Frequently Asked Questions-Events
Keepsakes, Not Snapshots
Proofs are generally posted within 48 hours of the shoot if I’m not traveling, it takes longer if the shoot was over multiple days or I’ve had back-to-back shoots.
I hand finish ordered photos; the adjustments include but are not limited to corrections to warm/cool white balance, horizon leveling, and shadow/highlight recovery. Those bright-white blazes and socks need to show some detail when possible, sometimes in midday light it’s difficult. I crop a little, if you’d like landscape vs portrait or vice versa, there’s often enough "canvas" in the original to do so.
Didn't you take more shots than the ones you're showing?
If you remember me taking your shot at a certain moment and it isn’t in the proof gallery, it’s usually because there’s an expression by either the horse or the rider or both that isn’t ready for public viewing. Contact me privately if you’re really after those, I may not have deleted them.
Cleanup on Aisle 7
I routinely eliminate parts of other horses like tails, poop piles or an adjacent rider’s stirrup, beyond that there is an hourly charge for additional work, with a 15 minute minimum at $80 per hour. Each ordered photo gets at least 5 other processes applied to it, which make the difference between a snapshot and a keepsake. By using a color-calibrated display that has been proven to match the lab’s printers, my chestnuts come out looking like chestnuts and not pink or orange (unless it’s winter and they are body clipped!) I also pay extra to my lab for color correction at their end, they know their individual device's chemistry.
I aim for 100% satisfaction and my lab backs that up with a money-back guarantee on printed products.
Print Scanning Verboten! Here's Why
Purchase of a print is a personal display license and does not include the rights to scan it for digital use. For personal use, that's a $10 add-on to any print purchase because I consider it an additional item for sale. For 8x10 print or certain product purchases, an e-mail/social media version is provided free of charge. For commercial use beyond a breeder's, or sale ad the user must arrange that with me directly.
As an example, on the left is a scanned image by a pro photographer from a lustre print. Lustre is a pebbly paper, so artifacts are induced while scanning. Note the muddy colors , loss of detail and blocky shadows compared to the digital version on the right. I ship my prints without watermarks, small digitals get a discreet signature in a corner so they are not "orphan works".
Digital Images
Digital downloads come in 2 forms, personal and commercial, and don’t incur sales tax or handling, contact me via my contact form to arrange this. Anything delivered otherwise must get sales tax applied. The photographer credit on the wee web sizes must not be obscured, nor should the image be cropped—if you need a different size, I’d be happy to provide that gratis. The rights to the images do not transfer to 3rd parties, nor is use authorized on commercial products. Promotional barn/breeder T-shirts, products like barn mugs is the idea here.
Personal use (includes breeder promotion via website)
• Low resolution for a personal website, Facebook, e-mail $15. I offer this for free with an 8x10 or larger print purchase, just contact me after the print purchase. For any smaller print size print order, it's a $10 add on.
• High resolution #1 allows printing up to 8x10 and usually 11x14 depending on the crop @ 300 dpi, good for postcards, business cards, brochures, for sale ads or just a whole bunch of smalls for holiday cards. $55
• High res #2 allows printing to 24x36 or possibly even larger if the original wasn’t cropped in too much. $150
Commercial Licensing
Commercial use is based on licensing, only buying the uses one needs to advertise products or services. Package deals are available for those. For editorial advertising, I’d be happy to deliver directly to your art director.
Seems Pricy–Why?
Why are these digital event images so expensive, doesn’t digital make it easier?
1. I shoot in a format that is more like a print negative, which allows “developing”. I try to “get it right” as much as possible in camera.
2. I‘m shooting on “spec”, no prepaid expenses, making the best images possible so that some will sell out of the hundreds that I shoot in light that isn’t always favorable. Wear and tear on the camera (shutters are rated for only a certain amount of actuations, all horse events produce dust and worse, rain, salt spray, etc.) I drive my truck on rutted, rocky mountain roads looking for the appropriate site, or squint into the sun all day in a covered arena.
I’m timing the gaits of every horse, looking for that one attractive, correct moment—with 7+ lbs of gear held up to my face–if you’re thinking of this as a profession, add in bodywork for yourself post-event!
3. 4x6” are the same amount of work as any other size; I still offer them because people like them for scrapbooking and photo albums. Consider 4x5s which are the same price and the same aspect ratio as an 8x10", often more pleasing in a small print. Digital-only may suit some people better for online or home computer albums, and are way better than a scan of a small print.
4. But what’s the BIGGEST reason? “THE shot”. Having the skill to capture those once in a lifetime moments. Someone is always willing to work for less, but will you get what you want?
More Questions
Why do photos within a proof gallery look so different? As people order, the proofs are replaced with finished images—and they stick out like a sore thumb, but do give you a great idea of how your ordered prints will look.
Why does the shopping cart say there will be a delay of up to 7 days before printing? That’s called “proof delay”, and gives me a chance to replace the proof with a finished image—when I’m traveling without access to the original, for example. Depending on my workload, I try to get them out sooner. If your order has images from multiple pros, you're stuck with the full proof delay even if we get them done sooner.
Why don’t you offer packages? I do! It's under the "buy" button in every event gallery for double prints or multiple images in various size mixes. Choose "buy package from this pro" on the buy pull-down menu in any gallery. It's a great way to plumb the archives, for instance, an "instant album" of eight 4x6 prints on lustre paper is $100, $115 for metallic paper.
And Finally...
Other services available include slide shows, promotional postcards, montages of several photos and mock magazine covers.
And for the finest of print :-) I own the copyright on all the images I create, and the physical possession by you of digital files or prints does not constitute a copyright transfer. So in order to use my photos, you must have prior written permission; the onus is on you to get it, it's not implied.
Thanks for reading!
Basic Product Pricing
Pricing subject to change (posted 9/11), my print prices have been the same since 2004! Packages are new. As of May 2012, small personal digitals are now $15 each. There are other packages besides those listed here. I did remove T-shirts and sweatshirts from the catalog because of a reported quality problem from a repeat customer. Click here to find out more details about the wide array of products available once you've got an item in the cart.