Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => The Coffee Corner => Topic started by: HSakols on March 01, 2013, 10:09:44 am
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I'm curious how you make a living so you can pursue your photography. If you are a professional photographer, I curious what it is that generates the most income? eg weddings, advertising, architecture..... Somehow I don't think many are earning enough to live on by selling fine art prints alone. Thanks to the fact that I don't have children and have a job as a teacher, I have some money left over for my hobby.
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I fill young heads full of stuff & nonsense, at a UK university. It doesn't pay enough to keep me in the D800e & big fat flashy lenses-style I'd like though :(
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I earn my living as an IT consultant. Photography is my hobby.
Computers used to be a hobby many years ago, but after they became my profession, it stopped being fun. So I'm keen on NOT turning photography into a job.
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I filled young heads full of stuff & nonsense at a U.S. University for 35 years, grabbing time now and then for a little photography. The job paid a pittance, as Chairman Bill has suggested, but with my retirement I can now spend more time on photography.
I just took down a gallery exhibit with 38 of my prints, 9 of which sold! The proceeds will almost cover the costs of putting on the show.
The best photographers that I know personally all subsidize their passion with income from other sources.
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I'm curious how you make a living so you can pursue your photography. If you are a professional photographer, I curious what it is that generates the most income? eg weddings, advertising, architecture..... Somehow I don't think many are earning enough to live on by selling fine art prints alone. Thanks to the fact that I don't have children and have a job as a teacher, I have some money left over for my hobby.
I'm retired and not (obviously) of today's generation of young turks; maybe my take's redundant.
I did weddings and passports and every goddamn thing that came my way for the first six months of working on my own.
One rainy Glaswegian afternoon at a wedding, standing on the steps in the gloom, awaiting the arrival of bride and Papa, I had this vision of David Bailey drive past slowly in his Rolls-Royce, smile at me and vanish into the murk.
So help me, I swore there and then that never, ever again would I do anything but that which had driven me to become a photographer and go solo: fashion photography and anything to do with girls.
I’d never shot a single fashion pic in my life but I had absolutely no doubt that I could and would. And then I did. Didn’t make me rich and it was a dying market because most of the Scottish knitwear industry, once huge, was being swallowed up by English groups and the work moving south to England, both photographic and manufacturing. As that work shrank I decided to try calendar design and production for a couple of fashion clients as an adjunct to shooting their twice-a-year ranges and that took off and, from there, I moved outwith fashion and I ended up doing nothing else but calendars for some years. Much better return than fashion ever offered – in my world, at least. The calendars also supplied most of the product for my photo stock with Tony Stone.
I also used calendar product for holiday brochures of which there were a few doing the rounds for a some years, mainly after I left the UK to live in Mallorca. I shot hotels and apartments too, for these productions, but as with everything, that changed and photo-students began to do it for the trips… no money, just slavery abroad for a week or so.
Yeah, as a business, it has been going south for almost as long as I can remember. When I started, I just didn’t know that for most of us, the best had already been. The supers always did and still do very well, but that’s life in the art industries. And there’s one of the really important issues: we sometimes aren’t quite aware that we are in an industry, where all the industrial laws of profit and loss apply just as seriously as in farming, a grocery shop or for Boeing.
In retrospect, I think I did the right thing: play for the big one, the one you think you can’t live without, and if it doesn’t roll your way, get out with as little pain as you can and do something normal, probably boring but with reasonably secure tenure and a handy little pension at the end of days! But, if it’s art, never settle for second-best because you’ll probably end up hating yourself for your own betrayal.
I see folks around me here with several pensions, reasonable health and comfortable lives. None were photographers. It doesn’t look such a bad deal now…
Rob C
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I have worked as an imaging professional in Television, Film and (mostly) Photography since 1965.
In the beginning there was portraiture — fashion, beauty and publicity — and nudes. Working in a general practice commercial studio that meant I also shot product and food along with industrial and architectural assignments.
When Playboy and Penthouse started in Australia I moved to working solely with them and other men's market publications, holding positions such as 'Photographic Consultant' and 'Glamour Editor'.
In the early 90's I tired of the cavalcade of epidermis and packed it in, switching to architecture which is where I remain. I have also shot for a customised Harley-Davidson magazine for over 30 years.
My real photographic passion is in my personal work which is a mix of art-nudes and anomalies of the built environment.
As the earning potential of commercial photography has been eroded due to a variety of forces in recent times I have taken to supplementing my photo earnings with Admin duties for a community organisation.
It was nice in 1965 to see laid before me a range of lucrative options from which to carve out a career. I'd hate to be a kid starting out today.
Cheers,
Walter
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I went to art school, and in the late 70s- early 80s, I had a very small studio in NYC specializing in shooting jewelry and crafts objects, after I got married, I gave it up for a more steady income in a variety of careers, the latest one of which is attorney in a small law firm. The good news is that I can afford decent gear (DSLR, not at the level of MFDB), the bad news is that I don't have as much time as I would like to use it.
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I started in engineering, then went to college and then university to learn computing in the very early days of computing. Eventually ended up teaching advanced computing and digital imaging and design at a large UK university (teaching at Uni seems to be a pattern for those who have already replied to your question). Eventually got tired of jumping through all the hoops at the Uni, so went on to work with the war wounded and visually impaired military service people returning from various war zones, usually head shots or land mine and rocket propelled grenade damage etc, again teaching all aspects of computing as well as photography, but more importantly trying to connect people back into society through the creative use of all manner of new technologies. Also taught night school for PS and photography and of course computing in its various guises. Also did some commercial work, product stuff and holday/brochure work for a few large organisations - but none of it paid very well, although I did get to travel to some nice places.
Took early semi-retirement and moved 500 miles to the IoS to concentrate full time on photography, where I now sell my work in various galleries and of course teach photography workshops and advanced PS etc. Still doesn't pay very well, but we are just about comfortable enough and old enough for it not to be the main issue anymore.
It is the passion for photography that drives me and most other people who do it I assume, so I don't ever think about profitability or ever have for that matter, I just do it because I feel compelled to do it and of course I also very much enjoy it. So everything I now earn from photography however large or small, is a bonus.
Dave
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Slightly of topic but that was a wonderful mini-biography Dave.
I always had a lot of respect for you but much more now.
I will be looking at your image making with new, and hopefully better informed, eyes to see how your life experiences may be informing your creative approach.
Tony Jay
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I teach classical and flamenco guitar privately. The bad news is that there is no holiday or sick pay. The good news is that even after an earthquake sent many students to other parts and the studio to heaven, there is still enough to finance other interests. I was a working in sales when I began learning music at age thirty, which is late for a career change. But it undoubtedly rescued me from what I felt was a useless life. To be able to contribute to a community in a meaningful way and to be paid for it is wonderful.
As Eric says, most photographers who are still enthusiastic about what they do have second incomes. We are lucky if exhibitions cover costs, but there are some things in life more important than money. We hope that our images have meaning and add something positive to our corner of the world. Whatever else we do to earn our living I believe it important to cultivate the gift of enjoying our work. When I don't look forward in the morning to spending the day teaching, I'll retire or look for something else. Though age may get me first. :)
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I'm brand new here, but I'll play. I'm a cop, I see a lot of ugly in the world and what people do to each other so I use photography to capture the beauy in it if I can. Ironically I didn't do a lot in the hobby for some time, but my photography skills ( for what they're worth) landed me a spot on our crime scene team as a photographer. I convinced my department to go digital, which resparked my own interests....... Sunsets are much nicer to shoot than dead bodies (pun kinda intended)
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I'm brand new here, but I'll play. I'm a cop, I see a lot of ugly in the world and what people do to each other so I use photography to capture the beauy in it if I can. Ironically I didn't do a lot in the hobby for some time, but my photography skills ( for what they're worth) landed me a spot on our crime scene team as a photographer. I convinced my department to go digital, which resparked my own interests....... Sunsets are much nicer to shoot than dead bodies (pun kinda intended)
Welcome aboard sir, and thank you for your contribution.
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Slightly of topic but that was a wonderful mini-biography Dave.
I always had a lot of respect for you but much more now.
I will be looking at your image making with new, and hopefully better informed, eyes to see how your life experiences may be informing your creative approach.
Tony Jay
I'll second the motion!
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Architecture and fine art b&W prints-full time since 1978.
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I'm curious how you make a living so you can pursue your photography.
Now? Or when I was working? Big difference...
I got into commercial/advertising photography in the early 1980's after graduating from RIT with two degrees in photography. I spent a few years shooting "product" and "food" before getting into what's called (or was) special problems–often involving special effects and/or special rigging and model making. In the late 1980's I also got into commercial film direction.
In the early 1990's I got into shooting for digital imaging–figuring out how to shoot multiple elements and how to put them together; first with a 3rd party digital imaging artist (Raphael from Huston TX with NASA digital stuff) then later with my own imaging systems and Photoshop.
That worked well in the 1990's where I made an obscene amount of money producing images that were, well, impossible to produce. That sort of ended around 9-11-2001 (not sure if anything relating to that date is relevant, but that's when I saw budgets falling and AD's being complete idiots and assholes).
Since early 2000's I've branched out to; developing software (PixelGenius.com), speaking and teaching and writing (a few decent books) and leading workshops and the occasional video tutorial. I still shoot personally (I don't really accept clients these days).
The other thing I got good at is investing...I made a ton of money in the 90's (because I could charge as much as I wanted to do the impossible stuff I did). I was so busy I really didn't have a lot of time to blow the money I was making and I've been reasonably good and increasing my net worth by careful investing (without really having to do a lot of "work", per se–the key is to buy low and sell high).
Photography is now really just a way of life for me...pretty much all of the stuff I do involves photography in some way–although I don't do it commercially any more.
I don't have a good feeling about commercial photography these days...clients are cheap idiots (IMHO) that would prefer to buy the cheapest shooter and fix it in Photoshop. In general, the level of expectation of quality has taken a nose dive...
I never really got into shooting anything other than commercial, advertising work. I've shot my fair share of product, still life, food, special effects, big production, people, lifestyle (but not fashion). The thought of shooting a wedding gives me the willies...I could simply not stand the pressure. I can do portraits pretty well, but I could NEVER deal with retail. The thought of just anybody walking through the door would drive me nutz.
Do whatever you need to do to enable what you want to do...I really don't do much of anything for money, but everything I do tends to produce money. One big factor is to have multiple streams of income from multiple sources and always keep busy doing something productive.
I'm not interested in being a fine art photographer...all the fine art guys I know work way too hard and again, I'm not good at retail. I have zero interest in making prints for other people to buy because I have to interest in dealing with those people. I end up saying what Rhett Butler said in Gone With the Wind:"frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn". Yeah, I'm a butthead and pretty set in my ways. But, I have fun!
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I'm a barrister. I was a surgeon for ten years or so. I've written software in the past but I find I don't have much time for it now.
Jeremy
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I'm a relatively recent archaeology Ph.D. but have yet to score a job in the academia, which is what I want. In the mean time, I put bread on the table mostly through translation and interpretation work between English and Japanese.
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I'm a full time photographer all our household income comes from portraits.
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1. "I don't have a good feeling about commercial photography these days...clients are cheap idiots (IMHO) that would prefer to buy the cheapest shooter and fix it in Photoshop. In general, the level of expectation of quality has taken a nose dive...
2. The thought of shooting a wedding gives me the willies...I could simply not stand the pressure. I can do portraits pretty well, but I could NEVER deal with retail. The thought of just anybody walking through the door would drive me nutz.
Schewe"
Schewe -
I never realised just how similar some of our attitudes.
Had I but had the business head too...
Rob C
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Had I but had the business head too...
Well, I actually fell into that by accident–it was something my father kinda forced onto me and I developed some skills more by serendipity that by intention. I don't really take much credit for myself...it was really a situation where I was so busy, I didn't have the time to waste a lot of money. I ended up investing much of the proceeds of my work in good companies that ended up doing really well. I wasn't kidding about buy low and sell high :~) That works pretty well!
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A usurper...
Interior finishes contractor,
lucky to have provided many top shelf personalities with their built environments.
February 2008 changed the game.
I retreated to the hills and commune with nature and spirits now.
It doesn't pay, but I'm rich as a "Son of these hills"
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I work at a university, too, but as the staff photographer in the publications/news office. That way I don't damage too many impressionable young minds :) I get to work with a terrific group of designers, writers, and web developers. This is not your run of the mill "in house" unit, these folks are something special. Been here 16 years, before that I was a freelance news and corporate photog for about ten years, after starting my career at a small newspaper (fresh out of college with a degree in economics.)
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I've enjoyed reading all of your responses. Welcome snowbanker. I find locking myself in my studio after a rough day of motivating 10 and 11 year olds is excellent therapy. Back in 2002 or 2003, my school district had technology trainging money available for teachers. My colleagues were taking lame courses in excel and powerpoint so asked the district if I could take a class in digital imaging from Rich Seiling from West Coast Imaging. Before taking that class my digital darkroom was a Canon FS4000 scanner and a Mac 7200. It was slow but worked! A few years later I took Charlie Cramers class. Now I spend too much time making landscape photographs that I store in a archival cabinet that once was in the Ansel Adams Gallery. No I did not steal it, but got it from the Yosemite Mountaineering School where they used it to store maps. My problem is I keep making prints, but sell very few. Instead I donate a few every year to my small community of El Portal. Since 2001, every sixth grade student I have had has been given a small matted print during their promotion. I grew up in Palo Alto, CA and still go back to the area to visit family. During my visits I'm reminded how much of a Luddite I am. My brother is disgusted that I still do not own a cell phone and our truck is dirty. Hopefully my hobby is teaching me some transferable skills that I might use in the future. I think I understand color management better than many yet I'm no engineer. I've shot one wedding at the Ahwahnee in Yosemite Valley. It was quite fun. A couple of locals got permission to come dressed in the most gaudy outfits including some mighty fine brides maid dresses. Oh and the brides father came in drag. The minister was priceless.
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10 years as a wedding photographer shooting fine art on the side. My legs have given up on me just as I hit the height of my career :( and I'm now managing a repro studio for a museum and teaching in a local art college.
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40 year corporate pilot. Presently flying Cessna Citation CJ3
Custom furniture and cabinetry business owner 1987 to present,part time since 2009
Opened printmaking and mounting studio in a vacant 1000 sq. ft. of my cabinetry shop which takes up the rest of my time.
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40 year corporate pilot. Presently flying Cessna Citation CJ3
Custom furniture and cabinetry business 1987 to present,part time since 2009
Opened printmaking and mounting studio in a vacant 1000 sq. ft. of my cabinetry shop which takes up the rest of my time.
Nice plane Dan! Is the cabinet shop where you lost your fingers?
Later,
Johnny
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Nice plane Dan! Is the cabinet shop where you lost your fingers?
Later,
Johnny
Still have all my fingers but my lead craftsman cut one of his almost off.
They sewed it back on but he missed 6 months work.
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Still have all my fingers but my lead craftsman cut one of his almost off.
They sewed it back on but he missed 6 months work.
Sorry Dan, must have been thinking of someone else. Glad that you've still got them all.
Later,
Johnny
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Hospital pharmacist here, been practicing for 25+ years. I find the job to be very 'right brained' dealing with med issues and staying current with the latest medical/p'ceutical research, and managing the staff (somewhat akin to herding cats, but the eclectic personalities keep the days interesting). I find photography lets (ok, forces) me get out into nature here in the Pac NW (US) and stretch my legs and get the 'left brain' back in gear after being suppressed the rest of the time. Interestingly, I think it may actually help in the job as well...being creative, thinking in a new way, trying to 'see' something in a way I never have before may help with the job. I sometimes get 'creative' ideas that oftentimes work surprisingly well.
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Hospital pharmacist here, been practicing for 25+ years. I find the job to be very 'right brained' dealing with med issues and staying current with the latest medical/p'ceutical research, and managing the staff (somewhat akin to herding cats, but the eclectic personalities keep the days interesting). I find photography lets (ok, forces) me get out into nature here in the Pac NW (US) and stretch my legs and get the 'left brain' back in gear after being suppressed the rest of the time. Interestingly, I think it may actually help in the job as well...being creative, thinking in a new way, trying to 'see' something in a way I never have before may help with the job. I sometimes get 'creative' ideas that oftentimes work surprisingly well.
Get 'creative' in a British hospìtal and you'll find yourself on the cover of at least two tabloids by the next morning. You'll be facing a class action by that lunchtime.
;-)
Rob C
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I've been a highways/traffic engineer for 30+ years, surveying, road safety, traffic signals, etc, I liked the irony of being a prat on motorcycles at the weekend and then going into the road safety dept on Monday. Currently I deal with highways problems, so always immediate, always different, and photography is therefore a good way to relax and contemplate life around me.
I'm good at spotting potential problems but not so good at seeing solutions, so working as part of a team is good for me and the thought of running my own business fills me with dread; I'll never be rich but will get a pension.
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I'm a professor and have been doing biomedical research and transplant related clinical work for over 35 years. When you hear that someone "found a matched kidney or heart" we're the guys that do the laboratory work for that. When I was a kid, I dreamed of being a professional photographer. I loved the darkroom and when I joined my high school yearbook team as Sports Editor, I was in hog heaven: all the film and chemicals and paper I could ever imagine and the Journalism Department paid for it! Had to leave the darkroom when I started having allergic reactions to the chemicals in my late teens. A while back, my dad suggested I have a look at the digital darkroom and photography has once again become my passionate obsession! Somebody mentioned the left/right brain thing above and I think there is real truth in that, but the science of digital imaging is also completely fascinating. I am devouring Jeff Schewe's "series" right now (Image Sharpening, Digital Negative, Digital Print when released); anyone who has not read it...highly recommended! It was probably good that I didn't get to be that pro photographer from some of the stories here, however. The intense criticism I received from the study sections at the National Institutes of Health over a 25 year continuous funding run, prepared me for the crtiques I have been getting here ;) ;) Seriously, I have enjoyed meeting this group and enjoy the "community" immensely. So many interesting people, so many intriguing stories, and some great photography!
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surely an interesting group here...
i like schewe's
...I really don't do much of anything for money, but everything I do tends to produce money. One big factor is to have multiple streams of income from multiple sources and always keep busy doing something productive....
this is my M.O.
i have been self employed since the day the 1st space shuttle exploded - walked off the job thinking... 'there has to be more to life and living'
i have been doing landscaping - irrigation - lawn service - snow service - and since 1992 involved with my now, late mother the 'orchidlady' (orchidblooms.com) working with our family flower business
i develop software for ecommerce - as part of our flower / nursery business - we sell tropical flowers and orchids shipped from farms 2 of which i have interests, in hawaii
i have loved photography from a very young age - as a youngster 7-8yo i would use my dads press camera!
i also have become a savvy investor
i love the thrill i get every time i press the shutter!
great thread
p.
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surely an interesting group here...
i like schewe's
...I really don't do much of anything for money, but everything I do tends to produce money. One big factor is to have multiple streams of income from multiple sources and always keep busy doing something productive....
this is my M.O.
i have been self employed since the day the 1st space shuttle exploded - walked off the job thinking... 'there has to be more to life and living'i have been doing landscaping - irrigation - lawn service - snow service - and since 1992 involved with my now, late mother the 'orchidlady' (orchidblooms.com) working with our family flower business
i develop software for ecommerce - as part of our flower / nursery business - we sell tropical flowers and orchids shipped from farms 2 of which i have interests, in hawaii
i have loved photography from a very young age - as a youngster 7-8yo i would use my dads press camera!
i also have become a savvy investor
i love the thrill i get every time i press the shutter!
great thread
p.
Maybe punctuation?
;-)
Rob C
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Really a very interesting thread.
Fascinating variety of contributors and occupations so far.
To continue the left/right brain thing, although for me I am ambidexterous which is helpful when doing tricky medical procedures in the ICU, I have also never been able to bring a truly analytic approach to problem solving in medicine preferring a more synthetic inductive apporach. This can be handy for making very rapid decisions with resuscitation-level patients.
The photography angle for me has no real connection to my occupation.
Instead, it has grown as a natural extension of my love for the great outdoors.
The possibility of an income from photography is there but will currently take more time to develop than I could easily devote.
Look forward to reading others contributions.
Tony Jay
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I've been a highways/traffic engineer for 30+ years, surveying, road safety, traffic signals, etc, I liked the irony of being a prat on motorcycles at the weekend and then going into the road safety dept on Monday. Currently I deal with highways problems, so always immediate, always different, and photography is therefore a good way to relax and contemplate life around me.
I'm good at spotting potential problems but not so good at seeing solutions, so working as part of a team is good for me and the thought of running my own business fills me with dread; I'll never be rich but will get a pension.
Prior to being a cop I was a power lineman, which led me to a decade of building traffic signals, which then led me to working a couple years as a traffic signal technician, which then led me to being a cop for the last 15 years for the same city.... Had a lot of fun doing the traffic thing....now I stop people for running some of the same lights I built... ;)
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I was a professional soldier (USAF) for 26 years and then a software engineer for 30 more. For fun I did a bit of computer science teaching on the side at Colorado Tech but was losing money for every hour I taught, and had to give it up. I folded my little corporation in 2008 and finally retired.
I've been a photo nut since about 1943 when I brought up my first print in the darkroom I'd built in a fruit cellar. I started getting serious about it in 1953 when the Korean war ended and I was flying F-84's out of Taegu. I started doing weddings and other work for pay in the mid sixties. I considered resigning my commission and taking up photography as a business, but found I hated having to make the sort of clichés the work called for, so I quit doing it.
Since then I've been a happy amateur who makes an occasional print sale out of local galleries. Nirvana.
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Maybe punctuation?
;-)
Rob C
Rob - this is perhaps some of my best writing
:)
i am a horrible spellor - fast typer - oftem my hands are miss-position on the keybords so words are nonsensical... sometimes i catch this - and well....
glad you took the time to point out what you perceive to be my shortcomings...
btw - what is wrong with...
there has to be more to life and living?
perhaps i could have written 'there has to be more to life than just living' ... ?
that line.... came to be in my minds eye at the time, however, when i was angy, upset and was thinking exactly what i posted.... you see rob, as i walked out the door with cnn covering the space shuttle challenger tragedy... playing it over and over... i was thinking.... there has to be more to life and living.... as everyone on the challenger - was obviously, dead.
so now you have the backstory -
i have never looked back
phil
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Rob - this is perhaps some of my best writing
:)
i am a horrible spellor - fast typer - oftem my hands are miss-position on the keybords so words are nonsensical... sometimes i catch this - and well....
glad you took the time to point out what you perceive to be my shortcomings...
btw - what is wrong with...
there has to be more to life and living?
perhaps i could have written 'there has to be more to life than just living' ... ?
that line.... came to be in my minds eye at the time, however, when i was angy, upset and was thinking exactly what i posted.... you see rob, as i walked out the door with cnn covering the space shuttle challenger tragedy... playing it over and over... i was thinking.... there has to be more to life and living.... as everyone on the challenger - was obviously, dead.
so now you have the backstory -
i have never looked back
phil
Phil,
If what you write above is the real deal, then I'm sorry for bringing it up. Just seems unlikely you can develop software but not use commas, capitals and periods. I can't develop software.
;-)
Rob C
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Phil,
If what you write above is the real deal, then I'm sorry for bringing it up. Just seems unlikely you can develop software but not use commas, capitals and periods. I can't develop software.
;-)
Rob C
rob... no biggie...
i started writing my own php ecommerce apps for our flowershop in 1998 - there simply was no such thing at the time - i simply rolled up my sleeves and figured it out... started using an open source app back then called phpshop - it was feeble and very basic... learned how it worked and took ideas from that app and started to write my code for our apps....
our app was the first in USA/ probably the world, for florists, to offer a recently view items feature!
there have been many iterations of our apps over the years
we now service over 200 florists in USA and some in canada....
i am now in about the 7th version,,, rebuilding our whole app using a framework called laravel - best bet is spring 2014 for rollout...
when i am in app mode - it is in office - in the dark planted infront of monitors for as long as 30 hours in a sitting - with the doors closed - no interruptions - nothing like what i do here...
:)
p.
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Funny how what goes around, comes around.
I made my first decent money while still a student (of economics), in the '80s, working as a freelance photographer for Do-It-Yorself and Home-And-Garden type of magazines. I also had a cover or two at the time, plus a regular column on photographing flowers and macro photography.
Then my finance career took over and I made some pretty decent money working as an expat for Fortune 200 companies in Eastern Europe. Photography remained a hobby. The two kind of intersected briefly when I was the finance manager for Eastman Kodak in Russia in the late '90s. I then moved to Barcelona, Spain, obtained my MBA from Chicago Booth, and ultimately moved to the States in 2004, managing an IT consultancy start-up. Since then I've had a magazine cover (paid) and a several national and international competition awards, as well as several pages published in photographic magazines (unpaid though).
My finance career apparently irrecoverably ended with the Great Recession, as all my efforts to return to the corporate world turned out to be just an exercise in frustration. In the meantime, I've taught business classes occasionally at a college level (as well as while in Spain).
Back to "what goes around, comes around:" I am now contemplating going back to photography; workshops (encouraged by the interest expressed by some forum members), art fairs, e-books perhaps... Scary, but will see.
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I am ex-faculty at Duke University Medical Center and am currently partner with my wife in a small pharmaceutical consulting company. Yep, when you buy your next prescription you may be helping me pay for paper and ink!
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Slobodan,
You're obviously a talented photographer. At least you have some business sense which many of us lack. What was it like working for Kodak in Russia? My wife is Latvian and does not like my idea of taking the Siberian Express to Kamchacta (sp?).
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... What was it like working for Kodak in Russia?...
I said that my hobby and my career "kind of" intersected while at Kodak. The thing is, I think i was the only photographer among the people I met there (which includes some senior managers from Rochester, not just local employees). Sure Kodak had its research team, chemists, color scientists, etc., but the majority of the organization was predominantly sales and marketing, for better or worse. Never got the impression that they understood photography and photographers, or that they cared. I told my general manager, an American pretty close to the top guys in Rochester, that in my opinion film will be dead in about five years (the year was 1999), he just laughed me off. Coincidentally, I shot my last film in 2004. I was always thinking that, had they had a better feel for photography and photographers, they would have seen what I saw: how powerful the digital revolution is. The irony is, Kodak was one of the digital pioneers at the same time.
As for Kamchatka, that could be fun, although I also understand your wife's concerns. The infrastructure is certainly not as comfortable and organized as in US national parks.
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Great thread and highlights the reasons I'm at this forum and have left almost all of the other photo forums on the web.
Graduated from College with an honours in advertising and communications media. Went to university and graduated with honours in Communications: Media, Culture and Society. Would like to go back and continue with my masters in Digital Humanities, but that will have to wait for now I guess.
During school, I worked for a certain Scandinavian furniture company. As I progressed through school, avenues opened and I began to assist in Press Relations, Marketing and Graphic Design. I eventually became the Graphic Specialist at the store level, and am now on a contract at the national level for communication. Hopefully I can make something of myself.
I got into photography about 3 years ago. Possibly a little longer. Since then I've been an avid researcher of the hobby, interested in the technical and creative side. I find my work often feeds into my hobby now, and vice versa.
It feels great to be a part of this little forum. The density of knowledge and direct and constructive environment created on here, as well as all of MR's writings have become the biggest influence on the direction and personal philosophies I have and hold with photography.
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Another fascinating insight Robbie.
Tony Jay
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Started to study engineering after the army, but slipped into photography and then art school for a while. That is, until I landed a job in a major newspaper in -78. Freelance (magazines mostly) until -85, then staff photographer in a major (the only one in Scandinavia actually) news magazine. Working 70% part time now, 5 years to go... Mostly reportage, location portraits, some news. Some studio portraits also, but no food or fashion, we have 17 guys and girls who are better than me in that. Having an IT consultant wife helps with the travel hobby, but fortunately the main photography kit (Nikon) is provided by the publishing company, I just need to buy the Fuji X-series to play with...
Another hobby is recording classical (student) concerts, I have a good kit for that also (Prism, Sennheiser, DPA, Gefell, Soundfield, Sound Devices etc.), our family production company (= me ) has also produced one Organ CD and two TV travel documentaries. Losing money on that side, but at least some gear can deducted in taxes.
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I have seen an extraordinary run of good luck.
In the middle 70s, I replied to a want ad in the newspaper. Unaccountably, it said "Young, dedicated man wanted to learn the film business". I'm not making this up. Against pretty stiff competition, I got the gig on the basis of a few still prints from my home darkroom and my neat printing on my application letter. "Your printing says that you're methodical", I remember him saying. "Above all, for this job I need someone methodical."
He worked at a full services production house in Vancouver. It had about fifty full-time employees and was a perfect place for a "young, dedicated man to learn the film business". They had the equipment to do it all, from script to mix. A big sound stage stocked with lighting and grip equipment, a mixing theatre, edit rooms and an incredibly well-endowed camera department. A few days later, he opened an impressive silver case and gave me my first in-person look at a movie camera. An Arri IIC.
He was a Director/Cameraman - arguably the best job in the world. ("Everybody wants to direct", right?) My job was to assist him. To do that, I needed to learn how to be a Director/Cameraman, too. So I did.
For about seven years we traveled the world, over fifty countries, shooting sales films, corporate docs, television commercials, TV series, you name it. Eventually, I was given whole films to direct and shoot. Then, the parent company closed the operation and I became a freelancer.
Not soon after, Hollywood discovered that Vancouver was an excellent place to make movies, and since I'd lived there all my life, I was ready and waiting. I specialized in Second Unit work. Small crews, less politics, more fun. Lots of helicopter aerials, for which both the fun rate and the day rate are very satisfying.
Nearly four decades later, I'm long since retired and I love photography as much as I did in my basement darkroom back in the seventies. I have a D800, an Epson 4800 and a 9800 and my favourite thing is seeing my prints on my friends' walls.
I'm leaving British Columbia next week, driving alone to the deserts of the American Southwest for a month of photography adventures.
My extraordinary run of good luck continues.
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Yes I make my living selling my fine art photographs. All Landscapes and have never wanted to shoot anything else. I did in the very beginning work for some great photographers like Bruce Weber, Atkinson and also designing the pigment printing process and later inkjet. Made a little money working with the inkjet community but made made at least 90-95% of my money making my photographs and selling them in galleries.
NOthing is more fun than shooting and producing the first print. I did enjoy designing and inventing the inkjet pigment process but only because it allowed me to print the way I wanted too. Tim Wolcott
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I have seen an extraordinary run of good luck. I'm leaving British Columbia next week, driving alone to the deserts of the American Southwest for a month of photography adventures.
My extraordinary run of good luck continues.
You are not kidding! Long may it continue.
Rob C
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Fun and informative thread. It is nice to get a sense of folk here. Let me start by reiterating how much I've learned from you all, and how nice it is to gain a sense of your life-journey in and outside of photography.
My folks bought me a little Ansco 120 box camera when I was 10. (That was 56 years ago!) I immediately became "the family photographer," an appelation with which I was enamoured. :-) That was the beginning. I went on to take lots of photos over the years in my 'yout' and then, in high school, take on the role of school newspaper and yearbook photographer where I first got to get my fingers wet in the school's darkroom and learned about developing and enlarging my own work. When I went into the Army as a volunteer during the Vietnam era, I became by default, my Combat Engineer Battalion's recon photographer. That was interesting. Field work, darkroom set up in a GP medium tent, only did darkroom work at night since it was too hot in there to work during the daytime. I had to learn on the fly to calculate development times when my chemicals could only be cooled to about 90F. I developed a sort of "reverse zone system" to compensate. LOL Recon missions were fun. I eventually dumped the Speed Graphic provided by Uncle Sam in favor of a Nikonos that I bought w/ my own money at an Air Force BX. That sucker was immune to the dust, mud, muck, rain, rice paddies, small arms fire, etc.
After Vietnam I taught basic B&W photography at the Post Craft Shop at Ft. Lewis, WA, and managed the darkroom there for a couple of years, as a side-job. When I got out of the military I applied and was admitted to Brooks, but didn't go due to financial constraints. Instead I sought a career in the Fire Service in California. Over the years I rose throught the ranks and became Fire Chief/CEO of one the Los Angeles area fire departments. I received a PhD from the University of Hard Knocks during my career due to some unusual circumstances and opportunities in helping to represent and manage the city I worked for. All the while retaining my interest in, and doing some photography as time allowed.
When I retired, I had the privilege of pursuing my avocation in a serioius way, and as luck would have it I bought a Bronica ETRSi kit (pretty extensive) just before the dawn of digital. Fortunately, I saw the writing on the wall early on (after reading one of Michael's early articles on "is digital as good as film" in the Canon 10D era), sold the Bronica kit before it was completely without value, and bought a little Olympus 3."somthing" mp ditial camera, then an Olympus E10, and took classes at a local art insitute in "Photoshop."
The rest, as they say, is geography. I now have a thriving consulting business in mentoring future senior fire service leaders, and helping fire departments with leadership and organizational development. I basically flunked "Retirement 101" but that has enabled me to afford a really nice digital darkroom w/ a couple of printers, a really nice computer and monitor, and some good FF and APS-C digital cameras and lenses. I shoot 99% for my own pleasure, make prints for friends, neighbors, and other photographers. I find the pursuit of a really fine print as rewarding as the image capturing process iteself. I'm completely self-taught (well, taught by Michael & Jeff really when it comes to digital) and had a "highlight" moment last year when I attended a session or two at the Palm Springs Photo Festival. I noticed a guy at the Epson Vendor Booth who was talking to people, taking their files and making prints for them while tutoring them on file optimization for printing. Interesting. They had a table with various prints made on the different Epson offerings, paper-wise. I noticed that they didn't have an example of Hot Press Natural on the table, so I went out to my car and brought in a print I had just made on that paper and gave it to "the guy" saying that if he'd like, he could just throw it on the table as an example. The guy looked my print over pretty carefully, then told me it was a "really nice print" and put it on the table. I came back at the end of the day to fetch my print and "the guy" reiterated what a fine print it was and that he'd had a lot of comments from people on it. "The guy" (I'm so dumb I didn't even know who he was - had I known I'd never have dreamed to foist one of my prints off on him) turned out to be R. Mac Holbert! Holy cow. I think when I found out who he was and that "he liked my print" it made my year. Perhaps decade. (I suspect Jeff is getting a kick out of this anecdote.)
As I said, I'm pretty much self-taught all along the way, and deeply appreciate LULA and all of you for your knowldge. I learned early on what a "good print looked like" from going to see exibitions of folk like Ansel Adams, Wynn Bullock, W. Eugene Smith, Edward Weston, Joseph Karsh and others. I still go to the galleries in Carmel evey chance I get to absorb and learn by observation.
I'm not all that prolific. I don't care to be. I'm always in pursuit of an idea that is never fully realized on paper.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.
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What an interesting thread!
I’m simply a mechanical engineer whose hobby is photography. In fact, my wife once said “You’re not really a photographer, you just like cameras!”. I objected to her observation but it contains a lot of truth. I do like cameras but am making a serious study of photography and digital processing techniques. Luminous Landscape, its forums and comments from many of you have been most helpful.
Many thanks!
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in high school, take on the role of school newspaper and yearbook photographer where I first got to get my fingers wet in the school's darkroom and learned about developing and enlarging my own work.
Over the years I rose throught the ranks and became Fire Chief/CEO of one the Los Angeles area fire departments.
Good story, I also photographed for my High School yearbook in Santa Paula, where I was an YFU exchange student in early seventies. It IS possible to shoot usable football pictures at night games with fixed 45mm lens camera and Tri-X pushed to 1600 ASA... Anyways, I wonder if you ever met my American dad Walt Walker, who worked as a fire captain at the Malibu fire station up on the hills, of course already retired a long time ago. Would be a funny coincidence.
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Hi,
I'm working a school there we train nuclear power plant operators, and I'm maintaining some of our models. My background is in engineering.
So, photography is a hobby for me, had a camera since I was 10. I am much interested in how things work, but I also shoot images.
Started shooting, film, progressed to MF film around 1990. Converted from darkroom to lightroom using scanners around 1998 and went fully digital around 2004.
I'm decidedly non commercial, just shooting for pleasure and satisfaction of ego.
Best regards
Erik
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I am a technical writer specialising in software and pharmaceutical process documentation; the parish clerk for my village in Devon; a web site designer and copywriter for local small businesses; and a very part-time photographer and potter. I do sell a bit of my craft, but although it covers my equipment and material costs with a bit over, isn't really a way to make a living!
I've been mostly self-employed since about 1982, though the clerk's job is "proper" employment.
I'd like to reverse the order of work work and fun work - but with many UK personal pensions being worth diddly squat, cannot see myself retiring any time soon, sadly!
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I wonder if you ever met my American dad Walt Walker
We never met, but I know the name! Chances are good we've worked the same campaign fires in the Malibu at some point.
Rand
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I am a technical writer specialising in software and pharmaceutical process documentation; the parish clerk for my village in Devon; a web site designer and copywriter for local small businesses; and a very part-time photographer and potter. I do sell a bit of my craft, but although it covers my equipment and material costs with a bit over, isn't really a way to make a living!
I've been mostly self-employed since about 1982, though the clerk's job is "proper" employment.
I'd like to reverse the order of work work and fun work - but with many UK personal pensions being worth diddly squat, cannot see myself retiring any time soon, sadly!
That's a beautful picture, Lois. It reminds me of a couple that David Hamilton did in an alcove in his Ramatuelle home (AFAIK), but he didn't do them as pleasingly.
He did do some excllent shots of Venice, though, just in case anyone thought him limited to too young girls. And beautiful straw hats.
;-)
Rob C
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I smash the landscape others come to take pictures of.
Before and after.
Get paid well to do it, so it works for me. Pretty satisfying too especially when in anger.
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Do you have any visuals ? I've smashed the landscape. http://vimeo.com/18242035
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Do you have any visuals ? I've smashed the landscape. http://vimeo.com/18242035
Oh, plenty. Not my work, but you get the idea:
https://www.google.com/search?q=open+pit&hl=en&rlz=1C1GGGE_enAU427AU428&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qmVJUcebLeqZiQenj4DwDg&ved=0CEsQsAQ&biw=1109&bih=512
These would be the "after" shots.
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never mind the lost "link", I bet that even the poster is now lost
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never mind the lost "link", I bet that even the poster is now lost
I write thriller novels under the name John Sandford. I've written more than fifty of them now. I got involved with photography in high school, continued as an Army newspaper editor in the 60s when I had to shoot my own art for the paper. After the Army, I worked for four papers (in Cape Girardeau, Mo, a university paper while I was getting a masters degree, the Miami Herald, and the St. Paul papers) as a reporter. I shot a lot of photography for the first one, less for the second, and even less for the third and fourth. In 1997 I began sponsoring an archeological dig in the Middle East (Israel) that continued for 15 years, and I worked there as the staff photographer for most of those years, except when my first wife was dying of breast cancer and I had to skip the digs. That was the most brutal photography I've ever done, heat up around 100F/40C every day, clouds of dust from the digging and sifting, shots into narrow holes in the ground, everything contaminated with sweat, and also macro photography of small finds in high heat with no air conditioning (Finds as small as a fingernail.) While I was a reporter I won a Pulitzer, which had the benefit (about the only one) of getting me occasional journalism offers, and in the 2000s I got a gig to go to Iraq during the war there and fly with the 2/147 air assault battalion and also a helicopter medical evacuation unit. I was in my sixties by then and I found the photography difficult -- I was jumping in and out of helicopters wearing armor and a helmet, carrying water and rations and a pack with a D3 and four lenses (the 3 Nikon f/2.8 zooms and an 85.) That was strenuous, but the photography opportunities were great. I've always been mostly interested in street and documentary, but I don't worry about saving my stuff -- I find it basically ephemeral, and that's really fine with me. I shoot it, I look at it, ponder what I'd seen, and let it go. I don't know much about the technical aspects of cameras and lenses, or about software. I keep the equipment clean, the batteries powered up, and shoot.
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never mind the lost "link", I bet that even the poster is now lost
I'm still here. It still is an interesting thread. John Camp thanks for serving in the military. You have had an amazing life! I am now a retired school teacher.
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I'm still here. It still is an interesting thread. John Camp thanks for serving in the military. You have had an amazing life! I am now a retired school teacher.
I meant the Duarr2 poster on Nov 21, a newbie with one post.
On the other hand, I remember your last burst of twenty one-line or one-word posts/topics within one hour from about a month ago. For some reason, those posts are now all lost.
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I write thriller novels under the name John Sandford. I've written more than fifty of them now. I got involved with photography in high school, continued as an Army newspaper editor in the 60s when I had to shoot my own art for the paper. After the Army, I worked for four papers (in Cape Girardeau, Mo, a university paper while I was getting a masters degree, the Miami Herald, and the St. Paul papers) as a reporter. I shot a lot of photography for the first one, less for the second, and even less for the third and fourth. In 1997 I began sponsoring an archeological dig in the Middle East (Israel) that continued for 15 years, and I worked there as the staff photographer for most of those years, except when my first wife was dying of breast cancer and I had to skip the digs. That was the most brutal photography I've ever done, heat up around 100F/40C every day, clouds of dust from the digging and sifting, shots into narrow holes in the ground, everything contaminated with sweat, and also macro photography of small finds in high heat with no air conditioning (Finds as small as a fingernail.) While I was a reporter I won a Pulitzer, which had the benefit (about the only one) of getting me occasional journalism offers, and in the 2000s I got a gig to go to Iraq during the war there and fly with the 2/147 air assault battalion and also a helicopter medical evacuation unit. I was in my sixties by then and I found the photography difficult -- I was jumping in and out of helicopters wearing armor and a helmet, carrying water and rations and a pack with a D3 and four lenses (the 3 Nikon f/2.8 zooms and an 85.) That was strenuous, but the photography opportunities were great. I've always been mostly interested in street and documentary, but I don't worry about saving my stuff -- I find it basically ephemeral, and that's really fine with me. I shoot it, I look at it, ponder what I'd seen, and let it go. I don't know much about the technical aspects of cameras and lenses, or about software. I keep the equipment clean, the batteries powered up, and shoot.
What an amazing career John. That's great. Which of your books would you recommend to someone like me that moves, interesting, catches your interest quickly, exciting, etc. I'm sure they're all that way, but if you had to pick one for me to read, which one?
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On the other hand, I remember your last burst of twenty one-line or one-word posts/topics within one hour from about a month ago. For some reason, those posts are now all lost.
The word is "deleted", not "lost".
never mind the lost "link", I bet that even the poster is now lost
Correct.
Jeremy
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What an amazing career John. That's great. Which of your books would you recommend to someone like me that moves, interesting, catches your interest quickly, exciting, etc. I'm sure they're all that way, but if you had to pick one for me to read, which one?
Start at the beginning - you’ll be entertained for months. Maybe years. My wife and I are both fans, my only quibble being the character’s penchant for rear engined Porsches ;)
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Start at the beginning - you’ll be entertained for months. Maybe years. My wife and I are both fans, my only quibble being the character’s penchant for rear engined Porsches ;)
As long as he's not a Canon shooter !!
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As long as he's not a Canon shooter !!
Probably a Leica guy ;)
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Coming in late here, but in the off chance that anyone is interested:
I was faculty at Duke Medical Center for 20 years. Then I left and, with the missus, formed a consulting firm that worked in drug development. We are both retired now.
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I spent 26 years in the Air Force. Went to war three times -- Korea as a fighter-bomber pilot, Vietnam as a radar site commander, and Thailand as commander of our remaining radar sites after we withdrew from Vietnam and were fighting in Cambodia. After I retired from the Air Force in 1977 I began writing computer software and started a small company doing that. I also occasionally taught computer science. I retired completely in 2008 and turned my attention full time to photography. which I've been doing since I was 13.
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I'm glad someone resurrected this thread: many interesting backstories.
I'm a retired U.S. government bureaucrat. Trained as a lawyer, but never practiced. Employed for 38 years by essentially the same outfit—the Voice of America (https://www.voanews.com/) and its various parent agencies—in different capacities at various times: reporter, news analyst, software designer, IT manager, and information security officer (i.e., detecting and deterring hackers).
My grandfather gave me a camera when I was eight or nine years old, and photography has been an on-and-off hobby ever since. I'm mostly self-taught: a secondary school physics teacher who served as the advisor to our camera club showed me how to process film and make analog prints, a whirlwind college survey of 20th Century painting by John Wilmerding (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilmerding) is the extent of my knowledge of art, and I learned what I know about digital post-processing from the Reichmann/Schewe videos posted on this site, along with Jeff's excellent books.
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As long as he's not a Canon shooter !!
Virgil Flowers shoots Nikon, can't remember if the model was mentioned. I seem to recall Nikon being mentioned in one of the "Prey" novels, but I don't trust my memory on that.
Re the main subject of thread, I got a couple of physics degrees a lifetime ago, worked in IT for 25 years writing code on everything from mainframes to real-time work on micro systems, in various industry sectors from economic forecasting to engineering to investment banking, but my last IT job was in the travel industry at the time of 9/11, spectacularly bad timing. Then I had a second career in scientific publication, mostly as a copy-editor on physics and chemistry journals. First camera was a Spotmatic in late high school but neglected photography for 30 years till I picked it up again about 25 years ago. I sell a few pics of local grass-roots bicycle races, making enough money to pay for the gasoline to get me to the venues but not enough to pay for cameras or lenses, but I don't care. I competed in automobile rally for a few years, later volunteered in rally organization.
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Image maker.
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I was trained as a mechanical engineer specialized in fluid simulations, currently trying to manage a sales support organization in a software company. I have been living in the long shadows of Mt Fuji since 1997.
Started photography 30+ years ago, sold a few prints and still a few images on Getty when the moon feels like it. But I have the luxury of shooting whatever I feel like shooting, which is often friends and their children.
I am also trying to finish a novel and to start a photography app that will most probably revolutionise the Western part of the galaxy as we know it... ;)
Besides photography I love being in nature and still do quite a bit of hiking, snowshoeing, pack rafting. I started to do a bit of sailing a few years ago. Still very much a beginner but having fun learning.
For those who may not know, I am a hard core Canon fanboy. I just love the brand. Can't help it.
Cheers,
Bernard
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Oh, plenty. Not my work, but you get the idea:
https://www.google.com/search?q=open+pit&hl=en&rlz=1C1GGGE_enAU427AU428&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qmVJUcebLeqZiQenj4DwDg&ved=0CEsQsAQ&biw=1109&bih=512
These would be the "after" shots.
Somewhat similar here. As the bumper sticker says - "Don't tell my moma I'm working in the oil patch, she thinks I'm the piano player in a whorehouse".
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My profession was reactor physics.
Photography for was for me always a hobby, that is a sink of resources.
Back in 1972, I was paid 200 SEk (around 20$US) for a picture. That is the only amount I ever earned.
Best regards
Erik
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When i was 16 it was the first time i used a camera. It was an OympusTrip camera that i borrowed from a friend.
From that day i really enjoyed making photographs.
I was on holiday with my father and two sisters.
Two months after that my father suddenly died making the photographs much more important.
A lot of them were badly exposed and not very sharp...
Since then i saved money to buy a good camera. When i was 18 i bought the Nikon Fe+ 50mmf2 lens.
Living next to an Art Academy i went to see if it was something for me.. I decided it was not really a job becoming a photographer and started a study in airplane engineering at the university.
It was not for me; the most difficult study i could choose and i was not motivated/good enough to carry on.
Also I did not want to work in a factory from 9-5 with only metal around me. So i changed the study to Physical Geography. It was a better choice...I completed that to find out that my first passion was photograpy after all.
Since then i am a professional photographer, working for architects and in the experimental cultural scene. To get an idea what i do it is best to google my name... Pieter Kers
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I'm glad to see that this thread has been resurrected after a period of quiescence. The stories are interesting. I am a retired pathologist whose photography is now entirely for pleasure. I first started photography in earnest in 1968 when I was a general medical officer in Viet Nam with the Marines. Nikon equipment overseas was cheap; I bought the Nikon Photomic FTN for $100 and a number of lenses. I photographed military operations, mostly on Kodachrome 64. On completing military service I was in an internal medicine residency for 2 years and took pictures of patient lesions.
I then went into pathology at a large university hospital in Chicago. We had an unused dark room with a Polaroid MP4 copy unit with 4*5 inch large format camera, a Polaroid back where I could take 4*5 images with film that produced a negative as well as a print. We had a light head and I could also use the unit as an enlarger. There was also a large drum print drier. For 35 mm I could attach my Nikon. I used these to document a friend's PhD thesis as well as other research work. For photomicroscopy, I had access to a Zeiss Universal Photomicroscope with a full range of bright field apochromatic objectives, phase objectives, and dark field capability. I took thousands of photomicroscope images over 8 years.
For photographing gross specimens we used a custom built stand with an illuminated blue background beneath the glass specimen support. For illumination we had quartz iodine bulbs filtered to daylight with dichroic filters as well as crossed polarized filters to eliminate reflections. Again, thousands of images over an 8 year period. I also did electron microscopy where the images were captured on large format monochrome negative film which were placed in hangers and developed in solution tanks. It was a photographic nirvana.
This photography was technical with little room for artistic development. Since retirement, I have been trying to learn composition and other artistic skills. My photography now is at the local zoos, landscape shooting, and shooting at the wonderful Chicago Botanical Garden. I have also gotten into macro with focus stacking. I went partially digital in 1987, scanning transparency film with a 4000 ppi dedicated scanner, processing the scanned images in photoshop and having the scanned images printed commercially or later printing on inkjet printers. My first digital camera was the D70 which I bought in 2004. Since then my work has been entirely digital. Because of my scientific background, I have always been interested in the technical aspects of photography.
Cheers,
Bill
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Fascinating the diversity of occupations documented here. Pulitzer-winning best seller authors, reactor physics specialists, pathologists, warriors; all bound together by a love of photography.
Aren't we lucky!
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Fascinating the diversity of occupations documented here. . . .
Aren't we lucky!
Also a decent international representation, although I'd certainly like to see more forum participants from Latin America, East and South Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe.
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This stumbled upon this thread and I seem to have diarrhea of the keyboard tonight while I sit in the cold of my studio after getting today's work to the PO, uploaded to a publication out of town and a trip to the Tractor Supply for cat food for my starving cats...
Always been a photographer since I was "exposed" to Ansel Adams as a preteen in the 1970s. Worked at a newspaper and had a paper route in high school and continued with the latter until the 30-40 hour days (yes that was a press day on a small weekly paper with too small of press most of the time) pushed me over the edge and I went back to being a college student and the economy tanked.
Did real estate for a few years (my father built houses his final years, both renting them and selling) and decided the family biz wasn't for me and I floated doing odd photo jobs for a few years. Then with I went to work for a man who needed a Cibachorme printer for his portfolio and he found out I knew how to work with a stat camera and so I did both for him. He had a small vineyard and I managed it after helping to build his personal wine cellar. Then it was working with wine makers a few years, both shooting bottles and vineyards, driving tractors, picking and crushing grapes and making wine.
I worked with a nearby elementary school with their photo program, science camp and their gifted-and-talented program. The principal became a substitute father after mine died years before and we got along well. He got this new computer named after an apple in 1984 and I gave it a try... So with a little scarping of money I bought one, learned the software and hardware, networking, etc. and brought my graphic skills into the 21st century. That also became a paying gig doing networks, training, repair, consulting for a few years.
When a house burned down a few doors down, I went to work as a volunteer for CalFire getting a nice check whenever I would go to a large fire and then pickup work for their training academy. In the mean time, they needed a graphic artist for their training manuals and I did hundreds of illustrations using my computer and learning the ins-and-outs of the software I already had. Then Photoshop was born...
My favorite at that time was to get into shooting resource producers for annual reports and pr, shooting gold mines and timber companies.
About that time I got a flyer from an editor I had worked with in Nevada for a gathering of photographers and writers in Winnemucca called Shooting the West. I wanted to go that first year since I wanted to see the people behind the names editing my work and the bylines I was seeing in magazine along with a college friend who was then the Nikon rep. Though I missed that symposium, I made it there the next year and since I knew how to run a Carousel Projector I got hired the next year and have been there ever since including one year opening the symposium from Belgrade, Serbia, via Skype.
I worked for CalFire until the program ran out of money and then worked as a school secretary, was the Mac trainer for the California Dept. of Real Estate in SF just as they were getting automated and starting this new thing called "e-mail..." and got back into my photography doing calendars, books, editorial, commercial, sports, portraits, everything coming into the studio. Meanwhile I did more graphic design including books and then into websites back as HTML was morphing from 2.x to 3.x.
About the same time the local Indian Casino got going well after several false starts and my friend became the marketing/advertising director there and for several years we got them well established on the map.
All these skills gathered like a scavenger hunt because useful working in a rural community to keep the lights on and food in the fridge though it was tight at times. In the late 1990s, digital photography was just starting to become main stream so I watched and educated myself.
In the mean time, my mother had health issues and luckily patched things up with my sister. I took care of the family real estate while my sister took care of my mother. So that got added to the load for a few years.
911 hit and with it was the beginning of the end for film. My mother passed away a few months later but I had a handle on everything by then. My photography was secondary for a few years but I took advantage and moved into digital during this turmoil.
When the dust settled for my family and the country settled into the new "normal" I was ready for the call from America 24/7 which was the tipping point on digital and jumped into the project full-bore, but still shot film for backup for the next few years.
In the mean time, I kept on top of the computers, software, digital cameras and kept all going. I put money aside from my mother's estate and used some to bring myself into the new digital world and made it work. Though it was still not perfect, it was a little better!
I joined ASMP about that time and when they found out I knew how to produce a magazine, got roped into becoming an editor and publisher though I can't spell worth a darn, but I know how to deliver a finished product well and on time. ;-) Since I also had lots of hands-on digital by then, it was a natural to share my skills and crafts with those making the transition including a few calling themselves "digital dinosaurs." Things fell into place well back then.
About that same time with a little better income, I started traveling more, some of it for the calendars and books that my editors were wanting me to shoot for and some of it just because I could. For many years I was traveling with what I described as the ultimate digital accessory for travel at that time, a small travel trailer to haul the computer needed to support this new direction in work.
Of course I would open my mouth when people needed to be brought out of the box and I started work with several local groups including my local tourism council and several small museums. Some of it is paid, a lot is volunteer when the money dries up but it all benefits my community!
I soon got into doing my own printing again, just like I had in the 1980s and this time will all my skills got a nice revenue stream with large-format printing, glad I had learned die-transfer and 4-color printing skills along the way! One editorial client I had worked with for years knew I had this printer and before I knew what was happening told me I was in charge of doing a fine-art run for her foundation and so For nearly two weeks that printer chugged away 24/7 as I searched for paper as I cleaned out several suppliers in the process. The artist was thrilled with the quality and my editor was pleased with the entire experience. The original images started as sow's ears for that run!
With the large format printers, the first was great for a couple of years as I figured it out but it wasn't large enough for my vision and a bit larger printer came up for sale and I bought it. Within months the work from it was putting money in the bank. A couple of years later after an ASMP meeting and watching Bill Atkinson present his work with an even larger format printer, I bought another to do canvas. With this new skill that printer paid its way in no time and printing on canvas became a new skill paying the bills.
I kept doing portraits, editorial, commercial, books and calendars and it all added to a nice diversity using many of my skills to keep me from boredom...
In the mean time, my mentor Al Weber seeing my skills in digital brought me in to teach a series of portfolio workshops on the California Missions which resulted in many museum shows. The workshops grew and brought in great instructors including Steve Johnson and Kim Weston and it was a pleasure to teach with them!
For a few years I teamed up with Jim Sugar a former photographer with National Geographic and we taught classes using TTL and wireless TTL flash for a few years. The workshops led to a call out of the blue from Las Vegas and we teamed up to create a week-plus training program for the Grand Canyon Skywalk photographers. Timing was perfect and we could see great results with the staff in the quality of their work. That required learning a new bunch of skills to approach in many ways!
When that was over I got a call from the casino needing work for their remodel hotel and conference center. I grabbed my framing expert and the two of us showed up with both what they requested (reusing work from a job the few years before) and what we thought may be a better product for them. Though it looks months, we were the only ones that they would and could work with since I could deliver concepts to them within hours and my files are very deep and my digital skill along with a large-format printer are well-tuned. Within a little more than a year of that meeting most of the project was well underway and became over 600 large-format pieces printed on canvas and framed, most 20x30 to 30x40 but some up to 40x60 in the mix.
That project paid for some international travel and I tied that travel with connections to my community and other projects including a few museum shows as a result. As always, one thing lead to another and I was and still am able to reinvent myself constantly.
Two years ago, I blew out my knee and so I needed to get myself in better shape since I don't bounce well now that I'm in my sixties... sort of a wake-up call physically. So I started walking and getting back into shape. I was well enough by summer 2019 to take friends to Ireland to photograph and then to continue to Serbia for my seventh trip there (a whole other story on how that became to be!) and tag along with a pilgrimage with American diaspora from Serbia.
Got home from that and within a few months after a long week photographing at my county fair (something I've done most of my life and especially since 4 H), I got a call in the middle of the night after I had just got into bed that my family home was engulfed in flames from the fire chief of a nearby town and for me to bring the insurance papers...
The house was gutted, my early photo files stored in outer buildings were now ashes but my renters were fine and no firefighters injured. The fire was devastating not only to my early archives but also to my renters and the renters next door who were also burned out. It was a difficult week since I had minor surgery scheduled later in the week that had been bumped twice before.
My renters found a new home nearby quickly and my life got turned into another direction. I already had a ton of work to complete from the fair and a major celebration of the founding of my church happening all within weeks and only one of me to handle it all.
I used the skills I learned at CalFire while I was a graphic artist there since I was smart enough to learn about both fire and project management while I was there, so I put together a plan to rebuild and triaged my time between planning, recovery, building, handling the church celebration (which included the publication of a book that was already in progress along with a wall calendar). Most of the photo biz got put on hold beyond what had to be done for everyone.
I became first a demo "expert" then an "owner-builder" as I worked with the local building department to get the paperwork in order to get the property cleaned-up within environmental frameworks and testing then work the logistics of a skill I guess I absorbed from my father as a little kid when he was a home builder.
My job was to clean-up behind my contractors, deal with the paperwork and inspections, approve the sub-contractors and keep the project moving until completion. My contractors had my back covered and the subs and inspectors complemented us for our clean worksite and good craftsmanship they saw as the house came rose through the ashes upon the original foundation constructed 80 years before.
As the house was coming along, the pandemic hit and that was pretty much the end of all photo-related work for spring and into the start of summer. In some ways it was nice to have a break from the annual cycle of work and teaching but the lack of income was a bummer. However, though there were a few weeks delay in finishing the house, it was signed-off with a final inspection via FaceTime and the inspector went though with me holding the phone into every nook and crannies and checking everything off.
The house was rebuilt in 11 months and rented exactly one year after the fire.
As I had time, I was processing files hanging around waiting for time and I was going out shooting when I could. A few nice jobs trickled in during summer and that got me a little income which paid for a new head on my current second-hand large-format printer. A few weddings got booked and shot and another wall calendar got produced for the church and I now have a new skill in home construction as an owner-builder, just like my father fifty years ago!
So, now that I've put everyone asleep with diarrhea of the keyboard I've "survived" for decades while riding a roller coaster with an occasional rest on a merry-go-round, using every skill I've absorbed along the way. Part of it was by necessity, part of it as a result of my neurodiversity and seldom a dull moment as I plan to keep at it until I croak in my boot and they plant me six feet under.
To say the least, it's been interesting and I'm glad I didn't settle for working 20-30 years to retire to what I wanted to do in the first place only to die within too few years.
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Great story, Larry. Diversity is key, eh? :)
I wonder how many of us were inspired to take up photography by Mr Adams. I certainly was.
I saw my first fine art prints at a show of his on my honeymoon in Yosemite, back in the early 70s. That did it for me.
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A fascinating life, Larry.
And you answered a question that has been lurking in my mind for quite some time: "I know that name Larry Angier from some masthead from years ago. I wonder what it was?"
ASMP! That must be where I had seen your work before LuLa. Thanks for the narrative, Larry.
-Eric
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... I was well enough by summer 2019 to take friends to Ireland to photograph and then to continue to Serbia for my seventh trip there (a whole other story on how that became to be!) and tag along with a pilgrimage with American diaspora from Serbia...
About that... :)
The title reads: "Serbian Cowboys from Jackson"