Facebook announced that it has reverted to it’s old terms of service. Even the old terms give them too many rights over one’s photographs. I intend to use Facebook only for communication from now on, not to post images. And again, we all must play lawyer and read the terms carefully before uploading anything copyrighted.
Facebook has made an incredible and indefensible rights grab that should outrage any photographer. They assert they have the right to use your images, including your portrait, in any way they wish. Under Licensing in Terms of Use it reads (with my emphasis added in bold):
“You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.”
Furthermore, they retain these rights even if you terminate your account.
“The following sections will survive any termination of your use of the Facebook Service: Prohibited Conduct, User Content, Your Privacy Practices, Gift Credits, Ownership; Proprietary Rights, Licenses, Submissions, User Disputes; Complaints, Indemnity, General Disclaimers, Limitation on Liability, Termination and Changes to the Facebook Service, Arbitration, Governing Law; Venue and Jurisdiction and Other.”
These provisions were added on February 4, virtually in the dark of night. Zuckerberg asserts that Facebook would never use the provisions they just added and that the language means other than what it plainly states. This is, to put it charitably, disingenuous. Whether these provisions are enforceable or not is immaterial. They are an attempt to grab our intellectual property.
There is a firestorm of criticism over the new policy yesterday. The Consumerist website, a division of the Consumer Union, drew attention to the issue. The same day groups sprang up on Facebook itself calling for the withdrawal of the new terms.
We should complain vociferously and refuse to post any content beyond chatter until these provisions are rescinded. Furthermore, read the terms of service for every site you use. We are swimming with sharks.
I’m flying to Albuquerque, New Mexico today to attend the NANPA (North American Nature Photography Association) Summit and Trade Show, which runs February 18-22. I will open the show and deliver a keynote address focusing on the influence of the Himalaya on my life and photography. But first, I am heading out to shoot wildlife and landscapes for a couple days.
Allison McLean took Nevada Wier’s class last fall and sent us an account of the experience and what she learned.
Photographing on the Move, with Nevada Wier
The Art Wolfe Digital Photography Center, October 2008
by Allison McLean
INERTIA: PHOTO ENEMY #1
Thursday, October 2, 2008
I’ve just finished the first day of my first photography workshop. I’m tired and my brain is full, but I’m more excited about photography than ever, and can’t wait to see what the next three days have to hold.
The instructor, Nevada Wier, has been a travel photographer for decades, and has shot for magazines such as National Geographic, Smithsonian and Geo. She began by telling us a bit about her background – she’s self-taught in photography and learned early on to ask herself, “Why do I like that image?” She talked about how a successful photo needs any two of these four elements – Color, Light, Action, and Pattern/Composition (CLAP), then discussed several of her own shots in this context.
As I imagine is true of any pro, she has mastered all types of shots and their concomitant gear requirements, but her preference is to shoot handheld with a 20mm lens. She likes shooting this way for the “airy” look and the way a lot of context gets included, but also because “It’s hard”! As she spoke this morning, I was impressed by the various parameters she’s put on her shooting – they’re all there to keep her eye fresh and prevent her from giving in to inertia, or “Photo Enemy #1”. Here are the “personal disciplines” she mentioned:
• handheld whenever possible
• prefers 20mm lens
• crops only in camera
By shooting mostly handheld, she’s mobile and light, and because she uses a 20mm lens and crops in camera, she needs to move in very close to her subject – “so close I’m practically drooling on them.” She says, “Everything in the image matters”, and that’s why you can’t have extraneous junk in the shot but must MOVE to frame!
As we students were to discover, it’s one thing to hear about the difficulties in using these techniques and another thing entirely to actually try one’s hand at them! Our late afternoon assignment was to head to Pike Place Market and take wide-angle shots of people in their work environment. The first thing I realized was, Oh, yeah, I do have a wide-angle lens (a 24-85mm zoom) – I just never use it as a wide angle! After all, it’s much easier to get “close enough” and then just zoom, right? For shooting people, I normally keep my 70-200mm lens on and zoom away like the furtive little people-watcher I am. No such luck when you’re using the widest angle you’ve got: to make the composition look right, you’re going to have to introduce yourself to your subject and then get close and personal. Any discomfort I felt at the time is outweighed by the images I got, though, and the gift of suddenly having a fun new technique in my skill kit.
Quote of the day
“The point of this class is to utilize the whole frame.”
– Nevada Wier
While we do our best to provide high-quality educational programs at our Digital Photography Center and in the Field Seminars, we understand not everyone can attend. Betterphoto founder Jim Miotke has assembled a battery of online courses taught by exemplary photographers and digital artists such as Jim Zuckerman, Tony Sweet, William Neill, Canon Explorer of Light Lewis Kemper, and the newest Canon Explorer of Light, Jennifer Wu. They perform weekly individual student critiques of the coursework to keep you on track. Also, they run contests and other community features. If online learning appeals to you, Betterphoto is a good option.
This summer Betterphoto will hold a summit at our Digital Photography Center in Seattle July 11 followed by a shoot on the 12th. Contact Betterphoto at for more information on that event.
I was invited to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands recently. Barbara Cox, the owner of Photokunst, a photographic fine arts marketing firm, had arranged an event to support a new photography museum. While there I had the good fortune to meet Michael Adams and his wife Jeanne, the owners of the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite. As you might imagine, Michael is the son of the seminal photographer. Michael spoke about nature photography and about Ansel. I was delighted to hear that Michael thought Ansel would have embraced our new digital tools just as he did the tools of his darkroom.
They are a delightful couple, well-versed in the photography of the natural world and completely gracious. They invited me to place some of my prints in their gallery, and of course I was honored to accept. Ansel Adams’ career, melding artistic pursuits with environmental messages, has been one of my lasting inspirations.
For the first time in years, I will be in Seattle for several months in a row. I intend to use that time to finish projects started and abandoned over the years. I’m also going to offer a single Creative Session to be held in the classroom at my gallery in Seattle.
I’ve created a comprehensive curriculum to illustrate how I approach photography and to try to convey how others can use the lessons I’ve learned in their own work. In this Creative Session, we will spend three full days covering my curriculum. In addition, members from the Travels to the Edge crew will talk about our workflow on the road, and experts will show how editing programs can add the finishing touches to imagery.
This intensive session will run from May 1 through May 3, 2009. I will hold a reception at my home for all participants the evening before we begin. The course fee is $995, and we have limited the number of attendees to 50.
This will be the only Creative Session for 2009 in the United States. I look forward to seeing you there.
The best way to learn photography, or lease the quickest, is in the field one-on-one with an instructor. This May I will conduct four Travels to the Edge Field Seminars in Yosemite, Acadia, and Zion National Parks as well as the Big Sur Coast. Each group is limited to 10 participants.
I will work one-on-one with each individual as well as the group as a whole. Two members from the Travels to the Edge crew will accompany us to provide assistance and to provide technical instruction in workflow and other issues faced while shooting away from the comforts of civilization. However, we will not be roughing it. I have reserved space in the historic Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite and at comfortable inns at the other locations.
My goal is no less than to change the way you see.
For details, check out the Education page on our website. Take your own Travels to the Edge.
I love to teach. For 30 years I taught workshops and field seminars, written books on photographic technique, and tried to show how I work in the field with each episode of Travels to the Edge. Teaching is part of the mission of both this blog and the Art Wolfe website itself. I intend to introduce some new, special, and exclusive learning opportunities to be held in the field.
