FotoGirl

Vegas Video from HyBrid Foto

Ami — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:09:06 +0000

One of our latest videos

Happy 2012

Ami — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:05:16 +0000

It’s hard to believe that another year has flown by! This year I made a resolution to not make any resolutions, most are never kept. However I’ve made a few goals, both short term and long term.

One major goal is to get my Swedish drivers license. That in itself will open up more doors for us. It feels a bit constraining to have to depend on bus, train or someone else to get us from point A to point B.

In 5 weeks we are heading to Moscow for a few days! First time since 1995 that i’ve been in Russia! Im looking forward to it. It seems that we will be going there a few times.

Paintball seems to be changing guard in Sweden so will see what role we will have the opportunity to play in the new organization. The dates are starting to roll in now and we are making traveling plans!

Its wonderful to see all the new teams turning to us for support. 2012 is going to be a successful season for us.

New opportunities keep coming our way looking forward to hearing about grants and new equiptment for us.

Goodbye dear friend Nilla

Ami — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:25:15 +0000

We found out today via Facebook that a dear friend had passed away and left this world. It came as a shock to Mats and I. I had known Nilla since we moved her 7yrs ago. We clicked as we had a great deal in common. She had recently been to our apartment to take care of our cats. We chatted often via MSN or FB. She was a wonderful person, had a big heart. She will be deeply missed by all those who knew her.

: by Hanna Lindstedt

Its things like this that make you think. Its going to be a rough few days for me. Nilla and I talked about our problems from time to time. She always commented on my cat photos. So many things I will come to miss about her. No, we wernt best friends yet we shared a common bond.

Welcome back dear blog

Ami — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:34:59 +0000

After what seems an eternity of travling all season, I am home. With more than 20 different events under our belt this season its time for a bit of relxation and reflection and of course catch up on work. Work is a never ending cycle for me. However my life as a photographer doesnt seem like work. Its more of an everyday event. I decided to clear out my old blog and start fresh. Yes, my rants will survive and continue.

Whats changed over the past few months:

New editor for Paintball X3 Euro
We’ve won two court cases involving photo theft (sadly more are pending)
A wildly successful paintball photography season
new friends
new contracts
new cooperative partners
New company name and logo! (still known as Hybrid Foto though )

Who is exploiting who?

Ami — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:55:58 +0000

A friend of mine who runs a popular social paintball site (*cough*www.socialpaintball.com*cough*) asked me what I thought of his new feature Paintmates. In fact Iz asked many females in paintball what they thought. As I sat back and watched their video confessions of what they thought of the series both good an bad one word came up often in a couple of the responses – EXPLOTATION. Hmm…thats a good one. But did they really know what it means? Highly doubt it. They used the word loosely and in a negitive manner to which the subject it was pointed at. (just a reminder this is a FEMALE point of view of the controversial situation). Im not against the videos yet not totally for them either. Read on for futher explantion. BTW…if you are easily offended then close this browser window NOW! I think what I want and I say what I think…sometimes I’m wrong but this is my blog and I write what I think.

According to Wikipedia:

“unjust benifit”

Taking something off a person or a group that rightfully belongs to them
Short-changing people in trade
Directly or indirectly forcing somebody to work
Using somebody against his will, or without his consent or knowledge
Imposing an arbitrary differential treatment of people to the advantage of some and the disadvantage of others (as in ascriptive discrimination)
Using somebody to buy/provide things for you and never paying them back.

According to Dictionary.com

use or utilization, especially for profit
selfish utilization

Lets take a closer look at the defination of exploitation and how it applies to this situation.

Was paintmates taking something off these girls that rightly belong to paintmates? In the dictionary under redundant see redundant. These girls love their bodies and are willing to show them off. Nothing wrong with that is there?
Was the paintmates short-changing the girls that were in the videos? It seemed and according to Iz these girls did this willingly with out force. The site got attention and the girls got attention and materials to use for their own websites and portfolios AND were paid. Sounds like a WIN-WIN-WIN so far.
Were these paintmates directly or indirectly forced to work against their will or morals? Nope not in the least. As stated above all the participants were ready willing and able.
Was any of the paintmates used against their will or without consent? Nope there again all willing participants and infact all participants signed an agreement.
Were any of the paintmates discriminated against or received differential treatment than others? Not really the case here as females in paintball or portraying paintball is quite limited so in fact its just the opposite. These girls were treated with the utmost respect while filiming the video spots.
Were these paintmates using someone to get them to buy things they wanted, loan them money or something else that they never intended to payback? Again not the case here as these girls are models in some form, were paid for the shoots and not using anyone really.
Were the paintmates used for profit? No since the site does not generate revenue through the sales of these videos. The videos are in fact free to the public to view via YouTube
Were the paintmates an object of selfish utiliztion? Nope not really the site shares the videos for free via YouTube, I think Iz was quite unselfish myself with these videos. Sharing them with all the people in paintball regardless of sex or sexual orentation.

Now that I’ve clarified that a bit I need to continue my rant about this. Sex sells. End of story. In marketing and advertising the utilization of attractive objects, whether it be a nice shiny sports car, or a lovely half dressed girl on that shiny sports car, attraction is the name of the game. Making a person desire or want a product. In the paintmate videos thus far the site has utilized the attraction of women to the predominatly male dominated sport of paintball. The site has made very good use of its cooperative partners products in the videos as 95-99% of the entire video the paintmate is holding, wearing or using a partnered product. From an advertising-marketing standpoint I’d say the goal was achieved. I agree with some of the responses in general such as maybe the girls should have atleast TRIED the sport first before modeling for it. A suggestion is maybe have some clips in the video that includes them actually playing.

However there are people in the sport whom I would say exploit the sport to their benifit. Keep in mind this hypothetical person in my example is a mixture of several people I know in paintball and does not point directly or call out one specific person. For the sake of the example we will call this person Andi. Andi is a somewhat young cute girl who has been in paintball for a few years. She has a hugely sucessful following on all the social sites. She “reps” a couple of different clothing sites. Andi is nice to those who have something or think they can help her futher her celeb status. She tweets what seems like philisophical tirades but are more or less words of a spoiled brat who did not get their way. Those who disagree with Andi become the enemy and usually blocked from her social sites. Is Andi the one exploiting the sport? What does she do for these companies? Does she give anything back? We see Andi’s like this at every event. They bat their lashes, wear tight clothing, get free stuff, hang around the pros – but for what reason? Do the people on the receiving end of the batting eyelashes get something in return – such as photos or product review on a popular website or in a magazine? Yes I know MANY Andi’s. I have know whole teams of Andi’s. People who thought that everything should be handed to them because they are Andi. Nothing to offer to the sport/company/team in return. They manulipate people to get what they want when they want with no intention or missguided intentions of returning the favor. I see Andi’s at every event I go to. Usually walking around in free jereys, holding stacks of free merchandise pretending to represent this company or that company but in reality its just a ploy for attention. I’ve seen Andi’s on the net. Leaving messages on pages like “Hey XX , where’s my stuff? Did you send it yet? I gotta have it by such and such day!” To me its a bit tacky. If one has a geniune business relationship/sponsorship with a company send a email not blab it across the whole social community. My advice to the Andi’s out there – either help out the sport or get out of the sport. Give more than what you take, and when you get something atleast have the courtesy to say thank you and lend a hand. Whether it be a few minutes in a vendors booth or maybe handing out flyers/stickers/promotions at an event. Every little bit counts.

So who’s exploiting who?

Productivity

Ami — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 06:52:34 +0000

Today has been a multitasking rollercoaster ride. I’ve done work for the company as well as unpacked the “new” apartment a bit more including a good once over with the vaccum and mop. My furry boys “helped” a bit with the dusting….they replaced all the dust where I took it from more than once. Same goes for my lovely clean floors….now filled with the tiny three sets of pawprints. It seems, though I didnt know this common fact, that the smell of newly mopped floors triggers the onset of the NASCAT 500 hot laps. Did you?

Now its time to go back to work on contracts for next season (yes they are filing in already!) as well as photo cds and of course homework.