Edu-Graphics Photo Bank Description

A Photo Bank is a catalog of pictures. Print versions of photo banks have been around for years. Photographers submit their work to the bank and, if it's accepted, it is marketed for publication. Publishers then pay a fee to the photo bank based on usage (ie. as cover images, story images, use in film, etc.). Royalties on the images are then passed on to the photographer. The concept of having a digital photo bank is almost the same as for print images, but maintaining ownership of the images becomes a little trickier. What I have presented on the Edu-Graphics.com web site are two sizes of my original images -- thumbnails and slides. The slide sized images, large as they are, are not the same as the original images, which are several times larger. The original image files are the equivalent of the print photographer's negative -- they prove that I am the owner of the images and therefore own the copyrights to all of the images.


		WHAT IS A PHOTO BANK?
	A Photo Bank is a catalog of pictures. Print versions of photo banks have been around for years. Photographers submit their work to the bank and, if it's accepted, it is marketed for publication. Publishers then pay a fee to the photo bank based on usage (ie. as cover images, story images, use in film, etc.). Royalties on the images are then passed on to the photographer. The concept of having a digital photo bank is almost the same as for print images, but maintaining ownership of the images becomes a little trickier. What I have presented on the Edu-Graphics.com web site are two sizes of my original images -- thumbnails and slides. The slide sized images, large as they are, are not the same as the original images, which are several times larger. The original image files are the equivalent of the print photographer's negative -- they prove that I am the owner of the images and therefore own the copyrights to all of the images.
	What Will Edu-Graphics.com Provide for Educators?
Edu-Graphics.com provides teachers with "one stop shopping". It's the place to find the very best images for biotechnology education. Yes, you can do images searches on Google or Yahoo or Ask. And, of course, you can add them to your curriculum. I've done it over and over for the teachers I support at Foothill College when they suddenly want a small example of an organism or piece of equipment, etc. It's great -- as long as you don't want to project the image or enlarge it. Most of the pictures people post to the web are small and will pixilate when enlarged. They'll fade out when you route them through your overhead projector on to the screen at the front of the classroom. And you'll find that what looked nice and sharp in a tiny image on your computer screen, is actually out of focus, at least in spots. When I set up the camera to shoot for the web, I'm using a professional grade Nikon, mounted on a tripod and fitted with a cable release. By doing that, I can close down the shutter and lengthen the exposure time so that the whole image is in focus -- if that's what I'm looking for. Occasionally, I blur parts of a picture in order to emphasize one aspect. Take a look at the image of the pipet ends, where I've intentionally blurred most of the pipet so that the sizes on the plunger ends become the dominant feature. After shooting, every image is computer edited, not only for maximum clarity, but to saturate the colors for better projection capability. All of my images are designed to deliver knowledge, not sell a product. Sometimes brand names do appear -- it's inevitable. That doesn't imply endorsement. It just means that it was what was available to shoot. Do you want to teach students how to avoid "over-cranking" you expensive micro-pipettors? Do you want to show your HPLC students which injector syringe to use? My images are specifically designed to help with just that sort of issue. Do you have students who need help with the basics? Why not show them the difference between an Ehrlenmeyer flask and a boiling flask? Show them what a cell scraper is. Show them how to find the correct size serological pipet! Do you have students who need a little extra help learning microscopy basics? Send them to the Microscope Study Guide!
What Won't Edu-Graphics.com Provide?
	Edu-Graphics.com will never pretend that it knows how to write curriculum for you! You won't find lesson plans or procedural outlines. You won't find any text that says how to use the pictures. In short, you won't find anything that limits your creativity or presumes to know the best way to use the pictures. I can only promise to deliver images that show respect for both the subject matter and you as educators. And, unless you decide you want to use my pictures in the textbook you're writing or for advertising purposes, or for any profit-making, non-educational reason -- you'll never get a bill from me!
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