Website is Being Revamped

After a great deal of thought, time and reflection, I decided to build a different website. Part of the reason is I just wasn't happy with the old site. Part of the reason is I offer and produce far more than just MMA images, and including a full spectrum of photo and design services, which I haven't been showcasing. And part of me said it's time for a change.

As I work through this design process, please be patient. Many of the galleries from before won't be available for awhile, although they are coming back. New galleries will also be added in various subjects and styles. With XFS 58 coming up this weekend, getting those images up right away will be my first priority, and then back-catalog images, and then new content. The transformation shouldn't take more than a couple weeks, but I believe it will be worth the wait.

I will also be adding many products and services to the selection, from better labs and suppliers than before. As always, the prices, selection and service will be top notch, from some of the nation's finest suppliers.

In regard to email issues, I believe those have now been resolved. I had been unaware there was a problem until someone actually let me know. I haven't been ignoring you, I just never received your email.

Again, thank you for your patience. If you have questions, please let me know. See you Saturday, January 28th at Century Link Arena in Boise, ID for XFS 58!

In Case You Were Wondering...

The following is an article reproduced with permission from HERE that sums up what many people in my field feel and experience on a regular basis. I know I am increasingly frustrated as people, with many of whom I have a working relationship, violate copyrights, and even go so far as to "scratch-out" or remove my logo from images (as if this makes it better). I mean really, if you are going to steal someone's work, at least give them credit (and no, that isn't to say THAT makes it okay. It doesn't). Anyway, I hope you enjoy the article~

Reasons Why Professional Photographers Cannot Work for Free

If you have been directed to this page, it is likely that you have requested the use of an image or images for free or minimal compensation.

As professional photographers, we receive requests for free images on a regular basis. In a perfect world, each of us would love to be able to respond in a positive manner and assist, especially with projects or efforts related to areas such as education, social issues, and conservation of natural resources. It is fair to say that in many cases, we wish we had the time and resources to do more to assist than just send photographs.

Unfortunately, such are the practicalities of life that we are often unable to respond, or that when we do, our replies are brief and do not convey an adequate sense of the reasons underlying our response.

Circumstances vary for each situation, but we have found that there are a number of recurring themes, which we have set out below with the objective of communicating more clearly with you, and hopefully avoiding misunderstandings or unintentionally engendering ill will.

Please take the following points in the constructive manner in which they are intended. We certainly hope that after you have had a chance to read this, we will be able to talk again and establish a mutually beneficial working relationship.

Photographs Are Our Livelihood
Creating compelling images is the way we make our living. If we give away our images for free, or spend too much time responding to requests for free images, we cannot make a living.

We Do Support Worthy Causes With Images
Most of us do contribute photographs, sometimes more, to support certain causes. In many cases, we may have participated directly in projects that we support with images, or we may have a pre-existing personal relationship with key people involved with the efforts concerned. In other words, each of us can and does provide images without compensation on a selective basis.

We Have Time Constraints
Making a leap from such selective support to responding positively to every request we get for free photographs, however, is impractical, if for no other reason than the substantial amount of time required to respond to requests, exchange correspondence, prepare and send files, and then follow-up to find out how our images were used and what objectives, if any, were achieved. It takes a lot of time to respond to requests, and time is always in short supply.

Pleas of “We Have No Money” Are Often Difficult to Fathom
The primary rationale provided in nearly all requests for free photographs is budgetary constraint, meaning that the requestor pleads a lack of funds.

Such requests frequently originate from organizations with a lot of cash on hand, whether they be publicly listed companies, government or quasi-government agencies, or even NGOs. Often, it is a simple matter of taking a look at a public filing or other similar disclosure document to see that the entity concerned has access to significant funding, certainly more than enough to pay photographers a reasonable fee should they choose to do so.

To make matters worse, it is apparent that all too often, of all the parties involved in a project or particular effort, photographers are the only ones being asked to work for free. Everyone else gets paid.

Given considerations like this, you can perhaps understand why we frequently feel slighted when we are told that: “We have no money.” Such claims can come across as a cynical ploy intended to take advantage of gullible individuals.

We Have Real Budget Constraints
With some exceptions, photography is not a highly remunerative profession. We have chosen this path in large part due to the passion we have for visual communication, visual art, and the subject matters in which we specialize.

The substantial increase in photographs available via the internet in recent years, coupled with reduced budgets of many photo buyers, means that our already meager incomes have come under additional strain.

Moreover, being a professional photographer involves significant monetary investment.

Our profession is by nature equipment-intensive. We need to buy cameras, lenses, computers, software, storage devices, and more on a regular basis. Things break and need to be repaired. We need back-ups of all our data, as one ill-placed cup of coffee could literally erase years of work. For all of us, investment in essential hardware and software entails thousands of dollars a year, as we need to stay current with new technology and best practices.

In addition, travel is a big part of many of our businesses. We must spend a lot of money on transportation, lodging and other travel-related costs.

And of course, perhaps most importantly, there is a substantial sum associated with the time and experience we have invested to become proficient at what we do, as well as the personal risks we often take. Taking snapshots may only involve pressing the camera shutter release, but creating images requires skill, experience and judgement.

So the bottom line is that although we certainly understand and can sympathize with budget constraints, from a practical point of view, we simply cannot afford to subsidize everyone who asks.

Getting “Credit” Doesn’t Mean Much
Part and parcel with requests for free images premised on budgetary constraints is often the promise of providing “credit” and “exposure”, in the form or a watermark, link, or perhaps even a specific mention, as a form of compensation in lieu of commercial remuneration.

There are two major problems with this.

First, getting credit isn’t compensation. We did, after all, create the images concerned, so credit is automatic. It is not something that we hope a third party will be kind enough to grant us.

Second, credit doesn’t pay bills. As we hopefully made clear above, we work hard to make the money required to reinvest in our photographic equipment and to cover related business expenses. On top of that, we need to make enough to pay for basic necessities like food, housing, transportation, etc.

In short, receiving credit for an image we created is a given, not compensation, and credit is not a substitute for payment.

“You Are The Only Photographer Being Unreasonable”
When we do have time to engage in correspondence with people and entities who request free photos, the dialogue sometimes degenerates into an agitated statement directed toward us, asserting in essence that all other photographers the person or entity has contacted are more than delighted to provide photos for free, and that somehow, we are “the only photographer being unreasonable”.

We know that is not true.

We also know that no reasonable and competent photographer would agree to unreasonable conditions. We do allow for the fact that some inexperienced photographers or people who happen to own cameras may indeed agree to work for free, but as the folk wisdom goes: “You get what you pay for.”

Please Follow-Up
One other experience we have in common is that when we do provide photographs for free, we often do not receive updates, feedback or any other form of follow-up letting us know how the event or project unfolded, what goals (if any) were achieved, and what good (if any) our photos did.

All too often, we don’t even get responses to emails we send to follow-up, until, of course, the next time that someone wants free photographs.

In instances where we do agree to work for free, please have the courtesy to follow-up and let us know how things went. A little consideration will go a long way in making us feel more inclined to take time to provide additional images in the future.

Wrap Up
We hope that the above points help elucidate why the relevant photographer listed below has sent you to this link. All of us are dedicated professionals, and we would be happy to work with you to move forward in a mutually beneficial manner.

Another Show Done Right...

First, be sure to head over to HERE to order images from this event!

You read it correctly, Lee Anderson and crew have pulled off yet another successful MMA event. This time it was before a "hometown" crowd in Hailey, Idaho for UCF 18: Prepare for Battle. The card consisted of a women's amateur grappling match, a women's amateur MMA match, 8 men's amateur MMA matches and one men's pro MMA match. That's a total of 10 fights folks, and they were solid match-ups.

With several fighters making their amateur debuts, and Lonny Burton making his pro debut, there had to have been some serious nervous contenders (it didn't really show though). And with the rematch between Lowell Urwin and Drew Nelsen, there were bound to be some intense moments (and there were... especially when Lowell thought the fight had been stopped prematurely).

UFC Bantamweight Scott "Young Guns" Jorgensen was also in attendance, speaking of his hopes at another title shot, as well as how in the UFC his gym (Combat Fitness) is referred to as the "Lollipop Guild" because the majority of fighters there are 155 lbs. or less... of course he pointed out that Drew Nelsen was in fact the biggest exception.

All in all, the competitors did a great job, and the event was a great success! Congrats to everyone! Now, here are the results:

Women's Grappling
Mandi Palan def. Laurie Peterson via armbar round 2

Amateur MMA
Featherweight: Dominic Pierson def. Santiago Marino via decision
Heavyweight: John Ables def. Hugo Sanchez via TKO round 2
Welterweight: Aaron Sutton def. Anthony Stevens via TKO round 1
Welterweight: Paul Johnson def. Chad Oaks via submission round 1
Welterweight: Storm Anderson def. Justin Doyle via submission round 1
HeavyweightWill Heinrich def. Benito Lopez via TKO round 1
Lightweight: Julie Daniels def. Paris Hill via decision
Super-Heavyweight: Drew Nelsen def. Lowell Urwin via TKO round 1

Pro MMA
Wyatt Hersley def. Lonny Burton via TKO round 2

Thanks for stopping by, and I will see you at the next event!

Fightmare on Main Street Recap:

Kid Rock, Nickelback and Elton John have all said "Saturday night's alright for fighting", but so was Friday October 28th at Radio Rondevoo in Twin Falls, ID. Situated in the historic downtown area, Radio Rondevoo is a small event center that is perfect for the small MMA show. I would guess there were 500+ people in attendance, and there ended up being 8 fights that made it to the evening's card.

For the inaugural event by Combat Development League (CDL), it was pretty good. There were minor issues like calling for fighters before they were ready, the PA system going out, and a ring announcer that appeared to have little experience (I'll give him credit though, he tried). And who was the guy looking like a pimp cage side all night in his slicked back hair and red vest and tie? Anyway, it was a good time, the fighters all fought hard. Only two fights made it past the first round, with the majority coming by referee stoppage and submissions.

Be sure to click here for fight photos, and order yours today! 

And now, the fight recap...

AMATEUR MATCH-UPS

155 lb. - Kyle Grayson defeats Anthony White via TKO round one

145 lb. - Jaden Nava defeats Brandon Nieffenegger via split decision after three rounds

145 lb. - Matt Jones defeats David Tovar via submission round one

185 lb. - Andrew Lords defeats Brandon Upchurch via referee stoppage round two

155 lb. - Tony Billingsley defeats Nic Gilpin via submission round one 

PRO MATCH-UPS

125 lb. - Gabe Pelayo defeats Freddy Arteaga via submission round one

125 lb. - Czar Sklavos defeats Joe Kowalski via submission round one

205 lb. - Jacen Flynn defeats Kyle Keeney via submission round one

Congrats to all the fighters. See you in two weeks in Hailey, Idaho at UCF 18!

Who's Ready for Some MMA?

I know I sure am, and lucky for me (and you if you like my images) there are two events coming up in the next few weeks.

The first event is being put on by Combat Development League. "Fightmare on Main Street" will be held at Radio Rondevoo in Twin Falls on Friday, October 28. I've been told doors open at 5pm, with the first fight starting promptly at 7pm. The card looks pretty solid with NINE amateur and THREE Pro fights scheduled... I hope they all come through!

The next event is UCF 18 "Prepare for Battle". I haven't seen the fight card just yet, but with Lee Anderson behind this event, I am sure it will be high-impact and quality. Event takes place at the Wood River High School in Hailey, ID on Saturday November 12, with doors opening at 6pm.

Without knowing what's going on with MMA events in Boise right now, I'm sure glad there are other events around the state. I just hope MMA comes back to Boise soon...