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I hope you’re enjoying the letters I’ve been sharing. Have you seen yourself in any of them?
This post is a bit different: I’m featuring requests asking for my permission.
The first time someone wrote and asked permission to use one of my photos, I was excited. I don’t remember all of the details, but it was a farm equipment company somewhere in the Midwest, and they wanted to use this photograph from the Havin’ a Hay Day post I did in June 2012. It was going to be part of the calendar they planned to send to their customers.
This day remains one of my all-time favorite memories!
I gave permission and requested they send me a calendar when it was printed. I was eager to see my photo in print! They promised they would . . . but I never heard another word. Did they print the calendar? Who knows?
Another time someone asked permission to use one of my photographs, I couldn’t give permission. Yes, I took the photo, but it was taken of a photograph hanging in the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I had to laugh because I took some beautiful photos that day (the subject matter is incredible!), but they were only interested in the one I didn’t take. Even so, The Carpenter and the Staircase post remains one of my most popular of all time.
Photographer unknown
And then there was the “out of the blue” day about five years ago when this email arrived . . .
I work for The Dallas Morning News’ HomeCenter section. Our writer has written a story about adapting decorations for more than one holiday. Our designer found your website and would like to use a couple of the photos from the site that show using decorations for more than one holiday. May we have your permission to use a few photos?
Once I got over my shock, I gave permission—and received this tear sheet the day after the article ran.
And then I wrote Holidays Don’t Require Starting From Scratch telling more about the experience, and included the tablescape post where the photos first appeared. Since holidays are once again on the horizon, perhaps this is a timely post for you to read if you missed it the first time—or re-read for encouragement!
I know some lifestyle bloggers are “big names” and have their photos all over the place—or their homes photographed by big-name publications. They’ve worked hard to achieve that recognition, and I’m thrilled for them. But that’s not who I am.
As nice as an income stream would be, I’m not willing to clutter your experience here by including ads and pop-ups. I’ve never been interested in becoming “big name” . . . only in having this place where I can come and write—and you can (hopefully) be inspired, encouraged, and challenged.
But I do take seriously the words I write and the photos I take, so when you share them (feel free!), I simply ask that you credit My Place to Yours™ and (if you have an online presence) link back to this blog. Only if your plan includes commercial use is permission required.
