Hartman Family

The other night I had the pleasure of working with the Hartman family again. I took photos at Buzz and Kimberly's wedding back in January of 2008 and had a great time!

Buzz's folks were hosting their kids' holiday homecoming, including two wonderful grandchildren. Arriving at Mr. & Mrs. Hartman's home, I realized that they really didn't have to give me their specific address. They could have just said the name of the street and mentioned that their house is the neighborhood "Whoville," complete with wooden cutout "Who people" in the front yard and an official entrance to Whoville, around the side of the house. Hilarious!

We posed some of the smaller groups in front of the fireplace for some portraits and then gathered everyone around the chair for some large group shots. The sun had just gone down, so it was a great time to get some outdoor shots on the back porch with the woods in the background. I ended up spending about an hour there and came up with some great shots that I know they will all enjoy!

Fancy Equipment a Photographer Does Not Make

I recently saw an advertisement for wedding photography from a local photographer. It seemed that the main point the photographer was trying to get across was that he uses "Canon DSLRs and Flashguns." That makes very little sense to me to include the brand name of equipment as a selling point in one's advertising. Do brides really care whether you shoot photos of their wedding using Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, etc. equipment? Is that a deal breaker for some brides? I'm not sure that this would be any different than a contractor calming your fears of his possible incompetence by informing you that he uses DeWalt equipment rather than Ryobi or Ridgid.

A professional who focuses on what equipment they will use may not be focused on you.

The same ad stated, "I've been shooting for 10+ years!" which of course means … what? I'm not sure what that is supposed to tell people. I've been shooting for over 15 years, but photography is the type of passion that you keep learning, and some people learn faster or in a different way than others. It is nearly equal parts science and art. Some of the most creative and talented photographers I know have been shooting for less than 5 years.

Choose your photographer based on their work, style, personality, and how you and they "click." Don't worry about the trivial stuff like equipment brand name. Ask yourself, "Would I feel comfortable trusting my priceless wedding memories to this person?" You'll know you've got the right photographer for you when you find yourself asking, "How could I trust my memories to anyone else?"

Copyright questions answered

A colleague of mine (in a different industry) recently brought to my attention the fact that many people don't understand the idea of intellectual property and copyright law. She was excited about her soon-to-be unveiled Web site and talking about some of the photographs that her Web designer was going to include on the site.

"There' s a ton of pictures out there on the Internet that are for sale by various stock photo agencies," she explained, "and some of the photos are sold by multiple agencies. And if the same photo is sold by several different companies, nobody really owns the copyright on them and they are fair game. You can just download them and edit and use them however you want!"

I am sure that my eyes got big as I didn't quite know what to say. I didn't know where to start explaining that almost everything she said in that statement was untrue and actually illegal!

When a photographer (or nearly anyone else, for that matter) takes a photograph, they are (by law) literally creating a work of art, which that photographer owns. The photographer has the legal right to use the photograph in any way allowed by criminal and civil law. There are a few restrictions on how the photographer can use the image:

• If a person is visible and recognizable in the image, the photographer must have written permission from said person (or their parent if underage) to use the image for commercial use.
  
• If there is unique, identifiable property in the image, the photographer should have a property release to use the image for commercial use.
  

Abiding within those guidelines, the image is the domain of the photographer's and is his or her to do with what he or she pleases. That being the case, the artwork does not belong to anyone else, and is not part of the public domain. As to how others can use the photos, the copyright owner's permission must be given in writing before anyone else can do anything with the images in question.

An image appearing on the internet does not mean that it is legally in the public domain for fair use by anyone who happens to find it. If you see an image that you like and would like to use it, it is your responsibility to find to whom the image actually belongs and to get permission from them, in writing, to use it. You may have to pay for the permission to use the image but trust me; the fee will be much lower than the criminal fine, jail time, and civil law suit payout that you will be responsible for if you use the image without first gaining permission.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog!

I am Mark McGovern. I am a photographer in and around Atlanta, Georgia. I mainly photograph wedding celebrations, as well as portraits and products.

I have been studying, learning, and practicing photography since 1993. There is always more to learn, more to see, more to capture! Photography is my passion.

This blog is dedicated to the advancement of photography, both as an art and as an industry. There is a wonderful medium that can be reached without losing the integrity of either aspect.

I hope to be able to use this blog to educate my clients as well as the general public, as well as continue learning myself, on the business and the art of photography, portraiture, and business in general.

I hope that you enjoy and feel free to offer your input, comments, suggestions, etc.!