Shooting Fire...

The abstract nature of fire and flames makes for a very fun photo subject!

We'll Steal Your Music...

As the title of my post (stolen from a quote in the story) clearly points out, there is a copyright problem among wedding photographers... but, not the problem of stolen images. PDN has a great article on photographers in trouble for using unlicensed music in their projects. They are basically stealing music when they don't pay a licensing fee for the copyright:

www.pdnonline.com/pdn/news/Wedding-Photographer-4188.shtml

I always try to use local music in my video projects, so I can call up the artist directly and get permission or pay for licensing. This doesn't address the issue of wanting top 40 hits in a project, but it sure helps me avoid problems with ASCAP or any of the other licensing groups out there!

Luckily, Dallas has a thriving music scene, so I have plenty of great tunes to pull from and I'm also supporting local artists. This may not be a viable solution in a small town in the middle of nowhere. If you live in a tiny town with only a few bar bands, you will definitely have to look into the licensing options stated in the article.

Recent Concert Photography...

I sure hope you have a subscription to the wonderful Dallas Morning News. If not, it means you are missing out on a whole bunch of wonderful photos and writing. Here's a sample of some of my recent photos that ran in the news. They are from three recent concerts, including Bob Seger, Staind and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Children's Choir.

If you like these photos, you should also check out my website at www.janikphoto.com for other great Dallas music photography.