FighterControl

P8_Pilot wrote:Good Morning FC,

To some of you this may sound like a broken record, as I've talked to many photographers through Flickr or e-mail over the last few weeks. This seems like an easier way to reach a group all at once, as the e-mails got a little tough to keep track of. To those who openly shared their photos with me, I want to thank you again. But, I was part of the VP-16 crew that flew the P-8 Poseidon (#168760) in the most recent Joint Warrior exercise. After discussing it with my fellow Officers and Aircrew, we are interested in a canvas style print of our aircraft to display in our homes. I compiled all of the photos I was sent and presented them to the crew. Overwhelmingly, people were interested in the head on shots after the morning landing with the speed brakes still deployed. A few of you were kind enough to send me the raw files of your photos and mentioned you would allow us or the squadron to use those files for personal projects, although some of them are still under a copyright.

We have found a few options where we can have a company print the photos to canvas as a one time purchase. My concern is that you really cannot see the quality of the work until it's been paid for and then put to canvas. These options would include photo centers at Wal-Mart or Costco (similar to Tesco) and have no professional fitment or quality check. What you submit is what you get. We are mostly interested in larger prints (18"x36", or 24"x60"), so having a professional company with artists who refine the finished print and add additional touches to really make it unique is the direction we would like to take it. There is a company here in the States called Squadron Posters that provides very high quality work. The photo is submitted and and depending on size and resolution, their artists will make a custom fit and add any additional graphics or lettering to meet the customer's taste. You then receive a proof that you can alter as many times as you'd like before confirming your order. Their work can be seen at http://www.squadronposters.com

The kicker with that company is that they will only do these custom prints if allowed to post them on their website for future sales - as all of the ground work and set up is free of charge up front. I worked the process between Squadron Posters and a professional photographer (he may be a member here?) who was willing to release his photos to the company under the copyright, but obviously required royalties on all future sales. This is not something that Squadron Posters wanted to get involved with, so the deal fell through.

So, what I ask is if anyone has any similar high res photos they would be willing to share with our crew in order to pursue a project with Squadron Posters? Again, they are not willing to pay royalties on any future sales, so you would have to release the photo to me with that in mind. We would even, to a certain degree, be willing to purchase the rights to a photo, or open to other ideas you may have. In the end, we are very grateful for what you guys have already provided. Can't say thank you enough. We had a really great time in Scotland and are excited to get this art created to remember our time there.

Respecfully,

Nick Jones
VP-16 War Eagles