Joanie

I wasn't suggesting that people make money off of the artists... Let me explain a little further the thought process....

First, if you can go to the artist's house, or to a show or convention yourself, then you can take the picture and have it signed and that's great! No need to ask anyone else to help you, no need to buy anything special. But how many artists let you come to their homes or gardens? How many artists with famous trees?

But RedPine, let's say, can't get to the big conventions himself either. He needs someone else to take the picture. How is he going to convince someone to do that?? Most people these days are taking digital pictures, which really don't print, blow up, or last very well. (When my friend got married, all her pictures were digital, and while the prints looked great... the photographer warned her that they won't last, especially if displayed. So she also received a disk of the images for posterity) So you would need a person with a good old film camera taking the pictures especially for you. Now, RedPine specifically said that he wanted pictures of famous trees. How many famous trees show up each year? It would take several shows or conventions to have a nice collection.

So, my thought was that someone might decide to market a set of pictures of famous trees. Of course they would need permission, see what I meant? You can't take pictures of trees on display and just sell the pictures, can you? But it's like the magazines or book authors taking pictures... they are making money. They obviously get permission. It promotes the artists, enriches their business, and gives them exposure. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is more akin to artists or conventions making the enamel pins. Something collectible that people buy, something that promotes them.

Joanie

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