By: Chuck Miller
Uncategorized

General Philip Sheridan gave me money last week.

I have to go back to 2011 for this. Maybe 2010, because that’s when I took the photo.

I was in downtown Albany, taking photos wherever I could – just testing out my new-to-me Nikon D700 and having some fun. And as I walked around the Capitol building, I decided to capture a photo of the statue of General Philip Sheridan. Sheridan is riding his horse, and the Capitol building towers are in the distance.

That photo was taken nearly 13 years ago.

And last week, General Sheridan gave me some cash.

Maybe I should explain by showing you the image.

Yep – at one point in time, I submitted this photo to Getty Images. And every so often, this photo gets used – either in a magazine, or in a news article, or somewhere. And when it’s used … I get paid.

And it kind of spurred me. I really should consider entering more of my images with Getty.

So I went through my archive, and found a dozen images to submit to Getty Images. To make my life simple, I only submitted pictures that contained no people, or if there are people in the picture, all you see are backs of heads. I also stayed away from photographing private property – i.e., someone’s house, no matter how spectacular or squalid it appears.

Now while most of my pictures are considered “under review,” I did receive word that two of my images are now part of the Getty Images collective, which means that if they’re used in some publication or campaign, Chuck gets some money.

This shot from last year …

Hudson River Sunrise. (c) Chuck Miller.

Wow. I really, really like this photo, it’s just one of those images that really didn’t make that many waves in Competition Season.

That being said … this picture also made the Getty Images portfolio.

Burt Henry Bridge, North Bennington, Vermont. (c) Chuck Miller.

This is actually one of my “Buena Vista Panorama” film-on-widescreen shots, and the first one to actually make a successful portfolio.

Now the drawback to these being accepted by Getty is that, once they’re part of the collective, I can’t enter them in competition any more. I don’t want the photos disqualified because they’re now part of a professional collection.

But still … this is pretty damn thrilling.

And now I want to enter MORE of my images into the Getty archive.

Especially if it means I get some sweet, sweet lucre.