problem, but they must agree to the extra fares. The most important part of the process is getting the client to agree and sign off on the estimate. Get everything in writing as calmly as possible. My little trick is to explain that I’m very happy to do the extra work, but it’s not free.
Establishing Your Rights In the event that you find your work used in an unauthorized manner, the first step is to check if the images are among the ones you have registered. If not, register the images as accurately and as quickly as possible. Make sure to be very accurate about the dates of creation and first publication. This also brings up another great reason to make sure you have embedded accurate metadata into all of your files. Relevant data includes copyright notices, websites, addresses and copyright warnings. All this is important if the user stripped this information from the files. The next step is to contact a reputable attorney. If you belong to an association like ASMP or PPA they can often refer you to attorneys who specialize in copyright infringement and understand the photography industry. Let the attorney give you an opinion on where you stand. After that, stay your course and if you firmly have a case, follow through on it. In the conclusion of a federal case, if all the variables line up, those who used your images illegally will have to pay all attorney fees plus the jury award. In the end it’s about the money, not the principle. But for you to get satisfaction, you should honor the principle.
The Basics Photographers often do not realize or remember that we actually own the copyright the moment we create an image. Many photographers believe that this copyright protects our images, when unfortunately it does not. The reality is that copyright is all about the usage agreed to and how we are compensated. If you are a cautious photographer and register all of your copyrighted images with the Library of Congress, this may eventually reward you with a lot of money, save you money, or arbitrate a dispute in your favor. But the key point is to always register and define your usages and transfers of usage rights. During the 30 years I have spent in the photography industry, I have been involved in several usage rights cases. In my experience I have found that if you are very clear with your licensing agreements in your invoices and your job description, you will not run into problems. Most of the time clients are willing to work with you, but there are reckless ones out there and that’s why it is important to take the necessary precautions.
Covering Your Bases Creating a clear and distinct set of job descriptions and usages for all your assignment photographs is the most important thing any photographer can do. Regarding all your other work... register it with the Library of Congress. Statistically, it is said that about 90% of all photographers do not register their images with the Library of Congress. Fortunately, it's not a scary process. Registration is simple and there’s even online help available. The benefit of registration is that it will potentially help you somewhere down the line, perhaps during an infringement proceeding. This has been instrumental for me a few times over the years. The last time I needed to verify my copyright was in Federal Copyright Court against a French software company. I had registered images with the copyright office and after three years I won a very large federal copyright infringement case against that software company. The result was satisfying. They lost big and paid me a large sum of money. It took three years of my time but I was protected and in the end, that is what mattered.
Negotiating Usage Rights As I mentioned above, the most important thing that photographers can do is create very specific job descriptions. Be sure to list different angles, or potential angles, and different options for photographing the work. In short, list as much as you can to cover any potential usages that may occur. In the next part of your invoice list the client’s usage rights. This means listing all of the specifics of how the images can be utilized. You need to be extremely clear here, as you are specifying the rights granted to your client and protecting yourself at the same time. My standard process is to do a photo fee and then include a one-year usage as described. Then I do a separate section where I include additional usages to give the client options for a greater value. Instead of granting unlimited usage, I recommend that you offer your clients breakdowns according to the media they will actually be using. For example, website usage may be for an additional two years with a 50 percent fee increase, whereas a national print ad would be for an additional two years at a 100 percent fee. The specifics are up to you but the point is to get the client to think about what they need and make sure they are actually paying for it. Make sure that you negotiate and release the values that they're requesting for a specific time. It is important to realize that 100% unlimited usage in all media areas is way too expensive. Also, when they start changing the job in the middle of the session, stop right away and pull out the signed estimate from your files. Advise them that if they "bought a flight from NYC to Miami" and they need the flight to stop in Atlanta and West Virginia you have no problem, but they must agree to the extra fares. The most important part of the process is getting the client to agree and sign off on the estimate. Get everything in writing as calmly as possible. My little trick is to explain that I’m very happy to do the extra work, but it’s not free.
Establishing Your Rights In the event that you find your work used in an unauthorized manner, the first step is to check if the images are among the ones you have registered. If not, register the images as accurately and as quickly as possible. Make sure to be very accurate about the dates of creation and first publication. This also brings up another great reason to make sure you have embedded accurate metadata into all of your files. Relevant data includes copyright notices, websites, addresses and copyright warnings. All this is important if the user stripped this information from the files. The next step is to contact a reputable attorney. If you belong to an association like ASMP or PPA they can often refer you to attorneys who specialize in copyright infringement and understand the photography industry. Let the attorney give you an opinion on where you stand. After that, stay your course and if you firmly have a case, follow through on it. In the conclusion of a federal case, if all the variables line up, those who used your images illegally will have to pay all attorney fees plus the jury award. In the end it’s about the money, not the principle. But for you to get satisfaction, you should honor the principle.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Burger King Mexico Menus
Burger King Mexico Shoot from Sid Hoeltzell Photography Inc on Vimeo.
Geez, it's a lot of fun to shoot burgers for Burger King. I even pulled an infinity onion ring. Whoa.
Joe's Stone Crab Session
Joe's Stone Crab Shoot from Sid Hoeltzell Photography Inc on Vimeo
Another exciting food photography session with the folks at Joe's Stone Crab. We actually got to eat all of the delicious new Valkyrie legs from Norway. Boy, those Norwegians know how to grow 'em.
Thanks to Steve Sawitz for his glowing compliments about my work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)