Friday, March 23, 2012

Professionalism

Okay, I'm a little fired up, and my blog tends to get the bitter end of the stick when it comes to my venting.  But hey - if it keeps me sane, it's a good outlet in my opinion.

This has been the strangest week.  I have been racking my brain on ways to expand the horse business to a point that I can someday do it full-time and not have to work full time on top of running the business.  One of the ideas I came up with is to try my hand at some actual paying equine photography.  It's a total gamble, especially considering I have no real training or experience to speak of, but I figure it would be worth a shot.  I have a fairly decent eye for capturing pictures, and the thing that really helps me is the knowledge of horses.  That is half the battle in shooting equine events - knowing how horses move and when to snap the shutter accordingly.  So I make that decision, put a little album together on the farm page, and decide I might start working to advertise it at some point in the near future if I get any interest.

Lo and behold, I have found two websites this month with my show photography that was used without my permission.  One of these sites is an actual income-generating site.  And it was obviously done deceptively, because the photo was cropped dramatically to try to hide the fact that it was used without my permission. 

The lack of professionalism in this industry can be astounding.  There is something wrong when you can't simply ASK the photographer for permission, and then do something as simple as give them photo credits.  Kelsey listed her mare for sale this week and used one of my shots to advertise her, and even though I had GIVEN her all my digital files of the mare, she STILL gave me photo credits of her own accord.  I would have never even asked for that from her.  But to steal a photo knowingly, crop it, and post it - that is copyright infringement.  It is illegal. 

Now, even though this is obviously and glaringly unprofessional, I will more than likely let sleeping dogs lie and let it be.  The horse world is too small to start something that could end up far bigger and more dramatic than I would like it to.  It really isn't THAT big of a deal...but it is extremely irritating.  So take note, photo stealers....what you are doing is ILLEGAL.  If you didn't snap the shutter, it is not your photo.  The moment my finger recorded that image, it was legally copyrighted by me.  That's how it works in the world of photography.  So I would highly suggest you slap my name on that photo to at least cover half your tracks....

Well, I suppose that is all on that topic for now.  I feel better already.

As far as the farm goes, things are chugging along beautifully!  Jonah leaves today for a three week trial with his new Momma.  The vet check went well and nothing came up that we didn't already know.  They are going to put shoes on him and spend another three weeks getting him fit, then recheck and make a final decision. 

My husband, bless his heart, was a tremendous help around the farm this week.  He got our two new gates hung, and even took the time to adjust an existing one that was dragging.  He fixed the tire on the manure spreader, got the mower running again, and several other miscellaneous projects.  The manure pile is being taken away today, so we should have another paddock completed by tomorrow!

I had a great ride on April last night.  It started going badly, but we bounced back beautifully.  I HAVE to keep reminding myself that "forward is our friend."  It clicked in my brain the other weekend that she has got to be allowed to go forward, otherwise she shuts down like she did in front of a fence at my lesson.  I think that I am starting to piece together the fact that if she feels held or shut down in any way, that is when the issues start to crank up.  It can be the most minute thing that causes her to feel that way - as simple as not enough "give" in my elbows.  So I am focusing on relaxing my arms as much as possible to allow her to go forward into the contact, and trying to hold more with my seat and core to keep her from running through it.  Once I put all those pieces together, we ended on a great note, and I was very pleased with how quickly we worked through it.

This weekend will be project day on Saturday, and then we are doing a lesson on Sunday.  I am praying the weather holds out so everything will fall into place!

2 comments:

  1. April is a lucky horse to have such a thoughtful and insightful human partner. Well done, Becca!

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  2. Thank you Janet!!! I can't take all the credit though. I really have to pass a great deal of thanks to Ivy and Kelsey for helping me to continually "figure her out". She is NOT an easy horse - we are six months in, and I feel like we are only now starting to put the puzzle together in tiny pieces. Riding is such a journey!!!

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