This is a terrific post. 12 salient points that apply to all professional photographers.
I would just add that regardless of ability or how hard you work it takes time to succeed. How long? Well I think around 5 - 10 years to reach a level of 'security'.
Paul
Paul, you must be a senior citizen too: f¡ve years is supposedly now an entire, fulfilling
career! Forgotten fireworks hang in the dead file like flies on sticky paper; only a very few I ever knew personally made it much longer at any level worth having.
We used sometimes to throw around questions such as: is so-and-so established now, never really knowing what the hell established meant. We were generally generous: three years of working with some profile meant yep, the guy exists! Twenty years on, he had to be an accountant still to be there.
I think that part of the problem is that it's not really all about photographers themselves, but about how new people (possible clients) see them from within their own sphere of influence. Folks tend to mix with similar folks, and that makes a natural pool of common resources. I find it hard to imagine that a twenty-something would naturally turn to a fifty-something to do a shoot when he already knows a young guy in whom he has faith; yes, painful for the earlier generation, but a perfectly natural progression for all that, and the only way to ensure a steady continuity of talents. The old can choke the young, you know, and not just in photography.
BC. "So my take is I will bet dollars to donuts that if I put the right talent in front of your lens, on a day with beautiful cross light, loaded up a Nikon F3, a 105, some good film stock, you'd be jumping that fence line."
No need for film - I could do it with glee with my digital Nikons, but only for shorter stretches at a time! Endurance has flown out the window (looking for my hair), even if Soul is willing. I would, however, need a mule to carry the bloody Gitzo! Don't tempt me too hard - I may push you into a corner where you have to pony up! ;-) Only kidding.
Actually, in my current mindset, I'd be more inclined to want to shoot in rainy weather in a city somewhere, not bikini/skin shots, but dreamy French/Scandinavian-looking creatures with large eyes, sad expressions, long straight hair and simple, beautifully expensive clothes. The French/Scand girls would probably, in truth, come from Birmingham, UK and be starving for their art, deep in the dream of their model agency.
Ah, and it's just another soft morning in Mallorca...
Thanks for the really happy passing moments, Cooter. Appreciated on many levels!
Rob