In light of recent requests to draw some of the pieces in my gallery, and having found a couple of unauthorized manipulations of my images, I thought it might be a good idea to clarify my stance on other people making use of my photography. If I haven't covered anything that you have a question about in the paragraphs below, please ask. Contrary to what you might think from my strident tone in this journal, I'm very nice and approachable. Pinky swear!

Stock: Please note that my work is NOT stock. Let me repeat. My work is not stock. Regardless of whether you think one of my images could be improved (and probably all of them could be!), each one is a finished work of art in its own right. Please respect these works by not taking them without permission for photo manipulations. With that said, it doesn’t mean I’ll never ever give permission for my work to be manipulated. Just please ask first. Please note that from now on, the old adage that says that it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission will not apply here. If you can’t be bothered to ask my permission to use a work of art that I created, then I can’t be bothered to be nice about it when you inform me of having done so. I dislike having to be so dictatorial, but c’mon folks, it’s not that hard to send someone a note. I'm not that scary!

Derivative Works: If you are interested in painting or drawing one of my photographs, please be aware that permission is needed for this as well. The copyright holder on a piece retains the right to create or grant permission to create derivative works. Everything I said above about manipulations applies here. These are finished works that you are asking to paint, not snapshots, and I retain the power of choice regarding what happens to my creations.

Linking/Posting: If you’d like to link to something I’ve posted, whether words or images, go right ahead. That is always welcome, and you don’t need to ask permission. (Though I’m always interested, if you want to let me know!) Posting images, with a link back to my webpage or the gallery here is generally fine. Posting images elsewhere without a link back and credit given is not okay, and constitutes theft. It also makes me cranky.

Does this all make sense? Are there any questions?