photo business

New York, NY (Press Release – October 28, 2011) – PhotoShelter, the worldwide leader in photography portfolio websites, sales and marketing tools for photographers, today launched the Photo Business Bootcamp, a powerful compilation of free photography business advice packed into a five-week email series for photographers seeking guidance to grow their businesses and drive more revenue.

Steven Colbert brings his satirical comedy to bear on the notion of "free reporters" who get paid nothing, like CNN's iReport, in the wake of the layoffs of 50 CNN photojournalists and other staff.

Colbert notes CNN also launched an "Assignment Desk" where you an actually go out and report on things that CNN wants, and then goes further, saying "iReporters do not get paid, they get something even better, badges, which, I assume, are redeemable for food and rent."

On September 11, 2001, I found myself outside of the Pentagon, on assignment. A few months ago, the Smithsonian asked if I would donate those images to the museum's collection, and I was honored to make the donation.

As it turns out, they were doing a special on 9/11 for the Smithsonian Channel, and asked if I would sit down to discuss some of those images.

If you are a professor at a photography school, or a dean of a department at a photography school, and are either now using, or would like to use, Best Business Practices for Photographers, in your curriculum, please send me an email.

We here at Photo Business News encourage people to recognize the value of their copyright. These days, more and more people are crying that copyright shouldn't exist, or that people should be free to mash-up your work without your permission.

In other words - once you put your work out for public consumption, the public owns it and can do what they want with it.

Uh, no.

From time to time, we have an opportunity to share with you assignments we've done. Here's one we did with fitness guru Denise Austin recently, for Family Fitness Magazine. Enjoy!

I've spent my fair share of time on movie sets. Sometimes, I was the unit photographer, and in other instances, I was tasked with covering the news going on in the community.

One of my early assignments had me covering Tom Cruise one Halloween in Georgetown, a tony part of Washington DC, when he was filming a scene for A Few Good Men.

After two terms as President of the White House News Photographers Association, my term ends with our 90th Anniversary Gala, May 14th, 2011.

So, are you wondering what to do next week- specifically Thursday March 10th, through Saturday March 12th?

Wonder no more! The NPPA's annual Northern Short Course kicks off three days of AWESOME programming in picturesque Warwick, RI.

When Getty Images acquired iStockphoto, they said they did so to prevent iStockphoto from canibalizing their own business, at a time when the average price for a stock photograph was in the $900 range.

Here's a photo, on the iStockphoto website (here) of a nondescript fragrance bottle.

Price? About $10.