Sometimes when things are slow at the studio I Google myself.  When it's really slow like it is now I Google myself several times a day.  (I can't help it, I gotta see how famous I am.) 

It was while I was Googling myself last week that I discovered something.  I discovered that you can't keep a good idea to yourself very long.

I came upon a chap in the UK who's making engine pictures like mine.  This is another thing I anticipated would happen when the book came out.  However, I wasn't prepared for how I would react to it.  When I first saw the pictures I thought they were mine... they were that good.  But on closer inspection I could see several major differences in style and technique.

"Usurper!" I thought.  This was MY idea and I didn't want anyone horning in on it!  And I definitely didn't need any competition in the tiny niche of photographic motorcycle engine art.  I was immediately incensed that someone would steal what was rightfully mine!  He was even using my black background and frame lines!  Usurper!  Usurper!

I decided not to send an angry email until I thought it over.  That seems to always be a good idea.  After thinking about it I realized a few things.  First, I didn't invent taking pictures of motorcycle engines, I just exploited it first.  Secondly, anyone can make any picture they want to - he wasn't violating any of my copyrights.  Thirdly, he wasn't actively selling anything, he was mostly just displaying his work.  And lastly... didn't I put a chapter in the book with step-by-step instructions on how I make my engine pictures?

I calmed down by the evening and decided to send an email to the usurper congratulating him on the quality of his images and to see if he had seen the book.  And.. I wanted him to know that I knew.
 
His response indicated that he was a young photographer and that my book had inspired him.  He understood that motorcycle engines contained organic shapes and that he was just exploring that fact for himself.  He even called me the Master.  Ahh, shucks.

Okay.  Maybe.  I calmed down.  The usurper's images didn't use his name under the title like mine did.  That was the reason I included my name prominently in my pictures, to identify my work as the genuine article.  Well, okay.  I kept repeating to myself that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  And that there was nothing I could do to stop it.  I'd have to get used to it.

In other news...

I completed designing the poster for the Chief Blackhawk Davenport Iowa Swap Meet (click on poster pic to view larger size).  I even delivered it earlier than I thought.  And better yet, they liked it.  I just produce what I like and hope other folks like it as much as I do.

A collage of engines was their idea, but designing it in my art style was mine.  I like black, but I wasn't sure they would.  It's a different poster for them and I'm appreciative that it was accepted with enthusiasm.  They've even entertained the idea of a contest for folks to name the 250 cc engines used in the collage.  That would be tough I suspect.  There are a couple of hard ones.  But I'm sure that several collaborating antique motorcycle experts would be able to come up with the correct list.  But it would be a real challenge.

Look me up if you attend the Davenport Swap Meet next September.  I'll be there... somewhere.

Enjoy the ride!

Daniel Peirce [trickphotog],
Lord of Light, Master of the Pixel
Grapevine, Texas, USA

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