Imitation is NOT flattery to me. Sorry!! :o)

We all know the saying "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery", some of us get a little warmth in our hearts and a grin from ear to ear when someone likes what we do, and wants to be EXACTLY like us.

Unfortunately, I am not one of those people, and this is probably why I don't associate with other photographers. Everyone steal from eachother and I would rather be my own person than be a clone of someone else.

When it comes to Photography, I give my everything. I go above and beyond to make a client smile with a perfect portrait, whether it be photos of them with their family, their engagement or birthday shindig, or a mother and daughter photo shoot, I give them the very best, I concentrate solely on them and their photographic needs and wants,  and I feel rewarded within myself when I see their faces light up when they see themselves in a brand new light, and when they like the work that I have done for them. Work that I have perfected and on countless evenings, worked through the night with ample amounts of coffee and nicotine to have each photograph in flawless shape and structure.  

I'm also very territorial, and when I see someone trying to ride on the coattails of my hard work, I try and shake them off as soon as possible. I don't want to be affiliated with people who don't have any personalities of their own and prefer to live off other people's labour, to be a leech instead of an original human being, with their own unique thing going on.

I have just been copied, word for word, on my price lists, while helping out an old high school friend when she got interested in photography.

Aaaah, now I remember, the ol' "I'm going to pretend I want to know about your prices and that I'm going to hire you, but actually I'm just going to copy you, so that I can charge the same. I can't take photos worth sh*t, who will notice anyway? If I charge them the same, maybe they'll think I'm a professional too, and I'll rip them off even more!!" trick.  - Yeah, people do fall for that one, believe it or not.

It all started very innocently. She contacted me on facebook after a few months of meeting up again at our ten year high school runion. Of course we were both taking photos but I wasn't so much, I was catching up with old high school friends and getting the most out of the evening.

She added me onto facebook, and we started chatting. A few days later she contacted me on chat saying that she would love a photo shoot from me, if she could pay me to take photos of her and her family, as well as her clothing line that she's trying to promote. She asked me about prices and where I buy my equipment, I agree to a photo shoot, and we exchange numbers.

About 2 weeks later, after hearing nothing from her, she comments some of my photos in the morning, and I e-mail her asking if she's still up for a photo shoot, if I could squeeze her in sometime the next week, since I had a few dates open in my schedule. She told me that her husband bought her a camera and she was starting her own photography company.

Now, I realise that it came as a shock to me, starting a photography company out of the blue is no laughing matter and not as easy as it sounds. There's a lot of hard work and commitment being put into it for it to actually work, but nevertheless, I congratulated her for the bold move and gave her help where she needed it, even sending her websites on photography, and editing programs.

I drew the line when she started hounding me about letting her borrow my photography equipment. Talk about dedication to your craft. Having a photography career without a proper tripod? Ridiculous.
I saw the website this evening, I am not impressed, to say the least. 

What I really want to say is, plagiarism is a crime. Doesn't matter which way you go about it, you will get caught. I might have been the first victim of photo as well as personality theft, but there will be other people who will not be as leniant as I was, she will probably get hers in the end and hear from another photographer's attorney. I on the other hand, can't be bothered with her. I've got enough stuff in my life keeping me completely occupied than to give her another single thought.

All I want to say to everyone, not just her, is:

Get your own personality, stop stealing from others. It will be your downfall in the end, no one else's.  You're making yourself look bad, and most importantly, you're making other photographers look bad by stealing their uniqueness, and originality. I really do wish you the best, and I hope you find yourself through out this process, not who you pretend to be. After all, no one likes a pretender.