Ellesse: They listened and they heard…

I am really pleased to report (as those who have read the comment on the last post) that Ellesse have listened to the points raised by a number of photographers (including me) and have changed the Terms and Conditions of their competition 
    • 9.1 By entering the Competition you agree that any winning Entry, of the Competition or the Weekly Competition (“Winning Entry”), may be used by Ellesse (and its partners) for the marketing and promotion of this and future competitions (“Competition Marketing and Promotional Purposes”).
    • 9.2 You hereby acknowledge that Ellesse may have to crop and re-size the Winning Entries as necessary for Competition Marketing and Promotional Purposes.
    • 9.3 The Winners’ names shall appear on all Winning Entries reproduced by ellesse for Competition Marketing and Promotional Purposes.
    • 9.4 You hereby grant Ellesse a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide licence for each Winning Entry in all media for the uses described in 9.1 above for 2 (two) years following the date of announcement of the Winners.
    • 9.5 Ellesse shall contact you and afford you the opportunity to negotiate the terms of any additional usage of Entries falling outside of Competition Marketing and Promotional Purposes

The key is the photographer is now granting a license to Ellesse enabling them to use the photograph and not actually giving them the photograph. 


I think that when companies create terms like the original terms (previous post) it is through ignorance and a poor understanding of copyright / licensing. 


Well done Ellesse.. 

Ellesse: They probably create fine sportswear but they know very little about fair play..

Remember my posting a while back on how some companies use photography competitions to get free images? Well we have another one..

“Ellesse shall own the entire copyright and all other rights in the winning photos. By entering the Competition, the Winner(s) irrevocably grant(s) and assign(s) to Ellesse all rights in their entry and agrees specifically to Ellesse’s use of their entry for all marketing and promotional purposes. In additional Ellesse shall have a non-exclusive licence to use other entries for PR purposes and shall contact the relevant Entrant(s) prior to such use.”

So, the winner can never actually (legally) use their image again – they have given ALL rights to the image to Ellesse and (legally) should delete it from their computer (unless of course, they ask Ellesse to grant them a license for private use ;-) ).

All of the other entries may be used for PR? At least there is no hidden agenda here, they are quite open, they want to use YOUR images free of charge to help THEM sell their goods and make a profit for themselves..

As long as we are clear then (which we are, because it says so above), thats ok then…

Air Guitar

I enjoyed covering last years Air Guitar final in Brighton so much that I returned for more punishment this weekend.

This year the finals were held at The Relentless Garage, Highbury corner, London which is quite a nice venue. However I have to say the crowd did not seem as big this year and the atmosphere not quite up to last year’s. The performers most defiantly were up to last year’s though (with only one repeat contestant).

I think a fair number of the performances were defiantly alcohol fuelled and I once had to dodge a flying contestant as he launched himself from the stage, over the pit into the audience… (yes it would have made a great shot but I was busy making sure I did not get a foot in the face as he flew by).

It was obvious early on who the 2 main contenders were and so I took care to make sure I got plenty of shots of them (Juan Nightstand and Eddie Six Strings) early on. This was a good plan as for some reason, as the night went on the lighting seemed to get darker and I had to resort to using flash to fill in towards the end, something I hate doing at live events as it does take some of the atmosphere away.

Juan ended up the entertaining runner up with the Eddie Six Strings becoming the first female champ (yeah)….


On a slightly different note, in the past I have always designed and operated my own website – even for sales but I am currently looking at alternatives, mainly for hosting galleries and client delivery. It looks as though I will be going with Zenfolio as I am very impressed by the cost and the ease of use… also their presentation tools are great allowing me to create slide shows in a matter of seconds… Enjoy…



Do you feel the Love (box)….

I’m just back from covering the Lovebox festival in Victoria Park for 3 days. A music festival, but not a music festival. I mean, how can it be; there is no camping on site and nights were spent in a comfy travelodge a short tube journey away (well, it would have been short had half the London Underground not been closed for the weekend).


There are a core of photographers that cover music in London and the surrounding areas. Usually we bump into one another for 10 minutes before and after a gig, exchange greetings and run off. One of the nice things about covering a 3 day event is that we get time to sit down, chat about the state of the market, gigs we have done, problems we have faced. 


At these events there are also far more lets say, “less experienced” shooters. Maybe it its their first time in a photography pit, maybe they got their pass via friends of friends. Having just spent the last 3 days asking others to move back, or not hold their camera in the air, I thought I would pass on a few pointers for those thinking of entering “the pit”….

1. If there is room, use it. No one wants a shot taken up the left nostril of their favourite performer. Move back, as far as reasonable, angles are better and we can all get alongside and between each other.

2. When moving about either go behind the other photographers or duck under their line.. they may be shooting something you have not seen and if you get in the frame at that decisive moment….

3. Do not.. I repeat.. Do not… lift your camera above your head and shoot blindly. You don’t know what you are shooting. Your camera will not know what to focus on and above all you will probably get asked “nicely” to continue shooting at eye level. You are not in the crowd… That said, shooting wide, over heads into the crowd behind the other photographers can produce some great shots.

I could go on (and probably did all weekend) but just remember polite and professional.

A nice word for the PR team of Lovebox a pleasure to work with. That said, seeing as I am having a moan.. just a thought for organisers. If you have more than one stage, try to stager the performance start times. We are there to cover the event and if 2 stages start at the same time; we can only cover half of it! (oh, and keep the press area nearby)…

So, at last, some images;

From Saturday, for me, performance of the weekend.

And Bryan is looking as smooth as ever.

From Sunday, probably the trickiest shot all weekend. Grace was on a platform at the back of the stage with smoke and difficult lighting…

Snooping on Nico

With the British Grand prix this weekend and Goodwood festival of Speed last, most the the F1 pilots are in the Uk. Whilst they might be known for time on the track, far more of their time is taken meeting sponsors and marking obligations. 


This week Nico Rosberg attended the launch of Thomas Sabo’s “Sterling Silver collection”. The Location? St Marks Church in Mayfair. A wonderful venue with a wonderful atmosphere. What can I say about Nico? He looks very young and he is very much a gentleman.


Entertainment was provided by CoCo Sumner, Beth Ditto and Jesus Luz. As Jesus is also known by his relationship with one of the worlds biggest music acts, it was no surprise that rumours abounded about a certain Madonna might put in an appearance. However, as soon as you read that in the paper on the way to attend the event you know there is no way she will attend.

The next evening was a complete contrast – Shepards Bush Empire and Snoop Dog. I don’t think I have ever felt so much bass go through my body. Snoop is a very imposing character…

Make It So….. tiring



It’s a strange job, one week you are twiddling your thumbs, the next, running from here to there, daytimes, evenings, meetings, shooting. It’s all good though.

The past week has seen me at BAFTA (Baseline premiere), The o2 (Jack Johnson, nice sounds) and Battersea Power Station. These were all evening jobs.


On Friday I attended the “Festival of Speed”. I did this for 2 reasons. 1. I like fast racing cars (particularly Ferraris…). 2. As a photographer I need to constantly push myself into different situations, find new subjects.

I know last year I attended “The Goodwood Revival” (as I will this year) but “The Festival” is far more intense, more like a race meet with stricter rules… I had a good (if tiring) time, managing to get into the F1 assembly area to shoot down the nose of the Ferrari of Marc Gene..


Saturday I was up in London early for a commercial commission before heading over to Pride. With some of the stewards not knowing one end of a flag from another, I missed the main photo-call with Boris Johnson. The next couple of hours were taken up dealing with security to get a decent shot of Boris and moving up and down the parade to get across the atmosphere…..



Sunday… a day off. I think I earned it….