INSOMNIA

INSOMNIA

It’s Thursday. I usually blog on Tuesday, but its Thursday. I’m suffering from insomnia. So you’d think that would give me plenty of time to blog. You’d think.

I’m suffering from stress insomnia. How do I know it’s stress? I’m breaking out like a 16 year old and I’m a far distance from 16. A cold sore is trying to break through. If you ever wondered why you got a cold sore, it’s stress. And I’m ultra-hyper, like the Energizer bunny on crack. That’s how I know it’s stress.

This all started about a week ago while planning a marketing blitz for the studio. Too much to do and, it seems, never enough time. Now understand, a marketing blitz consists of updating all the marketing materials and creating new ventures into name recognition. All needing to be done in a matter of two weeks. Now, don’t get me wrong, I work great on deadline. But this deadline was devised during one of those occasional lulls that turned into several jobs. So it’s like having three additional jobs. Not that I’m complaining; I love the work and I love what I do, but when it comes to my marketing materials, they have to be beyond perfect because what you see from me is the sample work of what I do for you.

So it’s been a matter of how to overcome the insomnia. I learned long ago there’s no way to fight insomnia. So I ride with it. I either read or I sit in the studio and work. The problem with this is that the work has to be double and triple checked beyond the normal double and triple check because even though I’m awake, I’m often dead tired.

I really don’t mind riding it out. I just check the work the next day when I’m refreshed. What do I mind about riding it out is not being able to fall asleep until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning and having to get up at 6am to meet the demands of the day. And because of this weird schedule, it allows me plenty of time to get everything else done that I can’t seem to get done because I’m…dead tired.

This then adds more stress to the already present insomnia stress.

It will end soon; in a week or so. Until then, I ride. And in the meantime, if anyone has any suggestions on how to de-energize the cracked out bunny, please let me know.

SAVING VIRGINIA'S BATTLEFIELDS

I’m a photographer who, no matter what the subject choice of a freelance photo gig I choose, always seem to wind up on a battlefield of some sort. Or I’ll guess that it’s a battlefield because there’s a Civil War cannon present somewhere. This isn’t a bad thing. Cannons love the camera. And really, when you think about it, there’s not a whole lot of land in the Fredericksburg area that isn't a battlefield of some sort.

With that, I want to make sure all my readers are aware of this weekend’s fundraising event, Bowling for Battlefields. The event is sponsored by the CVBT (Central Virginia Battlefields Trust). These folks are responsible for “preserving endangered hallowed ground” – Virginia’s battlefields. Their motto is Preserving…Dirt & Grass. How can you not like that?

The event takes place at Splitsville/Muvico over at the Village at Spotsylvania Town Centre.

On Saturday, Muvico will show Gone with the Wind and Glory for $5. Two showings of Gone with the Wind (at 12pm and 7pm), that wonderful southern chick flick with Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable. Glory will be shown at 4:30. While I never saw Glory, I’ve been told by many it’s a great film.

On Sunday, Splitsville will have the Bowling for Battlefields extravaganza. For $20 a person, you get open bowling, appetizers and soft drinks from 2pm – 4pm. Drop those pins and save a battlefield!

Splitsville/Muvico will be donating 100% of proceeds.

Magpi Studios will be out on both days showing and selling photography of area battlefields and historic locals. We’ll be donating 40% of our sales to CVBT.

I need the battlefields. The camera needs the battlefields. We need to preserve our history with more than just photos. And by the way, the photos in this post are a few of the images for sale.

Hope to see you there.

WORK MADE FOR HIRE

As a continuation of our Copyright Series, let’s take a look at Work Made for Hire. It’s a bit different from your standard copyright ownership and it causes a great deal of confusion as to who actually owns the copyright to the work.

According to the US Copyright Office, a work made for hire is:

A work prepared by an employee in his or her scope of employment

Or

As a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work

As part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work

As a translation

As a supplementary work

As a compilation

As an instructional text

As a test

As answer material for a test

As an atlas

For Part One of this definition, we have to define the employer-employee relationship usually characterized by certain factors:

Control by the employer of the work – Does the employer determine how the work is done; is the work done at the employer’s location; does the employer provide equipment to create the work?

Control by the employer over the employee – Does the employer dictate the employee’s schedule; determine the employee’s assignments; determine the employee’s method of payment?

Status and conduct of the employee – Does the employer work in the business to produce such works; provide employee benefits; withhold tax from the employee’s payment?

Considering the above, while the employee may be the author of the work, if you’re in a situation with a salaried employee, it’s likely that you as the employer own the work in question (unless otherwise stated in a written agreement). You as the employer may be a firm, an organization or an individual.

For Part Two of this definition, if the work is created by an independent contractor it becomes a Work Made for Hire if applies as one of the nine categories stated and a written agreement between parties specifying that the work created is a work made for hire.

Before you decide who actually owns that copyright, determine the circumstances under which the work was created; because sometimes it really isn’t about who created the work.

BAD PHOTOGRAPHERS

I was out shooting this week. First in awhile. I knew my target and got the shots, and spent the day reflecting on bad photographers. Not bad as in their photos are bad. Bad as in Bad Santa bad.

My shoot yesterday took me out to Spotsylvania County to photograph an old barn I've been admiring for a few years. In order to get the shot I wanted, I needed to trespass on the grounds of the fire station. So I went inside, asked if I could park in their lot and shoot from the grassy knoll of their back field. While talking with the gentleman in the station, he asked if I had permission from the land owner to shoot the property. Well, the property's in public view, so at that point I didn't need permission, as long as I wasn't on his land. I didn't need a property release because I have no plans of selling the photo for commercial use. Now, don't get me wrong; my brief discussion on this matter with the gentleman in the station was not this curt and we never talked about property releases or commercial use. That knowledge is for you, the reader, so you understand how all of this photography stuff works.

The gentleman in the station did provide me the name and phone number of the land owner, said he was a friend and there wouldn't be any problem getting permission. When I said I just wanted a shot of the barn from across the road and I wasn't going on the property, he understood and gave a deeper explanation of his inquiry.

A while back, some photographer decided he was going to tramp about in the barn and take pictures. Tramp about, mind you, without getting permission. What this photographer seems to have ignored is that the land is private property. Do a little research. Or better yet, knock on the door of the house by the barn. Duh?

(Don't ever assume anything because even public property, state owned property, etc., may require a permit or certain restrictions. For instance, you're not allowed to include the National Park Service logo in your photographs - bet you didn't know that. And railroad tracks - private property. So if you get run over by a train because you wanted that oh so awesome pic, don't expect much sympathy).

What caused further issue with the matter is that while the barn looks abandoned, there was a resident living on the property. Personally, my thoughts on this, don't ever assume. (I imagine someone walking out with a shotgun in hand, shooting first and asking questions later.)

I don't know why some photographers believe they have the right to shoot wherever they want just because they have a Nikon or Cannon or whatever in their hands. That camera doesn't make you "the press" (and even the press need a pass) or the eccentric artist or the commercial genius. And it certainly doesn't make you a professional. It makes you an obnoxious bore that give the rest of us a bad rap.

LEO SAID

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo DiVinci

A PRETTY GENERAL SUBJECT

I’ve been bouncing between the commercial side of life and the art side of life. I love them both, but given the choice, well, there’s a lot more creative freedom on the art side of life. Of course, there’s probably a lot more self criticism too.

While the art side of my life is part of my profession and while I’m thrilled and humbled at the same time for the works displayed in town, besides submitting work to art shows, there’s not often much call for it. Art is somewhat finicky. But yet, it keeps coming up when I think there’s little business for it.

I’ve recently had two requests to display work in local venues (which will be announced at the time of their hanging), and I’ve had two requests for charitable donations of my work. When people are asking, that’s an honor.

The latest request came from the local chamber of commerce asking for a silent auction donation for the Annual Awards and Chamber Gala. They had previously asked for a silent auction donation for another event. That piece (The Door) auctioned to a woman who decided to provide feedback.

On a side note here, artists can be quite needy. We sit in our little comfort zones, be it in front of a computer screen or a canvas or a sketch pad, or behind a guitar or a camera, and our work is our baby and we want the world to ooh and aah our baby. We’ll never tell anyone this. It’s our dirty little secret. So when Anne (thank you, Anne) sent me a note about the response of those she gifted the photo to…well, she didn’t realize the gift she gave to me with that note (or maybe she did). You can read some of it here (seriously, it's the little things in life).

The hardest part of donating or displaying art is choosing which piece or pieces to share with the world. While we artists want the world to ooh and aah, we also fear they will boo and hiss or tell us quite simply that our baby is one ugly thing. You really have to have a thick skin to be an artist of any kind. The problem is I know what I like, but I don’t know what or if someone else will also like it. So it’s a tough choice. I try to stay local (and general) on things like this. Okay, I pushed it a bit with The Door. The Door comes from the Pushing the Edge gallery, which is my gallery for total fun; darkroom madness. I personally love that photo. I don’t know if it’s the memory of discovering the door itself, the fun I had with personalizing it or what, but I’ve always liked it and thought it a bit too far off for someone else to like. Then I show it (originally at Eileen’s Bakery - YUM!) and suddenly I’m getting feedback.

Oh, so that’s the trick. You have to show the art to get the feedback. Kidding. While The Door is a historical building piece in Fredericksburg, it’s still a very general piece in subject matter.

I guess you could say I took the same road with the Gala silent auction. I decided to donate Cannons at Chatham Heights. It was a hard choice (it’s always a hard choice), but we Virginians love our history and I love shooting cannons (No! Not real cannons…shooting…with the camera. Real cannons make too much noise.). I wanted to donate another piece of local history, and cannons, well, in Virginia they’re a pretty general subject. Though, with a touch of darkroom magic to give it that Civil War feel, the two cannons at Chatham Heights tell their own story.

CANNONS AT CHATHAM HEIGHTS

Hope to see you at the Gala!

THE DEATH OF FACEBOOK

The great thing about being a fiction writer is playing God. And a special delight is killing off characters. There are those characters you really don’t want to off, but for the sake of the story, it must be done. Then you have the real bastards you can’t wait to kill.

For me, that was Facebook. Yes, I killed my Facebook account. After two years, I realized it served no beneficial purpose for my personal or my business life. Yeah, it was great to keep up with family, but considering, that’s more personally done with a phone call or an email. And depending how personal it is, really, would I want it shared on Facebook? I’m sure you’re not at all surprised how personal some people get on Facebook.

Then there’s the other end. You know, really, no offense, but I don’t care what you’ve made for dinner or that your kid got an A on his science project; and I don’t want to see the funny cat You Tube video. I originally created an account for conversation with family and friends. I realized all too quickly there’s no such thing as an intelligent conversation on Facebook.

 I tried the turnaround; tried to market business on Facebook. Not a great success. I personally don’t think anyone gives a rat’s ass about your business on Facebook unless you’re giving something away. No, that’s not a testament of resentment for not creating a great Facebook business page. That’s a testament to the number of friends I lack. No biggie. I’m not trying to sell my business to my friends.

So I killed it. I killed Facebook. No remorse. In fact, it feels great not to have the pressure of posting something fascinating. It takes away the anguish of not wanting to post my photos (didn’t care for Facebook’s terms and conditions regarding photos). The biggest benefit – I’m getting a lot more work done.

Now, all of this doesn’t mean I’ve given up social networking. I’ve just moved on. I still hang around LinkedIn. That, too, has its advantages and disadvantages. I’m there, I keep up, but I’m not playing the collector’s game. If I have something to post, I post it. If I meet someone I’d really like to connect with, I connect.

The other place I’ve been hanging out is Google+. There’s been a lot of flack regarding Google+ and Facebook. Sure, Google+ doesn’t have the same following as Facebook, but it sure has a lot of interesting people. I like the idea that I can connect with people who are sharing relevant information without having to make a request. I like the fact that a lot of photographers and creatives hang out on Google+. I like the circles concept. Yeah, I know, Facebook did something to appear more like the circles, but I didn’t want to get into it. Google+ seems more user friendly. And honestly, I don’t care how many people have me in their circles; no pressure to post if I have nothing to say. I feel like Google+ will become a good SEO tactic (and a quick reminder, I know nothing about SEO and search criteria). I think, in the long run, it may be a better connection to potential clients.

Yeah, I killed Facebook. If for no other reason, for the sake of the story.