Call for Colorado participants: Portraits of the Western Snap Shirt

I've begun a new personal photography project that serves to document and share the stories of Colorado residents and their favorite snap shirts.

The Western snap shirt originated in Denver, Colorado by Jack Weil of Rockmount Ranch Wear, and quickly became a popular style that has been worn by everyone from cowboys to Hollywood actors, and politicians to urban hipsters.

If you want to share the story of your love affair with these iconic shirts, please contact me at info@calanan.com to participate in this project!

Copyright infringement by ad agency Vladimir Jones

I just found out that one of my photos is being used without my permission in a promo video by Colorado Springs-based ad agency, Vladimir Jones. (Thanks to an anonymous tip!)

In this case, I decided to file DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notices with YouTube and their ISP.

Prior to doing that though, the first thing I did was take screen shots of the usage (including URL) as proof:



Next, I used YouTube's Copyright Complaint Webform, found via their YouTube DMCA Policy page to report the violation.



I then needed to determine who hosted the infringer's web site, which I found out to be GoDaddy by searching their domain name at Whois Lookup | Whois.net. This led me to find GoDaddy's trademark and copyright infringement policy, which directed me to send a DMCA-complaint letter (or email facsimile) for their review.

If, like me, you find yourself in this kind of situation and need good sources for DMCA takedown examples, check out these versions that I used to form my own copy:

How to Send a DMCA Takedown Notice | Black Star Rising

Sample DMCA Take Down Letter | IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law

Related: Calanan Photography: Found my photo used without permission (by Toyota)

Denver Preschool Program Executive Portraits

Here's a sampler of a recent executive portrait session with the great folks at the Denver Preschool Program in Denver, CO who wanted new photos for their web site and annual report.



Denver Preschool Program's Acting Chief Executive Officer, Eileen Piper wanted fresh, natural-looking portraits for her staff members, as well as the Chair of DPP's Board of Directors, John Plotkin. After scouting locations within DPP's offices to find environments that worked well as backgrounds for approachable and casual poses, I used a combination of existing light and portable Nikon Speedlights to shape the light such that it suited the natural-looking portraits Eileen envisioned.

Thanks to DPP for not only their business but also for the warm, welcoming reception they gave me!