Accused of not owning my photos/venting! need advice too

[SandraD]

I just got back from two locations where I was unable to order simple prints of my work! I'll sum up what the first location said. "Do you have signed consent to print these from the photographer?,if not, you need one. Sorry we can't do it."

I then explained I took and processed the photos. The two associates looked at eachother and basically said "Sssorry" The second location took my burned cd with the jpg photos, ran in through their computer, looked at every single one of my photos, took the cd out and said, "Ssorry we aren't able to print these from here, you must have burned them wrong." I gave the same explanation and they gave me the same response as the other place.

Granted, I'm NOT a professional, nor do I claim to be one, but I take all my photos, edit every single one of them ( you all know how much time goes into editing) and I'm very proud of what I've accomplished with my photos. I want to be able to print them without being accused of not owning them. What am I doing wrong here?

Am I going to have to create a signature that includes my driver's license on it? I'm being sarcastic but I'm just upset.:mad: (sigh)

sorry for the long thread but I had to vent and get some advice from you all.

Thanks

[JeffreyG]

Strange. I've been asked before if I had the photographer's consent, but once I told them that I created the photos then I've had no problems. I print at Costco.

[SandraD]

Strange. I've been asked before if I had the photographer's consent, but once I told them that I created the photos then I've had no problems. I print at Costco.


Hi Jeffrey,
Actually, one of the locations was Costco :confused:

[nphsbuckeye]

Hmm, victim of your own success.

[Palladium]

You should try to establish a relationship with the lab where your going to print - Once your known it won't be a problem.

[Hot Bob]

How about making sure your copyright info is in the exif data and then pointing that out to the lab. Should eliminate any doubt.

Bob

[FlyingPhotog]

How about making sure your copyright info is in the exif data and then pointing that out to the lab. Should eliminate any doubt.

Bob

+1 ...

Especially your cell phone number. Have them call the number they find in the EXIF and watch their faces when the phone sitting on the counter starts to ring.

;)

[silvrr]

How about making sure your copyright info is in the exif data and then pointing that out to the lab. Should eliminate any doubt.

Bob

+1 ...

Especially your cell phone number. Have them call the number they find in the EXIF and watch their face when the phone sitting on the counter starts to ring.

;)

Easiest way to take care of it. You can set up your cam so every photo has your name and info. How are they copyrighted currently?

[SandraD]

Bob and Jay...thank you!! See... I'm learning something new everyday!

[SandraD]

Easiest way to take care of it. You can set up your cam so every photo has your name and info. How are they copyrighted currently?


Silvrr, their suggestion is on my list of things to figure out.

And as far as the current copyright for my photos...I've been creating a signature using CS2 which has my name SandraD and I also include the copyright sign. I've been putting them on many of my current photos. I've posted some on my Flickr. The sig is subtle in many of them.

[carshop]

+1 ...

Especially your cell phone number. Have them call the number they find in the EXIF and watch their faces when the phone sitting on the counter starts to ring.

;)
I have my name and cell on my EXIF.

[cspratt]

Print your own.

[cspratt]

I have my name and cell on my EXIF.

My name is there but cell phone number. How do I do that?

[KnightRanger]

Two thoughts crossed my mind while reading this. I wonder if they thought they could "pirate" your images, and then I wondered if they was giveing you grief because of the female vs male thing? Either way it just seems lame that they would say the cd was not burned correctly, it should play here or there in various machines. Small compensation is the thought of "the Universe" catching them in their own web of misery.

[FlyingPhotog]

Two thoughts crossed my mind while reading this. I wonder if they thought they could "pirate" your images, and then I wondered if they was giveing you grief because of the female vs male thing? Either way it just seems lame that they would say the cd was not burned correctly, it should play here or there in various machines. Small compensation is the thought of "the Universe" catching them in their own web of misery.

Two Words: Liability Exposure

They don't want to get sued for copyright infringement...

Bear in mind what kind of dreck most "family-oriented" photo printing places see. Then out of the blue comes someone with solid, clean, well framed and in focus images and it's so out of the norm for most of these places and they jump to "Pro" conclusion.

In a weird way, it's actually something of a compliment and says that the OP has images that people are willing to make positive assumptions about.

[neil_r]

Get an account with a pro lab and not only will you get better prints your problem will be solved.

[iAMB]

Sorry to jacked the thread, but how do you go about entering your name and cell number in the exif info?

[FlyingPhotog]

Sorry to jacked the thread, but how do you go about entering your name and cell number in the exif info?

I use Lightroom Ver 2.4

[iAMB]

Anyway to use Aperture 2 by chance?

[SandraD]

Thanks everyone...read some good advice from this thread.

1. I will attempt to establish some sort of relationship with a lab

2. Add my exif data to my photos


Can one of you direct me to a thread or tutorial that walks me through adding EXIF data? I think I do it through my camera, correct??

[SandraD]

Just figured out how to add my name and my phone number. I used the EOS utility program. Now my question is will the new signature be added to photos I took yesterday?

[CyberDyneSystems]

Silvrr, their suggestion is on my list of things to figure out.

And as far as the current copyright for my photos...I've been creating a signature using CS2 which has my name SandraD and I also include the copyright sign. I've been putting them on many of my current photos. ...


It's the existence of this very copyright logo that is stopping them... that would be my guess.

You've given them a CD full of images with a Copyright stamp, but not given them any proof that you are the holder of said copyright?

[mathogre]

You could also use the magic words: "Let me speak with your manager." The next set of magic words to use when those don't work is, "Would you like me to take *all* of my business elsewhere?"

Money talks. Just be prepared to walk.

[Trainboy]

I print my own pictures. They are, for the most part, the best pictures that pass through my lab.
Problem solved.
Except for the whole having to work retail thing.
Generally, I'd say that you just have to start a conversation with someone who knows their stuff and talk about what you do and the shots you're trying to print. If it were me, I'd believe anyone who could tell me what F stop they used and why.

[SandraD]

Hello everyone,

Well I gave it another try at my local Costco yesterday and it was a positive outcome. A few things were different this time around. 1. I took my husband with me for support 2. the employees working were males not females 3. they actually understood what I was talking about! they even gave me advice on PS resizing an such.
They were kind enough to give me their schedule for the next 2 weeks, introduced me to other employees, and let them know I had watermarked images and to go ahead and print them.

I'm excited to say I now have an established relationship with a lab, but in the near future I think the best thing to do is invest in a great printer and do it from home.


Thanks to all who gave me advice!!!!!!!
Love this forum:D

[Trainboy]

There you go, just need to talk to people who know what they're doing ;)

[Pseudonym]

Crazy, I tend to use a 'pro' lab as they don't cost much more and if you ask them to print with no corrections they'll listen and not alter your images.

[cdifoto]

Printing from home can be a very expensive proposition. I don't do it anymore.

[neil_r]

The other beauty of using a pro lab is that two minutes ago mine called me because I had not specified that I did not want them colour corrected and they thought that was odd so they gave me a call.

[neilwood32]

My name is there but cell phone number. How do I do that?

Either with the EOS utility prior to shooting or Photoshop/Lightroom after (by incorporating a copyright metafle - it sounds difficult but its actually quite easy). Just go to the RAW processing section here and search for copyright metadata.

Hello everyone,

Well I gave it another try at my local Costco yesterday and it was a positive outcome. A few things were different this time around. 1. I took my husband with me for support 2. the employees working were males not females 3. they actually understood what I was talking about! they even gave me advice on PS resizing an such.
They were kind enough to give me their schedule for the next 2 weeks, introduced me to other employees, and let them know I had watermarked images and to go ahead and print them.

I'm excited to say I now have an established relationship with a lab, but in the near future I think the best thing to do is invest in a great printer and do it from home.


Thanks to all who gave me advice!!!!!!!
Love this forum:D

I have heard good things about Costco photos.

And i think it is good to try to strike up a relationship with whoever you deal with. Now that they know you, they are more likely to care about the way your images come out and assist you with your printing.

[JeffreyG]

With all these comments about using 'pro' labs I think there is a misunderstanding about Costco. They are not a bunch of hacks.

My local Costco knows me on sight and they have a box you can check that tells them to not color correct. If I forget to hit the box they still know it is me and they don't adjust my colors. They also won't print my images for other people without a release. Finally, they make great prints.

[SuzyView]

Thanks Jeffrey. I am 10 minutes from 2 Costcos and both are excellent labs. The techs sometimes don't know why things work the way they do, like one lady said she had to hand crop a lot of the files she gets because heads would be cut off and some customers blame them for it. I wanted to give her the whole 3x5 P&S ratio versus the 4x6 DSLR ratio and that P&S don't have sensors that allow the whole image to appear in a 4x6 shot, but she didn't need to know. She did the cropping for them, so that was nice. They always print until I am happy and they know my images are mine, not another pros and I never print out a CD ever! If I ever see an image of mine being used by anyone else, that would be strange, but I think I would be concerned, true, but flattered also. :) Costco will keep printing until you are happy, and for so little money, I never print on my Epson 1280 anymore.

[SandraD]

Hello all,

I posted this thread a while ago and since then haven't had anything but a positive experience with Costco printing my images. Just had to talk to the right people...thanks to all for the great advice.

[dudeimjohn]

i've been asked this before. I asked them to give me a piece of paper and i wrote the consent form and signed it. hahaha...

[Lonnie]

The last time I went to pickup my photos at Walgreen's, I was told that "since they were professional photos, I would need the photographer to fill out and sign a release."

She handed me a release, and I told her I took the photos. I asked her if she needed me to fill out the release, and she said that they did.

I thought it was pretty cool that a) they thought the photos looked "professional" and b) they are taking measures to try to protect professional photographers, or at least avoid copyright infringement.