One thing that I keep seeing is people whining about more and more newbies joining in and trying to sell their photographs.
This makes me angry.
We are all new once. What is it with people that they have to try to pull the ladder up once they are no longer a beginner? It’s ok for them to start out, ask questions, learn the ropes, but as soon as they have (or think they have) it’s all “no noobs allowed”.
I can only think this is out of fear. They lack confidence in their own ability, they are afraid some new hotshot will take food off their table.
It’s obvious they never see it from the customers point of view.
In my mind customers see a picture they like, that suits their purpose, for a price they can agree to. What’s wrong with that? If the customer is happy that is all that matters. Telling customers they are wrong, that they have no taste and should be paying 100x the price is not a great strategy in my view.
Another industry is suffering from rejecting what the customer wants, the music industry. The writing has been on the wall for a while that DRM is not the solution but still they continue with the “should, ought, demand, enforce” approach.
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July 9th, 2007 at 1:09 am
Well said Chris and totally true!
Like dinosaurs, those that don’t adapt, perish.
The RIAA and their fight for DRM will be their nail-in-the-coffin as more innovative ways are found to provide what the customer wants and still make a profit.
The same will be true of those who don’t adopt to the new-era of photography.
If the customer AND the photgrapher are happy, it’s all good.
The King is dead, long live the new King!
July 9th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Yup, you can just imagine those dinosaurs saying “those little creatures with the fur, they are ruining it for all of us! Taking food from our tables! Well I am not going to stand for it, I will complain to all who will listen”
July 10th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
I’m at a similar as you, though I think you are further down the path. I’ve really seen two camps as I set off into the wonderful world of professional photography - those that genuinely want to help you out an will give you the shirt of their back, and the ones you describe.
I’m not usually one to pigeon hole people, but it never seems to have failed yet - they all fall squarely into one camp. The main differentiator seems to be the fourm your communicating in. Chat up a photog when he’s not working (key) and they’ll give you all sorts of advice. Post something in an online forum, and feel the wrath of a million flames, noob.
That said, classic newbie rules still apply. Research the heck out of your question then use it to frame your question. Case in point? I was trying to learn about color management and monitor calibration. There are a ton of choices out there. After looking at all the options I remember talking to a local guy and saying, “I really know I need to calibrate my montior, and it seems like ColorVision is the favorite, but I’m not sure.” His advice to me: unless you’re going to doing all your own output (I’m not) or want spend insane amounts of time worrying about color (I don’t), don’t bother with anything too high end. Hook up with a pro lab that will do the color correction for you, get a Pantone Huey and your monitor will be 90% of the way there. The lab will take it the rest of the way. He gave me the names of a few labs he’d worked with and within a week I was setup at one of them.
Where he fed me a load of junk remains to be seen, but the advice seemed heartfelt and came with a “if you have any other questions while your getting started, here’s my card. Give me a call or drop me an email.”
July 10th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
I guess it is like in the rest of life, you get nice and bad wherever you go, there just seems to be some forums full of them
Good tip with the calibration, I have been looking at that myself!