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Author Topic: So would I need to do weddings?  (Read 5630 times)

Joe Behar

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Re: So would I need to do weddings?
« Reply #20 on: October 07, 2010, 04:01:05 pm »


Could you please define the "it" to which you are referring?


In this particular case, however, Rob's experience comes from the perspective of a dinosaur in the industry and is not "fresh" information, and therefore I think is irrelevant. I think, in today's photographic climate, for anyone to start out thinking he or she is just going to have work/money dumped into their laps, without having first do put in the time, do the work, and self-promote like crazy is just unrealistic.

But I am always open to an easier road than that, if it's realistic.

Jack
Jack,
Never in my 30+ years in this industry have I ever heard of anyone sitting back and having work come to them. You are correct that photographers need to market and promote. However....traditionally, doing events such as arts and craft shows, greeting cards and such tend to pay off very little, if anything. It has always been the realm of the advanced amateur and part time pro. The reality of our industry is that the photographers time spent in marketing themselves is almost always better spent in contacting advertising agencies, companies that need product shots or magazines that hire on an ongoing basis, even if its not a staff position. The one off sale to someone looking for a print to hang on their wall, as nice as it is willusually not pay the bills on a consistent way.

Again, thids is not necessarily the way things "should" work, its just the way they do. Welcome to what is probably the craziest industry in the world that most closely resembles a drug addiction. We have it in our blood and probably will never leave :)
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Rob C

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Re: So would I need to do weddings?
« Reply #21 on: October 08, 2010, 05:35:37 am »

"It is Rob who seems to have an aversion to hard work and sustained effort, not me, so you seem to retain your characteristic trouble with staying on point ...

Jack"


That's right, my man, never sweated a drop from '60 onwards; post-'66 all the international clients just beat paths to my studio(s) whilst I sat around drinking coffee, doing castings, looking at tits and watching tv or walking the dog (bless them all, those four-legged bitches).

Comes a point when one has to decide whether to continue or just quit: there is never going to be a time when your reality matches mine, neither for better nor worse, so I may as well choose this one to bid you adios and good luck in your venture towards becoming a professional photographer.

Rob C




JohnKoerner

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Re: So would I need to do weddings?
« Reply #22 on: October 08, 2010, 06:52:18 am »

Jack,
Never in my 30+ years in this industry have I ever heard of anyone sitting back and having work come to them.

Exactly my point Joe.




You are correct that photographers need to market and promote. However....traditionally, doing events such as arts and craft shows, greeting cards and such tend to pay off very little, if anything. It has always been the realm of the advanced amateur and part time pro.

And that's pretty much where I am at now.




The reality of our industry is that the photographers time spent in marketing themselves is almost always better spent in contacting advertising agencies, companies that need product shots or magazines that hire on an ongoing basis, even if its not a staff position. The one off sale to someone looking for a print to hang on their wall, as nice as it is willusually not pay the bills on a consistent way. Again, thids is not necessarily the way things "should" work, its just the way they do.

Thank you for the advice Joe, and your point is well taken. However, I simply enjoy Nature Photography. I don't think I could stomach product photography (unless it was a product I believed in) or doing anything I didn't truly enjoy. Just so you know, I haven't worked for anyone else in more than a decade, and I don't plan on working for anyone else again. I do my own thing in my own way and already have a residual incomein place from 4 books I have already written. I don't think I could be happy taking photos and handing them to someone else to process. My photos are mine, I take photos of what I enjoy, and then I enjoy viewing and editing my photos every bit as much as I enjoyed taking them. Sure, I'd like to make money with my photography, but I won't starve if I don't. I take my photos because I love doing it, and I have just begun printing my images ~over a month ago, and now that I have a halfway decent handle on that I am really enjoying seeing them in print. I personally enjoy art shows, seeing other people's work, and I won't mind participating in them. I believe things work out to be the way they are planned to work, which is either by default or by design.




Welcome to what is probably the craziest industry in the world that most closely resembles a drug addiction. We have it in our blood and probably will never leave :)

Thank you Joe. I do appreciate your time and your insight.

I rather like to think my own photography is like nutrition for me, not a drug. "Good for the soul," as it were. Healthy. And this is what I think Nature Photography is, was, and always will be.

However, I don't think the same can be said of other types of photography, particularly of models and such, given today's "heroin addict" look that seems to be so popular in the mags ... which makes your "drug" analogy rather poignant. (Whatever happened to the happy, healthy look in women?) I don't ever want this to be a drug for me, only healthy.

Anyway, I agree with you that photography is in our blood ... which is why I want to make sure that my subject matter is always wholesome, what I truly enjoy and love to do, and nothing else.

Jack




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« Last Edit: October 08, 2010, 08:09:17 am by John Koerner »
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JohnKoerner

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Re: So would I need to do weddings?
« Reply #23 on: October 08, 2010, 07:01:20 am »

That's right, my man, never sweated a drop from '60 onwards; post-'66 all the international clients just beat paths to my studio(s) whilst I sat around drinking coffee, doing castings, looking at tits and watching tv or walking the dog (bless them all, those four-legged bitches).

 ::)




Comes a point when one has to decide whether to continue or just quit: there is never going to be a time when your reality matches mine, neither for better nor worse, so I may as well choose this one to bid you adios and good luck in your venture towards becoming a professional photographer.
Rob C

Well, Rob, I do recall it was you creating a big stir on that other forum about "motivation." I know I don't have any problem finding motivation in me.

I would never want to be in a position where nothing motivates me, or stuck with the feeling that my best days are behind me, and can't imagine any worse of a (self-created) prison than that. As I suggested earlier, motivation has to come from within, and perhaps it's your own attitude which saps all of the motivation out of you ...

Anyway, so long for now, and best of luck to you too.

Jack




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