TALK: Red Eye

For todays talk, we had the pleasure of being spoken to by the founders of Red Eye, who are a not-for-profit organisation who support photographers from around the world. They mentioned how they supported photographers, helped people network with each other and organise shoots and outings together, and how they offer portfolio reviews, seminars and photography workshops for members. Although I don't have enough money to become a member, it was really interesting to see what options were available to us, and how people can help us achieve our dreams.

I explored their website, and found an event that I would be interested in attending, as well as how much membership was. With all that they were offering, I thought the price of membership would significantly higher than £30 for students. I will consider in the future whether this is something that I would benefit from in the near future!

Copyright Law and Image Rights

I was unable to make the session which looked into copyright and image law, but I decided to research into this myself, and use my previous studies of Law and my specialism in copyright to form a foundation.

Copyright is seen as a major problem in todays world, where people are mass producing other peoples images, without proper credits, over the internet and in books. However, some photographers do not know where they stand with copyright, and if an image is actually theirs. When I worked for Cornerhouse last year, they allowed me to obtain all copyright to my images taken for their website and articles, due to the fact that I was working as a volunteer. However, if this had of been different, and I would have been getting paid and a member of staff, then the company owns the copyright and can do whatever they desire with that image. However, this is closely associated, and sometimes confused with being a freelance photographer, as no matter how much they are getting paid, they still retain the copyright to their own images, unless they sign documentation that states otherwise.

I always use model release form in my work now, incase I want to use the work for publication or promotion. I know that I could end up in court if I was to use the images without the models consent. I have a fellow photographer friend who has come into difficulty with some images that he adores, and aesthetically pleasing, but the model thought that she looked too fat on them, so demanded he took them off the internet and never used them. Due to the fact he had not signed a model release form, there was nothing he could legally do, and had to resign to the fact that the images could not be released on the internet or in his portfolio.

I understand after researching that copyright is important, and I should always make sure that my work has obtained the correct model release, and making sure that the model is old enough to be my responsibility. If I want to pursue fashion photography as a career, this is something I need to consider.

PDP Development - Task 3 - Wedding

We were paid to do a wedding last week, for a client who found our portfolio online after a good recommendation. I love shooting weddings, it's an amazing chance to capture some special memories, whilst getting paid to do something I love! I had started a venture last year to capturing special memories at weddings with my friend Kelly, and so far we have photographed three weddings together. It gives me the chance to boost my portfolio with professional images, whilst creating a possible career path for the future!

PDP Development - Task 3 - Studio Day

Last week, me and my fellow photography friend decided to set up a studio day in the University studio, inviting four models and two make up artists in to capture some portfolio building images for all of us! It was a really good success, and really helped me improve my fashion and editorial portfolio to go with my PDP development task three. Whilst shooting, I decided that I was going to shoot them all on plain backgrounds, and then use artistic images and textures to create the background. I think this really worked, as the models fit well with the colouring of the background, and it looks classic and straight out of a magazine.

Photolink

The workshop scheduled for this week was from Photolink, who are a creative photographic agency. I could not make this trip due to unforeseen illness, but researched more into their project and who they are as a company.

Upon looking at their website, I realise that this visit would have been highly beneficial to my studies, and would have given my a greater insight into what career path I could take in the future. However, I plan to contact them, and ask if there is availability to make a trip independently to see what they do. I have obtained contact details from their website and plan to drop them an email in the next few days.