Tag Archives: photo

by

Utterly Loved ~ Cover Reveal & Sharing Abundance

Utterly Loved ~ Cover Reveal

© 2012 by Kat Bastion

 

The time has come for a reveal of the cover of Utterly Loved.

The intention of Utterly Loved is to touch the hearts of readers and share our love with the world through charities.  The image on the cover had to be universal.  The elegant art has an elemental beauty.  I hope you all love the cover as much as I do.

Utterly Loved Book Cover

Utterly Loved Book Cover

{whispers} If you’re curious who did the cover art… I did.  From the water-color painting of a crumpled piece of parchment paper, to the single tiny cut-out paper heart, to the photography, to the uploading of photos … all of which I am a novice at or have never done before … the cover art is 100% Kat Bastion.

 

Sharing Abundance

On the eve of a holiday in America where we gather to give thanks, we count our blessings, we send up prayers that our bounty continue, and we embrace those around us with love.

… At least in theory, anyway.

Not everyone can gather.
Not everyone is blessed.
Some have lost the will to pray.
Many have never known love.

Let’s change the above picture, something that deeply saddens me.  None of us have everything.  But some in the world have nothing.  Remember them.  Do what you can to show them you care.

The original tradition of Thanksgiving celebrated a coming together of two nations on one land in peace for prosperity.  They enjoyed their abundance and counted their blessings.  Let’s do the same on this day of Thanksgiving and every day. 

Let’s stand together, united around the world, to show those who feel lost that they are not alone. 

Join me in making all of them feel… Utterly Loved.

Utterly Loved is expected to release the first week of December.  Please stay tuned for more information about the anticipated release date, and share news about Utterly Loved with your social worlds.

No dollar will ever line my pocket.  All proceeds, less costs and taxes, will go to selected charities.  So far those charities include World Vision and Covenant House.

How can you make a difference?  Buy two books.  Buy twenty.  Tell everyone to do the same. 

Together, we can make a world of difference.  Our combined efforts will help everyone celebrate Thanksgiving and feel… Utterly Loved.

Thank you for all your continued support for a very worthy cause.

 

Your humble shoe,

Kat Bastion

© 2012 by Kat Bastion

by

Watching Over Him

The best photo I have ever seen. I love the story that goes with it. Priceless.

Miracles Unleashed

Watching Over Him

At a reunion held in an old family church, I found the two boys by themselves in a corner of the room. I nearly ran over people to sneak a shot of their innocence. I overheard the older one say how he would protect the younger one and stand up for him if anyone messed with him. No alterations were made to the photograph and no filters were used.

View original post

by

Angel’s Reflections

Breathtaking photo! Love it!

Miracles Unleashed

Angel's Reflections

At a reunion held in an old family church, I found the two boys by themselves in a corner of the room. I nearly ran over people to sneak a shot of their innocence. This close-up of the younger boy captured his thoughtful reflection. No alterations were made to the photograph and no filters were used.

View original post

by

Illuminated Surprise

What a gorgeous photo. Fall leaves. Iridescent cobweb. Beautiful Lighting.

Miracles Unleashed

Illuminates Surprise

As we were ending our rare outing through the backwoods in the country, I turned the corner around a large oak tree. The sun broke through the towering trees to illuminate the presence of the web to keep me from walking straight into it. No alterations were made to this photograph and no filters were used.

View original post

by

Lost ManCandy: How Copyright Protects Us All

Lost ManCandy: How Copyright Protects Us All

© 2012 – by Kat Bastion

(DISCLAIMER: None of the following is legal advice. The following is merely food for thought from your new favorite shoe.)

Where did all the tasty blog ManCandy go?

Sadness had filled my Twitter timeline. Sobs and moans were heard as bloggers deleted photo after photo of their favorite celebrity’s abs and pecs. Many changed their hard-body avatars. People pulled down a black veil over their face in mourning.

It came to light, that a court case had been settled regarding copyright infringement. A photographer took an author and fellow blogger to task when she, like so many others have, unknowingly violated copyright law by using photos others had posted on the internet.

Ripples of panic and sorrow were felt throughout the Twittersphere…and still are.

Everyone who’s heard the news has been deleting or replacing photos on their blog sites. Many closed down their Pinterest and Tumblr accounts. The one who went to court? She paid money she didn’t have for her unknowing infringement on the artist’s copyright. A difficult lesson learned by one of us should be heeded by all.

I jumped on Google to see what kinds of photos you can use without permission. The muck I had to wade through was astonishing. Just in the last decade, organizations have attempted to clarify what is and isn’t fair use with regard to an artist’s work. I found guidelines posted from entities (for their users) ranging from Wikipedia to Stanford (for their reporters.)

Why all the gray area? Fair use has some ambiguity. It’s left up to a judge to decide.

Today, on my Twitter feed, someone posted a super hot photo of Channing Tatum on Pinterest. {fans self}

Hmmmmm… Could she have found a loophole in the rules? Did her post fall under “fair use”? Or maybe she hadn’t heard. The photo had a GQ watermark on it. Maybe that’s okay, then. Right?

Wrong.

My brief research revealed that if the use of a photo falls under the “fair use” portion of copyright law, it may be okay to use a celebrity’s photo without the celebrity’s permission, however it is not okay to use without the photographer’s permission. In this particular case, it would be GQ’s permission. Go to GQ’s website and read their disclaimer at the bottom. You cannot use any material without written permission.

There are other issues at stake besides just copyright that I came across. Anyone in a photograph, celebrity, or otherwise, could sue for privacy violation if they didn’t give you written permission to post a photo publicly. If you took a photograph with your favorite celebrity, and there were twenty fans in the picture, technically the celebrity and the twenty fans would have to give you written permission to have their face plastered onto the internet.

What a bummer. Photos are such a beautiful compliment to our writing. In an 800 word blog, your picture gets to also say a thousand.

So what do we do?

  • We take and post our own beautiful photos. If there are other people in that photo, make sure you have their written permission to make the photo public. Watch out for minors! Make sure you have their parents’ or guardians’ permission.
  • We get permission from photographers and periodicals when they have a photo we absolutely have to use. And we prepare ourselves to pay for that use.
  • We use photos that give us express permission to do so, with the type of licensing granted (like creative commons on Flickr), and make sure we follow their licensing guidelines.

Seem like too much work?

I’ve heard violators have paid $4,000.00 for a copyright infringement and can pay upwards to $25,000.00. So, we have to ask ourselves, how much is posting that photo properly worth.

Copyright Protects Us All

There is a silver lining in all this rapid education. I hope that with all the blogging and re-educating, we realize that as writers and authors, we want our work to be protected just as much as the photographer. The moment our words are inked, they belong to us.

Copyright empowers the artist to say how their work is used and who has the right to do so. The law enables us to stop the piracy of our carefully crafted work of art. After months and years we spend to get that one story out there, perhaps we can appreciate how the photographer feels.

Every time I think of the ManCandy we’ve all lost, I’m going to take heart in the protections we’ve gained. And…watch the DVD I will have purchased of Magic Mike any time I need a good dose of my paid for ManCandy. {laughs}

Happy safe blogging!

Kat

© 2012 – by Kat Bastion