I can has photo cred?

Does this look familiar?

Ubisoft sent me an email asking if they could use that photo in a promo for their new skateboard game and they were willing to pay. Of course I said yes!

Then I got hit with the California paperwork required to be an out of state contractor AND a 7% out of state withholding fee that I’m sure I’ll never get back. (Although it would be worth trying just for the IOU from CA) The Ubisoft IP folks were pleasant to deal with, but it’s got to be tough trying to make a profit in CA these days. I don’t envy them at all.

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0 Responses to I can has photo cred?

  1. Breda says:

    That is just so cool! Yay you! (the internet is awesome)

  2. Bob S. says:

    Congrats….that is awesome.

    Very cool, now you can add professional photographer/graphic artist to your CV

  3. alan says:

    In the film days more than 20 years ago, I was a “professional” photographer. Even worked for a few newspapers. I really enjoyed photography, but doing it for a living burned me out so bad I didn’t even pick up a camera again until my daughter came along 10 years ago.

    I still have my old Nikon F2 in a closet somewhere.

  4. Linoge says:

    Damn. Envious I am. Congratulations!

  5. Old NFO says:

    Good for you! And yeah, it’ll be a cold day in hell collecting from CA…

  6. Borepatch says:

    That’s why everyone’s leaving California and moving to Texas …

    It would be cool to have a framed California IOU hanging on the wall. I’d pay you cash money for one. 😉

  7. Stingray says:

    Now set it up so they have to maintain a connection to your blog at all times in order to display the photo, verifying in real time that the md5 on it matches the md5 on yours, and forcing the removal of the picture should either their servers or yours hiccup until the connection is re-established.

  8. B Woodman says:

    Yes you can has photo credit.
    But considering CA, can you AFFORDS photo credit.

  9. ErnestThing says:

    Hey, just be happy you don’t LIVE here. If you get 1099’d for (I think the cut off is) $600, and reside in Ca, Ca will assume you’re self employed, and hit you with the self employment tax. Escaping that tax status is not fun.

    Also, assume the feds will take their piece and notify your local gov come tax time. Local govs want you to file for a business license before you start business, so you might get a surprise from city hall after April 15th with some fun penalties. Just check with them first to make sure you’re exempt. It’s a lot easier if they hear it from you first, and not the feds.

    Awesome pic, and awesome photo credit!

    PS, if you really want to get an IOU, overpay your state taxes (assuming you’re not getting a refund (hope you don’t have to file a full return)) as late as you can for best chances. Bonus points if you can get an IOU for a hilarious amount of money. I imagine out-of-state business refunds are pretty low on the priority list when the money gets thin.

  10. Kristopher says:

    Out of state contractor my ass.

    You do business entirely outside of the state of California. Ubisoft should come to you in your state, and pay you the full price for your photo in cash. You are not a Ubisoft employee or contractor.

    If the Caltards want to collect tax, they can victimize people who live in that barbarous state.

  11. mike w. says:

    Pretty damn cool Alan, except for the CA burecratic shenanigans.