Multiple photographers and writers for Outdoor Photographer Magazine say they haven’t been paid for their work since last year and the publication’s new owner indicates that these contributors only have themselves to blame.

Outdoor Photographer Magazine (and the associated website) has been a major player in the photography space for many years. It was purchased by The BeBop Channel Corporation earlier this year as part of an acquisition of Madavor Media.

It seems that in that acquisition, BeBop also picked up significant debt as Outdoor Photographer has allegedly not paid multiple contributors for several months, stretching back into the fall of 2022. PetaPixel spoke to multiple photographers who say they are still owed upwards of thousands of dollars. All photographers mentioned are being kept anonymous for their legal protection.

One photographer says that an article he wrote that was accompanied by eight photos was published last November, for which he delivered all of the assets on August 16, 2022.

“Outdoor Photographer’s own contract stipulated payment within eight weeks,” they say. “Here we are, without payment, six to nine months later depending on how you’re counting [and] BeBop will not respond to anybody’s emails.”

“Outdoor Photographer Magazine owes me $1,500 for a cover photo and article that ran [last year]. The way they have handled their cash flow issues has been appalling and I’d personally never work with this publication again,” another photographer says.

“I have a long history with Outdoor Photographer, from the second issue in 1985,” another photographer adds. “Only two times since then have I not been paid. The first time was when the founders walked away in bankruptcy in 2015. When Madavor took over, they made restitution for my loss caused by their predecessor Werner. The second time is for my most recent column.”

This photographer says that they understand the publication’s editors were laid off last week and claims that at this point, Outdoor Photographer is effectively defunct.

“I worked with excellent editors Rob Sheppard, Chris Robinson, and Wes Pitts, and they gave me a forum to write whatever I wanted since my column launched in 1997. In my efforts to improve the overall quality of the magazine, I recommended many photographers that have appeared in their issues.”

BeBop CEO Foists the Blame on Contributors

BeBop’s CEO and Artistic Director Gregory Charles Royal responded to PetaPixel in an email regarding the claims and effectively says that the fault for this situation lands on the shoulders of contributors. He does not, however, deny that many remain unpaid.

All quotes from Mr. Royal are unchanged from the email PetaPixel received, and all grammar, syntax, and spelling errors in said quotes are his.

“In taking over this company that was grossly mismanaged on an unbelievable level, one glaring question arises for the 100+ contributors that find themselves in this predicament: Why on earth would you continue to work for a company that was not paying you. For months upon months!” Mr. Royal says.

Mr. Royal indicates that he believes these recent social media outbursts are tied to the displeasure that BeBop has elected to shut down multiple publications — for example, Imaging Resource was closed earlier this month in a fashion that was so sudden, it caught the publication’s founder by surprise.

“Your community wants to criticize because we have taken sites down etc,” Mr. Royal says.

“But these properties lost a lot  of money, as to why the contributors were not paid- and it was reckless for them to be hired to the extent they were in the first pkace.   No you can’t blame it Covid or paper shortages, it was arrogance and a total disregard by some in management and certain editors,” Royal continues.

“The chickens come home to roost.”

Broken Contracts, Payment Plans, and Unpaid Bills

When asked directly if The BeBop Channel Corporation would honor the payments owned to contributors, Mr. Royal said yes, but noted that such payments would be delivered over time.

“Of course, but they receive weekly payments (all be them incremental) to at least pay down their balances. They are distributed evenly across the board as to why some contributors are upset on the nominal weekly amounts.”

PetaPixel has learned of no less than 15 contributors to Outdoor Photographer remain either mostly or fully unpaid for their work. While some have been paid in part as Mr. Royal claims, others have not received any replies to their communications and remain fully unpaid.

Additionally, those that are seeing payments are seeing extremely low values. Some photographers claim they have only received about $60 to date out of the thousands that are owed and others say that the weekly payments range anywhere between $15 and $20.

“The new owners have been making steady payments to me, albeit at only $20 per week, since April 21,” one photographer confirms.

Another photographer tells PetaPixel that at the rate of $15 per week that they are currently receiving payments, it would take two years for them to be paid in full.

“I met their deadline to submit my materials in September 2022 but they have not honored the contract I signed which states that payment would be made no more than eight weeks after publication,” they say.

“I have at least three colleagues who had work in issues before mine who have not yet seen a dime, so the CEO is either mistaken or lying,” another photographer says in response to Mr. Royal’s claims.

BeBop CEO to the Photo Community: Pool Your Resources

As mentioned, Mr. Royal tells PetaPixel that he believes most of this outcry is related to his choice to shut down multiple photography websites. He believes that if the photography community truly misses these outlets, they should put their money where their mouth is, so to speak.

“In response to the scores of emails we receive from contributors and readers, we offer you to pool your resources and purchase these beloved photo properties that have this support we are constantly hearing about,” Mr. Royal says.

Mr. Royal shared a banner advertisement (below) that his company is currently running on several of the publications BeBop now owns, which is offering the “as is” bundle of Digital Photo Pro, Imaging Resource, Digital Photo, Image Creators Network, and Outdoor Photographer for $500,000.

A second, larger version of the ad is also running across the network of sites.

“Even though I am a horn player, I will not hold my breath or maybe the community proves me wrong!” he says, indicating he either does not believe the photo community is dedicated to preserving these outlets or that they are incapable of raising the capital — or both.

After PetaPixel thanked Mr. Royal for his time, he responded only with, “👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾✌️✌️✌️.”

The Close Up Photographer Of The Year (CUPOTY) contest has released the winners of its ‘Minimal’ Challenge, decided by the CUPOTY community each year and running separately from the annual main competition and with a different theme.

This year, it celebrates images with a minimalist style.

‘We asked photographers to show us work that fits the description ‘minimal’,” explains Tracy Calder, co-founder of CUPOTY. “Essentially, what we were looking for was clean, uncluttered images with few elements. What we got was so much more. Everything from stink bugs to springtails and plant seeds were put before the judges, each picture a beautiful example of how simplifying a scene can really amplify its message.”

CUPOTY, founded in 2018 by photojournalists Tracy and Dan Calder, is an annual competition organized in association with Affinity Photo to encourage photographers to slow down, enjoy their craft, and make long-lasting connections with the world around them through close-up, macro- and micro-photography.

The main competition is open for entries now. The Early Bird deadline is May 31, 2023. The final deadline is July 9,2023.

Hungarian photographer Ferenc Kocsis is the overall winner of CUPOTY’s Close-up Challenge: minimal, with a beautiful image of Danube mayflies in flight (below).

“Danube mayflies take flight some time in August for about a week, flying at nightfall for only an hour or so,” said Kocsis. “The important thing is to be there at the right time.”

“This female Danube mayfly, swollen with egg clusters, flies over the Danube River in Hungary and lays its eggs close to where it was born. The larvae that live in the riverbed hatch in April, and in the last stage of their development, in August, they fly for the last dance of their one-year life.”

The third place of the competition went to this mountain hare sitting at midnight during a snowstorm in Norway. ‘”It was a rough winter evening in the very far north of the country and, my goodness, I was chilled to the bone, waiting for signs of life,” said Stefan Gerrits. “This hare seemed to have goose bumps, which made its hair stand on end.”

“A spider had spun its web right in front of our attic window, allowing me to photograph it against the sky,” said Gabi Swart. “Due to overexposing, it appeares almost plastic and transparent as the spider’s web disappeared.’”

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“I love finding hidden details within ordinary macro subjects and this rough stink bug was no exception,” said Benjamin Salb. “I encountered it while out at 4 a.m. during a hunt last autumn. It was a chilly morning and the few subjects I found didn’t move that much. As a result, I was able to position the stick the stink bug was sitting on in the air to isolate it from the background and show off its complex details.”

“I found a colony of carpenter ants in the Black Mountain Nature Reserve in Canberra,” said Yicai Chang. “They kept shuttling among the leaves of a grass tree as if looking for a new food source. When one ant climbed onto one of the leaves, this simple but miraculous scene came into view. The ant, the leaves and the focal plane seem to be a split fraction of time. This perfectly fits with the theme that I was longing to express: the connection between nature and the universe.”

“This is not Earth from outer space, but the swirling body of an elephant seal,” said Alex Pansier. “A few years ago, I went on a photo tour to Antarctica with a stopover in South Georgia. The beaches were teeming with fur seals and elephant seals. This particular one was so relaxed I managed to photograph it quietly with some nice backlight in low key – my favourite style.”

“I love the beautiful trumpet-shape of the Calla Lily and wanted to create a minimal, uncluttered image with simple lines,” said Jane van Bostelen. “I found the strongest composition to be one where the tip of the petal was in focus and the rest was thrown out of focus using a shallow depth of field.”

“Walking with co-students of my photography class in the forests of Normafa, Budapest, during the fall looking for interesting macro subjects I noticed that the forest was full of Cyclosa spiders,” said Krisztina Macsai. “I searched to find one of these orb-weavers that would allow me to photograph it at this unusual angle.”

“This bird’s-eye view of an American crocodile was made over the Tarcoles River of Costa Rica, from a bridge,” said Lovre Culina. “Crocodiles are ambush predators and spend most of their time being still and waiting. My aim was to depict this incredible marvel of nature in its element, while leaving the viewer slightly unsure about what is being shown.”

Despite their painterly appearances, each Colour Study starts with a camera and a series of photographs of papers and colour acetates, layered three to five deep on a stack of glass shelves.

“The images are layered and blended in the computer to create abstractions that reference contemporary art, including pointillism, color fields, transparencies, collage and painterly techniques,” said Paul Gravett. “The hallmark of this experimental process is unpredictability and discovery, leading to startling and unexpected images that blur the boundary of photography and contemporary art, tricking the eye and testing our assumptions about photography.”

All the finalists here.

Self-assignments are a great way for professional and enthusiast photographers to practice, improve their skills, and challenge themselves creatively. Here are some benefits of creating self-assignments and some examples to get you started:

Practice and improvement

Self-assignments allow photographers to practice their craft regularly, which can help them develop their skills and become more confident in their abilities. For example, a photographer might set a goal of taking one self-portrait per week to practice posing, lighting, and composition.

Creative challenges for self-assignments

Self-assignments allow photographers to push themselves creatively by setting new goals and trying new techniques. For example, a photographer might challenge themselves to take photographs only in black and white for a week or to capture a specific theme or subject matter uniquely and creatively.

Personal growth

Self-assignments can be a way for photographers to learn and grow as artists, as they allow photographers to experiment with new styles and techniques and try things they may not have otherwise considered. For example, a photographer might aim to take photographs using only natural light for a week or shoot a series of images in a specific location or with a particular subject.

Portfolio building

Self-assignments can be a great way for photographers to build their portfolios and showcase their skills to potential clients. For example, a photographer might set a goal of creating a series of images that showcase their expertise in a specific area, such as portrait photography or landscape photography.

Some examples of self-assignments that photographers might consider include:

• Taking a series of photographs using only natural light
• Shooting a series of portraits in black and white
• Capturing a specific theme or subject matter in a creative way
• Experimenting with different compositions and angles
• Taking photographs in a specific location or environment
• Shooting a series of images using a specific lens or camera setting
• Capturing a specific emotion or mood through photography

Overall, self-assignments are a great way for photographers to practice their craft, challenge themselves creatively, and grow as artists. They can be a fun and rewarding way to improve your skills and build your portfolio, no matter your level of experience.