February 19, 2008: Kazumasa
kitajima (willoughby860 on
flickr)
Kazumasa is (or was – we don’t really keep in touch) a
feature editor/writer for a travel culture magazine called “TRANSIT”. Transit
apparently claimed to be a widely circulated and read magazine in Japan. At the
time, they were working on an issue focusing on China and was scheduled to
release on April 25. They wanted permission to use the following Yungang
Buddhist Cave image.
The agreement was, I give them permission to use the picture at NO Fee and they give me the credits and mail me a copy of the edition. This was the first contact in what could be a long pipeline of future commercial prospects. I wanted to seize it to launch my clicks. So, I kept my side of the deal and gave him permission to use the picture. I am still in futile wait to see a copy in my mailbox.
He may have given me the credit but he has definitely not mailed me a copy. If any one of you has come across this magazine and in particular this edition, please mail me.
May 14, 2008: Liz
Kyonka (operant on flickr)
Liz introduced herself as an animal behavior scientist working with pigeons. She was scheduled to deliver a presentation at an annual conference for the “Association for Behavior Analysis” about pigeons and she requested to use the following image of Pigeon Eggs
The agreement here was, she promised to use it for non-commercial purposes, which she upheld and would credit me. I did ask her to credit the picture to Atit Shah and requested her to mail me a copy of the presentation. She didn’t mail me a copy either.
I just wanted evidence of people using my pictures and attributing the creative works to me.
March 16, 2009: Christa I. De La Cruz (xta_dlc on flickr)
A representative from Manila Skies (Manila Skies is a
monthly in-flight magazine for Spirit of Manila Airlines) wrote to me seeking
permission to print the following image in their April issue that had an
article on the Asian and Middle Eastern Countries.
This was the time when I felt I should say no to freebies and should talk commercials. I asked for 100 USD (it seemed fair considering the possible size of the picture they would use and the number of copies they would print). I did emphasize on negotiating but then I never heard back from her. I guess her layout team could not fit the picture.
March 11, 2010: Amanda
Brooks (Amanda Brooks
on flickr)
A representative of the Schmap New York Guide wanted to use the following image of the Statue of Liberty
The ignoring response from Manila Skies made me reconsider my decision of freebies. I switched back to the royalty free stance. Amanda promised to give me the credits. She upheld the agreement and this time I got a mail back with a link to the picture. They reformatted their site a while back and I was given an updated link to my picture.
This link does have my picture and my name but to my dismay,
it also has a collection of tens of thousands of pictures of the lady. I didn’t
find this very encouraging and creditable. I wouldn’t call myself published
yet.
January 14, 2011:
CitiusTech (my current employer) Calendar
At the beginning of every year, CitiusTech would distribute
calendars to its employees. A few people had an idea of creating a photography
club within the organization and launching the club by distributing a calendar
with pictures clicked by an elite group of photography enthusiasts. I was one
amongst the elite. The group had selected a “Mumbai” as a theme. The theme was
purposefully easy and simple. I travelled around Mumbai in local trains, in the
heat and on foot to click the following
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A few members on the group selected some of these for the calendar. Unfortunately, the HR driving this initiative changed course and was off on a maternity leave. The idea of this calendar and the idea of a photography club was consumed by a black hole.
None of these events has deterred my passion to click. I
continue my quest on being published with or without the commercial benefits.
My infamous side note: I am not as good as a million others, but the passion thrives.
