Photo courtesy ASMP member Bob Werre
Chapters/Forums
Specialty Groups in the ASMP Forums
ASMP members are involved in various photography specialty areas, and the ASMP Forums were created to host discussions about topics related to professional development, business resources, and client connections in the specialty groups.
Architecture
The Architectural Photography Specialty Group serves as the leading forum for architectural photographers around the world. The group’s aim is to foster greater communication within the photographic community and to increase understanding and cooperation among architectural photographers, clients, related trade organizations, and the entire design community. Conversations range from which technology to contracts to how to get started in the field. And everything else.
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Fine Art
The Fine Art Specialty Group is a community of photographers interested in creating, exhibiting, and selling fine art photography, recognizing that Fine Art is practiced on a full-time and part-time basis, and that some photographers who never set out to show in galleries, museums, and other venues but end up there anyway.
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Food
The Food Specialty Group is dedicated to education and outreach for people involved in culinary photography and related industries in the contexts of commercial work, editorial, and travel.
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Video
Video is an increasing presence in photographer’s lives at every level, and in every area, commercial, editorial, retail, even fine art. This is a forum for discussions related to multimedia and video photography, including audio. The emphasis is on business practices, professional standards, client relations, and discussions of techniques and equipment.
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Advocacy
ASMP was founded in order to do advocacy. In 1944, a group of photographers, unhappy with their relationships with magazines, realized they could gain more control over their work – and their ability to make a living – and founded ASMP to promote themselves and their ideals. Since that time, our advocacy has extended to working directly with government entities locally and nationally, including the Copyright Office, Representatives, and the Senate.
ASMP has been instrumental in helping craft the process of registering images, and more recently, in efforts to create a “small claims” court to deal with infringement and other issues where creators can represent themselves without need for an attorney. Our efforts are ongoing, and we focus on issues that directly effect how photographers make a living, whether they are new to the field or established. Be sure to read the Welcome post to learn more.
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Assistants and Emerging Photographers
Open to everyone at every level – and to non-assistants and established professionals, this forum is dedicated to helping assistants and newly-emerging photographers succeed and advance professionally, recognizing that those labels are fluid; some people choose to become full-time assistants as a career, other photographers never assist at all, and everything in-between. We welcome you all – check out the Welcome post on the forum itself.
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Chapter Leaders and Staff
This forum is open to all chapter and national board members, and the staff of ASMP. Most of the things chapter leaders deal with have been experienced by their leadership peers around the country, and by national board members (many of whom were on chapter boards, and all of whom are now Liaisons, whose job is to help chapter boards accomplish whatever they need to accomplish). You can discuss everything from how vouchers work, to planning events, to how to run contests – anything at all that chapter leaders face.
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Drones
Drones of every kind are now a permanent part of the photo industry. Some ASMP members have been doing this work for many years, and some are just thinking about how to go about gaining experience. This forum is for everyone at every level to learn from each other.
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General Discussion
This forum is wide open – anything you think is not addressed in the other forums, things you found of interest to other professionals, questions for staff and board, ideas, complaints, and suggestions. It’s up to you!
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Legal
This forum is moderated by our Executive Director and an attorney retained by ASMP. This organization has imbedded in its genes that we are all here to understand legal issues and to support professionalism by knowing how to craft solid contracts, understand the needs of clients, and protect and promote the rights of creators. Feel free to ask about anything. Be sure to read the first-ever post by Executive Director Tom Kennedy, and attorney Nathan Hoerschelmann to understand how to benefit from this forum.
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