Alain Briot - They Are Stealing Our Work

In January 2011 I was alerted to an unauthorized use of my work by Alvenia University. The way this 'alert' took place was weird. An Alvenia teacher called me to ask me how much it would cost to licence my work. I explained that the cost was based on usage, that my minimum fee was $250, and that this would cover minimum usage such as a single use in a newletter for example. The teacher answered that this was way beyond their budget. I asked which image she was interested in and she answered it was Playa Reflections and that a student had won a contest for a poster design featuring my image. She then hung up.     Read Article

Guy Tal - The Essential Landscape: Don't Be An Idiot

Almost since the first photographic image was made, artists choosing to work in the medium of photography faced an uphill battle for recognition of the legitimacy of their work and its acceptance as a fine art. Photography had been derided as being the product of machines and chemicals rather than the expressive minds of artists, and for offering no more than simple representations of reality, rather than having the freedom to convey nuanced and abstract concepts.     Read Review

Paul Faust - Software Review: Silver Efex Pro 2

I don't know of many photographers who shoot color and do not also want to convert their best images into black & whites. One great example of what can be done is seen in the Nik Software ad showing Art Wolfe's image of towering cliffs in China. In the not too distant past, to acquire a really good b&w conversion was nearly impossible. Then came along Silver Efex a few years back and changed all that, and the images and the software just kept getting better ever since.     Read Article