I received a letter in the mail yesterday from picture.com. Apparently (I
don't remember) I entered a photo in an on-line photo contest. OK after
returning to the site, I remember. The letter came in an envelope with a
window, through which I could see a thumbnail of my photo, Takhlakh Venus.
So it got my attention.
http://pug.komkon.org/99oct/TakhlakhVenus.htm
The form letter is pleased to announce that the photo was selected as a
semi-finalist in the nature category of the International Open Amateur
Photography Contest, there is an excellent chance of winning "over 114 cash
or gift prizes - including the $1000 Grand Prize - you may even win the
$10,000 Annual Grand Prize!". You should have seen my 10-year old's face
light up when he said "You're going to win $10,000?". He's trying to save
$35.00 and figures it will take him about 5 more weeks. :-)
They wish to publish the photo in a book entitled "Frozen Highlights" which
is a classic coffee-table quality book, hardbound, with 750 "timeless images
in full color." The book is only $69.95 if I wish to purchase one at the
pre-publication price, $59.95 each if I purchase 2, plus $8.00 shipping
each.
I need to reply, giving them permission to publish the photo, and am under
no obligation to purchase the book.
Copyright remains mine.
Here's what bothers me about this:
1) If my photo was to be in the book, I naturally think I deserve a free
copy, don't you? I haven't been paid anything for the photo and there's no
guarantee that I will. After the two prizes listed above, the next level is
$35.00... $25.00 and so on.
2) The book is 8 x 11, and from the looks of it there is 6 images per page.
So the size of my picture that was "selected... because of its unique
perspective and artistic vision" will end up being 2 - 3 inches. Big whee!
3) How "professional" of an approach can this be? They are publishing my
picture in a coffee-table book and are using a low-quality .jpg file as the
image source? That bothers me more than anything else. You would think
they would at least ask for a dup of the slide.
The idea of winning a large cash prize intrigues me. The idea of having my
photo published in such a way, possibly alongside other photos of
questionable quality, turns me off big time, and, I think would degrade my
work, not elevate it.
Tom C.
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