Blocking Pinterest on your web site

Posted on February 20, 2012 by alexmaxim

If you don’t want to have your work used without permission on Pinterest, you can find out why, here (read the full story): http://greekgeek.hubpages.com/hub/Is-Pinterest-a-Haven-for-Copyright-Violations and here: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/is-pinterest-already-making-money-quietly/, use this meta tag in the header of all your web pages that you want to protect:
<meta name=”pinterest” content=”nopin” />

(WordPress: go to Appearance->Edit->Header(header.php) and place <meta name=”pinterest” content=”nopin” /> in the next line, right after the <head> tag)

P.S.

Of course this is as ridiculous as ‘No free driving’ barrier around your car, nobody is supposed to use your photographs or touch your property without permission on the first place, but at least it will help you in the meantime, until on-line copyright protection evolves.

I can’t wait until the time when each photograph is automatically linked to it’s owner’s web site, protected from editing, and displays embedded copyright holder’s name and contact information upon mouse over, whenever it’s displayed on the Internet.

Any unauthorized use of photographs or other content of this blog in prohibited. © Alex Maxim

Newspaper Copyright Infringement

Posted on February 12, 2012 by alexmaxim

The Daily Telegraph infringes copyright. Read here.

It seems to be a new trend for some editorial publishers to treat photography as a commodity and photographers as nothing but a middle man between the camera and the end user…

I really look forward to seeing our courts evolve on copyright infringement matters making it much faster and easier to protect creator’s works and settle infringement cases. There is a huge room for improvement.

I am also looking froward to seeing US copyright registration office switching to a subscription based service, which would allow registering new unpublished works on a daily basis, without paying extra and just having one reasonable annual subscription fee.

Any unauthorized use of photographs or other content of this blog in prohibited. © Alex Maxim

Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario

Posted on February 7, 2012 by alexmaxim

Autumn nature at Killarney Provincial park, Ontario, Canada. Landscape photography.

Featured photographs:

Killarney Provincial Park autumn scenery lake George 1
Killarney Provincial Park autumn scenery lake George 2
Killarney Provincial Park autumn scenery lake George 3
Killarney Provincial Park Family on a canoe
Ontario nature and landscape photography archive

Any unauthorized use of photographs or other content of this blog in prohibited. © Alex Maxim

Lady Samurai photo shoot

Posted on February 7, 2012 by alexmaxim

Lady samurai with a katana sword. Modern and vintage looks. Seductive and deadly.

Makeup: Beatrice Jean
Hair: Dat Salon
Model: Josie Lee

Find them at fine art photo archive

Any unauthorized use of photographs or other content of this blog in prohibited. © Alex Maxim

90s Grunge Fashion Photo Shoot

Posted on February 5, 2012 by alexmaxim

1990s – the beginning of the rejection of fashion. The popularity of grunge and alternative rock music also helped bring the simple, unkempt grunge look mainstream. (wikipedia)

Makeup/Hair: Diana Mejia
Styling: Tasia Cole
Model: Hayley Campbell

These and other photographs at fashion photo archive

Any unauthorized use of photographs or other content of this blog in prohibited. © Alex Maxim

Natural beauty photo shoot

Posted on January 28, 2012 by alexmaxim

The concept of this shoot was to show natural beauty and sensuality of our model Charmaine without indulging into any heavy makeup or retouching techniques.

Makeup/Hair: Delia Lupan
Model: Charmaine San Pedro

See more at Beauty photo archive

Any unauthorized use of photographs or other content of this blog in prohibited. © Alex Maxim

You are publishing a book and deciding on a cover photo

Posted on January 19, 2012 by alexmaxim

You have devoted a part of your life to writing a book and now it is the time to publish it. No matter if you choose to go with an established publisher or decide to self-publish it, you need to decide on the book cover, and that’s not an easy decision to make.

A cover is what your potential first-time readers see first and make up their mind whether they want to go ahead and take a closer look. The decision is made subconsciously and is based on your reader’s taste and past experiences. A good cover can sell your book, while a bad one can greatly limit your readership.

For most people, whether they are your first-time or devoted readers, the image on a book cover will trigger imagination even before they start reading the story, and will affect the way the book is perceived.

A great book can last forever, but you need to give it a proper take off by choosing the best and relevant cover photo that entices a reader and doesn’t have any flaws, whether artistic or technical.

I am not a writer myself, but I am a photographer. And I believe, there is much we have in common.

You can find a selection of my photographs that I put aside as a separate gallery to illustrate sample book and e-book cover photos here. Or you can look through my entire photo archive here.

Have an inspirational year! And make sure your covers are as amazing as your stories!

Truly yours,
Alex Maxim

Awkward stock photos

Posted on January 11, 2012 by alexmaxim

Contributors to Awkwardstockphotos keep finding amusing and surprising jewels on stock photo sites. Have a look yourself: http://awkwardstockphotos.com/

It’s not even the photos themselves that are hilarious, it’s the fact that they are marketed through major stock agencies and are supposed to meet needs of commercial and editorial clients.

First fashion photo shoot with a Hasselblad

Posted on January 11, 2012 by alexmaxim

After hitting the limits of my faithful Nikon D2Xs, in 2009 I finally decided to switch to medium format. After a bit of testing, the choice became clear. It has to be Hasselblad H3D-II 39.

Here is a photo from my first fashion shoot with the camera. It’s also the first photo shoot with Daisy. We worked together many time after that, and had many amazing and fun shoots. But this one photo will always be one of my most favourite ones. All the elements came out just right. The light, the mood, the model, the settings, the wind, the composition. It has some fashion and fine art elements. I sketched it prior to the shoot, but the result has beaten all my expectations.

Thanks to the camera, the photos didn’t lose any details in shadows or highlights and came out very soft and natural. I had to boost the contrast a bit, to give the photo the mood I wanted it to have.

No noise, amazingly sharp details, skin tones and tonal gradations. I don’t want to go into all the geeky stuff, but I must say that my clients who are going to use this or any other photos, I shoot with H3D, as a spread in a magazine, as a poster, a large fine art print or on a billboard, are not going to see any quality degradation even close-up. These files have enormous potential for editing, cropping and rescaling.

Since getting my Hasselblad, I haven’t shot with anything else, whether it’s a studio or a location shoot, hot or wet weather. I pay a lot of attention to detail and quality, and IMO, there is no other camera that gives better results. I had some photos printed at over 60″ on the longest side and I am more than 100% satisfied with them.

I am sure, photographers who shoot with this camera, retouchers and graphic designers, who worked with its files, know what I mean

Good buy Ukraine, Hello Canada!

Posted on January 8, 2012 by alexmaxim

After two and a half years of waiting and worrying, my wife and I have received our immigration visas. It was night of December 2007, when after a 12-hour non-stop flight, we finally arrived to Toronto. What a beautiful night that was. A dream come true.

The next morning brought us a snow storm. I’ve never seen so much snow in my life. Warm welcome from Toronto I wish we had as much every winter.

It was love from the first sight. The country, the nature, the people. I haven’t had a single disappointment since and never looked back. Yes, it wasn’t easy to start everything from scratch. Feeling like a first grade student, learning new language and culture, meeting new friends and exploring new places, I found this process very enjoyable.

Featured photographs:
Ukrainian athletes wearing traditional clothes
Independence square “Maidan Nezalezhnosti” in Kiev, Ukraine
Saint Michael’s Cathedral “Michaylovsky sobor” in Kiev, Ukraine
Car covered with snow, winter 2007 in Toronto, Canada
House at High Park Ave in winter. Toronto, Canada
Covered with snow slide at a playground. High Park, Toronto, Canada
Niagara Falls during sunrise. Ontario, Canada
Areal view of the City of Toronto, Canada
Royal Ontario Museum “ROM” Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. Toronto, Canada
Ukraine, Kiev travel stock photos
Canada, Ontario travel stock photos