Professional horse show photographers have an increasingly tough gig these days. Cameras are getting more and more moron proof, which means the average quality of a photo taken by Suzie Q. is getting better and better. And while the Internet makes it easier for them to share their work with the world, it also makes it easier for the world to steal their work, cut into their bread and butter.
So when Sue Stickle, one of the world’s best, offered me some of her beautiful photos from the Ride for Life for you all to see, I was floored.
I wasn’t that surprised, actually, because it’s the sort of thing that Sue would do. She’s a riot, full of energy, but even more so is incredibly generous. She gets a lot of money for her photos because they are stunning things of beauty, and that’s the cost of producing incredible work, but she is allowing me to show some of that work to you, free of charge.
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Copyright is there to protect the creative, not inconvenience the consumer. Stealing photos, or text, or anyone’s creative product, is the same as stealing the money from their wallet, or a treasure from their house.
So if it’s not yours, and you don’t have the rights to it, don’t take it. Simple as that. And if you see Sue, or Charles Mann, or Jonna Koellhoffer, or any of the world’s other great professional photographers at a horse show, stop and see their proofs of you. You’ll be in for a real treat.
