Last Thursday, one of my regular readers, Pam Archer, who owns Pamela’s Exclusive Floral & Event Design and always shares such thoughtful opinions, left this comment:
“I always give photo credits to the photographers who take pictures of my work. Why do they not feel the need to oblige? How does everyone else feel? People share pictures of my work all the time, but I am never credited for it.”
Pam’s question is a great one. If a photographer takes pictures of your work and uses those photos to promote his own talent and get new business, I see absolutely no reason why he shouldn’t also acknowledge you as the designer. After all, giving you credit as the designer doesn’t take anything away from the photographer’s work. I think photographers absolutely should feel obligated to return the favor. This used to happen to me a lot, too, especially in the early years of my career. Vendors such as lighting specialists, rental businesses, photographers, tent companies, etc… all often used images of my work without giving me credit.
And, frankly, it annoyed the hell out of me. However, the up side was that my work got a lot of exposure. People would see my work, inquire who the designer was and call me up!
You know, life has a great sense of humor. It’s been many years since then, and my business has come a long way. A few of those same vendors now call me and ask permission to use images of the work we did together.
The bottom line is that we’re in this industry together. All of us — lighting vendors, chair rental companies, photographers, designers, etc… Giving credit where credit is due is the least we can do to honor each other.
Dear Readers, what do you think? Please share your own opinions in the comments. And thank you, Pam, for your wonderful question!
(The above photo is from one of Pam’s beautiful weddings! It was photographed by Taylor Morgan Photography. Click here to see more gorgeous photos of this wedding on Pam’s site.)
George Bernard Shaw once said: “You see things and say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” That quote embodies how Preston Bailey approaches every event.
