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1
Working ProThe
Issue 219 • March 2014
THEEVENT
2014 NIKON AIPP
GOLD COAST
THEEVENT
2014 NIKON AIPP
GOLD COAST
THEEVENT
2014 NIKON AIPP
Gold Coast
THEEVENT
2014 NIKON AIPP
GOLD COAST
Sunday 8th – 10th June 2014Royal Pines Resort
Gold Coast Queensland
SAVE THE DATE
STAY TUNED FOR MORE DETAILS
I T ’ S H A P P E N I N G A G A I NTHIS YEARS EVENT THEME...
‘TURNING THE ORDINARY INTO THE EXTRAORDINARY’
THEEVENT
2014 NIKON AIPP
GOLD COAST
THEEVENT
2014 NIKON AIPP
GOLD COAST
THEEVENT
2014 NIKON AIPP
Gold Coast
THEEVENT
2014 NIKON AIPP
GOLD COAST
Sunday 8th – 10th June 2014Royal Pines Resort
Gold Coast Queensland
SAVE THE DATE
STAY TUNED FOR MORE DETAILS
I T ’ S H A P P E N I N G A G A I NTHIS YEARS EVENT THEME...
‘TURNING THE ORDINARY INTO THE EXTRAORDINARY’ Working ProThe
C o n t e n t s# 2 1 9 - M a r c h 2 0 1 4
4 President’s Message - The World Photographic CupMore news about Australia’s success at the inaugural World Photographic Cup; and contact with the Greek photographic community.
8 Good Value For $10Are people selling your prints without you knowing? Peter Eastway re-ports on what he hopes is an unusual story.
1 0 The $500 Club – Mel NeumannWould you like your portrait clients coming back and spending a mini-mum of $500 on a regular basis? Mel Neumann explains how.
1 2 What Are Your Social Media Objectives - David WatsonWe’re all using social media, but what should we be posting and which platforms are best for us. David Watson suggests the answers.
1 4 Is Lighting Our Best USP? - Ross EasonWhy do people hire us as photographers? If it’s because we can do some-thing they cannot, then professional lighting is a great reason.
1 6 Diversification, Not Boredom - Tom PuttIn a changing profession, Tom Putt works in a number of different areas to keep his interest levels high and his income buoyant.
1 8 Editor’s Selection - APPA WinnersA selection of entries that caught the editor’s eye from the 2013 Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photography Awards.
2 2 Award Entries: Rule Of ThirdsShould you place your subject in the middle or use the rule of thirds? Pe-ter Eastway looks at some basic compositional tools.
2 4 Why Do I Enter APPA? – Tony HewittRead why 2013 Canon AIPP Professional Photographer of the Year Tony Hewitt believes APPA is such an amazing experience.
2 6 Do I Charge GST On Overseas Jobs?There are lots of rules that cover GST, but in general, you may be able to bypass GST if your photography is heading overseas. Read more.
2 8 Does Copyright Stop Me Taking A Photo?If someone else has taken a similar photo, does this mean you can’t? It depends on how similar the photo is, as explained here.
3 0 Tamron SP150-600mmIt may not replace the super telephotos with their wide maximum aper-tures, but this new super zoom is small, light and incredibly affordable.
The Working Pro is the official newsletter of The Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP).
Editor Peter Eastway G.M Photog., Hon. FAIPP, Hon. FNZIPP, FAIPP
Disclaimer The information provided in The Working Pro and associat-
ed publications is made in good faith, but is general in nature. Neither
the editor, the publisher or the AIPP accept responsibility for or will be
under any liability for any recommendations, representations or infor-
mation provided herein. The Working Pro presents information, opin-
ions and suggestions for subscribers to evaluate in coming to their
own decisions in the light of their own individual circumstances. The
information should not be relied upon without readers first obtaining
independent advice from their own financial and legal advisers.
Unless otherwise noted, all articles are written by Peter Eastway.
Publication The newsletter is published 10 times a year – monthly
with November/ December and January/February being combined.
The Working Pro newsletter is published by Pt 78 Pty Ltd,
ABN 75 003 152 136, PO Box 351, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097, Australia.
Phone: (02) 9971 6857; Fax (02) 9971 6641.
E-mail [email protected]
AIPP Membership Contacts
Suite G.02, 171 Union Road,
Surrey Hills, Victoria 3127
Phone: 03 9888 4111
E-mail: [email protected]
Cover S i lv e r w i t h D i S t i n c t i o n A wA r D
Peter Rossi G.M.Photog.2013 CANON AIPP AUSTrALIAN
PrOFESSIONAL PHOTOGrAPHy AWArDS
WINNEr OF CrEATIVE CATEGOry
4
Australia In The Eyes Of The WorldK y l i e L y o n s M . P h o t o g I . H o n . L M , N a t i o n a l P r e s i d e n t
In early January, I attended the presentation of
the World Photographic Cup (WPC) in Phoenix,
Arizona, USA. This presentation was held in con-
junction with Imaging USA, the conference and
trade show of Professional Photographers of
America (PPA).
Similar Issues
PPA is a membership body for photographers in
the USA, concentrating on domestic photogra-
phers. Without going into fine detail, the gover-
nance structure of PPA is very similar to AIPP.
PPA is a not for profit organisation that ser-
vices 27,000 members in the USA and Canada.
There were 150 international delegates at the
conference from 32 nations. I met a number of
delegates, including the incoming President of
PPA, Susan Michal and Jillian Chateauneuf, the
President of PPoC (Professional Photographers
of Canada. Jillian and I hit it off immediately. We
spoke on many occasions. PPoC is smaller than
AIPP, but appears to have similar issues to us.
Jillian and I promised to keep in touch and
talk further in the future as we both agreed
there we things each association already does
that would mean the other wouldn’t have to re-
invent the wheel.
I was told by PPA and WPC organisers they
were pleased to see an Australian attend the
event, given the distance and short notice. The
presentation and conference coincided with a
family holiday, so I was able to make the detour
to Phoenix. Most of the other participating na-
tions in the WPC had a representative at the cer-
emony.
Second Place
Team Australia ended up taking second place in
the World Photographic Cup, just one point be-
hind the USA. Team Portugal came in third. Aus-
tralia took home two gold medals for the high-
est scoring print in the category, one for Kelly
Brown in the Portrait Category and the other for
Nick Ghionis in the wedding category.
We also had two other finalists who came
within the top 10 of their category: Elizabeth
Bull in the Landscape category and Quinn
rooney in the Documentary category. A full run
down including pictures and a video of the cer-
emony and lists of the winning images are pro-
vided online on the WPC website: www.world-
photographiccup.org.
I believe my presence gave Australia and
the AIPP a recognition of existence in the pho-
tographic world, reinforcing the great achieve-
ment of our team. Many delegates and judges
Photo by Kelly Brown. Gold Award, Portrait Category, World Photographic Cup.
6
told me that they were impressed by the quality
of our images entered in the WPC competition.
Greek Influence
Two weeks after returning home from the USA,
I travelled to Greece at the invitation of PWS
(Photo Wedding Stories) to attend their fourth
annual conference, judge at their annual awards
and be the guest of honour at the gala dinner
in Thessaloniki.
Greek law does not allow for the formation
of institutions or governing bodies like the AIPP,
so PWS is a private body owned by three pho-
tographers. PWS is in its fourth year and may
appear a little rough around the edges, but
given the circumstances in Greece, it is remark-
able and has a very upbeat vibe that focuses on
interaction between photographers. The confer-
ence program is similar to what we know. There
are sessions in English only, Greek only and then
many English programs were repeated with an
interpreter the following day.
The event attracted many delegates from
outside Greece. I met some great people from
around the world including those from Greece,
Turkey, Spain, romania, UK, Italy, Armenia, Cy-
prus and Crete.
The PWS awards are very much based on
the WPPI model. Images were all judged digi-
tally and entries were still being received at 8.30
p.m. the day before judging! The major differ-
ence between PWS/WPPI judging and APPA is
that the panel chair can vote as a sixth judge,
add comments or challenge a final score!
All images scoring 80+ were considered fi-
nalists and were rejudged against each other (as
prints made on an Epson printer onsite) to de-
termine first, second and third place.
Entries nearly doubled in 2014 with 48 al-
bums and 729 images. Given the apparent ‘state’
of the Greek economy, I was surprised with the
great numbers of entries. Still, with only one day
to judge, we didn’t finish until 1.30am.
As President of AIPP, I was made to feel very
welcome as the guest of honour. Delegates
were impressed that I could be present at the
conference. I was invited to make an impromp-
tu speech at the awards dinner.
I believe there is currently strong interest
in the AIPP from around the world and we are
at the beginning of a huge opportunity to in-
crease the profile of the AIPP internationally. The
links have been made and the doors overseas
are now open. I believe there are positive ben-
efits to afford our AIPP members by engaging
with the international community and bringing
their ideas and inspirations to us here in Austra-
lia.
Kylie Lyons. M.Photog., Hon. LM
AIPP National President
Photo by Nick Ghionis. Gold Award, Wedding Category, World Photographic Cup.
8
Good Value For $10P e t e r E a s t w a y , G M . P h o t o g , H o n . F A I P P, F A I P P
There was a message on my telephone from a
lady. Let’s call her Doris. She said she was inter-
ested in buying one of my prints and could I get
in touch.
Interesting, I thought, as my website makes
it pretty easy to buy prints, but the age of the
caller indicated that maybe she didn’t have the
internet. I called.
“Thank you so much for calling”, she
said. “I’m interested in buying a copy of your
Grasstrees for a friend. you sold me the copy
I have for $10 when you were down giving a
seminar in Wollongong. Could I have another
one?”
My interest was piqued.
“Where was the presentation”, I asked?
“At the WEA talk a couple of months ago on
a Monday morning.”
How Much?
This had me flummoxed. I have never given a
talk to WEA, let alone one in Wollongong.
“And you purchased the print for $10”, I
asked, gently.
“yes, she said.”
“And my talk, what was it about?”
“Oh, you weren’t actually talking, you were
just there with the gentleman giving the
speech.”
“Do you remember what I looked like”, I
asked? But no, Doris couldn’t remember my
face, but she described my print precisely and
said it had my name and title on the bottom
left.
This was unusual: I title on the left, but sign
on the right. So, was the print a forgery? Was it
a print someone picked up while I was doing a
workshop (a sample file perhaps) which made
its way through the network and was sold for,
gasp, $10.
Not Today
I explained gently to Doris that my print prices
were a lot more than $10, that I couldn’t even
print and post it to her for that amount, and
that I hoped she enjoyed the print she had.
I’m still not sure if it is Doris’s memory, or if it
was a prank call, but I guess it showed me how
easily someone can take our photographs and
print them out. If it was a stolen image, it won’t
print at high quality, but for $10, how much
quality do you want?
And at $10, the person who was selling the
prints wasn’t making any money either!
So, if anyone knows how the print came to
be in circulation, I’d love to know. And if you are
‘the someone’ doing it regularly, then do me a
favour and please put up your price!
9
Grass Trees, Bridgetown, Western Australia. Photo by Peter Eastway.
10
The $500 ClubM e l N e u m a n n ’ s A p p r o a c h T o R e p e a t P o r t r a i t u r e S a l e s
How do you keep portrait clients coming back,
year after year? How do you counteract the rep-
utation that portrait photographers are there to
rip you off? How do you provide a discount ser-
vice without affecting your key work?
There is a right way and a wrong way, ex-
plained Mel Neumann.
“A lot of portrait photographers offer mini-
sessions when their cash flow is quiet, just to
keep the work coming in. They do quick por-
traits at a discount rate, but the problem is that
many photographers do these so regularly that
their clients simply wait for the next special of-
fer.” They don’t hire the photographer at his or
her regular rates.
“Some new photographers don’t yet un-
derstand the importance of branding and pric-
ing. When I started, I also did a few shoots at
discounted prices. It got me some clients, but
when I thought about it, I realised that all these
new clients were seeing my advertising at
the discounted price.” This was the value they
thought Melissa’s photography was worth.
“I wanted to price my work a lot higher, but
clients would simply wait around until I offered
my discount special and book me then.
“I had to work out how to take the discount
away from my work, but still offer something
to keep my existing clients coming back and to
help my cash flow.
“I think photographers who are only do-
ing mini shoots have the same problem. They
may just as well call their mini shoots full ‘photo
shoots’ if that’s how they’re earning most of
their money. There’s nothing wrong with charg-
ing only $500 for a family portrait session, es-
pecially if you can do them all in a short period
of time, but it means you’ll have to do 8 to 12
shoots a week, instead of 2 to 3 shoots a week
at an average of $2000.”
Melissa is more interested in doing two or
three shoots a week than lots of cheaper jobs,
so her ‘mini shoot’ program works a little differ-
ently, but the outcome is that it builds loyalty
and more clients.
She calls it the 500 Club. If you book a 500
Club portraiture session, Mel will do a mini
shoot for the family which lasts 30 minutes and
costs a flat $500.
To read how Mel set up her 500 Club, log into
the Memberss section of the AIPP website.
Mel Neumann AAIPP advertises herself as a domes-
tic photographer, but she also shoots commercially.
She is an AIPP National Vice President with over 20
years’ experience. www.melneumann.com
11
Mel Neumann’s $500 Club and How To Set It Up!
Read More AIPP Member Only ContentTo read AIPP member and specific business related advice, visit the AIPP
website and sign in. Once you’re signed in, follow the menu Member Services, My Publications, The Working Pro - Extended Material.
Silver Award, 2013 Canon APPA. Photograph by Mel Neumann.
12
What Are your Social Media Objectives?D a v i d W a t s o n S u g g e s t W e N e e d C l e a r I d e a s
Everyone knows you have to be involved with
social media, but exactly how and what should
you expect from this involvement?
David Watson says it’s important for photog-
raphers and video producers to settle on an ob-
jective and from there it becomes much easier
to develop a social media strategy and measure
its success.
In Australia, there are around 12 million peo-
ple on Facebook, 3 million on LinkedIn and 2
million on Twitter. Many readers are on all three.
So when you set up an account on social
media, what do you want to achieve? David
suggests there are five areas to consider:
• Likes • Engagement • Sales
• Education • Entertainment
Explained David, when a consumer turns on
the computer or smartphone, they are primar-
ily looking for entertainment. For them, social
media is a social place, so we need to interact
with them. “Understanding that our prospective
clients are there to be entertained will help us
craft what we do.””
So, which platforms are the best? David says
this depends on who your clients are. Photog-
raphers and video producers wishing to shoot
weddings and family portraiture (B2C or Busi-
ness To Consumer) should start with Facebook,
and then run through youTube, Pinterest, Insta-
gram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.
“Put Facebook at the top of the list and then
pick and choose the other platforms that inter-
est you”, David added.
Commercial and corporate photographers
wanting to deal with other businesses (B2B or
Business To Business) should begin with Linke-
dIn, and then choose from youTube, Google+,
Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
“Images are king”, David explained, “and are
probably the most powerful way for us to com-
municate. However, videos are also fantastic,
so if you’re not yet doing anything with video,
think about this space in the future.”
So, if you embrace social media, can photog-
raphers and video producers survive without
a blog? “Of course you can survive, but it’s not
recommended. On Facebook, your posts are
gone within a few hours, whereas a blog has
much more longevity.””
David Watson is a 20+ year sales and marketing
veteran who has worked across different industries
with a range of businesses. Prior to launching his
consultancy business Strategy Point in 2012, David
worked with Momento and was a member of the
AIPP National Board. www.strategypoint.com.au
13
WEDDINGPHOTOGRAPHY
THE AIPP IS A MEMBERSHIP ORGANISATION THAT EXISTS FOR THE BENEFIT OF ITS MEMBERS
If you have a “Special Interest” or a keen area you want to see more and better AIPP involvement, the SIG’s are your opportunity to get involved and help us make this happen.
Simply contact us on [email protected] to suggest a new SIG or get involved in one of our existing SIG's
SIGSPECIAL INTEREST GROUP
AIPP MENTORING
A C C R E D I T A T I O N
FOR VIDEO P R O D U C E R S
MOTHER & BABY PHOTOGRAPHY
AIPP USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS
BIRTHPHOTOGRAPHY
PORTRAITPHOTOGRAPHY
AIPP WORKSHOP P R E S E N T E R S & SPEAKERS
AIPP MEMBERSHIP
BENEFITSWORKING WITH
the ATO (AUSTRALIAN TAX OFFICE)
14
Above: What Ross produces for his clients. Below: What many photographers consider good enough. But is it good enough to get another job?
15
Is Lighting Our Best USP?R o s s E a s o n R e v e a l s H i s S e c r e t W e a p o n
With so many people able to operate a cam-
era, the mystery that photography once held is
gone.
In fact, many of the jobs we used to do, our
clients are now happily doing themselves! The
challenge is to point out the difference: why do
our photos look better than theirs, and how can
we show our clients this?
“When I receive an inquiry by email or tele-
phone, I try to get myself in front of someone as
quickly as possible. Not only is it harder for them
to say no when they meet you face to face, it
also lets me show them examples of my work
and explain my USP.
“I take an interest in their product, rather
than just turning up and giving them a price.
And if I know who they are trying to reach with
the photography, I can also present them with
a PDF document of sample photos relevant to
their project. It’s also important to know who
the final decision maker is and, if it’s not the per-
son I’m dealing with, I’ll see if I can include them
in the process.
“Today you have to bring value to the prop-
osition, such as finding a way to save them
money. The reason I still have my biggest client
after 15 years is that I continue to bring value
to the relationship, not by saving them money
(as much as they want that), but by suggesting
ways to do it better, faster or more creatively.
Value should not be confused with discounting.
It can come from input, professional conduct
and good advice.”
ross emphasises that lots of photographers
can ‘save you money’, so you need something
else.
“I know a lot of clients take their own photos
and employ people who are keen on photogra-
phy. Most art directors are pretty good photog-
raphers and Nikon and Canon have automated
their end. So has Adobe for the editing, so I
have to ensure that I offer something they can’t
do.
“My USP which I take to just about every job
is lighting”, explained ross.
“The majority of my work uses lighting and
it creates a big difference between what I’m of-
fering and what my clients can produce on their
own. Even when a job doesn’t require lighting,
I will turn up with it just in case, reinforcing the
difference a professional can make.”
Ross Eason M.Photog., HLM is a commercial pho-
tographer in South East Queensland. He is an AIPP
National Vice President and has been in business for
over 30 years. www.easoncreative.com.au
P H O T O B Y B A M B I W I X O N
16
Examples of Tom Putt’s landscape photography, a far cry from the dog portraits shot in his studio.
17
Diversification, Not Boredom!T o m P u t t t a l k s a b o u t k e e p i n g h i s w o r k i n t e r e s t i n g !
“Our greatest competition is the iPhone”, said
Tom Putt who runs Ella+Friends Photography, a
dog portrait studio in Melbourne. “People come
to see us and say they already have thousands
of great pictures of their dogs, so we have to
compete against them by offering something
they can’t produce with their iPhone.”
Although 90 percent of Tom’s business is
through the dog portrait studio, he keeps life
interesting with other interests. “I get bored very
easily. Once I can do something, I’m over it. My
challenge over the past 10 years running this
studio has been to keep my role fresh so I don’t
get bored.” And certainly changing from a gen-
eral family portrait studio to a dog portrait stu-
dio would have helped keep life interesting!
“I don’t take photographs in the studio
anymore, whereas in the past, I really loved it
because I was learning how to photograph
people, then dogs. It was different to the sport
photography I used to do.
“I’ve also been really interested in publishing.
As a kid, I would sit up in bed an hour before
lights out, with a pile of books and pore over
them. I especially liked the books about land-
scapes and national parks.
“I loved the idea of a printed image and
that’s why I publish books.” Part of Tom’s dog
photography business is based on the concept
of producing a book with his clients’ images,
and he has also published a number of books of
his landscape work.
“I’ve been shooting landscapes for years, but
the books came about almost by accident. Af-
ter visiting locations several times, like Cradle
Mountain in Tasmania where I do workshops, I
realised I had enough images to form a body of
work.
“I love having a purpose, no matter what I
am doing. Today, I am pretty much shooting all
my landscapes with the goal of a book in mind.”
The workshops that Tom runs came about in
2005 when he noticed a proliferation of courses
in the American photography magazines. “How-
ever, there was hardly anyone doing workshops
in Australia. I enjoy teaching people and im-
parting my knowledge, and I also enjoy visiting
places, so I decided to see if anyone would be
interested in paying to come along to one of
my workshops.” And it has grown from there.
Tom Putt M. Photog. is a portrait and landscape
photographer in Melbourne. He also has interests
in landscape photography, publishing and leading
photography workshops. www.ellaandfriends.com.
au; www.inspiredlandscapes.com.
18
There are so many great images at Canon APPA and the Epson State Awards that not every Award gets the attention it deserves. To redress this in a very small way, the editor will present a small selection each issue for your enjoyment.
E D I T O r ’ S S E L E C T I O N
• •
19
E D I T O r ’ S S E L E C T I O N
• •
20
• •
E D I T O r ’ S S E L E C T I O N
22
23
your APPA Entry: rule of Thirds?I s i t b e t t e r t h a n b a n g i n t h e m i d d l e ?
The question is whether the central position in
the frame is the best position for your subject.
Nothing Wrong With The Middle
There is a lot of talk about the rule of Thirds, the
Golden ratio and other devices we can use to
help compose our photographs. None of them
work all the time, but all of them are useful in
our deliberations.
The most simple tool, the rule of Thirds, sim-
ply divides the photograph into nine equal sec-
tions with four lines. Where the four lines inter-
sect are considered powerful positions within
the frame, and many photographers and judges
will suggest that the subject is placed on one of
these points to make a stronger composition.
Sometimes they are right, but not always.
There is nothing wrong with positioning your
subject centrally, but if it looks like it is in the
middle simply because you weren’t thinking,
points will be deducted.
Which Corner
So, if you are moving your subject to one of the
four intersections, which one? This will depend
on many issues, such as the subject, the sub-
ject’s movement, the subject’s direction, other
leading lines in the composition, tonal balance
and so on.
Please note, there is no right or wrong here,
but you may find the majority of people prefer
one composition over another. Hopefully the
judging panel agrees with your choice.
In the photos opposite, most of us can agree
that placing the subject in the centre of the
photograph is static. As photographers, we’re
really just recording what we have seen.
In the four examples below, the subject has
been moved to one of the four intersecting
lines.
The top two emphasise the foreground be-
cause the subject is high in the frame; the bot-
tom two emphasise the background because
the subject is lower in the frame. you may de-
cide that the background is more interesting
than the foreground, so then it is a matter of
choosing which of the bottom positions is best.
In our society, we read from left to right, so
many people would prefer the subject on the
left, especially since it is ‘facing’ right.
If you position it on the right, the space on
the left of the subject seems wasted. Also, the
background on the left isn’t as interesting as the
background on the right.
So, for a host of reasons, a decision is made.
Generally one decision will just look better bal-
anced than another. Trust your judgment.
24
• •
25
Why Do I Enter APPA?S o m e t h o u g h t s f r o m P P Y W i n n e r , T o n y H e w i t t
When I first entered APPA and the WA state
awards, it was mainly so I could call myself an
award winning photographer. This was really
useful as a new professional wedding photog-
rapher because winning awards increased my
credibility.
Once you’ve won a few awards, the game
changes. First, it’s all about consistency and the
desire to maintain a high level of quality, every
year. So I’d always aim for four Silver Awards.
Then it becomes a matter of testing yourself in
other areas. I didn’t want to be known only as a
wedding photographer, so I began to enter Il-
lustrative, Landscape and Portrait categories as
well.
However, what is now obvious is the biggest
benefit of all: entering APPA and the Epson state
awards each year forces me to re-assess my
work critically. Many of the major improvements
I’ve made as a photographer have come from
pushing myself to make a better print, a print
that will impress the judges.
Winning a Gold Award means you have
achieved a pretty high level of excellence and
the fact that you have been judged by your
peers is also a nice feeling. However, in terms of
your market place, winning awards every year is
almost expected. That’s when a Category win is
really wonderful.
Over the years, I have admired the work of
many category winners and so winning the
Landscape category was very important. And
then the Professional Photographer of the year
was the icing on the cake.
Most of us would love to win PPy, but we
don’t really think we can because it’s such an
elusive goal. I also know through my involve-
ment with various awards around the world
that there are many fantastic photographers out
there who have never won the title for many
different reasons: they may not have entered,
they might not have had the right shots for the
judging panel, or there may have been another
brilliant portfolio that year.
Each year, there are probably 10 or 20 port-
folios that are capable of winning the PPy. I have
come very close myself on several occasions,
so when I won it last year, I kept the win in per-
spective. Don’t get me wrong, this is a personal
milestone and one that I am very proud of. It is a
wonderful recognition and one that I am hum-
bled to receive.
Tony Hewitt is a Grand Master of Photography,
an Honorary Fellow and a Fellow of the NZIPP. He
works from Perth, W.A. www.tonyhewitt.com.
26
Do I Charge GST On Overseas Jobs?G e n e r a l l y s p e a k i n g , e x p o r t e d s a l e s a r e e x - G S T
A lot of photographers find themselves working
overseas or sending products overseas and so
the question about GST arises: do you need to
charge your client GST?
Generally the answer is no, but it depends
on a number of issues and we’ll touch on the
most obvious ones here.
Are You Registered?
If your annual sales (turnover) as a photogra-
pher is over $75,000, then you must be regis-
tered for GST. If your turnover is less than this,
then you may choose not to be registered, and
so this issue won’t affect you. you’re not charg-
ing GST anyway.
Is The Work Exported?
If you’re shooting the job overseas for a client
who lives overseas, and the work stays overseas,
then no GST is payable, in Australia at least. you
may, of course, be subject to the foreign coun-
try’s own tax laws.
If you shoot the job in Australia, but the pho-
tographs are taken out of the country by your
clients, or you send them out of the country
to your clients, then chances are the job is not
subject to GST.
So, a wedding photographer who shoots a
couple in Melbourne and sends the final album
to Hong Kong will find the work is exempt from
GST (subject to time restrictions - see below).
Similarly, a commercial photographer shoot-
ing a building in Sydney for a client in Dubai
would not need to charge the client GST be-
cause the images are exported.
However, if the client in Dubai used the
photographs here in Australia, then GST would
be payable - the goods (photos) are not export-
ed. The fact that the client is overseas isn’t the
issue, it’s whether the goods or services are ex-
ported.
Time Limit
The ATO requires the photographs or services to
be exported within 60 days of you issuing an in-
voice, or within 60 days of the final payment for
your invoice, whichever is the earliest.
This normally isn’t a problem for a commer-
cial or portraiture job, but it could cause some
issues for wedding photographers because of
the length of time over which the wedding is
booked, shot and an album or DVD produced.
If you issue an invoice more than 60 days
out from the provision of the wedding album,
then you may be subject to GST.
It may be possible to split the invoices be-
tween the shoot and the album production, or
you can also contact the ATO and ask for it to
extend the 60-day period.
This is general information only. We do not know your specific financial or legal situation and we are not providing you with advice. As such, this article should not be relied upon as legal, financial or accounting advice. Please use this article as a conversation starter with your own adviser.
27
W h e r e a r e m y f r e e c o p i e s o f
B e t t e r P h o t o g r a p h y M a g a z i n e ?
T h e y a r e h e r e . . .
w w w . a i p p . c o m . a u
S i g n i n t o t h e m e m b e r ’ s s e c t i o n . . .
G o t o m e m b e r s e r v i c e s . . .
G o t o m y p u b l i c a t i o n s . . .
G o t o B e t t e r P h o t o g r a p h y . . .
D o w n l o a d a n d e n j o y !
W o u l d y o u l i k e t o r e c e i v e a p a p e r v e r s i o n o f B e t t e r P h o t o g r a p h y
m a g a z i n e , f o u r t i m e s a y e a r ? y o u c a n s t i l l s u b s c r i b e a n d r e c e i v e
a 2 0 % d i s c o u n t . F o r d e t a i l s , e m a i l
k i m @ b e t t e r p h o t o g r a p h y . c o m
I s s u e 7 5 . . .L e n s S e l e c t i o n - W h i c h O n e s ?
S t i t c h i n g P a n o r a m a sM a s t e r i n g L u m i n a n c e
M u l t i p l e E x p o s u r e s I n C a m e r aA n d l o t s m o r e . . .
28
You can copyright a photograph, but not an idea. Do the idea differently and you’re okay. Photo by Peter Eastway.
29
Does Copyright Stop Me Taking A Photo?W h a t H a p p e n s I f S o m e o n e E l s e H a s T a k e n I t B e f o r e ?
The idea behind copyright is to stop other peo-
ple from using your photograph without your
permission. One of the ways it does this is to
prevent them copying your photograph.
you can copy a photograph by using a scan-
ner, or even a camera and taking a picture of it.
Or you can copy a photograph by setting up
the same scene, background, lighting and sub-
ject matter. This isn’t an identical copy, but it’s
close enough for copyright law.
Copyright stops other people copying our
photographs, but what happens if we are tak-
ing a photograph that someone else has photo-
graphed before? Are we breaching copyright?
You Can’t Copyright An Idea
If the law worked this way, then wedding pho-
tographers would be in deep trouble because
they all photograph brides in front of churches!
However, a bride in front of a church is an
idea or a concept. What sort of church? What
type of bride? What type of lighting, weather,
clothing, surroundings etc, etc. There are many
things in addition to the bride and the church
which make these photos different.
So, every photograph of a bride in front of a
church is, generally speaking, unique and some-
body else’s photograph of a similar (but differ-
ent) bride and church will not stop us from tak-
ing our photograph.
Similarly, we can continue to take our photo-
graphs of the Opera House or families running
on beaches. However, when we take our idea
and photograph it exactly like someone else’s,
then we may indeed be breaching copyright.
A Direct Copy
Let’s return to the photograph of a bride in front
of a church. Let’s say the photograph is very
specific with a particular hair colour, make up,
veil, dress, shape of church, type of lighting... If
everything is copied, right down to the pose
and the expression of the bride, then your copy
could be breaching the other photographer’s
copyright. In other words, you have started with
their photograph and made your own. This is il-
legal.
It is also unlikely to happen to wedding pho-
tographers, but commercial and advertising
photographers are often shown the work of an-
other photographer and asked to copy it. This is
also illegal.
If the client insists on a direct copy, you
should walk away from the job. Fortunately,
you can usually explain the situation to the cli-
ent and then work on a different image that
achieves a similar outcome. An idea can’t be
subject to copyright, only the execution.
©
This is general information only. We do not know your specific financial or legal situation and we are not providing you with advice. As such, this article should not be relied upon as legal, financial or accounting advice. Please use this article as a conversation starter with your own adviser.
30
31
Tamron SP150-600mm I t ’ s n o t a b i g a p e r t u r e , b u t i t i s a l o n g l e n s !
This has to be a winner. Tamron’s SP 150-600mm
F/5-6.3 VC USD zoom is everything a wildlife
and sport photographer dreams about. Let’s
face it, whether you’re following a football play-
er around the paddock, or chasing a lion on the
African savannah, you never know exactly how
close you’re going to be when the action hap-
pens.
Traditionally, photographers would take a
300mm and a 600mm, and maybe a 1.4X or
2.0X teleconvertor, but this required changing
lenses or camera bodies. With Tamron’s 150-
600mm super zoom, you are ready for anything.
When designing supertelephotos, there is
always a compromise between weight and fea-
tures. If you want the f2.8 or f4 maximum aper-
ture (which in turn allows faster shutter speeds
to freeze the action), you pay for it with a large,
heavy lens.
Tamron’s solution is a relatively lightweight
lens and so it’s maximum aperture is f5.6-6.3.
However, its weight is under two kilograms,
whereas the supertelephotos can easily weigh
twice this. And the solution for faster shutter
speeds these days with DSLrs is to dial your ISO
setting up, so instead of shooting at ISO 200,
shoot at ISO 560 and you are effectively match-
ing the shutter speeds you would otherwise get
with the wider aperture lenses.
The Tamron 150-600mm has been released
for Canon mounts first, with Nikon and Sony
mounts to follow.
It will work happily on both full frame and
APS-C size sensors, but of course, the equivalent
focal length for the latter is 233-930mm! Now
that is a super telephoto!
The Canon and Nikon models include Tam-
ron’s VC (Vibration Compensation) technology,
but this is not required for Sony cameras which
have equivalent technology built into the cam-
era body.
The lens uses 20 elements in 13 groups,
including three LD (Low Dispersion) glass el-
ements for improved image quality. The ele-
ments also use a new eBAND coating technol-
ogy, designed to suppress ghosting and image
flare.
The lens features a USD (Ultrasonic Silent
Drive) motor which is claimed to be very quick
and quiet, and the nine blade circular dia-
phragm produces a beautiful out-of-focus effect
(bokeh). Add in a tripod mount collar and the
new Tamron supertelephoto zoom seems to be
lacking ... absolutely nothing!
For more information about the 150-600mm
lens, visit www.tamron.com.au.
An eBook by Peter Eastway
G.M. Photog., Hon. FAIPP, Hon FNZIPP, FAIPP
For more information and a read of the free sample, please visit:
www.betterphotography.com
I have judged
many photography
competitions and
there are lots of little
things that entrants
forget to do. If only I could let them
know before entering the competi-
tion, they would do so much better!
Well, as a judge I’m not allowed
to ring up and help entrants, but I can
write a book that distills what I have
learnt over the last twenty years that
will give you a great head start.
Of course, no one can give you an
iron-clad guarantee that you will read
my book and then win the next photo
competition you enter – and I explain
why in the book. However, what I can
guarantee you is that if you read my
book, you will improve the quality of
your photography.
You see, whether you’re aiming to
win a photography competition or just
take a better photograph, the advice is
very similar. And I know that the tech-
niques and approaches I’ve developed
over the years will help you capture
and produce better photographs.
My book is called How To Win Photo Competitions.
It begins with a little about me.
After all, it’s easy enough to write a
book about winning photography
competitions, but it’s better if you have
a little bit of experience. Fortunately
for me, I’ve been lucky enough to win
quite a few competitions, plus I have
a lot of experience as a judge. I can
talk to you about both sides of the
competition.
Add in the fact I’ve been a maga-
zine editor for 30 years and I hope I’m
able to communicate my message
pretty well. So, in just a couple of
pages (I don’t want to bore you), I
explain why I know what I’m talking
about (even though my Dad told me
not to boast).
We then look at competitions
and how they work, how you should
approach them, and how to use the
results to assess your own photog-
raphy. It’s important to set the scene
before we get into creating photos
that win competitions.
The next two sections are the
nitty gritty. We begin by talking about
taking a great photograph in the fi rst
place. Competition winners begin
with the camera and so we talk about
camera technique, colour, composi-
tion, framing and so on - little tricks
and hints that will make a world of
diff erence to your photographs.
From here we step into post-
production – using the computer
to improve the images our camera
has captured. Most readers will have
dabbled with Photoshop, Elements
or Lightroom and this is all you need
to enhance your images so they are
in the running for a competition win.
These days, no matter how good your
camera is, you simply must do a little
post-production to fi nesse your entry.
I fi nish the book with some use-
ful background information about
how competitions work (generally
speaking), and then I analyse some of
the images that have won awards for
me, pointing out the aspects that the
judges responded to in a positive way.
The book has lots of photographs
and illustrations to explain exactly
what I’m talking about.
And it is an eBook. It is easy to
read on a computer, laptop or iPad,
and you need Adobe Reader (Acrobat)
to view the book. There is no paper
version of this book, although you can
print out the Acrobat Reader fi le if you
wish.
I have created a sample eBook for
you to look at on the Better Photogra-
phy website, so please visit and have
a read. If you like what you see, I hope
you’ll purchase a copy.
And for your next photo competi-
tion - good luck!
– Peter Eastway
How To Win Photo Competitions
How To Win
NEW PRICE FOR 2013only $29.95www.betterphotography.com
WinPhotoCompAdvert-2013.indd 1 21/01/2013 9:24:27 PM
Presented by Les Walkling & Tony HewittThis is a full seven day all-inclusive unique experience designed for professional photographers and enthusiast/non-professional photographers. The James Cook University Orpheus Island Research Station is a world class research and teaching facility, and the tropical islands provide for amazing photographic opportunities. This is the tenth year Les has presented this workshop and he rates it as his best. This year his co-presenter is Tony Hewitt, 2013 Canon AIPP Professional Photographer of the year.
www.leswalkling.com
© Jeremy de Rooy
Orpheus Island Photography Workshop 201411th to 17th August
Register for this workshop now at:http://www.leswalkling.com/orpheus/
© Tony Hewitt
The workshop comprises lectures and presentations each morning, backed up with hands-on work after lunch and into the evening with state-of-the-art printing and colour managed workflows.
Fine art printing, print critiques, advanced image editing, camera craft, RAW processing, pictorial design, colour management, marketing/business planning, small group tutorials and one-on-one consultations are highlights of the workshop.
This year Les and Tony are supported by several experienced tutors to ensure that the knowledge you are acquiring is immediately translated into real-world imaging skills and new ways of seeing.
Our renowned chefs, Natalie and Melissa will create marvellous banquets for us and each evening we dine under the stars by the beach celebrating the days achievements.
Our sponsors also attend the workshop and supply ‘state-of-the-art’ cameras, printers, knowledge and materials for all our creative photographic needs.
“Orpheus will give you the time
and support to complete your masterpieces.”
Tony Hewitt
Enquiries Ph: 07 4725 4860 E: [email protected]
www.tonyhewitt.com