A lucky rare sighting of a beautiful Blue Whale just off Dana Point Harbor, Calif. Photo by Jain Lemos.
Around 5:00 PM today, this 60-foot blue whale popped into view as we cruised a few miles off shore aboard the Research Vessel Sea Explorer. We were guests of Bentley Cavazzi, Marketing Director of The Ocean Institute at Dana Point Harbor, California. Captain Mike Bursk and his crew expertly navigated us through pods of dolphins and to within arm’s length of this rare whale. I eagerly ran through an entire flash card. I was feeling time pressure; the animal was in complete harmonic calm.
Back on land, we were treated to a lecture with the totally engaging Earl Richmond for The Institute’s Artist by the Sea program. Earl shared highlights of his fantastic body of work including research, rescue and educational videos. Earl’s company has the world’s largest collection of blue whale footage! Sadly, only about 12,000 blue whales remain on the planet.
My position on the tip of the bow pulpit was thrilling. What a great day surrounded by smart creatures above and below the sea.
Certain phrases bug people. I often use the term “elevator pitch” but I think I’ll drop it now. Here is a pitch-dedicated website allowing 60 seconds to make your case for startup funding. Some of these ideas were stale when the Romans were eating lions.
SmugMug gets a listing under the Popular tab. The comments on the pitch start off great and then begin to fizzle. So SmugMug’s avatar, Don MacAskill, feels compelled to explain that he did the video as a favor to “Mike and the guys at TechCrunch,” and that he’s not looking for investors. I think we should see Mike’s pitch to Don asking him to do the video.
The June Mentoring Assignment prompted several interesting comments, such as this one from Chris DeLellis, President of Art Life Images:
“As a stock photography company owner, I was enthralled by your calculation of the license fee for the shoe client and your scenario and teachings on Rights-Managed licensing. I ask you to continue in this vain as you may be one of the few voices out there expressing the true or proper value of the work, on top of the fact that you obviously really know your stuff.”
This month, you are the photographer. The client is a manufacturer of upscale aromatherapy and bath and body products. Their Marketing Director found you through the shoe company’s ad agency after seeing your “Cinderella” photograph. He needs an estimate for shooting one model with their products in a four picture mini-story. You’ve said that your creative fee is $3500/image plus expenses. You retain copyright; they can use all four images exclusively for one year in any application.
But the client wants to own the images. You’ve explained that a buyout or work-for-hire agreement is four times your creative fee (a total of $56,000). He’s allocated $25,000 for everything (rights and expenses). What he needs most beyond the initial ad campaign is flexibility over the next five years to use the images in product packaging and collateral materials for their distributors.
Think about what rights you can provide within their budget. What can you manage for $6250/image total? Is there a way to cut down on expenses? What about the model’s fee? Can you shoot all four images in one day, maximizing assistants and stylists? Consider your options under territory of use and exclusivity. Work out several scenarios on paper including the rights transfer language needed for your final agreement.
Every street corner is crowded in Mendocino, Calif. for the annual 4th of July Parade. Photo by Jain Lemos.
Hola! Well, so much for posting on the road. My trip is nearly over. Before I left, I picked up a Canon 40D to continue evaluating RAW processing and workflow. Mendocino’s 4th of July Parade was a perfect event for testing. This crowd shot from the corner of Lansing and Little Lake is one of my favorites out of two full 2GB CF cards (click to enlarge). I set to RAW + Medium/Normal JPG and both file versions are excellent. This is the JPG for fast blog posting without any color correction at all.
I like this picture for many reasons. First of all, I don’t remember taking it. There were a few thousand people in Mendocino that day (as many of you know, it’s my hometown) and when the 4th falls on a weekend the turnout is tremendous. In the Mendo parade, there are rather long gaps between the eclectic mixes of entries; it’s all very laid back and jovial. Often people jump into the road with their display bypassing the “official” entry rules. A man with a dynamic papier-mâché octopus was entering just off the left of this frame. Note how expressions and reactions to the procession are quite varied. Finally, just up the hill and past the trees is a place with a lifetime of memories for me.
Are you shooting any special or personal events in your hometown? If so, please send me a link to your favs and tell me the stories. I’ll be back in my office this weekend catching up. Until then, thanks for all of the sweet notes and messages while I’ve been gone 
. And here is the octopus float cutting in.
The octopus float is a crowd pleasure during the 4th of July Parade in Mendocino, Calif. Photo by Jain Lemos.
