Thursday News Stuff (and uncovering yesterday’s “Free Prize Inside”)
Hi folks:
Well, now that most of the Photo Walk stuff is out of the way (until we come to the judging portion, then all %&$* will break loose), here’s what’s up:
The Free Prize Inside (apologies to Seth Godin)
First, I want to talk about yesterday’s Guest Blog from Bryan Hughes, because there was a “Free Prize Inside” a lot of people missed (and I’m not talking about the unprecedented super-early reveal of three user-driven improvements to the next version of Photoshop), but something bigger that a lot of people missed entirely. In fact, one of my buddies called me late last night, and said, “I saw you Tweet that something really surprising was in Bryan’s post, and I skimmed it, but didn’t catch it.”
A lot of people missed the fact that Bryan, Photoshop Product Manager for Adobe, actually gave out his private email address, and said to my readers (I’m paraphrasing here), “Hey, if you’ve got an idea for something you want fixed or addressed in Photoshop, here’s my personal email address. Drop me a line.” Come on—that’s pretty much unheard of. Now, Bryan is probably regretting that today, but I thought it really showed an amazing level of access and interaction between Adobe and end users like us, and I applaud Bryan for doing that, and for giving us a peek inside their development process this time around.
MPIX Launches MpixPro!
I knew this was coming, but I couldn’t spill the beans until it was official (which it now is), but the folks over at MPIX.com have launched a very intriguing new service exclusively for working pros called “MpixPro,” which has special products (and a product catalog twice the size of Mpix.com) and lab services (including fine art printing) for working pro photographers. As much as I love MPIX.com (they have been my one and only lab for the past couple of years), I’m now moving up to MPIX Pro to access these new services and features aimed at pros. You can check out the video on their site which explains it all, and I’ll have a lot more next week after I get my first orders back from them, so look for more details then. In the meantime, here’s the link to MPIX Pro.
Joe McNally’s Kelby Training Flash Workshop is Sold Out!
You knew it was going to happen, and sure enough—last week Joe’s upcoming off camera flash workshop sold out, and there’s going to be a record-breaking 700+ photographers there that day. Seriously, that’s probably one of, if not the biggest, one-day lighting workshops ever. Way to go, Joe! (more dates for Joe’s tour to be announced shortly).
Also, hats off to my buddy Matt Kloskowski who, following in Joe’s footsteps, sold out our Lightroom 2 Live Tour! in New York City yesterday, with more than 650 photographers filling the place to capacity.
Catch my Photo Walk Audio Interview at LensFlare35
I did a very fun interview yesterday with Dave Warner over at LensFlare35.com where we talked about the whole World Wide Photo Walk phenomenon; how the whole thing came about, where it’s been, and what’s next. You can listen to it right here.
Hotel Rooms for Photoshop World Las Vegas are Going FAST!
There are two hotels at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino (home to the Photoshop World Conference & Expo), and the room rates this year are an absolute bargain, which is probably why one of our two host hotels “THEhotel at Mandalay Bay” has sold out of our special room deal reserved for conference attendees. If you’re going to join us in Vegas this October, you can still snag a special room deal right at the Mandalay Bay itself (yes, it’s confusing—one’s called “THEhotel” and one’s just “Mandalay Bay” but it’s the one called “Mandalay Bay” that still has rooms available at our killer deal price). Here’s the link to the Photoshop World Travel Page with all the details. Hope I’ll be seeing you in Vegas!
I’m Hitting the Sack
It’s pretty late, so I’m heading to bed. Hope you guys have a great Thursday, and I’ll catch you back here tomorrow for some news and stuff to take you into the weekend. See you then!
Joe Kelby’s training flash workshop? Or should that be McNally?
It’s Joe’s Kelby Training workshop, not Joe Kelby’s training workshop. Scott, I have a question . . . a few people in my photowalk have uploaded 3-8 photos each. I know if you upload photos now it will only let you upload two, but I guess that wasn’t the case. What will happen there? Will they just have a better chance of winning?
Lauren,
A few in my group also did this (they got in before the limits were set) – so I emailed the group and let them know how to delete their excess images (by logging on, going to the library, selecting their images, and then clicking delete).
Within 24 hours, they sorted themselves out.
Hi Martin:
It’s supposed to be “Joe McNally’s Kelby Training Workshop.” Thanks for catching that—I just fixed it.
I’ve really got to start writing these earlier in the evening.
-Scott
Isnt it about time you came over to the UK again? Dont think you have been over for a couple of years now, I’m sure a class featuring Joe or yourself would sell out pretty quickly!
Hi John:
I agree. I miss visiting the UK. Really great people, and lots of fun shooting opportunities. I’ll have to talk to our Tour Director.
-Scott
Hey Scott,
Perhaps you could have your Tour Director arrange a big tour for NAPP members in the UK — call it a multiple day Photowalk if you will. I would love to experience the UK from photo opportunity perspective.
Thx,
kris
I’m with John – would be great if you got over to the UK again soon. Wiltshire is nice this time of year you know
I have not uploaded my two images from the Photowalk because I was waiting to hear what the specifications of the images was supposed to be. Scott mentioned the other day that he was going to get with Brad and supply that info, but I never saw anything.
Can anyone tell me what the max resolution or size of the submissions can be?
Thanks.
Just as an FYI…I uploaded full resolution photos and it worked fine.
Chris…do you know if tiff is ok or does it have to be jpg. Any size restriction on the upload?
Sorry…meant to type Kris not Chris. .blush.
I tried uploading full-res images, but it came up with an error saying it has to be less than 1024kb.
I’m curious as to how MPIX Pro fits in between regular MPIX and Miller’s, which is what I thought was their lab for pros (Miller’s owns, MPIX, or so I thought).
Hi Chris:
I believe it fits right in between; not as high end as Millers (which would be for high volume shops), but still having the type of services a small one or two person shop would want (think of the Wedding photographer who shoots just weddings a month. They still want access to pro-level products, but they don’t have the volume that would have them at Millers. That’s my take on it, anyway). Hope that helps.
-Scott
There is a great comparison chart that you can download at Mpix.com or MpixPro.com, here is the link: http://www.mpixpro.com/files/MillersComparison.pdf. It really helped me out!
@Scott & @Kris, many thanks for the info
I really hope you add Des Moines, Iowa as a future site for Joe’s lighting workshop.
wow mpix pro site, sweet:-) I was looking into other labs, but have been happy with mpix regular site.. Thanks mpix, i’ll be getting my things together and send out, so i can get ready for senior,wedding and sports!!!
I just signed up for MPIX.com because I want to get some prints of my Tarpon Springs, FL Photo Walk (I wish I could have done Ybor with your group) and I think it’s cool how one of the options for “How did you hear about us?” is “Scott Kelby”. I guess you send a lot of business their way!
Okay, this isn’t related to your post, but it was the best way I could find to contact you and let you know that The Photoshop CS Book changed my life! If you ever wondered who you wrote it for, now you know. It is written EXACTLY how I would have asked someone to write if I had known what I needed.
Thanks Lisa. You just made my day.
-Scott
MpixPro terms of service: you grant them a license to use and re-license to others your pictures for any use whatever. Be sure to read it.
Me? no…
They mention three specific uses of users content. They would need a license to display your pictures on the site, to print them on various media, etc. I don’t think anything sinister is going on here. It’s not like some photo contests where you transfer your rights to the organization running the contest – now that’s nasty.
This is what I could find and I have to say, it seems like a cause for concern for any Pro Photographer who wishes to control their images:
[quote] You certify that you own all intellectual property rights in Your Content. You hereby grant Miller’s, our affiliates, and our partners a worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free, nonexclusive, sub licensable license to use, reproduce, create derivative works of, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, transfer, transmit, distribute, and publish Your Content and subsequent versions of Your Content for the purposes of (i) displaying Your Content on our Site, (ii) distributing Your Content, either electronically or via other media, to users seeking to download or otherwise acquire it, and/or (iii) storing Your Content in a remote database accessible by end users, for a charge. This license shall apply to the distribution and the storage of Your Content in any form, medium, or technology now known or later developed. [/quote]
I wonder what Jack Reznicki and Attorney Ed Greenberg would have to say about this (I think I’ll ping Jack).
Brian,
I’m afraid Addrew is correct. You are granting them a license to basically do as they please with your photo. They do not need anything else from you to display or use your photo. You are granting them a license.
What they basically have is most of the rights of copyright without the actual copyright. Some of the wording like “publicly preform” is a red flag to me that shows a rights grab from a lawyer. Preformance rights are clearly spelled out in your “bundle of rights” under copyright law, but really are for the proforming arts, not the visual arts. But they still ask for it.
“Derivative” works is another red flag, that means they can even take a piece of your photo and combine it with another photo and again, do as they please. I’m afraid that wording is as bad as any photo contest that transfers your rights. Having those wordings tells me the lawyers looked at the copyright laws and are effectively having you granting all those rights.
In my non-lawyer opinion, they can protect themselves as much as they need to, which they should do as any company should, but without over grabbing rights as this does.
I just went through this with a job where the client provided a model release that went beyond what was negotiatied. We helped them re-write it to both the model’s and the client’s satisfaction.
Jack,
Thank you very much for looking at this. Maybe Scott can get involved and get comments from MPIX. The same paragraph in question for MPIXPro exists at MPIX (where I have been sending pictures for the past 2 years). I have a bad feeling about this. We need to be sure exactly what we are giving up by using these types of services.
Brian
Thank you for your help in bringing this error to our attention.
The terms and conditions mentioned were copied from our Miller’s Professional Imaging website and were written for our web hosting application only. These terms should not have been included on the Mpix.com or MpixPro.com websites and have been removed.
Again, thank you for bringing this to our attention and for understanding our regret in this error.
Ah. That makes sense.
Scott – First off, have to agree with Lisa C! Secondly, just went through the whole process with MPIXPro and have to say it was painless. I’ve been using MPIX for awhile now, just waiting on the 5 submittals to see where we stand. Thanks for the heads up!
Scott,
There is a pretty active thread on the Forums re the MPIX Pro TOS requirements.
I’d hold off recommending this service unless they drastically modify their TOS as you end up giving away almost all your copyright protection.
derek
And for NAPP members, its being discussed in the forums.
I did find this TOS interesting from a Lab I’ve used in the past. They have excellent quality output, practice sound color management and say this on their site (http://pictopia.com/pub2/legal.html):
Information Collection and Use
Pictopia expressly disclaims any interest in or ownership of clients’ and customers’ images deposited on this site. Pictopia is the sole owner of the information about customers’ use of this site, and we will not sell, share, or rent this information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this statement.
Now how difficult is that?
Seems like this HAS to be an error. I’ve used Miller’s and Mpix for years without any trouble or problems. This seems very out of character for them. Call me naive, but I’m going to chalk this up to an error until we hear (or don’t hear) otherwise.
Thanks in large part to the discussions on the NAPP forums and super human assistance from NAPP (Larry and Dave) who communicated with MPIX, the terms have been fixed and the offending language is now gone. This is an example of how an organization of like minded professionals can work together to affect positive change in our industry. This is a major feather in NAPP’s cap as far as I’m concerned. Yes, the blogs, magazines, videos and forums are more than worth the yearly membership fees but more importantly, membership in such an organization is proof that collectively we can have our voices heard. Kudo’s to MPIX for fixing this in less than a day. It shows they have true concerns for their customers.
Thanks for being understanding, guys. It was an honest mistake, and we wanted to fix this ASAP.
Just a sidenote on MPIX Pro. I was very happy with the quality of the prints, but i ordered magnets and they cam to me as just prints. Once i contacted customer support they said they would reprint and send out. After 4 days i emailed them back and said there was a mix up and they were going out. still no tracking info so for the third time i contacted them and still haven’t been delivered. The person helping me has been nice, but the confusion and delay on this is crazy for 10 magnets. I am thinking about heading back over the WHCC.