Tag Archives: photography

Ethics, Ideas

Photo Contests and Protecting Your Rights

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The Photo Attorney web site has a post on the subject of “rights grabs” associated with photography contests. (See “Photo Contests Here and Abroad Grab Rights“) This is a subject that has concerned me for some time, and about which I and many others have written from time to time.

The basic problem is this. In many of these contests (in most of them from what I’ve seen) the photographer who submits a photograph to the contest surrenders considerable rights to his/her work . Note that the loss of rights typically occurs whether or not the photographer’s work ‘wins’ the contest! In quite a few cases the language in the contest agreement gives full, unlimited rights for any imaginable use of the photographers submitted work without any compensation, control, or (in quite a few cases) credit to the company sponsoring the contest, the marketing firm(s) supervising the contest, and even to other businesses that they cooperate with.

This applies to every photograph submitted by every participating photographer – not just the winners. (Even if these onerous terms only applied to “winners,” one would wonder who actually “wins” in a situation where a whole team of corporate interests acquire free rights to the “winning” photographer’s work.)

No, I’m not making this up.

It is not without reason that many refer to these things as “intellectual property rights grabs” rather than as photography contests.

This is not to say that there are no legitimate photography contests. It seems reasonable that the work of contest winners would be displayed in some limited (as to time, medium, and so forth) manner directly associated with the contest itself – that would be mutually beneficial to the winning contestants and to those putting on the contest. But photographers who believe that their work has value should be very cautious about such contests, and they should read contest terms very carefully before submitting their work.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

G Dan Mitchell: Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email


All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Reflection, Building B-150

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Reflection, Building B-150

Reflection, Building B-150. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California. March 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Night reflection of building B-150 in a rainwater puddle at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

This is a more or less a photograph that I had thought about for the past year or so. On a previous visit to Mare Island Naval Shipyard I attempted another photograph using this little rainwater pool to create reflections, but that photograph was not really a success. (It included a different subject, some old trucks and trailers parked nearby.) In any case, as odd as it may sound, a visit to this little puddle was on my agenda for the early March night photography shoot at Mare Island with The Nocturnes, and after I had shot in the more central area of the historic site I wandered down Nimitz Avenue toward this spot where I found “Building B-150” nicely reflected in the water and illuminated by nearby artificial light.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: mare island, naval, shipyard, minsy, night, photography, nocturnes, vallejo, california, usa, minsy, reflection, water, puddle, rain, building, structure, architecture, b-150, metal, light, artificial, street, asphalt, pavement, fence, sky, nocturnal, historic, nimitz, avenue

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Stairs, Shadows, Door

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Stairs, Shadows, Door

Stairs, Shadows, Door. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California. March 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Shadows from artificial light and from the moon fall across the metal wall of a building, a rusty stairway, and a door at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

Another photo from the early March 2009 visit to Mare Island Naval Shipyard for night photography with The Nocturnes, and also another photograph in which I paid attention to some of the smaller details of this historic and very interesting site. Here the weathered door and stairway of this old industrial building are illuminated by the light of the nearly full moon and by nearby artificial light, creating interesting shadow patterns.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: mare island, naval, shipyard, minsy, night, photography, nocturnes, vallejo, california, usa, shadows, artificial, light, moon, moonlight, metal, wall, building, rust, stairway, steps, railing, door, window, pattern, architecture, urban, industrial, historic

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Structures and Objects

Moonlit Steel Towers, Brick Building with Window Arches

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Moonlit Steel Towers, Brick Building with Window Arches

Moonlit Steel Towers, Brick Building with Window Arches. Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California. March 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Interior light shines through arched windows in a brick building framed by the base of moonlit steel towers in a night photography from Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California.

Once or twice a year I visit the Mare Island Naval Shipyard with The Nocturnes, the San Francisco Bay Area night photography group, to photograph the amazing industrial subjects of this old and historic navy base. I was there again during the first week of March this year. I began the evening’s photography where I almost always start, in the “historic core” of the shipyard near the current museum. I have photographed the huge steel structures here before, but this time I thought it might be interesting to concentrate on details of the structures rather than their towering mass.

By the way, the illumination is a combination of nearly full moon (lighting the left side of the column) and various kinds of artificial light ranging from tungsten to sodium vapor lamps. Fun stuff…

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: mare island, naval, shipyard, historic, vallejo, california, usa, minsy, steel, tower, truss, brick, wall, arch, window, door, light, interior, glow, yellow, orange, blue, street, sidewalk, ramp, frame, star, trail, tree, sky, nocturnes, road, alley, moon, lunar