Welcome Back, Indiana Jones
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/100 second, f/6.3, ISO 100
The Cover of The Onion Magazine
One the of things about selling stock images through a stock agency is that you have limited control over how your image is used. I found out over the weekend that one of my images had been used on a recent cover of The Onion Magazine’s weekly print version. While it is normally great to see an image in use, this particular usage made me stop and think. The standard license at iStockphoto.com (where I sell images) limits purchasers in how they can use an image, but there are always gray areas. Here is an excerpt from the iStock license concerning this:
6. use the Content in a fashion that is considered by iStockphoto (acting reasonably) as or under applicable law is considered pornographic, obscene, immoral, infringing, defamatory or libelous in nature, or that would be reasonably likely to bring any person or property reflected in the Content into disrepute;
7. use or display any Content that features a model or person in a manner that (i) would lead a reasonable person to think that such person uses or personally endorses any business, product, service, cause, association or other endeavour; or (ii) that depicts such person in a potentially sensitive subject matter, including, but not limited to mental and physical health issues, social issues, sexual or implied sexual activity or preferences, substance abuse, crime, physical or mental abuse or ailments, or any other subject matter that would be reasonably likely to be offensive or unflattering to any person reflected in the Content;
While both of the models in the photo have signed a model release agreeing that they have no control over the use of their likeness, I’m still left to wonder if the above license clauses have been violated.
This is just another thing to consider when shooting stock images and especially when using models.
Detective Stock Photo Shoot
My most recent stock photo shoot was a Dragnet meets GeekSquad meets Men in Black type of theme. I wanted to have a plainclothes police officer with a very clean look. My friend (and fellow photographer) Glen stepped in to model as the detective and pulled it off nicely. With the help of Erik playing the part of the ‘perp’, we put together a nice set of images to add to my stock portfolio.
The lighting setup for this shoot was fairly simple (as most of mine usually are). I used both of my Canon Speedlites (430 and a 580 II) off camera to light the scene. For the location we used a favorite of mine, the alleyway next to the studio.
As always, we had a lot of fun and got a few strange looks from people passing by as we did the shoot.
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/100 second, f/4, ISO 100
Mirrored Imagination
Today’s image is a concept shot I did after last week’s White Bedroom shoot. I like the idea, but I think I’m going to photograph it again in a more natural setting (bedroom, store, etc.).
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/7.1, ISO 100
Galileo
I was doing some shooting in studio yesterday experimenting with different lighting setups for product images. When I’m testing stuff in studio, I generally look around for something handy to use. In this case, my Galileo Thermometer worked well.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes shot of the setup I used for the shot.
This Darkfield Lighting technique works well for shiny objects and is relatively simple to pull of. For a more detailed description and setup, check out my friend Kim’s blog post.
Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/7.1, ISO 100
White Bedroom Photo Shoot
My latest stock photo shoot was a “White Bedroom” session. The concept was to create a clean & wholesome look of a young woman in various scenes in her bedroom. To create the set we brought a small bed, night-stand, bedding, lamp, alarm clock and other typical bedroom items (predominantly in white) into the studio and set them up on a white seamless background. The reason I chose the white was to surround the model to allow her face to be the main attraction.
The model in the shoot was Alyssa. This was her last stock session with us before taking off for a couple of months out of state on her summer break from college. I have photographed Alyssa more than any other model and we work very well together. With my wife Michelle (above) assisting me with hair, makeup and the other little details I always seem to miss, we captured numerous scenes to add to our stock image portfolio.
Featured here are a couple of my favorite shots from the series. They involve a sleeping/tired girl and an old-fashioned analog alarm clock. This is an everyday scene that most of us can probably relate to.
