Month: December, 2009

Thank you for a wonderful 2009 | Marinda Fowler Photography | Seymour, Indiana

December 31, 2009

I truly cannot believe how quickly this year has gone by.  It’s been a wonderful year for our family.  And a great {almost} first year for my business.  I’ve been truly blessed to have met with each and every single family that I’ve photographed this year.  Thank you for allowing me into your lives and letting me capture your memories.  It’s really been an honor.

Because I’m going to be able to say twenty-ten when referring to the new year.  Because my husband and I are going to be kid-free and enjoying some grown-up time tonight.  Because I have loved each of my clients and sessions this year.

Simply: Because. I. Can.  :D

I want to bring in the new year with a little somethin’ somethin’ for the people that have helped make my year great!  So, I’ve chosen my personal favs – well some of my personal favs – from the photos I’ve taken this year.  Wow.  What a task that was!  However, I’ve narrowed it down to my top 15 17 favorite portraits.  I couldn’t stick to just 15.  I tried.  I failed.

Just for fun, I’d like to have a voting contest!  The client of winning portrait will receive a complimentary session to use in 2010 (or as I like to say, twenty-ten) and a complimentary 11×14 of the winning image.

To vote, simply add the number of the portrait you like best in the comments below.  The image with the highest votes will win!  You may, of course, vote for yourself.  Send the link to this post to all your friends and family!  The more votes your image receives, the better your chances of winning!

To make this even more interesting… after all the comments are in, I’ll do a random number draw on random.org and that comment will also win a complimentary session to use in twenty-ten!  Woot-woot!

Voting ends at 11:59pm on January 8, 2010.  Only one vote per person please.  Also, there will be only two votes allowed per IP address. Leave a valid email address in the comment form (so I can contact you if your comment is drawn for the random drawing).

So, without further ado… here are {some} of my favorite portraits from 2009 (in no particular order):

#1 – A Mommy and her Baby IMG_5611

#2 - Gorgeous Eyes IMG_1322

#3 – A mom and her two handsome sons  IMG_8945

#4 - Miss D IMG_0066

#5 - Love those piggytails  IMG_5209

#6 - A few sweet moments with a bride & groom IMG_2998

#7 – Miss M  IMG_6749

#8 – Waiting on Daddy  IMG_0782

#9 – Mr. A  IMG_7907

#10 - Miss H IMG_6410

#11 - A bride a few moments before her wedding IMG_1507

#12 – The P children  IMG_7203

#13 - Sibling love IMG_5947

#14 – K & J  IMG_4213

#15 - The C children IMG_6836

#16 - Just walking with Mommy & Daddy IMG_0245

#17 – Whoo-hoo!  I’m a senior!    IMG_7474

Copyright? Say what? | Marinda Fowler Photography | Seymour, Indiana

December 29, 2009

How about a little education on the issue of copyright.  Sounds like fun, right?  Bear with me as this is going to be a bit lengthy.  Go grab that coffee or diet coke now.  :)

What is copyright?

The U.S. Constitution and the Federal Copyright Act give “copyright” protection to “authors” for their “original works,” such as photographs.

.What does that mean?

Simply that the law protects the original works and gives the exclusive rights to reproduce them to the author.  When the copyright has been violated, the author can pursue legal action and the offender can be held liable and fined.

,So, what are the rules regarding the prints I purchased from my professional photographer?

Here are just a few examples of things that you may not do with your professional photos:

  • Scan them – for any reason
  • Copy them
  • Reprint them
  • Crop watermarks out of photos and repost them on the web
  • Edit them – in any way
  • Take pictures of your printed professional photos (especially with your cell phone) and post them on the web.
  • Throw darts at them.  Ok, fine.  Do it if you must!  ;)

.Well, why can’t I scan them?  The photos are of me and my family?

While the photos might be of you, they are not yours.  The images belong to your professional photographer; who owns the copyright.  Granted you may have purchased a print of the image, and you are encouraged to display that image and enjoy it.  However, it is not at your disposal to make copies of by scanning or any other means.  It’s actually against the law.

Also, most professional photographers like to maintain quality control over their work.  There is a large quality difference between a scanned photo and one that your photographer creates and sizes for use on the web.  We do not like to see our work all distorted and wonky because it has been scanned.

,What’s the big deal?

The big deal is that your professional photographer works extremely hard at creating the beautiful images that you see.  Everything from lighting, posing and post-processing goes into one single image.  In that regard, your photographer will price their work to maintain a profitable business.  When clients start scanning images and reprinting at home or worse, local one-hour labs, they have basically stolen the ability for the photographer to make a profit from that image.  Since selling their artwork is how photographers earn a living, it tends to make us unhappy when clients steal images from us.

,Aunt Susie saw my photo and just wants to have one little copy of it.  Now what?

Great!  Your photographer will be thrilled to help you get one little copy of that photo for Aunt Susie.  It’s always a great thing to hear that your family and friends love our work!

I bought the disc with the printing rights.  What can’t I do with these images?

On the print release form, there will be instructions on what you can and cannot do with the images contained on the disc.  However, just for the sake of education, I’ll give you a quickie list of those things.

Things you can do:

  • make prints for personal use
  • make greeting cards for personal use
  • make photo books or photo gifts for personal use
  • upload the images in the WEB folder onto the web to share with your family and friends (however, please do not remove the watermark)

Things you cannot do:

  • enter the photos into contests – nope, not even those “cute baby” contests
  • post full-size non-watermarked images on the web
  • alter the images – part of your photography experience with your professional photographer will include the photographer’s time and talent in editing/processing your images.  If you do not like the style in which your images were processed, it might be time to look for a different photographer.  I’m just sayin’.

What about the images on your blog and facebook?

The images on my blog are meant to be enjoyed and viewed.  If you would like to share the images on my blog, please do so.  All you have to do is share the link (URL) with your family and friends.  Or,  you can simply find share buttons at the bottom of each post (titled “share the love”) and share them anywhere you’d like.

The images on facebook are also meant to be enjoyed and viewed.  I welcome and encourage you to tag yourself in the images on facebook or share the link to the images.  I also welcome and encourage you to use the images on facebook as your profile photo as long as you do not remove the watermark in the cropping process.  To avoid removing the watermark, simply drag the cropping bars all the way to the edge of the photo.  Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!

Okay, I get it.  I might have violated your copyright policy.  Now what?

Hey, don’t sweat it!  We all make mistakes and I’m sure that you did not intend to do so.  I simply ask you to make an attempt at rectifying the situation.  If you’ve scanned images and posted them on the web, please take them down.  If you need a watermarked copy of the images to use on the web, please contact me immediately and we can get that taken care of.
And please, please, please… promise to never do it again!  xoxo
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For more information on the issue of copyright, please take a moment to read through this article on photolaw.net: http://www.photolaw.net/faq.html

Photographers:  Yes, by all means, feel free to use this post to educate your clients.  I just ask that you link back to me.  xoxo

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Holiday Traditions Winner! | Marinda Fowler Photography | Seymour, Indiana

December 23, 2009

Thank you all for sharing your favorite holiday traditions with me!  I truly enjoyed reading them all.  It seems that one thing binds us all together in our traditions… our loved ones!  I hope that you all have a blessed holiday season with those that you love best. 

Now, without further ado… the random.org generator has determined our contest winner! 

 

Random Screenshot

 

Entry #11: 

Amy Allen says:

I really like driving the kids around looking at the Christmas lights after dark. I always end up thinking we should do it on a particular night (like Christmas Eve) but that never seems to work out. Oh well, we all still enjoy it. And we make sure to do it atleast a few times during the season.
 
Congratulations, Amy!! 
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For all of you who entered but didn’t win, don’t despair!  Be checking your inbox for a special surprise! 
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Merry Christmas all!
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