Seasons Greetings

The CTL elves have been working overtime this week. A three + day architectural assignment at one of the west side resorts kept us going from dawn until well after dark for the past few days. Unfortunately, far too much of that time was spent waiting for weather to clear. Yes, it rains in Hawaii. Usually, it rains in Hawaii during winter. The past few years have, however, brought us mostly drought conditions and very little rain or other bad weather. This year is another story entirely, at least so far... La Nina conditions in the Pacific have brought back what I remember as typical winter tropics weather, rain, thunderstorms & lightning, light to nonexistent winds, big surf... less than ideal conditions for resort photography on a deadline. Wait... be patient... what else can you do? Patience ultimately paid off and most, if not all the work was completed as we watched newly arriving resort guests flocking to our shores for the holidays basking in the clouds & mist poolside, quietly grumbling under their breaths about the rain... Selah.


That wraps up the last gig before Christmas. Now there's massive amounts of editing to complete and several assignments waiting to begin next week before the year ends and several on the books already for afterwards. Ctl would like to extend a special thanks to first assistant Jeffrey & new, second assistant Jeff (yes, it gets confusing on the set) for their hard work and diligence in keeping me organized as we attempted on several evenings to capture 3-4 different interior/exterior views in the very limited dusk time when rooms were best lit and looking awesome.

Friend & Coffee bar gal, London, (seen here in her Lesbian Safari Guide uniform) kept us fed, caffeined and laughing

Jeffery applying his telepathic powers to change the weather

Jeff thinks he may take up cab driving given the current state of the photo industry

Santa came early this year and brought me the new iPhone4 and, as you can see, I am loving the Hipstamatic camera feature. Can't wait to play with the video feature. Thanks Santa!

So now we can set the editing aside for a couple of days. The mainland gifts are all on their way, cards are sent thanks to the tireless efforts of the Missus. There are a few more gifts that need to be grabbed & wrapped, a feast to be prepared for Saturday's banquet (prep begins tonight) a few year's end business odds & ends to be handled and I'll be ready for the big day. Celebrity rock star guests will be joining us again this year to share the food & holiday cheer. At our advanced ages, debauchery will, no doubt, be at a minimum.

A very Merry Christmas to all CTL readers & followers. May the best of this season of joy follow you into the coming year.

We'll be back at it next week...

Things I Love About Morning...

• The wet, liver-tongued puppy love that wakes me
• The scent of dew, wet grass, ginger & jasmine drifting through the windows
• The silent darkness
• The first whiffs of dark, fresh-brewed french roast
• The sound of birds waking in the trees
• The first cup of coffee
• The first rays of sunlight crawling over the dark ridge of Haleakala
• The glowing blue laptop screen that brings me new photography posted overnight in the blogosphere
• The clucking parade of roosters, hens & chicks that march across my lanai to empty the cat's food dish.
• The sounds of grazing cattle in the pasture next door
• The feel of hot water washing over me
• The ripe promise of another new beginning
• The LIGHT

Celebrations & Other Stuff...

A Permangku Prepares Holy Water During A Temple Odalon (Birthday), Pura Taman Sari, Bali, Indonesia

As we enter the final laps of Holiday preparations here in the USA and elsewhere, there is a great, joyous celebration of another sort entirely unfolding on the tiny Agama Hindu Island of Bali in the Indonesian Archipelago. Galungan is today (or was it yesterday with the time & dateline difference). Sometimes referred to as the Balinese New Year, Galungan is the time when the deified ancestral Gods are invited down from heaven to visit their living progeny and bestow their blessings upon the faithful. To further entice the Gods to linger in the earthy plane until the celebration of Kunigan ten days later, great feasts, mounds of colorful, elaborate offerings are made, elegant performances of music & dance are held, visits to family & village temples take place and nearly everyone takes a few days for to return to the villages of their birth to pray and celebrate with family & friends. The streets and family compounds are decorated with intricate bamboo poles with dangling bits made of woven palm, symbolizing the great Holy Mountain... or so I'm told. Galungan is Bali at it's most elegant best. Selamat Hari Raya Galungan to all my dear friends and adopted Balinese family. I hope to see you all very soon...

Closer to home, the sudden uptick in assignment work has been inspiring, uplifting but not without challenges. A three day resort shoot supposed to be wrapped up yesterday has been postponed due to construction incompletion at the site. My assistants & I arrived at the property at the designated time on Tuesday, began setting up to work on the first shot of the day, only to find it impossible to continue due to workers busily finishing up the punch list, cleaning up the construction mess, etc... The photography assignment was a rush deal needing to get in and get the place photographed before the scheduled soft opening supposed to happen last night. While at the site, we're informed that the opening has also been delayed until December 23rd, giving us almost a week to allow for the finishing touches before photography begins. Quickly regrouping and conferring with everyone's availability, the shoot has been rescheduled to take place beginning Sunday. Big thanks to First Assistant Jeffery & new, 2nd Assistant Jeff for your flexibility.

There's another advertising gig for an housing development scheduled to begin immediately after the resort assignment wraps up and a press kit and new promotional images for musician Willie K and his various musical projects scheduled for the first of the year.

In addition to all of that, I'm beginning to get a handle on the fine art sales thing during my weekly sittings at the Four Seasons Wailea Beach Resort & Spa... just in time for the onslaught of holiday guest arrivals. Work was sold again last week. Yesterday, the studio large-format printer was running on overtime getting new work ready for the framers and for shipping out to patrons.

Saturday, I'll be sharing a booth with Renee & Tony from Photographics Maui at the Art Faire being held at Whole Foods at the Maui Mall in Kahului. We'll be there from 10-4 so be sure to drop by & say Hi if you're in the neighborhood finishing up that Christmas shopping.

This morning's first email arrived from Island's Magazine PE, Lori Barbely, informing me that two images I shot the day after Thanksgiving have been green-lighted to run in a feature spread on BBQ'ing Hawaiian Style in the upcoming issue. Lori sure knows how to make someone's day right at the outset...

Also got word from my stock agency that two more sales were logged this week and royalty checks will be forthcoming soon...

Roundup From This Weeks Blogoshpere:

Over at the Reciprocity Failure Blog, today's entry was the simple, yet elegant statement:

"WikiLeaks exists because media has failed..."

Are you listening CNN?

As the latest crop of DSLR's are featuring the ability to shoot High-Def Video, still photographers are increasingly being asked by clients to provide moving images in addition to still photography. As if figuring out the estimated costs & license agreements for a standard still production aren't mind boggling enough, now we have an entirely new quagmire to negotiate. Fear not... our trusty Photo Editor, Rob Haggart, of the blog APE jumps in yesterday with a post that can shed some illumination on how to handle this new set of skills without giving up the farm. In the post Shooting Motion With Stills - How To Do It, What To Charge and What Rights To Give, Rob gets responses from five, count 'em, five established professional photographers now adding video production to their arsenal of tricks. Well worth a read....

And speaking of video production, photographer Vincent Laforet has been producing slick, well-produced video for some time now. His blog always features outstanding information and insights into the nuts & bolts of production, editing, camera configurations, essential gear and much more.

David Hobby, the brains & muscle behind the popular Strobist blog, gets his hands on the new, yet to be released Nikon SB-700 Speedlight. You can find his review here.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

The holiday season is upon us & the elves are busying themselves with no time to spare. And, as is typical of this time of year, this elf is also busy... preparing estimate quotes, sending confirmation contracts, scouting locations for coming projects, shooting assignments already confirmed... It's been a mad rush here at the studio this week. Santa has already delivered a sleigh load full of assignments. There's a chic resort dining venue project of architecture & interior design occupying several days next week, a luxury confectioner's ad shoot the following, marketing images for a new housing development, another potential resort collateral campaign and a newly remodeled hotel in Waikiki to shoot in the early days of January.


Thanks goes out to all of those of you that have contacted me with interest in the Holiday Print Sale. The sale runs thru Dec. 20.


Holiday lights, chilly evening and morning temperatures (58 degrees yesterday morning at sea level, even cooler at my lofty mountain perch. Brrrrrrr... ), the smell of pine wreaths at Costco, the arrival of a couple of late, outstanding checks in this morning's mail and a fat deposit for next week's gig have put me in the mood this year. I was certain it would escape me this holiday season until I woke this morning to another of Santa's early gifts... perfect North Shore surf conditions. Big, glassy, perfect, 18' waves were pounding the coast as I drove into town this morning. Stunning power & beauty and the usual suspects in the line-up shedding it Maui style.


The new pup, Chester, is coming along nicely. He's beginning to develop some manners, no longer relieves himself on my fine bamboo floors, knows all of his toys by name and will get them when asked, sits on command most of the time, has begun to learn "heel" on the leash and has developed a tongue bath technique that the cat finds most pleasurable. He's almost got the instinctive puppy biting under control and the scars on my hands are beginning to heal nicely. Most of the credit for this remarkable progress goes to the Mrs., who working at home, by default, has become the primary enforcer. A fine job she's doing too!


If all this holiday spirit & good cheer continue, I could very well sprain my bile gland or end up playing Christmas songs on my weekly radio program. Should that happen, the tunes will most likely come from my favorite seasonal recording, John Fahey's The New Possibility: John Fahey's Guitar Solo Christmas Album, Vol. II. 


Hohoho

Holiday Print Sale

Looking for that unique and special gift for the art lovers on your list? Decided to get Dad something besides a tie this year? Is there empty space on your wall just screaming to be filled? 


Here's your opportunity to put a smile on that someone special's face or fill that puka in your decor. Chase the Light is offering a limited number of signed, limited edition photographic prints now through December 20, 2010. See below for prints available, print medium, edition quantities & prices. You can contact me either here at the blog or through my website at www.tonynovak-clifford.com

Horizon Obscured #1 / 2010
Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Satin 310gsm.


Edition of 20 / 10"x10" -  $300.00
Edition of 20 / 16"x16" -  $750.00

We Walked Here Together / 2009
Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Satin 310 gsm.


Edition of 20 / 10'x10" - $300.00
Edition of 20 /16"x 16" - $750.00


























    

Blue Window, Lanai City / 2010
Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuhle Photo Satin Rag 310 gsm.


Edition of 20 / 10"x10" - $300.00
Edition of 20 / 16"x16" - $750.00

Jacaranda Tree, Upcountry Maui / 2006


Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuhle Photo Satin Rag 310 gsm.


Edition of 20 / 16"20" - $750.00

In the Key of Z / 2010


Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuhle Photo Satin Rag 310 gsm.


Edition of 20 / 16"x20" - $750.00

Pura Taman Sari, Bali, Indonesia / 2006


Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuhle Photo Satin Rag 310 gsm.


Edition of 20 / 16"x20" - $750

Empat Tersenyum (The Four Smiles), Bali, Indonesia / 2006


Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuhle Photo Satin Rag 310 gsm.


Edition of 20 / 16"x 21"  - $750.00

All orders received by December 20th are guaranteed for delivery before Christmas. Orders received for mainland delivery must be received no later than December 15, 2010.

Faces of Hawaii Vol. III Just Released

Faces Of Hawaii 2010 Portrait Submissions

Artist, Ceramic Sculptor & Educator Stephen Freedman left the glitz & glamour of the international arts scene a few years back to transform a plot of lava & scrub in Kurtistown on the Big Island into an exotic botanical Garden of Eden complete with home, working studio, classroom and gallery in miniature known statewide as IdSpace. And, as if all this wasn't enough to occupy most of his waking hours, Stephen has been busy breathing new life into the sleepy arts community in East Hawaii... that breath now reverberating within the arts circles statewide. 

Stephen is the impetus, along with other collaborators, behind the online art 'zine Hi Art Magazine, perhaps the most comprehensive glimpse into Hawaii art & artists published in the state. Each new issue brings focus on the best in writing, poetry, fine art, photography and a comprehensive list of Call to Entries for exhibits & art competitions both in Hawaii & beyond. 


HiArt Magazine & IdSpace have come together to host what is becoming an annual tradition; a statewide portrait challenge competition. Now in it's third year running, Faces of Hawaii, solicits the best in portrait photography from around the state, curated by a different notable from Hawaii's art world and cumulating in an exhibit at the IdSpace Gallery and the publishing of a lovely book available in both hardcover & paperback. This year's curating duties fell to Oahu based photographer, mixed media artist, author & educator Kapulani Landgraf, Instructor of Photography and Hawaiian Visual Art at Kapi'olani Community College.


The exhibit opened last weekend with a gala at IdSpace on Sunday evening. All three images I submitted to the competition were selected for inclusion in both the exhibit and the book Faces Of Hawaii Vol. III. Sadly, I was unable to attend... busy with Practice Aloha book signings and the premiere of the Maui focused & locally produced feature film Get A Job (you can find an excellent trailer for the film by clicking the link) in which yours truly has a couple of bit, walk-on parts and contributed photography to set props used in several of the film scenes. 


Today, Faces of Hawaii Vol. lll, the book was made available for purchase online. You can find it here.... a perfect Christmas gift for the artists, photographers and art enthusiasts on your shopping list (wink, wink, nude, nudge).


Mahalo to the folks at IdSpace, HiArt Magazine, Stephen & Kapulani for all that they do to keep the enthusiasm going for artists working outside the commercial gallery structure in this state. Your every effort is much appreciated by all.

"The Fabulous Haoles" from the new movie Get A Job

On Artists, Eccentrics & Madmen

 "Bukowski is the laureate of the Los Angeles underground, an eccentric who sees the world with a clarity of vision possessed only by artists and madmen." - LA Times

While driving to yesterday afternoon's gig, I had the opportunity to catch a friend's radio program where, among other topics, the writer/poet/lowlife/eccentric Charles Bukowski was briefly discussed. Paul, the announcer, read the quote above. It got me thinking. 


I have never been comfortable with the label "artist" when attempting to describe what it is that I do. "Observer", "Voyeur", "Illustrator" or any number of other descriptives that attempt to convey the act of visual story-telling within a single image frame seems far closer to the meat. 


Then I go to the dictionary for the definition of the word Artist:

1  a) obsolete : one skilled or versed in learned arts

    b) archaic : Physician

    c) archaic : Artisan

2  a) one who professes and practices an imaginative art

    b) a person skilled in one of the fine arts

3 : a skilled performer; especially : Artiste

          4) : one who is adept at something


Definition 2a seems to fit, at least for the work of Bukowski, and perhaps to photographers like myself. "... Imaginative art..." hovers close to world where we, or at least where I, live. Engaging the imaginations of other who might view the work we produce. Attempting (often poorly in my case) to clarify complex ideas with a single photograph, never certain of how close or how far we get to the bone of the idea, never satisfied with our attempts to convey our thoughts in pictures. These are the motivations behind the actions of picture making and the frustrations that accompany the final viewing of the results afterwards. I often tell friends & colleagues that I really like my work for the first five minutes of viewing the final image... and then I hate it. I see the flaws, the shortcomings, the little details that I missed in the process of of the capture, the limits of my ability & skill...


And it is exactly these failings that drive me on... to always be try and do things better, to pay closer attention, to see the extraordinary in the ordinary in ways that the eventual viewer's imagination might be engaged in ways that might never happen were they to stumble across a particular scene themselves.


These are, perhaps, the occupations of artists and of lunatics, to see the world in ways that others miss or are somehow incapable of seeing. For me... and for most of the other artists and lunatics I know... this is not a choice or conscious decision. We are wired this way, whether the wiring comes at birth or is modified along the way. All that I know for sure is that I am most comfortable in the presence of the artists & madmen. We often speak a common language, share common perceptions of the world around us. In my earlier life, I worked intensely in the field of mental health and would often tell my clients that madness was not necessarily a handicap. It's what you did with that madness that made the difference between getting through each day or being always overwhelmed by it.


So, before waxing philosophically any further on the subject of art, artists and insanity, let us take a moment to praise the visions put to words & images by the artists, eccentrics and madmen like Bukowski, for it is they that peel back the skin of the onion for the rest of us to reveal the layers of good flesh and yes, sometimes even the rot within. 


And speaking of artists, the December issue of Modern Luxury Hawaii hits the stands today and contained within it's pages is a profile and photograph by yours truly of friend, contemporary artist and gallery operator Alejandro Goya, the man behind the Paia Contemporary Gallery.


About a month or so ago, I had the exquisite pleasure of spending some time with the artist in both his loft studio and within the minimal gallery space capturing images to illustrate his profile for this issue. Alejandro and his wife were both welcoming, cooperative, collaborative and a whole lot of fun. The resulting tear sheet is below:

      

Bistro Style

Poultry Hangover - The Day After Remembering The Day Before

Fresh Cut Flowers From Yard To Table

Gravy Stock Simmers All Day Long

Waiting Patiently

Table Preparations

Stovetop Stuffed

The Moment Of Truth

Now Be Thankful

"When the stone has grown too cold to kneel in crystal waters I'll be bound. Cold as stone, weary to the sounds upon the wheel. Now be thankful for good things below. Now be thankful to your maker..." Richard Thompson/Now Be Thankful

ThankyouforwifefamilyfriendshealthThankyouforartworkinspirationcreativityThankyoufornothavingtoshootweddingsThankyouforhawaiimauialohaThankyouforhomeandhearthThankyouforopportunitiesforloveThankyouforthenewpuppyThankyouformusicThankyouforthefoodiwillstuffmyselfwithtomorrowandThankyouforthenicekitchentoprepareitinThankyouforthecallfromw2wThankyouforexperiencesgoodandbadThankyouforlifeThankyou.

Real World Estimating... Wading Into the World of Fine-Art... Book Signing Schedule...

Always an educational & informative read, today's entry at the blog A Photo Editor gives us another glimpse into the process of estimating and bidding an assignment. Jess Dudley, producer with the production company Wonderful Machine, takes us inside the process of estimating a still life product assignment for a national brand glass manufacturer who's products are sold through big box stores.

The client needed pictures showing several variations of each of the bowls, plates, and cups so that they’d have different options for use on packaging, point of purchase displays, and on their e-commerce site. They wanted everything shot on white background. Their in-house designers would process the raw files and handle the silhouetting and any retouching. The client would plan to bring a hard drive with them and simply take all the raw files with them at the conclusion of the shoot.

 Additional information going into the thought process in preparing the estimate:

Whether I quote the high end or the low end is going to depend on how prominent the brand is, the complexity of the pictures, how prominent the photographer is, how busy he is, and the exact licensing. The number of shoot days and the regularity of the work is a factor as well. If a one-day shoot suddenly becomes a five-day shoot, I would probably discount the additional days.Location of the photographer and the client can also factor in. If the client (even a big one) is in a smaller market and you’re competing with other photographers in that small market, you might not be able to charge as much as for a similar project taking place in a bigger market. In this case, the client and the photographer were in a big market, and I felt that all of the other factors together pointed to about the mid-point of the range, so I quoted 4000.00/day. The client specified the exact usage they needed, which I quoted on the estimate. 

Jess includes in his estimate fees for a digital tech and one assistant, studio & equipment rentals, expendables (set-paper backgrounds, etc.), milage, and fees for shipping & delivery of the work and catering for breakfast & lunch. The client planned to provide the stylist. ( I also note that no fee was included for digital post-production to prepare the image files for delivery & publishing. For this particular assignment, I am assuming those duties fall to the on-set digi-tech who will correct the Raw files, color correct, sharpen, etc.)

For some time now, the trend among mainland photographers has been to charge fees for studio & equipment rental, even when the photographer may have his own shooting space & gear. This is a trend I would like to see happen here... especially the equipment rental which suffers much wear & tear and is very costly to purchase & replace.

As for catering, it has been my customary practice to include expense items to cover meal per diems on shoot days for myself & crew. Catering would be quite a luxury and something I don't think most Hawaii producers or photographers include in the estimate budgets. Fortunately for me, the bulk of my work involves either food & beverage or architectural photography for resorts, hotels & dining establishments where food is easily accessible. For us, it's simply a matter of breaking for lunch in most cases. For major resort assignments with large crews, talent and early, pre-dawn call times, it's always a good idea to plan ahead and have the F&B folks and/or Room Service deliver to the location an assortment of juices, coffee, teas, fruits & pastries.  This helps to insure that the cast & crew are always on set when you need them and are fed, happy, awake and ready to work. When the body is nourished, feeding the creative hunger is much easier. 

The APE post should be an eye-opener for many of the up & coming photographers around this state. Though much of the assignment work generated in Hawaii is, for the most part, for local & regional brands where a day rate of $3K-$5K would never fly for a myriad of reasons (local or regional brand & marketing, lack of education-self confidence-Wall Mart pricing strategies and rabid undercutting amongst out newer talent pool). There are many new additions to the talent pool here that have never had the opportunity to work on or be exposed to productions of this type and simply haven't had the opportunity to be educated as to real-world values of the work they produce. Information like this post by APE provide some of those opportunities to educate yourself. Please take the time to read it here.

In other asides, I'm feeling a bit schizophrenic these days as I float between the world of commercial assignment photography and the world fine-art photography. The weekly gallery set-ups & sittings at the Four Seasons Resort & Spa in Wailea has been a learning experience indeed. 


While I could argue that what passes as a fine art market in Hawaii is more of an expensive souvenir market (and do argue this point frequently with the Art Hash Harrier gals), the point is a moot one given that I have been given the opportunity to get my personal work in front of a large & captive audience of very well-heeled and very pre-qualified potential buyers. I am further enthused by the fact that my sales thus far have been of work I am emotionally attached to, feel very proud of and has been anything but "Hawaiian" in subject matter. That I haven't yet resorted to producing tropical sunset pics or ripping off the wave photos of Clark Little, like so many others, is comforting. Mrs. NC insists that I need some of those types of images in my display and I think she may be right. Gotta get right on that! What a great luxury it would be to be generating income in this manner, freeing me considerably from the concerns of the commercial side of my business to pursue work of a more personal nature. 


And I'm enjoying my time sitting the resort gallery too; enjoying getting to know the other artists working in other mediums, enjoying the people watching, getting to meet the celebrities visiting the resort, watching what images people seem most drawn to from week to week. I'm paying close attention. My first five weeks of sittings has been during the traditional pre-holiday slow time for tourism in the islands All the better... allowing me some time to develop the learning curve as to what works , what might work and what doesn't. By Christmas peak season, I should just about have things fairly well wired. Already, new work is being produced to meet what I'm beginning to sense is the market. New work will be on display this coming monday and I will get a chance to evaluate how well it will potentially be received. Drop by on mondays between the hours of 7:00am & 1:30pm to say "hi" and check out the new work if you plan to be near the Four Seasons.


Old dog, new tricks...


I will be joining authors Mark Ellman & Barbara Santos next weekend for two books signing events as the launching of the just published Practice Aloha book continues. Next Saturday, November 27th, we will be at Borders Books & Music on Dairy Road beginning at 2:00 pm.  Word is that legendary drummer, book contributor and old friend Mick Fleetwood will be joining us for the event, signing copies of the book and greeting fans. Here's an opportunity to pick up a few excellent gifts for friends and family as you prepare for the holidays. 


On Sunday, November 28th, we will again be signing books at the Maui Ocean Center in Maalea beginning at 11:00 am. Please come & join us!

Something's Fishy...

So quit you're carpin'...

Note To Self...

As soon as possible, create account at WORDPRESS and migrate this blog. Formatting issues & glitches here at Google, causing weird paragraph spacing, strange, unalterable font & font-size transformations upon publication, etc. are apparently beyond the grasp of Google Blogger's programming wizards. 


Time consuming, yet fruitless... frustrating... 

Never Piss Off The Nerds

Cooks Source Magazine editor Judith Griggs has found herself in the frying pan and the nerds are turning up the heat. 


The New England based food journal evidently published a story originally written & published elsewhere in 2005. A friend of the original author contacts her to ask how CSM had gotten hold of the story copy. Said author conducts a basic web search and indeed finds the Magazine's website & Facebook page(s) here & here (ed. note: It is at this time unclear as to whether or not either of these Facebook pages are legitimate or the products of further retaliation by the growing angry mob). The author does, in fact, find her story, re-edited and published in CSM's online edition and ostensibly in the printed version too.


Author makes a call to CSM HQ. Author sends email to CSM via the website Contact Form asking them what had happened and how they had gotten her article? Author believed that maybe there had been some sort of inadvertent mix-up or that someone had perhaps "posted it to some sort of free article database". Further research indicated that the article had simply been copied off of a website owned by the author and sporting the author's copyright notice.


According to the author of the article, a couple of emails passed back & forth between herself & CSM editor Griggs before Ms. Griggs finally asks the author what she wanted in the form of compensation.


On the author's blog, she writes that she: 

"... responded that I wanted an apology on Facebook, a printed apology in the magazine and $130 donation (which turns out to be about $0.10 per word of the original article) to be given to the Columbia School of Journalism."

Instead of meeting the author's request, an hubris-filled email response , so condescending, so completely unprofessional, arrived from editor  Griggs, a portion of which is posted below:

"Yes Monica, I have been doing this for 3 decades, having been an editor at The Voice, Housitonic Home and Connecticut Woman Magazine. I do know about copyright laws. It was "my bad" indeed, and, as the magazine is put together in long sessions, tired eyes and minds somethings forget to do these things.

 But honestly Monica, the web is considered "public domain" and you should be happy we just didn't "lift" your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me... ALWAYS for free!"

You can read more about this story straight from the author's blog here. 

In the ensuing 48 hours since the story became public, evidence that CSM may be a serial infringer/plagerist has surfaced and the news has gone viral, complete with stories in the Washington Post & LA Times Blog. The magazine's Facebook pages have been turned into a screamfest of comedy... postings from "fans" pointing out that:


"Cooks Source killed Michael Jackson","Cooks Source trapped the Chilean Miners",  "Cooks Source makes Baby Jesus cry" ,"Cooks Source tastes like chicken"....


And on & on it goes... nearly 4000 comments on one of the FB pages and thousands (several since removed) on the other "potentially real" FB page. In fact, so much controversy has been created over the issue, that the most recent FB posting, ostensibly from Griggs or someone else at the magazine, posted in the last half hour reads:

"Cooks Source Mag Numerous derogatory posts have been removed and members banned and reported. Those people here to cause trouble are wasting their time. Don't you think that jumping on a band wagon just makes you look lily-livered?"

 Another FB post appeared yesterday morning, supposedly by Grigg's herself  reads:

 Cooks Source Magazine

 Hi Folks!

Well, here I am with egg on my face! I did apologise to Monica via email, but aparently it wasnt enough for her. To all of you, thank you for your interest in Cooks Source and Again, to Monica, I am sorry -- my bad!

You did find a way to get your "pound of flesh..." we used to have 110 "friends," we now have 1,870... wow! Best to all, Judith

How's that for humble pie? Your original story sucked until I got my hands on it... you should pay ME for finding it, stealing it and turning it into something readable seems to be the gist of editor Griggs'  responding screed. The apology? Hmmm, well she did ackowledge that the controversy has generated "interest" in her rag.

And, as of now, her "fans" number more than 5131 and growing with each passing minute.

The point to be taken from this very public debacle is this: 

The perception that anything found on the interwebs is "public domain" is as prevalent as ever. I lay much of the blame for this completely inaccurate view of web content squarely at the feet of former music file sharing sites like Napster & Limewire, both shut down by the US Courts for infringing on the rights of artists. Those decisions seemed to do little in terms of helping to sway that perception that content published on the internet is free for the taking.  Seasoned editors with "3 decades" of experience in the industry, as editor Griggs claims, should know better. The fact that she apparently is clueless on matters of intellectual property (not to mention punctuation & grammar--- where's the apostrophe in Cooks Source?) reflects poorly on not only Ms. Griggs & her employers past & present, but to us--- the community of artists, illustrators, photographers, writers and designers that fail --  first to © register the fruits of their labors & second, to enforce their rights when infringement occurs.

Let's just hope that author Monica decides to put the full weight of the legal system available to her to bear heavily on Griggs & CSM. They were given the opportunity to pony up & do the right thing... a cheap & easy fix which would have been belatedly satisfying to both parties. Instead, Griggs offered a left-handed critique of Monica's work, an admission that the practice of infringement was standard operating policy and a very public non-apology. Nothing short of an overwhelming defeat in the courts and the promise of punitive damages would appear to make this publisher stand up & take notice.

The nerds have time on their hands--- can make life miserable for you when you offend their sense of right & wrong, especially when they are right & you are wrong. 
CSM & Griggs are not alone in their beliefs that online content belongs to everyone (available is a very different thing than belong. Thus far, the courts have been most consistent in confirming that infringement, be it online or elsewhere, is wrong, illegal & prosecutable). That perception will only grow, ultimately affecting all of us in the long run, unless we are willing to enforce and protect our rights to control our work. The internet is now a necessary & required method of reaching out, promoting our work, communicating with others and accessing information. It's a blessing. It's a curse. It's the wild-west, anything goes etherworld, requiring caution, care, attention and a workflow & operating plan that aids in protecting the work you publish there.

Nerds are cool! 

(ed. note: As of 12:30PM, CPT Time, CSM's two Facebook Pages have gathered a combined total of 5220 "fans", 89 new "fans" in the past half-hour---3350 more since posting her "apology" yesterday.)