V1 Issue 1

Why Do Photographers Need
Professional Liability Coverage?
Small business service providers face claims from upset clients. In today’s competitive
marketplace, small business service providers may easily face professional liability claims.
Business clients expect more than ever before, and they are quick to allege negligence,
misrepresentation or inaccurate advice when a professionals service performance falls short
of their expectations.
• Clients expect more from professional service providers.
• Contractual agreements do not prevent claims.
• Jurors look to business professionals as deep pockets.
Here is an Example of a Photographer’s Errors & Omissions - A family hired a photographer
to take family portraits as well as individual pictures of their three children. The agreement with
the photographer stipulated that they would retain all pictures, and that the photographer
would retain all negatives for in-house use only. While shopping at a local clothing store, the
family discovered several of their pictures had been sold as advertising photos to the store.
Further investigation revealed that several other photos had been sold by the photographer
to catalog companies for use in upcoming advertisements. The family sued alleging breach
of contract. The claim settled for $50,000 with legal fees of $20,000.
Coverage – Some Miscellaneous Professional Liability programs are designed for business
professionals as an enhancement to their current Business Owners Policy. This coverage
responds to Third Party loss caused by a “wrongful act” arising out of ‘professional services.’
It can cover liability and defense costs from claims that allege errors or omissions in the
rendering of professional services.
Protects insureds from “Wrongful Acts” arising out of Professional Services:
• Negligent Act
• Errors and Omissions
• Misleading Statement or Misstatement
Limits of Insurance – Annual Limits ranging from $10,000 to $1 million with Deductible
options from $1,000 to $5,000.
Disclaimer: Circumstances of each claim vary. Whether or not coverage applies is determined
by the individual facts of a claim.
Howard Burkholz
Allstate
801.451.8880
1361 N Hwy 89, #16
Farmington UT 84025
Howard Burkholz is a Sponsor of OPPA
Image Titles -
The 13 th Element
You may know about the 12 Elements of a Merit Print but do you know about the
unofficial 13th Element—Titles?
By Lisa Dillon, M.Photog., CPP, Cr, FP-OR
For new competitors, one of
the most difficult parts of
the Competition Game can be
coming up with a title for your
image. It’s a new concept—
clients don’t expect titles.
And what makes a good title
anyway? It’s not one of the 12
elements, so how important is a
title, really? Well, let’s start from
the beginning.
First, your title is the only
chance you have to speak
directly to judges so don’t
waste it! The title is your chance
to direct the judges’ attention
to exactly what you want them
to see. Sometimes the subject
of your image isn’t the obvious
house on the hill—it’s the small
dog in corner that is standing
guard over his charges. How do
you get the judges to see that
first? With a title that directs
them to that spot. Instead of
calling your image “House on
the Hill” consider a title like
“Strong Sentinel” or “Keeping
Watch”.
Lisa Dillon
What makes a good title? A
good title will take the viewer
on a journey or pull them into
a story. Storytelling is one of
the 12 elements and your title
should be a big part of telling
your image’s story. Don’t
waste your one opportunity
to speak to the judges with a
trite, overused title that doesn’t
further your story. A title such
as “Summer Beauty” does not
bring me, as a judge, along
with you into the image. I can
probably see that the subject
is beautiful and tell by the
surroundings that it is summer
time. So what would be a better
title? How about “The Edge of
17” or “Ready to Spread Her
Wings” or “Soaking in the Last
of Summer’s Bounty”
It’s also important to avoid what
I like to call visual titles. That’s
a title that is a play on words
that you have to actually read
to get. Using something like
quotation marks or a homonym
may not be well understood
14 • FOCUS OREGON
SPRING 2018 FOCUS OREGON • 15