I don't think these people fully understand the economic repercussions this "law" will have, especially since we are already in a recession.

Oh well, I am going to start looking into other industries. Mine is about to be fucked.

It sucks sitting here and seeing news story after news story about how a convention got cancelled or how San Francisco is boycotting all Arizona businesses and tom what...to get Juan out of the kitchen and back to Mexico? They keep trying to feed us that this is about keeping us safe because I am sure that the people smugglers and kidnappers are really concerned about their immigration status, like they don't know they are already breaking much bigger laws.

I agree that we do need to do something about the number of illegal immigrants coming in, and yes, this probably is a deterrent, but what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to now ask my landscapers who are Hispanic to see their papers? What about my white pool guy? Is he exempt or should I ask him too? After all , I understand that if you employee an illegal, you get busted too,and well, I'm employing them right?

The sky isn't falling...yet. To date only one group has cancelled at the Camelback Inn and they were immigration lawyers (no real surprise there). Most groups will make their decision based off of what's best for their business and won't partake in politics. If they can get a great group rate in AZ vs. CA guess where they're going to book. I don't think we're going to lose too many groups to Denver during Jan-April period.

I dunno. I am asked on a daily basis by east coast tourists if everyone in arizona has a gun.

I sure wish Bloomberg would shut his pie hole. He's commenting about boycotting AZ, yet he should be more concerned about his own city's reputation and how its residents take care of their own - (slain homeless man left to die on NY street) - http://www.timesnewsline.com/news/Th...et-1272379646/

Oh no, they just paid for their "past use" of the photo. I still retain all rights to it and can continue to sell it for the foreseeable future. Here it is:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...sunsetcopy.jpg

:D

--don

damn... if only it were exposed a bit more. Already a great shot but could be phenomenal.

I know you like to underexpose a bit though.

Don you'll have to redo one similar to that once the Court tower is finished, it would be an interesting contrast to see.

Wow, gorgeous shot. I haven't seen that one before.

^ Thanks, all. :)

I think slight underexposure adds more "character" to the image. I also took it in August 2004 with a 6.3 megapixel entry-level dSLR when I didn't know as much as I do now about taking photos. That was a once or twice a year sunset, though.

The image was stolen by Skyy Vodka ad agency in the summer of 2009 and used to advertise a "Skyy Infusions Launch Party" at the Devil's Martini Ranch in Scottsdale. I busted them when I was "invited" to be friends with Skyy Vodka on Myspace (of all places) and found my image there with Skyy's verbiage all over it (I can share what they did when I get home; it's not uploaded to my site yet). Needless to say, I was pissed, primarily because I could have really used the licensing fees for the image while I was looking for legal work after finishing law school in May.

So, I wrote them a nice little cease and desist letter, and then followed that up with a demand letter. It took me nine months but it was sweet nonetheless.

Do note something I learned in this process:

Unless you specifically copyright your photos, you can only claim actual damages in a suit over infringement. That will be tough to prove, especially if your income stream from said photos is not steady. Copyrighting your photos with the federal government entitles you to statutory (treble) damages, amongst other things. I will be doing so forthwith...and once I learn the process, I can share it with you.

--don

That's crazy, I remember stumbling upon that picture on a Google Images search years and years ago.

^ And I had Google take it down.

Someone had uploaded one of my aerial shots to Wikipedia last year. They declined my offer to simply give me credit for the photo and leave it up, so I had them take it down as well.

I get to decide when my photos are given to the world...not someone else on my behalf.

I don't really mind if someone takes a photo for a screenshot or just to look at on their hard drive - you know, personal use. But corporate entities get no pass from me.

--don

That makes sense.

It's still on my old hard drive in the garage. Either way, it's an amazing photo :)

Does anybody on here sell their high resolution pics of Phx as a way to make a little extra cash?

You know, you could have edited the photo posted on Wikipedia to give you credit.

I do. It depends on what you want to use the photo for, in terms of prices. Desktop background? No charge...but you won't be getting the full res version of the image. In fact, I don't ever release my original full res images to any client. I edit the image in photoshop and sell them the edited image.

As for editing photos on Wikipedia, I don't know how to do that and wasn't inclined to learn. In addition, I believe, to leave the photo there, that you have to release it to the public domain, and this I am not willing to do as a general rule.

--don

Was just on the 23rd floor of the Great American Tower meeting an attorney when we had to evacuate due to a fire alarm. Upon leaving the building, I saw no signs of smoke or fire, so I left.

--don

OMG, really?!

^ Hey, at least I didn't start my own thread about it. :D

There was a part of me hoping that there would be something worth photographing when I made it outside, as my camera was in the trunk of my car parked across the street, but I'm glad there was nothing to see. I did enjoy schlepping down 23 flights of stairs, although there was this one hot blond chick in five inch heels I was feeling sorry for. :)

--don

I'm fairly certain, I'm one of the few citizens who live down town who is actually armed. Nearly all of my neighbors are misguided liberals.