EPUK Editorial Photographers United Kingdom and Ireland. The private mailing list and public resource for editorial photographers

The Infringement Pathway - A step by step guide for issuing a copyright claim

Alamy: Finding the exit

Leaving Alamy needn't mean losing your metadata and sales records.

Staying Safe: Mobile Phone Security

As we increasingly take our mobile phones for granted David Hoffman suggests that photographers should be alert to the dangers of carrying a sophisticated monitoring device in their pocket, especially when working abroad.

Photography for a Cause

Taking photographs for charities is a delicate balance of fulfilling the brief, respecting your subject and never working for free. The work can also enrich your understanding of human nature, writes Helen Stone.

Ethics and photojournalism

Award-winning photographer Stuart Freedman argues that the crisis of identity in photojournalism today can only be answered with a greater understanding of subject matter and context.

Image manipulation – a five step scale of what is, and what is not acceptable.

To retouch or not to retouch is not so much a question as an ethical decision all photographers take when they sit in front of their images on a computer screen. Neil Turner, who was one of the first photographers in Britain to embrace digital photography, clarifies what should be considered with regard to image manipulation.

Visual plagiarism: when does inspiration become imitation ?

There may be no new ideas, but some ideas are less new than others. So where is the line drawn between genuine accidental similarity, homage, and wholesale copying ? Our case studies show the law is not as straightforward as we may think. (Updated, November 2007)

Ask ten photographers: What do you wish you'd known when you started out ?

Ask ten photographers a question and get ten different answers. We asked a selection of EPUK members what they’d wish they’d known when they entered the industry.

Colin McPherson's Masterclass

EPUK member Colin McPherson on how an accidental encounter on a deserted Scottish beach led to a twelve year project photographing a declining Scottish fishing tradition.

Photographers’ Websites – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

While creative directors are increasingly trawling websites rather than photographers’ books, there are a lot of photographers’ websites out there that are so poorly designed that they are worse than useless, writes marketing expert Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua

How I made £27k from two evenings tracking down copyright infringements

While current copyright law still favours the copyright thieves, two evenings spent researching where my photographs were being used amassed me £27,000 in unpaid reproduction fees, writes EPUK moderator David Hoffman

The photographer's guide to contract law

or, what to do when a client presents you with a written document AFTER the shoot which asks for copyright, all rights or more than you agreed….by EPUK member Martin Cameron

Getting public relations pics into print.

EPUK’s Neil Turner offer advice to photographers and PRs trying to get their publicity pictures used

Stuart Freedman's Masterclass

EPUK member Stuart Freedman’s award winning “Rwanda: Facing the Virus” project for Positive Lives, launches the EPUK Masterclass series.

Your portfolio says more about you than pictures ever can

Before you wear out your trainers punting your ‘book’ around town pay attention to some tips from someone who’s been on the other side of the light box, Neil Turner offers the following.

VAT for photographers

Registering for Value Added Tax can multiply your paperwork – but can save you money, writes EPUK’s Martin Figura

The Easy Way to Debt Recovery

Debt recovery has been made easier with ‘Do It Youself’ forms available from the Courts to pursue your debtors. But, the thought of going through the courts frightens you. You want your money but all the stress, hassle and cost is a worry. Will it be worth the hassle ?

The state of the industry

These are rapidly changing times, and our industry is changing daily. Our profession has always had an ambivalent attitude towards change, treating new technologies with suspicion, as new developments have nearly always meant job losses for some and the acquisition of new skills for others. This pattern seems likely to be repeated for many years to come.

Professionalism

The dictionary definition of a professional is that someone could be classified as such if they ”...Make all, or a substantial part of their income in the given activity…”. This doesn’t go to the heart of what makes a photographer a professional.

Media Manipulation

So what is news and what is spin? We, as photographers have to walk a fine line between honest reporting and simply reproducing the line fed to us by the political PRs

Being an Ethical Photographer

We see images of victims of war and starvation so regularly they become acceptable to us. We are so used to them that we stop asking why people are in this state and we certainly forget that someone’s gone there and made those images, in a certain way, for a certain reason. So why would anybody really want to photograph this horror?

Invoicing

Invoicing:There is no law about what an invoice should look like or about what it should contain (unless it’s a VAT invoice), but there are certain conventions that it is advisable to follow if you want to get paid.

Protecting your copyright

The ownership of the copyright to your photographs is one of the most important things about being a self employed photographer. By protecting your work and enforcing your rights, and all of it’s income potential, you will also help to protect the concept of copyright for all freelancers.

The basics of book-keeping

Book-keeping is a necessary evil that is never entered into by reasonable thinking human beings with any enthusiasm, writes EPUK member Martin Figura