As a newspaper photographer I’ve taken quite a few `snatch shots’, which are photographs of someone that were taken without the person in the picture being aware of it.
Actually there are two kinds of snatch shots, long range and close range. Long range shots are usually but not always taken with a zoom lens, usually from several hundred yards away. Close range snatch shots are best taken with a medium wide angle lens and they are taken from just a few yards away.
Let’s assume that you plan to take a long range snatch shot, that your subject (or prey, whichever way you want to look at it) is in a public park and that you are perhaps a couple of hundred yards away from him.
Several things could happen.
You might casually raise your camera and pretend to be taking pictures of the park. Point it in several directions and perhaps play around with the camera controls to make it look as if you’re adjusting it, maybe changing the aperture or shutter speed.
But at some stage you’ll have to point the camera in his direction, and this is where the problems can begin.
He may not be quite sure what you’re taking a picture of; he may think that you’re just taking a picture of the park or he may suspect that you’re taking a picture of him.
It’s bad news, either way, because he has now been alerted. This may be enough to make him turn his back on you and move away but if he doesn’t, if he keeps looking at you, keep cool.
Remember that he will be looking at the camera head on, and from this perspective all he can see is the front of the lens, he can’t see the body part of it. And as he can’t see the body of the lens, the chances are that he doesn’t know if it’s a standard lens or a zoom lens.
If he decides that it’s a standard lens it might be ok, he might decide that you’re harmless.
Or he might tell himself that he doesn’t care what kind of lens it is, you aren’t going to take his picture, period. He might decide to confront you about it, to walk over to you and find out what the hell you’re doing.
Keep calm, but also decide what you’re going to do - and do it quickly.
Basically you have three options.
One option is let him walk right up to you, let him demand to know what you’re doing, admit that you were taking his picture and offer to delete the pictures. This may not be good enough for him, of course - he may decide to trash your camera and perhaps trash you too.
Another option is to stand up to him; tell him you were taking his picture and ask him what he plans to do about it.
A third option is to take his picture as he is walking towards you, to forget how scared you are and keep pressing that shutter. Then, when you’re sure you have some good pictures of him…
Run like hell!
* There are also important ethical issues involved in this kind of photography and I plan to discuss these in a future article.
Paul Gooch is a Press and wedding photographer located in Skegness UK. He sells his photographs to local, regional and national newspapers, has taught media studies at a local college and has published several thought provoking and perhaps controversial articles about photography on his web site http://www.paulgoochimages.com
In the 1990’s, the photography industry went through a revolution. Now it’s common to discuss imagery in terms of pixels per inch, jpegs, and tiffs. No longer do we discuss photography just in terms of film specifications. Digital imagesboth custom and stock photographyand software such as Adobe® Photoshop® are commonly used. As a result, we all need to be careful. As consumers, there are many options and legal implications to be aware of when buying and using graphic images.
Rights to photos: custom and stock
A question to ask early on in a project is, “Who has the rights?” Copyright law protects images as property of the photographer, with specific rights as defined by contract. These usually relate to time frame, types of use, and use in photographer’s promotional materials.
“For example, if you’re shooting an ad campaign, you may want to purchase rights for a year. If you extend the campaign, however, you need to renegotiate your purchase agreement with the photographer,” notes Kim Cobb, team leader at The AVS Group. “Any models, professional or not, used in pictures, should also sign releases, and you should be aware of any time or usage restriction that may be included in the release.”
“At AVS, you have rights to use images we shoot for you for as long as you want, in any type of media. There is no additional charge for these rights,” says Cobb. On the other hand, rights for stock images vary depending on the purchase agreement. Usually stock image firms allow the user free use of an image to present a concept or rough. If the user wants to use the image in a project, though, the image must be purchased.
Purchased images generally come in two types: traditional and royalty-free. The traditional license purchase is based on a full gamut of contract specifics and should be carefully reviewed. The second type, royalty free, typically allows the buyer to use the image with very few restrictions. Usually they are purchased for a one-time flat fee and altered to create new, unique works by the graphic designer.
What rights do consumers have for stock images?
“We’re often asked to provide the stock images that have been used in the creative execution of client’s project, but that is usually expressly prohibited in the license,” says Cobb.
As a rule, licenses state that the images may not be sublicensed, resold, or otherwise redistributed. Nor can they be detached from a product or Web page. Clients can receive the digital media as part of the product, but not separately.
Can consumers use their own images?
Yes. Having a disk of useable imagery at your fingertips is convenient, plus you can always add more.
“You might want to consider having commonly used images of your products or services compiled on a CD in formats you can use,” notes Cobb.
Some variables to consider would include how you plan to use the images (PowerPoint® presentations, Web use, printing, etc.) and color format (CMYK for print and RGB for electronic delivery).
Always read the fine print!
It is important to understand that the information in this article is intended to highlight general issues and is not legal advice or a solution to individual problems. If you do have further questions or problems, seek competent legal counsel before relying on this or any information. It is your responsibility to ensure that you comply with all laws regarding your use of an image. The penalties can be severe.
The AVS Group is a marketing, training, and communications company. AVS is in La Crosse, Wisconsin. AVS helps clients communicate and market effectively. AVS can be found online at http://www.avsgroup.com
Like the name says, its a form that a user fills in the web. Webforms are everywhere: in search browsers, login pages, surveys, registration forms, etc.
The webforms are necessary to have interaction in the web as they provide the way to retrieve data you need from your users. For example you can create a webform to know the user’s site comments, to give a service, to create an account, etc.
A webform consists of two parts:
HTML Page: A html page with the actual form. In here you can use textboxes, checkboxes, select fields, textareas, etc.
CGI Script: And a CGI script that will actually process the data sent via the html form.
Baboon Webforms does both things for you automatically.
HTML WebForm Fields
In your webform you can use different kind of fields depending on the kind of information you might need. For example if you need the user’s name you only need a line of text, but if you need a user’s comments then you need to give them a way to write a text in multiple lines.
In here we will list the available kind of fields, so when you create your webform with Baboon Webforms you know exactly what to select.
Field Types
Text Box Is the normal one line text box.
Hidden Field This field is invisible and the user never interacts with it. Its very useful for those cases when you need to pass hidden vars, like tracking ids.
Password This kind of field is for typing in a password. Works just like a text box, with the difference that whatever is typed is not displayed in the screen (in case someone is watching over your shoulder or you have to leave the work station). Instead of showing what you typed in, the browser displays a series of asterisks (*), bullets (), or something to show that you are typing, but not what you are typing.
Checkboxes The checkboxes can be either on or off, and are often used in groups to indicate a series of choices any one of which can be on or off. What are your interests?
Sports
Politics
Gardening
Radio Buttons The radio buttons are used to create a series of choices of which only one can be selected. The term “radio button” comes from the buttons for the radio in an automobile, where selecting one radio station automatically de-selects all the others. Select a size?
Small
Medium
Big
Select Field Creates a list of options, one of which can be selected.
Textarea A field where the user can enter large amounts of text. In most respects, works like a text box.
For more detailed information about webforms and how they work, you can take a look at the following resources:
