• Hey, this is Trent. Let’s talk.

    I just got this short, anonymous e-mail:

    Bet if someone took some of your images you’d cry foul.

    It’s a very valid topic, and I thank whoever sent it. No one likes to get ripped off. When I find my photos being used without my permission, I have to look at the situation. Are they making money with my work? Did they make a single print for their fridge or did they make a hundred prints to sell online? Did they e-mail my photo to their friends with a link to my site or use it to sell a product? My response to these instances is based on the use of the image and the damage done. Sometimes I laugh it off, sometimes I have to take action. Like any artist or photographer I could list several people who have stolen my work and cheated me out of money that I will never be able to recover.

    But since the writer is obviously talking about photographs from other photographers appearing on this site, here is my response:

    The purpose of The Click is to promote great work. That’s it.

    The purpose of posting photographs here, appearing at 500 pixels across or smaller, is to promote that work and encourage people to see it at its original location. Every photograph is linked to the original source, without exception. Text quoted from articles is kept to a minimum to encourage readers to click through to the original source for the full story.

    In the two years I’ve been linking, I’ve received only one complaint about a photo appearing on The Click. I removed the photo immediately.

    Another photographer asked me to use a different photo than the one I had chosen to promote his amazing photo essay. I removed the photo immediately.

    In contrast to those two complaints, I have received dozens of e-mails from photographers around the world thanking me for linking to their work, websites, and blogs.

    We live in a time when content creators of all industries are faced with vanishing revenue models. Their rights need to be protected. That said, I’d like to think that spreading the word about your photography, artwork, writing, product, movie, etc., is a positive thing and not a theft. I’m not making a cent with this site. (December 2009 UPDATE: The small amount of money from our adverts goes to help with the growing costs of operating/hosting the site.)

    If your work appears here and you want it pulled, I’m happy to do so. E-mail me here: theclick.us@gmail.com, and your work will be removed immediately.

    Anyone who wants to comment on this topic, agree or disagree, is more than welcome to do so.

    in

  • expoLogo2009.jpg

    New Photo Contest — cash prizes and worldwide exposure – lens culture photography weblog:

    We’re looking for exciting images from every continent, and from diverse points of view: documentary, fine art, photojournalism, street photography, poetic, personal, abstract and human.

    in

  • PDNPulse: Baseball Re-Ups With Getty

    in

  • PDNPulse: San Jose Mercury News Photographer Len Vaughn-Lahman Dies:

    “He was a true raconteur; he had an easy way with people and he was comfortable in any circumstance, whether it was covering plane crashes or politicians or even studio photo sessions,” said former Mercury News Executive Editor David Yarnold, quoted in the Mercury News.

    in

  • Picture-3.jpg

    PingWire:

    PingWire is an (almost) live feed of images being posted to Twitpic. Clicking on a thumbnail will take you to the full sized photo.

    via BoingBoing

    in

  • w-lead-system-500x216.jpg

    Olympus E-P1 Review: Field Test Report — Photocrati – Photography Blog, Digital SLR Camera and Lens Reviews:

    Peter Burian tests this 12.3 megapixel interchangeable-lens camera with HD Movie mode and a wealth of SLR-style features

    in

  • Building a “Monumental” Photo Business: How Randy Santos Succeeds Selling Stock Photos – A Picture’s Worth:

    Randy Santos specializes in Washington DC stock photography. Randy does not license his images through stock agencies and makes a very healthy living selling directly to clients. His images appear in coffee table books, calendars, hotels and restaurants, and corporate environments worldwide. We caught up with Randy to learn about how he succeeds in a highly competitive niche, and his approach to managing and marketing his photography business. We found Randy’s advice and experiences pretty inspiring.

    in

  • Fujifilm’s 3D Digicam Almost Ready for Stores | Gadget Lab | Wired.com:

    Fuji has squeezed some rather interesting features into its pedestrian black box. Although the specs have yet to be finalized, it looks like Fuji will have the first consumer level 3D digicam on the market. It works in the usual way: Two lenses, spaced to the average distance between human eyes, record slightly different, simultaneous views of the same scene.

    in

  • Revisiting the Death of Photojournalism, Ten Years Later – The Digital Journalist:

    Way back in 1999, I wrote an editorial lamenting how difficult it was becoming to pursue a life in photojournalism. Budgets were being slashed at the newsmagazines for photography, entry-level jobs at newspapers were becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, and once such an internship was secured, it was hard to move up the ladder. Compared to the glory days of photojournalism in the 1970s, the situation was looking bleak.

    in

  • 005.jpg

    Camera Corner: The Leica M8.2 Experience – The Digital Journalist:

    It is already beginning to brass around the edges of the top plate.

    I’m not sure if that is a good thing or not only four months into my fourth look at the latest digital Leica M camera. I’m referring to this year’s new Leica M8.2.

    in

  • Why Moore’s Law does not apply to Digital Photography:

    So why do I say that we are near the limit?  The diffraction limit of our lenses is larger than the pixel size on some sensors.  This means that the resolution of some current cameras is limited by the diffraction limit of the lens rather than the pixel size on the chip.  This means that cramming more, smaller pixels on the chip will not result in a higher resolution image when you make a print.

    in

  • We’re Just Sayin: The Genie Unleashed:

    Thirty years ago last Christmas, I stepped off a plane in Tehran en route home from a story I’d done in the Pakistan territory of Baluchistan. Next to the mountainous exoticism of the Baluch frontier, Tehran seemed like an almost quiet place. I’d known of the unrest there in recent days, and the large-scale shootings at a pro-Khomeini rally in September 1978, but I had no real idea as I rode from the airport into the city what lay ahead. Within hours I found myself in the middle of a series of big demonstrations, shots fired, positions taken, and I realized that this story was for real. The Revolution was definitely on.

    in

  • Washington Post’s Publisher and Editor Criticized for ‘Ethical Lapse’ – NYTimes.com:

    The ombudsman also revealed in his column that other top editors who knew of the plan did not raise ethical concerns. Mr. Brauchli forwarded Mr. Pelton’s e-mail message to his top three lieutenants; one questioned using the publisher’s house and promising a specific reporter’s participation, but none challenged the overall concept. On June 24, Mr. Pelton made a brief presentation to about 200 Post managers, telling them the events would be off the record.

    in

  • John Nack on Adobe: Wide-angle image correction tech:

    Adobe researcher Aseem Agarwala, working with Maneesh Agrawala & Robert Carroll at Berkeley, has demonstrated techniques to enable “Content-Preserving Projections for Wide-Angle Images.” That may sound a little dry, but check out the demo video (10MB QT) to see how the work enables extremely wide-angle photography.

    in

  • Picture-2.jpg

    Readers’ Photos: Call Forwarding – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com:

    To judge from the response to our cellphone photo solicitation — 1,524 submissions before we closed the mailbox on July 2 — our readers are doing nothing but taking pictures with their mobile devices.

    And what pictures. My colleague Josh Haner, who curated our gallery with an eye toward graphic composition, use of light and unusual moments, found 353 photos that he thought were worth sharing with a larger audience. Many entrants focused on the sky, capturing moody colors and striking cloud forms; exactly those fleeting moments at which one used to say, “I wish I had a camera right now.”

    in ,

  • F*cked, for the foreseeable Future « Fake Chuck Westfall:

    I’ve been coming home drunk at night for the last few days because of this, and I’m seriously thinking about a career switch. I’m still hopeful that the 1D Mark 4 will do something for us, but the 60D is not going to come anywhere close to the D300s Nikon is going to release soon from what I see. And as far as I’m concerned, we can just stop manufacturing the 5D Mark II when the D700x gets released by the end of this year. It simply won’t stand a chance. Hell, the 5D Mark II is having a difficult time right now already. You can’t even begin to imagine the support nightmare it is causing us at Canon USA.

    in

  • leica-oskar-barnack-award-photography-1 1.jpg

    Leica Oskar Barnack Award Winner Photography | Hypebeast:

    Leica recently announced the winner of their 30th Annual Oskar Barnack Award, in South African Mikhael Subotzky. Aside from earning respect throughout the photography community, Mikhael received a generous monetary prize from the historic German camera makers. With the winner now being announced, Leica offers a complete look into the photographer’s series of winning photographs. Excellent would be an understatement, as each image captures the essence of its subject matter brilliantly.

    in

  • time-trial_heads_e1aa.jpg

    whats the jackanory ? – le tour de humphreys:

    Hopefully we managed to wet your appetite for all things bicycle and in particular Le Tour de France with yesterdays teaser post. Unfortunately those of us not in Austin Texas will miss out on the party tonight as friend an inspirator Brent Humphreys unveils his monster Tour project with a show at Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop. In attempt to get us all upside the peloton Brent was gracious enough to go through full WTJ? race scrutineering. The resulting post like Le Tour is pretty epic. 2972 words and 20+ pictures; way more juice then you would ever get in a feature well story. Hope you enjoy !!!

    in

  • Picture-14.jpg

    lenscratch: Peter Tonningsen:

    Unfortunately I didn’t get chance to meet California photographer, Peter Tonningsen, at Photolucida, but his images were well showcased at the event. Peter approaches and presents his work with a unique point of view, and his broad range of images and interests are quite refreshing. After studying art at the San Francisco Art Institute and San Jose State University, he is currently an adjunct photography instructor at The Academy of Art University and has also been an artist-in-residence at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley since 2006. In addition, Peter is the recipient of the Phelan Art Award in Photography, which recognizes significant California born artists.

    in

  • 21.jpg

    Jenn Ackerman. Trapped: Mental Illness in America’s Prisons « Prison Photography:

    A few months ago I wrote to Jenn Ackerman, praised her Trapped project and of course offered to promote it. I wanted to get at her stories behind the images – namely do an interview.

    in ,