I know our industry is full of love and we're all pretty nice to each other but we also need to take a stand when things aren't right. When companies mistreat their customers, when photographers do silly stuff we need to back each other up and bring things into the light.

I've gotten a lot of flack for this over the years and some say I still haven't learned my lesson but in certain cases I think people and companies do need to be "exposed" (for lack of a better word) otherwise they will never change.

I got an email the other day from a photographer who's doing a few workshops and he is naming them "Reaching the High End Bride" ...and it's NOT Mike Colon. Can you believe somebody would go around and try and teach creative people and so blatantly show how uncreative they are by doing this.

I emailed Mike about it and he said this guy has been testing his patience (and Mike's the most patient dude I know) and is also planning a "Vegas Love Story" workshop which is Bob and Dawn Davis.

Both these guys are my friends and so I'll gladly stand up for them.

I also want to ask you who and what are you're willing to take a stand for? http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opensourcep...guys-think.html

I love when I see others standing up for what they believe in: even if it does get them into crap sometimes. I make it my goal to willing to stand up for others on a daily basis, but sometimes I think our fear can get the best of us; myself totally included. I'm most passionate though, about standing up against the media and against the idea of perfection in young women.

Never heard of these people:

http://www.reachingthehighendbride.com/

As we say in the Caribbean......"dat is real $%!^"

Anybody tried to be a phantom customer to see who they really are so that they can be exposed?

Teaching similar stuff in a different way is just fine however to steal someone elses words and titles is not ethical at all.

Doesn't Mike have copyright or trademark on this per his dvd? If so, he has some recourse.

Makes you wonder if these people will just present what is in his dvd in a slightly different way.

I had an article in a local bridal publication and found it paraphrased on someone elses website the next day.

Very frustratine.

as this most affects mike, i think you should inform him (as I know you've done) and allow him to make the decision on how it should be handled.

starting a flame war may reflect poorly on colon's workshop, however inadvertently.

it's admirable to be passionately defensive of your friends, colleagues, and the industry's integrity. however, the methods you choose to take your stance can also have lasting impressions, both negative and positive. if you feel compelled to publicly outspoken on the issue, choose your words and your battles wisely and think long term.

i feel that this could be written in a very large fortune cookie.

This unfortunately has happened to us many times! BLATENT rip offs of our web site design, copying our logo, seeing the same shot almost to a T translated by another photographer, how we word our philosophy on our blog/site, to being hired to shoot detail shots for an event designer and the photographer hired by the bride standing over my shoulder and snagging every shot I set up. It is an endless frustration and one that we still do not really know how to handle.

Our industry has very tough boundaries and it seems unless something is copy written people can "interpret" another persons work however they see fit.

I think that if it is a blatent rip off then it should be called out and if the photographer has any integrity as an artist he will change it. Mike should definitely be informed and take a stand, especially since it is something that he has been doing for a while.

Really, the biggest problem I have in this industry is people who call themselves "artists" and do not have a creative bone in their body. They live off others ideas and hard work and ride on coat tails and the sad thing is clients buy it! Whatever, I will just continue to live authentically and surround myself with other photographers who choose to do the same!

I hope it works out for Mike and that this guy balls up ( for lack of a better word) and changes some things about how he does business;)

I'm with Shawn on this one. If Mike has any copyright or trademarks with his DVD, he might have a case. It might be as simple as they didn't search for the workshop's name to see if it was taken at time of branding, and they're not aware that the name is kinda taken. But I have a feeling that since they're being sponsored by some reputable brands, they're too smart to not think of that.

Same goes for duplicating or "plagiarizing" visual compositions. We all have our idols in this industry, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Even I have copied a pose here and there. But my style doesn't bow to any one amazing style of another. Plus, there are so many 'moments' in the wedding experience that we all catch at one point or another. There's bound to be some overlap among portfolios. However, you can almost always tell a Jesh de Rox from a Scarlett Lillian, a Kuperberg from a Travis Broxton. All amazing, all different.

By the way, DJ, I'm coming out with this amazing new program that builds photography websites. It's called ShowIt Sights, and I think it's going to revolutionize the way photographers go about revamping their websites. I'll let you know when it's released.

Also I might attend the workshop in Denver later this year. Ciao~

Squirrels! They just get no respect, have zero rights and deserve so much better...sorry, couldn't help it.

I think everyone should stand up to things like that when they know the person didn't personally endorse or create it. At the least, it's up to us to police ourselves and bring these things to light.

Just my 2 nuts worth...

+1

If we believe that you reap what you sow, or what goes around comes around - I'm not sure we have to 'help' that much by using our influence to see the circle completed.

To the question 'what am I willing to take a stand for?' - the answer is integrity, and the only way I know how to do that is to scrutinise what I do and the motives with which I do them. Then by example perhaps someone else will check themselves.

Boda Bags is a sponser, isn't that J Garner or I completely off?

Showit Sights sounds great BTW, let me know when you get it going

Jon

More concerning should be the fact there is companies out there selling BAD copies of Mine, Mikes, Garys you names its DVDs!

Then people have the gall to come to ME for support, I get complaints about the quality of their crappy burned DVDs that are missing info.

I think I got a friend request from these people on MySpace. I approved it, as it was just "so-and-so photography", and I pretty much approve everyone... then the bulletins started about reaching the high end bride. I checked it out, only to find it was, "Do you want to make $50,000 per wedding?!" and crap like that. I had forgotten about it cause I haven't heard anything out of them in a few weeks. So just now I went back to my friends list to see if I could find them, and I think they deleted their account. So maybe they're getting the message.