crediting the gardener (was photo releases )

**"Rich Pomerantz" r*@richpomerantz.com**

Stephen - I don't know what "hacked off" means, but I assume it means you
were upset. As a photographer I always tell magazine & book publishers when
the grower wants credit for the plant/container/garden/specimen, etc. For
some of the gardeners, it is a matter of their livelihood. However it is a
rare editor or publisher who honors this request.  The problem is not the
photographer, it's that so many publishers have so little respect for
writers and photographers as it is, they really have no regard for the
original gardener. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have asked for a
gardener's name to appear & it was disregarded by the editor or publisher.
There are so many details that go into putting out a book or magazine, it is
easy for that one detail to be missed or just ignored. And after all, you
DID give the photographer permission. Did you even ask for credit if
published? You don't tell us.

So please don't blame the phtoographer for this oversight.

For Gene - you had the experience of a photographer who used the images of
your garden without credit in garden show presentations and in published
work. Complaining about it here may feel good, but seems a bit inappropriate
to me. It seems to me you could have said something at the garden club (or
wherever it was) to set the record straight. I bet if you had done that the
photographer would have been happy to "share" credit with you.  Of course
the magazine not giving you credit was more likely the magazine's fault. As
for both cases, let's think this through a little - Photographer shoots your
garden for the newspaper.  Magazine editor sees the images, calls
photographer & asks to use the images. Since, as we all know, freelance
newspaper photographers make barely enough to avoid qualifying for welfare
in Burundi, the photographer, who also happens to own the copyright to the
images, (per the US Constitution) and therefore the right to relicense his
creative works, is happy to license use of the images to the magazine. He
probably got paid about as much for the cover use as the cost of a good
shovel. So far, nothing unethical or bad about his behavior that I can see.

Then some garden clubs see the obviously good images (or they wouldn't be
attracting so much attention) & ask the phtoographer to make a presentation.
So he does so. He shows the image from your garden to illustrate whatever
point he is making. He has not disparaged you or your garden. He had your
permission to create the photographs. He exercised his constitutional right
to make money off of his creative efforts. I am afraid I am missing the part
where he did something wrong.....

An aside here - when I do flower show and garden club presentations, the
best gardens presented always raise a question from the audience - "Where is
THAT?" I always tell them, unless the gardener has asked for anonymity.
Usually I tell audiences where many of my images were made, although not for
every image. If the plant/garden/etc is really wonderful, people will ask.
Of course I tell them. I always try to give credit to the gardener.

Thanks for letting me rant. No insult intended, but I just think we all need
to look at it from all the points of view before we get our undies all tied
in knots.

Rich Pomerantz
rich@richpomerantz.com
www.richpomerantz.com

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