Q. I’m sorry to bother you but I have a question that has not been addressed on any professional photography or photography related website that I can find. In CA the labor code makes work for hire when transferring the ownership of copyright illegal (civil and criminal liability) except in the case of an employer/employee relationship. How does this apply to photographers working in CA when doing small jobs? Is it legal to have work around language that assigns copyright to the person doing the hiring (meaning the agreement says everything a work for hire agreement would say but it doesn’t use the term work for hire); or is it a case of walks like and duck, quacks like a duck, it is a work for hire agreement and therefor illegal in the state of CA?
A. Thank you for this important question. The issue is not that it’s illegal for an independent contractor to agree to a work made for hire agreement in California. The problem is that when a photographer is hired under a work made for hire agreement, then the photographer, under California state law, is considered an employee rather than a independent contractor. Specifically, California Labor Code section 3351.5(c)provides that one definition of an “Employee” is:
Any person while engaged by contract for the creation of a specially ordered or commissioned work of authorship in which the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire, as defined in Section 101 of Title 17 of the United States Code, and the ordering or commissioning party obtains ownership of all the rights comprised in the copyright in the work.
“Employer” also means any person contracting for the creation of a specially ordered or commissioned work of authorship when the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire, as defined in Section 101 of Title 17 of the United States Code, and the ordering or commissioning party obtains ownership of all of the rights comprised in the copyright in the work. The ordering or commissioning party shall be the employer of the author of the work for the purposes of this part.
If the photographer is operating through a business entity (such as an LLC or corporation), then the Labor and Unemployment Codes don’t apply. If the photographer is an individual/sole proprietor, then don’t use “Work Made for Hire” language in the Agreement. Instead, you may assign the copyrights to another through language such as:
Photographer irrevocably transfers and assigns to the Client the copyrights created as part of the project.
Of course, if a photographer agrees to transfer copyrights, hopefully it will be for an appropriately large sum. And when a photographer hires someone (like a designer) and wants ownership of the material created, also be careful not to violate these laws. All of this is part of knowing your rights and responsibilities as a professional photographer!
I think I speak on behalf of most photo assistants when I say that travel’s easily one of job’s biggest perks. In my time assisting, I’ve worked in the Congo, Seoul, Monaco, Sydney and Rio among other cities, hung out with awesome new people and stayed at five-star hotels – all on someone else’s bill. Sweet, right? Not necessarily.
Traveling might be one of the best parts of the job, but it’s also one of the most challenging. Photo assistants are responsible for lugging hundreds of pounds (and thousands of dollars) of equipment across the world. We’re the lucky ones checking in ten cases of photo equipment, filling out the proper travel documentation, dealing with photographers trying to skirt airline luggage limits (I once had a photographer stick fake CNN passes on all our equipment in order to get it all through). Upon arrival, we’re the ones responsible for ensuring all the equipment got there in one piece, and getting it to the studio (while the photographer and clients are having cocktails on the hotel’s rooftop bar). Don’t even get me started on keeping track of excess travel expenses, or jumping on planes at a moment’s notice (the girlfriends love this, by the way). All that said, there are ways to make traveling – an inevitable part of the job – a little easier.
One: Pack right
It’s the photo assistant’s responsibility to ensure all the equipment gets to the destination in one piece. Therefore, make sure it’s packed meticulously: ensure all cameras are disassembled, individually wrapped and travel-ready. Carry on all cameras if possible (that way if everything gets lost in transit or stolen, the photographer is still able to take pictures). Make sure all other equipment is securely packed in their respective cases (Tenba makes sturdy travel-ready cases for camera, video and digital equipment) before checking them in. And it might sound like common sense, but it’s a good idea to double-check that all the required equipment is actually there and that it’s all functional before leaving the country.
Also be sure to double-check you have all the small but necessary items like cables, batteries, chargers, travel adaptors and memory cards. There’s nothing worse than discovering you have dead batteries and no charger in a location with limited pro-photo resources.
Don’t forget to pack properly for yourself, either: if you can, travel light and try to fit a week’s worth of clothing in one bag. But make sure you bring one nice shirt. You may be asked to dine with clients at some swank joint and that flannel might not cut it.
Two: Get all your documents in order
If you’re traveling outside the country with multiple cases of high-value photo or video equipment, it’s a good idea to obtain a carnet document (essentially a temporary “merchandise passport” for your equipment) to ensure you clear customs more easily and freely. These can be applied for online or at a carnet office, though in most cases the producer or studio manager will handle this process and all you’ll need to to do is to provide the serial numbers off each piece of equipment you’re working with. Obtaining a carnet might be a pain in the ass, but traveling with it makes hauling equipment from country to country a lot less dramatic.
Also ensure that have your personal travel documents in order: namely, a valid passport and the requisite visas needed for the country you’re traveling to. Double-check that you’re in possession of a valid driver’s license, as you’ll need it for identification purposes (and chances are you’ll need to drive).
Three: Back up everything
Backing up images should already be standard practice as a photo assistant or digital tech, but due to the high risk of digital media getting lost in transit (I’ve had bags stolen before; particularly common when it appears you’re traveling with expensive equipment), you have to get OCD-like about protecting your files when traveling. As a rule, I personally give the photographer a hard drive of the images taken on the job, and I take an additional hard drive myself which I carry on. I also FedEx one back-up hard drive of images to the photographer’s address before leaving the location. At least if the plane goes down, the job can still be delivered on time!
Four: Pack plastic
In a perfect world, you won’t have to pay for anything – and you shouldn’t. But in reality, you might need to put up small amounts of cash for cabs, excess baggage, some meals or to cover incidentals at a hotel. That said, carrying a credit card is useful. Once the job wraps, you’re entitled to get all these excess travel-related expenses reimbursed – including international roaming charges on your cellphone – so keep all of your receipts and records and ensure you can justify all the expenses you’re claiming. (For more information on invoicing and billing on any job, see my previous post.
Five: Get sleep!
Long work days coupled with jet lag and a fast-paced, high-pressure environment aren’t so great for your general well being. It also doesn’t help that you’ll often have dinner after the shoot with the photographer, crew and sometimes clients, and are tempted (or obligated) to stay out for a drink or hit the town. Though it’s important, necessary even, to socialize with your crew and explore a new city, know and respect your limits. Get back to your hotel room at a decent hour and try to get at least six hours of sleep – seriously. You’ll feel better, perform better and get booked on international jobs as a result.
If you have any other tips or questions on traveling as a photo assistant, feel free to comment below or get discussion flowing on the Photo Assistants’ Association Facebook page.
Perhaps the most important people that I should photograph are the people who don’t have a voice. And I think that that’s the message of the day. That’s the most honorable thing to aspire to. To be able to give someone the chance to express themselves, to tell their story on a platform that they would never normally get. And in doing so, that platform shifts how we see the times that we are living in. So that really is my mission.
ASMP, joined by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), American Photographic Artists (APA), the Picture Archive Council of America (PACA), Graphic Artists Guild (GAG) and North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA), is concerned about the terms and conditions of a contest announced by Vogue, a Condé Nast publication, entitled the New Exposure Photography Competition, Presented by Bottega Veneta. This contest, which is targeted at students and emerging photographers, appears to be an effort to secure thousands of free images for unlimited use in publications and in advertising. For this reason, we believe this contest exploits photographers and we strongly caution everyone to carefully review and understand all the terms and conditions along with the rights they are surrendering before entering any competition.
The core problems we see are that:
The sponsors have the perpetual, unlimited use of all contest entries.
There is neither compensation for contest participants nor is there credit given for their work.
Participants are required to sign a liability release and copyright assignment, and to indemnify Botega Veneta and Condé Nast against any lawsuits that may arise as a result of the usage of the photographs.
Every entrant is required to waive any right to sue in the event of misuse of the photographs entered.
The winner is being offered $10,000 for a shoot that would normally command several times that amount. The winner will be required to grant copyright ownership of all photographs from the shoot.
We believe that while competitions can serve a purpose within your business plan and potentially give your work significant visibility, there are a number of issues to consider before you enter. For more information about the terms, conditions and issues for Photography Competitions, go here.
“After you’ve bought three homes, two yachts and a plane, the most visible manifestation of affluence is what’s hanging on your walls — particularly if your friends know what’s there,” he said. “Bragging rights are important.”
Last week, I wrote about the Holocaust. It’s a hard one to follow, even for someone like me, who rarely lacks an opinion. (Are you kidding me? That salsa was way too bland. What kind of a person serves coffee that bitter? How many times are you going to tweet about your upcoming exhibition?)
As I was saying, given how much I like to control the flow of my week-to-week ramblings, writing about the worst event of the 20th Century leaves me in a bit of a pickle. Do I go right back to the heavy stuff, and risk ruining your weekend? Or do I trot out something light and fluffy, the photo book equivalent of a cuddly, stuffed bunny?
How about neither? Given that the Roman Vishniac article might bring a reasonable person to question the existence of a higher power, how about we contemplate the counter-argument? When we think of the sublime, we relish feeling small. We delight in the reminder that powers greater than we can comprehend make planets dance around stars, and waves crash on every shore. Right?
Hiroshi Sugimoto and Mark Rothko are two seemingly unrelated artists, one living, one dead. One guy photographs, the other was a painter. (How’s that for brilliant exposition? Tell us more, Blaustein.) I can’t pretend that there is more to the book I’m about to mention, because there isn’t. “Rothko/Sugimoto,” a new book published by Pace London, doesn’t seem to have ambitions beyond putting the two famous men’s work together in one volume.
Here’s a Rothko, and then, here’s a Sugimoto. And then here’s another Rothko, and here’s another Sugimoto. The pattern is not that hard to discern. As you turn the pages, you’ll find yourself guessing, rather successfully, what will come next. (Unless you’re really, really bad at prognostication. In which case, I’d love to play you in Rock/Paper/Scissors.)
Am I mailing it in today? I’m not sure. Is that allowed on a hot summer day? Are you going to call the Blogger Police? Will they suspend my Hotmail account for a couple of days as a punishment? All kidding aside, today, I just wanted to give you some beautiful, meaningful photos to contemplate. Mission accomplished. (How many George W. references is that this year?)
The airbrush backlash is now well underway as Debenhams announces a ban on all retouched lingerie model shots.
The high-street department store puts and end to such images as they ‘want to help customers feel confident about their figures without bombarding them with unattainable body images’.
We emailed Art Buyers and Art Producers around the world asking them to submit names of established photographers who were keeping it fresh and up-and-comers who they are keeping their eye on. If you are an Art Buyer/Producer or an Art Director at an agency and want to submit a photographer anonymously for this column email: Suzanne.sease@verizon.net
Dustin, Nate, Bummy & Fabio Santa Fe 2013 Fort Marcy Overlook We wrapped a shoot up in the mountains behind Santa Fe and my friends/crew and I were driving down into town and it was one of those amazing desert sunsets. I knew this place that overlooked the whole town because my Mom and I used to go there every year for thanksgiving. So we drove right to this beautiful spot and took it all in. I know it looks like a band photo but as far as I know only one of those guys plays an instrument and that’s the skin flute.the Band “Courrier” Gruene, Texas Feb. 2013 This was for a Rolling Stone magazine/Texas Tourism feature that wanted to capture an Austin band in a location that was close to Austin but that had not been a lot of times before and really said Texas. I had a suggestion that worked out perfect, I went to college 15 minutes away from this place, Gruene Hall which is the oldest continually running dance hall in Texas. They have been open and host to live music since 1878.the Band “Courrier” Gruene, Texas Feb. 2013the Band “Courrier” Gruene, Texas Feb. 2013This is Dale, Red and Berkley at the 6666 Ranch in Guthrie Texas taken in March 2013. This was taken at lunch for an ad shoot, I snuck away for ten minutes and got these wonderful portraits of this fascinating man. One of the thing I always liked about photography is you get to meet so many interesting people and hear so many great life stories, Dale did not disappoint in that regard.Red and Berkley at the 6666 Ranch in Guthrie TexasChris, BILLYKIRK Bags NYC 2012 Started in 1999 by brothers Chris and Kirk Bray, Billykirk is a leather and canvas design company which was founded on the desire to make lasting items that get better with age. I hope my photos age as good as their leather Alex - Austin, Texas 2013 Alex was a friend of a friend. I was in town on a shoot for Rolling Stone magazine and had a late flight out so I had a couple of hours to kill and I called my friend Jamie and said who can we shoot and she said her friend Alex who worked at a vintage store called Feathers, so we grabbed some clothes of the racks and walked around the neighborhood and got some great shots.Dan and Alex 2012 These guys make beautiful custom bikes in the LA areaPersonal work 2012 Getting loose in the desertlast one had to eat a live tarantula Personal work 2012Kassi 2012
How many years have you been in business?
Hmmmm…more than a couple…..not an easy answer for that one, after college I moved from Austin, Texas to Hawaii to shoot surfing on the north shore of Oahu which was really fun and amazing but I couldn’t really make a living over there. At that time it was shooting film, you got 36 images and then have to swim in and change film in your waterhousing, go out shoot another roll, swim in and then run to the lab, have it developed and fed-exed overnight to the magazines in Southern California and by that time you were exhausted and broke. I worked crappy side jobs and tried to make it work for a while but never really go ahead.
Then one day I got lucky and got a job on a tv show in Hawaii and worked on that for a couple of years and along the way met some guys who said if you ever get out to LA give us a call. So I looked at my options at that point and said I better move to LA. I was penniless with not much hope of ever making it out there in Hawaii. That was in 2001 and I got lucky again because I hooked up with some steady work on feature films and commercials. It was then I met someone who also produced photo shoots and needed some help so I worked with her for a bit. The first real photo shoot I worked on was a huge budget Tommy Hilfiger shoot, 2 weeks on the Paramount Studios backlot. Patrick Demarchelier was the photographer and it was a amazing and humbling experience to watch him work. This experience inspired me and I began shooting as much as I could when not assisting. However that was not too often, I assisted for about 7 years for dozens of different photographers.
One of the first things I did after I was in LA made a few bucks was buy a computer and because of that someone asked me to do some callsheets and light pre-production work so I ended up producing some editorial stories for Mens Journal and Marie Claire magazine. That introduced me to some photographers who later on hired me to produce some ad shoots, which was great because with all the producing money I could do more test shoots. So my first real break was an ad shoot for Roxy/Quiksilver in 2008. So I did that shoot but then still had to assist and produce and digital tech to make ends meet. So I would get a couple of ad and editorial jobs here and there but not enough to break away.
Finally in 2011 I got enough shooting work that I was able to turn down producing and teching and assisting gigs. So long story short, taking pics- 20+ years, working in the business-10 + years, making my living as a full time photographer- 2+ years.
Are you self-taught or photography school taught?
I have a BA in English literature and minored in photography and film but I felt like everything I really “learned” about photography was by trial and error, happy accidents, shooting tests and by assisting other photographers.
Who was your greatest influence that inspired you to get into this business?
I have always had a passion for (borderline OCD) documenting and capturing all of the things around me, people, places, things by taking photos. When I first saw Robert Frank’s book, “The Americans”, it blew me away and made me want to make a career out of photography. However I didn’t really know what an advertising photographer was, I just wanted someone to pay me so I could keep doing what I loved doing, capturing organic defining moments.
How do you find your inspiration to be so fresh, push the envelope, stay true to yourself so that creative folks are noticing you and hiring you?
I think it’s more about staying inspired yourself and creating work and pictures that you care about. If you create something extraordinary and love what you are doing then that is what counts. If the work is wonderful, and the world sees it, the creatives will seek you out.
Do you find that some creatives love your work but the client holds you back?
No, In my experience, most of the creatives I have worked with want to push the same direction I am usually going and the client has been appreciative of that.
What are you doing to get your vision out to the buying audience?
Direct personalized faxes, just kidding………reality is probably not enough. That’s the toughest part, and I have had this conversation with a few of my peers, we feel like as photographers we get so busy involved in planning a shoot, shooting, editing or retouching a shoot that there is hardly any hours left in the day to market ourselves, but in reality that should be one of the most important things you do. I try to do meetings whenever I am in NYC or a town that has some agencies or magazines. I did an email blast this year and my Agent VAUGHAN+HANNIGAN has done a few and we do the Le BOOK shows. Working on something now that will go out in the mail soon, hopefully.
What is your advice for those who are showing what they think the buyers want to see?
I think you are chasing your own tail in a circle. Buyers will react to work better if you are showing your own distinct personal vision and they connect with it.
Are you shooting for yourself and creating new work to keep your artistic talent true to you?
Yes, I am constantly shooting personal projects. Currently photographing a series I’m having a lot of fun shooting titled Made in the USA about people that craft and create in America. I feel like there is this really cool resurgence to our grandfather’s generation of people that really made things by hand and care about what they are doing, not just trying to make a buck. I shot a pair of brothers that own a leather bag and belt company in New York, a former ad agency graphic designer turned screen printer/ motorcycle builder in Minnesota and a couple of buddies that created a company that repurposes old wood scrap and industrial age machinery into retail spaces in NYC.
Another personal shoot I really had enjoyed I just did a couple of weeks ago, we were shooting an ad job for a truck company at a crazy 180,000 acre ranch in Texas and our guide was this intriguing man named Dale who was also the county deputy and drove around in a huge red truck with two dogs riding shotgun. This guy was the real deal, Chuck Norris would step aside for this guy. He was very a kind man but you could tell he had seen some tough times. I took a couple of snaps of him during our tech scout and then during lunch of my actual shoot the next day Dale and I jumped in his truck and went up the road and shot for ten minutes, he wanted some photos of his dogs, and I was more than happy to do that. They ended up being some of my favourite photos I have taken for quite some time and when I sent over the pictures later he said he really loved them and would share with his kids. That was just a cool thing to hear and is the magic that happens when you are on the road with an open mind.
How often are you shooting new work?
2 times a month in between jobs
My Chocolate lab, Princess Leia and I at my favourite beach, San Onofre

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s, after founding the art buying department at The Martin Agency then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies. She has a new Twitter fed with helpful marketing information. Follow her@SuzanneSease.
Since Buzzfeed published shots of the star that her publicist didn’t like, her PR squad stopped issuing press passes to photojournalists to tour dates, and instead has required news organizations to register with them for access to pictures taken by the tour’s official photographer. They’ve also contacted media outlets like Buzzfeed to request that certain photos be removed.
The strategy hasn’t worked too well for Beyoncé; news outlets, frustrated about the limitations on their photographers, have used the original offending photos, from Beyoncé’s Super Bowl halftime show, in lieu of the provided photos.
Jonathan, sent me a link to David Simon’s blog awhile back and in the comments of the introduction he gets into a debate with someone about the future of newspapers. I know he’s right about the problem and solution, and despite the occasional idiotic moves by clueless investor/owners the industry will rise from the ashes soon. (I would not bet against Buffett on this.)
The media landscape has indeed changed and is still changing, and honestly, you’re missing it.
Yes, in the past, circulation didn’t support the paper — it was a loss leader. Advertising revenues supported the paper. Why? Because of the costs of circulation: Newsprint, presses, pressmen, trucks, gas, etc. It cost money to get a newspaper to a doorstep, regardless of how much coin you could charge for the product.
But now? Take a long breath and think about it.
Now, for the first time in the history of prose journalism, every paid subscription to a newspaper operating with a paywall is pure profit, save for the static costs of maintaining the digital website. The world has flipped and slowly, belatedly, the newspaper industry is realizing it. In fact, the reason the industry leaders failed to see it for too long was that they were wedded — as you are still wedded — to the model in which advertising with the god of revenue and circulation was the loss leader. But that isn’t true digitally. Now the future of journalism lies in paywalls and a paid circulation base. Now digital advertising can’t command sufficient rates to support first-rate journalism. (You’re wrong about that, too. Digital advertising on free webpages can only command pennies on the dollar of the print ad rates that once sustained journalism.) But digital circulation can sustain such an enterprise. And is doing so: The New York Times goes to a paywall and now has 700,000 paid subscriptions, and on the strength of that figure is being upgraded by Wall Street analysts. Next quarter they will be back in the black for the first time in many a year.
People always paid to have the paper come to their doorstep. Eventually, they’ll pay to have it available on their digital devices. As they are doing with the NYT. And the Wall Street Journal. And the FT. And even some regional papers and chains are now experimenting. Would it have been easier if they had not let the horse out of the barn for a decade or more? If they hadn’t eviscerated themselves in cost-cutting and ushered so much talent and content out of the newsrooms? Of course.
But they did and now the only road back is to nuture the paid subscription model and use revenues to reinvest in the coverage that people want and can’t get otherwise. And digital subscription revenue — which is now profit, not a loss leader as it was in the days of newsprint — will sustain the news-gathering function of a professional newsroom. The NYT at the top of the foodchain is proving it and most every other newspaper chain in the country is either following them or preparing to do so. This is the end of the beginning of a very dark and misplayed era for professional journalism.
Do the research. You’ll see that your argument is about two years behind the actual trend in the industry. Kind of embarrassing when you label people as Old Media and New Media, but then you go on to miscalculate your argument based on an Old Media model that no longer actually applies.
Then in a follow up comment
Every major newspaper chain — every single one — is now planning to eventually maintain paywalls. Again, it is end of the beginning.
You are used to a world that is unsustainable. News organizations have realized they must find a way to create a revenue stream through digitized delivery, and they are engaged in doing so. Your ability to get the best journalism for free is going to become less and less and at some point, if you want to have professional journalism, you’ll pay $10 or $15 or $20 a month for it. As readers did when it landed on their doorsteps every day.
And if the industry really gets their shit together down the road, it will get to the point where you’ll sign up with a consortium for digital access to your choice of various national, regional and local media. As with your cable bill. You want the NYT and the local regional paper and SI.com or ESPN and the WSJ, check those boxes and send the monthly bill. Sound crazy? Don’t see why it would be. We all once got television for free. Eventually, they ran the cable into our homes and now we spend $40 or $50 or $100 a month for television. And that revenue supports a multitude of programming that didn’t exist a couple generations ago. Same thing can happen with journalism. But job one is having the major papers get behind the paywall.
My whole philosophy on hiring people is: I need to meet you. I need to know what type of person you are (even if it is just for 5 minutes). I may already know what you shoot and your work, but as soon as I meet you/we make a connection, you get added to my consideration list. Some photographers I’ve met share recent projects with me and others just check in with me every once in awhile. Either way, I know that person is going to follow through on a lot of things and that is important to me when I hire a photographer.
(click ad to see today’s visual interview )
