Yesterday was an interesting day, overall quite positive. Scoring ten on the “oh boy!” scale, I gave approval for use of three different images, including these two:
Both of those are going to environmental organizations, the Pelican is going to be used by Audubon. Being able to help out groups like that makes my day. The third is a small publication that’s basically in start-up mode. I may talk about it later.
Yes, all three images are comped. Yes, I hear some photographers out there grinding their teeth already. My view? I’m not here to live my life or use my photos to your preferences, not unless you’re willing to reserve the favor. Until then? I’ll continue to comp when it makes sense to me. Besides, at this point in my “career”, such as it is, exposure’s a nice thing for me. I’ll take that as payment.
It’s not my responsibility to hold back inventory to support your lifestyle; if you can’t compete with free, you need to become a better photographer. The basic truth is that the market has re-arranged itself, and bitching about it won’t put it back…
First time I’ve approved usage of three photos in one day. Heck, I think it’s the first time I’ve approved usage of three photos in a month. Nice little milestone, and it made my day.
But the day had some downers, too. I found out Jack Vance died; knew him a teeny bit from my work with SFWA, and he was a great guy as well as a great author. It’s sad to see another of the authors who influenced me growing up fade to black.
Another author I know also popped up to say he’d gone into cardiac arrest and flatlined, but a couple of EMTs, a medi-evac flight and a new pacemaker later, he’s going to be okay.
It just made me realize how far we and social networks have come when someone can pop up on Facebook and say “Hey, almost died, but I have this new pacemaker and I feel great!” in an almost routine way, and have his friends all kick into a conversation about it. Almost surreal. (and somewhere in there is an interesting piece of fiction….). But it’s also a bit of a reminder how tenuous our grasp on this side of the bright line can be, and how we should cherish it while we have it — because you never know when you’re going to roll craps and hand over the dice.
Me, I continue to aspire to my perfect ending: to be killed at the hand of a jealous husband — at the age of 90. Wish me luck.