Why You, Too, Should YouTube
Colorado Photographer David X. Tejada takes us along on another location shoot today. Here's a question for you:
Why does Dave bother to shoot all of these videos?
I have been thinking a lot about this recently, and the bennies are starting to add up in my mind. Hit the jump after watching the video for more on why David in the world would continue to spend time and resources to keep doing this.
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The Bennies of Free TV
Consider:
1. David is sharing his techniques with other photographers, raising the industry's knowledge base one viewer at a time. That benefits everyone.
2. Just the simple, repetitive act of explaining to others what you are doing increases your understanding of your techniques and gives you new ideas. (I can vouch for that one on a daily basis.)
3. David's current clients -- and potential new ones -- get a chance to watch him work in a variety of settings from anywhere in the world, for free. That builds confidence -- especially with clients who may be hiring him from far away. And that leads to more jobs for David.
4. As his videos are watched (and linked and watched again) virally via YouTube, the natural process of the diffusion of knowledge also works for David by giving him more Google search engine juice.
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In this particular video, for our purposes, we'd probably note how David feathers the soft box past the subject to hit the reflector on the left with more light. This creates a more powerful fill reflection and more even one-light lighting ratio. But then, we're lighting geeks.
His clients, on the other hand, would see:
1. How David can easily turn a cluttered conference/storage room into a studio.
2. How quickly David can shoot an entire upper management team, and
3. How nice the final product looks.
I am sure David would echo this sentiment:
To a potential client, this level of transparency inspires far more confidence than merely viewing a portfolio of headshots.
(David, if you are watching, I would love to get your thoughts on this in the comments.)
100% Pure Juice
I would note that YouTube (and Blogger, for that matter) are owned by Google. And guess who indexes metadata and content to the biggest search engine in the world before it even appears on the web? And with careful use of metadata, David's search engine juice gets a little stronger every time someone views a video.
Taken as a whole, this is a cool, positive vicious cycle. David, Bert Stephani, Chase Jarvis and other photogs who understand this are already taking advantage of it.
There are slicker, newer video hosting/embedding sites out there. You think those guys are using YouTube by accident? I don't.
(And don't forget, if you are a pro and showing off your lighting secrets and techniques, tip us off in the comments with a URL for your video.)
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Posted at 9:09 AM.
50 Comments:
Great video, and great post by you.
A few more reasons:
David is proud of his VanHalen music collection?
Thanks to both David's for sharing their knowledge!
I for one always really appreciate seeing what other photographers are doing, esp. when they are highly successful pros ... so thanks to all of you out there for sharing and giving the rest of the world an insight into your work.
And obviously a big thank-you to David H for posting all this stuff, too
I have a few Photoshop video tutorials on my blog, and I'm using revver.com for video hosting since the quality is much better than what youtube offers (which sucks for screen recordings).
Plus, they have an option to download the videos as quicktime files. The great thing about that is that you can get an RSS feed for those, which you could theoretically submit to the iTunes video podcast directory, which should give you a lot of exposure, too. But I agree, if reaching as many people as possible is your goal, youtube is definitely the way to go.
I am curious does he actually pay Van Halen to use the music? I love the video and I love his photography skills and would also love to have his client list..and thanks for this great blog and bringing all this information together for us.
As Photographers we want people to respect our copyrights...but we should also respect others...so my belief and if I am wrong please correct me but using this music is not legal?
I am in school for Photography and the class in front of us just did there multi-media project and half the students used copyrighted music and after each one we were reminded that we cant use these for anything.
KE
Great timing on this post, I just sent you this email yesterday. Hilarious. I was looking for a fitting place to put this in a comments section, and now I have it. Yee-haw!
--
Sir Strobist, I'll make this quick because I know you're a busy body.
1. I love your site, I visit and am inspired by it everyday. Thank you.
2. I'm an advertising photographer, and want to start sharing with the community.
3. I took this picture
4. We made a "behind the scenes / how it was made" video here
5. If you'd like to share, great. If not, no worries. Just thought I'd pass along to you. Please let me know what you think.
6. You do a fantastic job, keep it up. Cheers to you.
Happy Turkey Day,
Brandon
Photographer / Horse Whisperer
BrutonStroube Studios
My guess is that his use of Van Halen for his promo video is just as legal as if Van Halen were to use his photos in their next music video.
Without asking or paying.
Other than that, I think it's cool. I would have loved to see a few more of the final shots.
Shame he can't spell though (flickr)
Keith is absolutely correct; using the Van Halen tunes is illegal unless David T. obtained permission or bought a license to use the music.
This isn't something to just gloss over; if, as David H. is pointing out, this can be used a marketing tool, careful and clued in clients are going to pick up the same thing.
I don't know if David H. used any music in his forth-coming DVD, but if he did, I doubt seriously if we're going to hear a Journey or Boston or Blue Oyster Cult track in the soundtrack... unless of course, he paid for the rights.
Seriously, there are so many good sites on the Net offering "Pod Safe" music, that there's no excuse for going the easy (and illegal) route of ripping a song from your CD collection, no matter how bitchin' it might be. :)
@ Keith Emmerich
Music rights are notoriously difficult and expensive to acquire.
The music labels just aren't interested with the little requests so they tend to charge very large amounts for even brief incidental use. I have worked with recording artists who don't ask because they know they if they do they are entering a world of pain.
Photographers on the other hand tend to be very reasonable to deal with so you aren't comparing like with like.
great video. except for the 80s' music! I hope van halen got their royalty check.
The Idea of YouTube is a good one, but the way it's being implemented is horrible. The interface stinks, the rating system is a joke, and it does nothing but promote the theft of someone else's work (stuff actually on TV..).
There are many other video "sharing" websites out there that allow people to post their work. I'm partial to Vimeo.com. It's all user supplied content, there are no ratings, and you can now post in HD. This isn't spam, I just feel it's a much better interface and community than Youtube.
Keith has take the words from my mind.
I´ve read tons of post in different photo forums about how bad that guys are because they are using his photo with out the copyrights.
And in the other hand you have them using others music in their web pages and youtube videos.
For me is funny how everything changes when is our own photo or whatever we do being used by other with out permit.
Who knows maybe David tejada has Van Halens copyrights to use his music but...
I dont know...
Thanks for reading and keep going with your incredible stuff david and the rest of you guys, you rock
And by the way, sorry for my english,...
Eneko
After coming across Chase Jarvis' blog here on Strobist a ways back, I have also been working on sharing more of my knowledge about photography and the business behind it. I recently started my blog and am working towards getting some video on how and what I shoot, for the reasons David listed above. Anyone interested can check it out at Josh McCulloch's Photography Blog.
Keep up the great work David! (Both of you!)
Cheers, Josh
I've started my own You Tube channel to show my behind the scenes videos. I've posted 2 videos so far and I've completed my 3rd, which will be uploaded next week.
One of my clips shows behind the scenes of a Lifestyle Stock Photo shoot and the other shows a model test shoot. Some of the information in my clips is aimed at models and some is aimed a photographers.
Take a look...
http://www.youtube.com/photoJohnRicard
As requested I have a video podcast at: http://digitaltouchup.blogspot.com and also I've learnt hot to put them onto youtube :)
Wicked time lapse from David :)
I doubt seriously if we're going to hear a Journey or Boston or Blue Oyster Cult track in the soundtrack... unless of course
unless of course if he fell down, hit his head on a lighting stand on the way down, and then developed seriously bad taste in music.
But I digress... on the more serious side:
It's incredibly generous of those who do this. For people like me who work and live in another world, it's great to have this bird's eye view of the nuts and bolts of what's really going on. It also serves as a reference to gauge one's own working methods against. Since I work in somewhat of a vaccuum absent of any "pros" it's nice to see if the traits I've developed organically align with something a pro does.
It's always very interesting to watch how others work and how they can produce a great picture, particulary successful pros.
I've realised that making great pictures is possible for anyone with imagination.
A huge thank-you to you, David, and to everyone who knows that knowledge is great but sharing it is way better!
Thanks to David X. for sharing his ideas and process, and to David H. for the post. Great stuff...
@W. Brandon Voges -
That shot is AWESOME. I'm about to watch the video, I can't wait. Really great work, hope you get a post on the ol' Strobist front page
as a broadcast videographer, musician, and "serious amature" still photographer, i understand the issues and solutions to copyright material for use in production work and for promotion and or demonstration uses. we should all know better than to go using copywriten material without permission. that goes without saying. there are ways of acquiring background music for any potential projects though.
purchasing royalty-free music is one method. this means you purchase a CD from musicians/composers specializing in this sort of material, usually from about $150 up. this then lets you use as much of it as you like for what ever project you need, as you've puchased the rights to it.
source out local musicians. every town has a music scene looking for exposure. ask your local music shops/ university music faculties for artists that may be interested in a mutual arrangement. they allow you to use their music as backing tracks to whatever project you've got on the go, they get a mention in the credits and or photoshoot of their band/ next gig/ press kit etc.
For the record, there's quite a bit of music out there with a Creative Commons license, too.
Yeah, it might not be exactly what you're looking for, but if you're concerned about copyrighted music, it's a great way to go.
http://www.podsafeaudio.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons#Audio_and_music
xNice product placement on that softbox. Could sponsorship be another inevitable byproduct of youtubing? (Or at least a way to pay Van Halen?)
It's an EXCELLENT form of advertising! I always intend to take set up photos during my shoots but almost always forget. I need to be more discipline to do that, so I can do similar things.
At the risk of flogging this horse into the afterlife, I have to weigh in on the licensed music issue.
I wish I could comment on the photo shoot, but I can't. I got two notes into the Van Halen and shut it off to write this.
People, please stop using illegally-obtained music. This is serious stuff, legally and ethically. David (Hobby), you can't imagine how much I hate to say this, but you should not be encouraging this, either.
It's hypocritical for one artist to exploit the original work of another, regardless of their ability to afford it. I realize David Lee Roth is probably getting by just fine, but it's embarrassing to see fellow artists not playing by the rules that we all - theoretically - play by.
Sorry to be a downer. My apologies if I am wrong on my assumption about the copyright infringement.
To get maximum publicity for your video, try using the music of a certain pop star who used to be called a squiggly thing...
Did he really have two assistants for this? I am being used and abused man.
It's sad to see so many smart people taking such a pointless copyright maximallist position; you all know there's no way Van Halen were ever going to get paid for this sort of usage; the record companies just aren't interested in small volume stuff. The choice here isn't between paying and not paying, it's between using the track or not - Van Halen don't make anything either way, all that happens if the (broken) copyright laws are followed is that we lose out on the use of the track.
It's a lose/lose situation - that can't be right.
I think there also one reason that all of you forgot about...
Is an energy - yes ENERGY that all these videos give to us. Video like that is like a fuel witch we are using to do photos.
After watching video you want to make your own immediately!
He give positive energy and, of course, positive energy will gives back to him.
At one point it looks like he is opening a box of candy and eating a piece...what is that really??
Paul
...and when you are ready to upload that video, use TubeMogul to upload your work to up to twelve video sites in one shot. That's what I do and it's saved me a ton of time and gotten my work much more exposure. I do time-lapse and use my videos to promote my software for Canon cameras (GBTimelapse).
BTW I just discovered Strobist a couple of weeks ago. It's a great resource - Thank you!
Whoa, made front page on digg:
http://www.digg.com/business_finance/Why_You_Too_Should_YouTube
I think too many people who commented here missed the point of David's 'google owns all these other websites' comment..
Yes there are better video sharing websites out there, yes there are better blogging platforms out there, however the best Search Engine Optimization is already done when you host on something on the worlds biggest and most used search engine..ie. host on something Google owns and you're more likely to get noticed faster..kapisch!
Don't worry, Google will own David Lee Roth and the rest of us all too soon....
Damn, I like David's work, and enjoy seeing what he's doing, but this video is absolutely ruined by his alleged theft of Van Halen's copyright. That's a marketing piece pure and simple, and it would have been just as interesting had he used something from Broken Joey Records or Triple Scoop Music, where you can get a license to music. Chase Jarvis is very careful in using released music.
I don't think that David intentionally violated (allegedly) Van Halen's copyright, but it remains that he (allegedly) did.
There is no 'fair use'claim here, even if he was listening to the music during the entire shoot and it was audible in the background. There is no "compulsory license" (aka Statutory license) as that's really only available to radio stations, and then, questionably internet radio.
David, please re-post the video with released music!
John
Read Terms of Service of Strobist
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/02/strobist-terms-of-service.html
David H's take on copyright as it relates to his site.
nice video
I have read all the posts and there are some very good points being made regarding the music issue.
JS and Brad are right. I will no longer use illegally-obtained music for my videos. Honestly, I never gave it a thought, I like Van Halen and the length of the music was about the same as the video. I'll look into the the royalty-free or other means that Brad and RootyB suggested.
Please go out and buy some Van Halen music for your personal listening pleasure, I recommend Diver Down!
I have read all the posts and there are some very good points being made regarding the music issue.
JS and Brad are right. I will no longer use illegally-obtained music for my videos. Honestly, I never gave it a thought, I like Van Halen and the length of the music was about the same as the video. I'll look into the the royalty-free or other means that Brad and RootyB suggested.
Please go out and buy some Van Halen music for your personal listening pleasure, I recommend Diver Down!
Good video of what it's like to be a working photographer. It's more small offices and less exotic locales.
And before we assume that the music is used illegally, maybe we should consider the fact that it could be licensed. There are programs now where you can legally use mass market music for presentations like this. Innocent until proven guilty, right?
the whole Van Halen thing is moot as the video is no longer available (and I never got to see it)
Is there are replacement video sans music due to appear (I'm assuming this is why it got replaced)
It could have been a lot worse you know....he could have used music from Prince.
Looks like he's responded to the copyright issue. The link on Strobist is to a deleted video and looking at the videos he's uploaded reveals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlf-vHgHE94
Which doesn't appear to include Van Halen.
why does it matter when the video link does not work anymore??
I hope we all go out and fight for OUR copyright protections as much as we do for Van Halen's.
It's back up now... with different music :) Great video.
Kudos, David.
I love your work and I think you did a great thing by changing the music. I have all Van Halen (not Van Hagar) and enjoy it regularly. Women and Children First, baby!
I challenge anyone who says it was wrong to use the Van Halen track to license it for a youtube video.
good luck!
:)
If you're into iPods and podcasts, there's a way to get your YouTube fix on your iPod.
This guy explains how to get your YouTube subscriptions to show up as podcasts (video) on your iPod:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNQLDgkUXvk&NR=1
Very nice. The only downside I can see is that you can only subscribe by "publisher", not by keyword. You cannot, for example, just say "give me all the videos that have the word 'strobist' as a keyword, and stick those on my iPod".
David Tejada - nice video!
I accept the challenge: strobist, the website, drives people to advertisers. See the links? Strobist promotes, or endorses, David Tajeda's work. It didn't just post itself. Using Van Halen's creation value is added. Now David T's presentation uses Van Halen's copyright protected creation "Jump" as a component. The theory is as follows;people will be more likely to stay and eventually go to the advertisers websites. thus Van Halen has unknowlingly and without compensation contributed to the value of the Strobist site. Posting on Youtube legally is very slippery, but still infringement. Thousands of people break the law every day on the roads without getting caught, does that make speeding or other traffic violations legal? Smoking weed is a national past time for thousands but do people smoke it in public legally? No. Youtube contributes to plagiarism , infringement and copyright protection violations everyday, and very little is setled legally, does that make it any more legal? No.
Hmm. Lessee...
1. David T. immediately changed the music to RF music after reading the above comments.
2. Taking at face value your (anonymous) comment to it logical next step, you are complicit by merely reading this site.
How do you sleep at night?
How superb of his photo skills on youTuBe . i really like his idea.
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