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ArcticRick
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I have loved photography for as long as I can remember. I got my first 35mm Canon and shot pics for school papers and yearbooks. Years later got into Nikon and the D40 then D70 , then D200 and now D7000. I have done what so many others have done with pouring time, money , stress and effort into being a photographer. All with zero returns , No prints sold , no magazine shots , no published pictures at all except 1 on a web site. Years of banging my head against the cinder block it feels like. I seldom pick up my camera at all, I look at it with hatred , feeling no joy just the agony of being rejected and defeated on all angles. I know I'm preaching to the choir here when I say this ...The market is just saturated , too many camera phones and people just blasting away with the button down and saying "i'll fix it in photoshop" ...People not respecting the skill and time to frame shots..Whats that saying about when things come easy people stop caring ...Final gripe , the tons of people that want your pictures but then want all the work for free.. A few people have wanted to get copies of my pics and blow them up then scoff at the cost of printing them at any shop or site ....Sorry to be a buzz kill ..I'm just tired and defeated ...Im even thinking on selling my gear |
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Robert
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ArcticRick wrote:I have loved photography for as long as I can remember. For me life and hobbies ebb and flow. Life is like that, we have our ups and downs. I too have loved photography since I could hold a camera, a Box Brownie of my parents. This is where the question I mentioned recently in another thread arises. At what level does our love become a hobby and when does it become a job? (Profession???) I have had a few images which I have been paid for but certainly less than even covered my time taken, let alone covering my expenses. For me to have an image published is reward enough, it's a hobby to me, yet I use photography in my work, so that isn't a hobby, that is gainful use. I use it to record progress, record things that are to be buried, like sewage pipes, foundations, structural steelwork etc. and to show clients surveys of exactly what faults are in their buildings, cracks, subsidence and deterioration so they can understand what they are paying for without clambering up scaffolding and over roofs or into the confines of their foundations. That is the professional aspect of my photography, nothing glamorous, but it helps pay for the hobby side of things. More recently (last ten years?) I have been taking photographs of commemoratively named plants with the aim of including them in a 'book' (probably digital) I am working on, so some of that work will eventually be published, one way or another. Of course people will want your stuff for free, that's normal and of course people will blast away with their iPhones, taking vast numbers of crappy photographs which will never see the light of day, photoshopped or not. Unless it's a picture of the president slipping down a flight of stairs on his bottom, in which case it will probably be worth $$$$. But that's not even a once in a lifetime shot.  For me the joy of photography is to make a lovely image I am proud of.  |
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Eric
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ArcticRick wrote:I have loved photography for as long as I can remember. I got my first 35mm Canon and shot pics for school papers and yearbooks. Years later got into Nikon and the D40 then D70 , then D200 and now D7000. I have done what so many others have done with pouring time, money , stress and effort into being a photographer. All with zero returns , No prints sold , no magazine shots , no published pictures at all except 1 on a web site. Years of banging my head against the cinder block it feels like. I seldom pick up my camera at all, I look at it with hatred , feeling no joy just the agony of being rejected and defeated on all angles. I know I'm preaching to the choir here when I say this ...The market is just saturated , too many camera phones and people just blasting away with the button down and saying "i'll fix it in photoshop" ...People not respecting the skill and time to frame shots..Whats that saying about when things come easy people stop caring ...Final gripe , the tons of people that want your pictures but then want all the work for free.. A few people have wanted to get copies of my pics and blow them up then scoff at the cost of printing them at any shop or site ....Sorry to be a buzz kill ..I'm just tired and defeated ...Im even thinking on selling my gear With respect I think you may be looking at this the wrong way. First and foremost you should be taking photographs because you ENJOY doing it. Nothing to do with remuneration....in fact we invest heavily in this activity. The problem comes when we decide we want to recoup some of that investment..... or even make a living at photography. I did this 20years ago...so know something about it. It's true that these days there are lots of people out there that have digital cameras and phones. What's worse is that many people and publishers are no longer bothered about quality...just getting images quick and cheap is all that matters. Even stock libraries are flooded with good images for just a few cents. This means that it's even more true today than it was when I branched out...you have to find a niche. If you want to make money at photography, you have to look for that niche....then pursue it until YOUR name becomes synonymous with that activity. There are plenty of 'jack of all trades' out there....so specialise. Once people use you for a specialist service, they are more likely to use you for ALL their photgraphy....it's more convenient for them to use the 'devil they know'. But even if you can't find a toehold out there...doesn't mean you have to stop taking photographs for your own pleasure. Just one final point. You may be trying to appeal to the wrong market. I do NO general public work. No weddings, no portraits, no events....it's all commercial. The general public have ALWAYS wanted something for nothing. They are less discerning about quality...as seen by their acceptance of phone snaps...and cannot understand added value. So look at your local industries and see if you can add value to their businesses. |
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jk
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I agree with Eric. I used to do occasional weddings, special events but mainly sports photography. Then I did some fashion and advertising shots, then portraits and my landscapes. Now I do my landscapes, portraits and flamenco photography. My flamenco photography pays a little either money or free meals in the restaurant and so do the occasional portraits that I am asked to do. The rest is free for me and occasionally I sell images. When I do sell they are to corporates for large prints 60x30 inches for conference rooms and these cost a fair bit but are affordable art for a large firm. |
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richw
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I agree I photograph for the love - not the bucks. The only photos I have ever sold were of a boxing match, the money went to Legacy a charity for service men. I sold a lot, but made them cheap. I worked my rate of pay out for that as roughly $7 per hour. If I could find a legitimate link to my current work and claim outlay back on tax that would be worthwhile but I have never worked out how to do that! |
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highlander
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Yes, it's normal. I sold almost all my gear, because I had too. My partner came home one night and, completely without warning, announced our relationship was over and would I leave in the morning. This meant I was suddenly homeless. Unfortunately, his family also owned my business premises. I was allowed to continue working out of there for 3 weeks. Which was until the end of commitments I had to persons or businesses they directly dealt with. I then lived and worked in a 20 year old Ford Escort van. But it was impossible. Although a very good friend let me stay in the spare bedroom, I had no income. After just two months all my savings were gone. I contemplated suicide, very seriously. Then I got a job. After a couple of months I looked for a place to rent. In order to pay the deposit and put the most basic furnishings in, I sold all my gear. It was all I had worth money. I regretted it, from the moment I did it. 18 months on I started a photo blog, using my old D200 and then a Canon I picked up cheaply. My aim was to take at least one half decent photo a day, every day. I didn't care how many followers I had. It was for me. It opened my eyes and re-engaged my love of photography. Photography for me will never be the same again. It will never again be my business. But it can still be my passion. But I needed those 18 months away from it. I needed to walk away from a lot of hurt and a lot of disappointment, and photography was a part of that. |
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Eric
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highlander wrote:Yes, it's normal. You have clearly been through some emotionally wretched times, Jan. I sincerely hope you have turned a corner and are moving forward into better ones. I consider myself very lucky that I was able to turn my hobby into a business opportunity. But one thing is for sure...you may gain a living, but you lose a leisure activity. For nearly 20 years I have found it extremely difficult to view my cameras as anything more than my work tools. I stopped taking photos for fun. I turned to IR photography as a'point of difference' from my day to day stuff. But Its only now, as work is 'dropping off', that I am gaining back the enthusiasm for leisure photography. In short, it's very difficult to combine work and play. |
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jk
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highlander wrote:Yes, it's normal. I think you are right. Whilst I havent thankfully suffered the tortures that you have I find that I do my best photography when I do it out of passion for the subject. The fact that I get paid for the work sometimes is for me a bonus. BTW: I did enjoy your blog very much.  |
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blackfox
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looking at where your putting your pics rick could be the answer ,i totally swear by FLICKR i have been on there from the start of taking wildlife shots ,its around 5 years ,in that time from there and there alone ,i have had numerous photos shown on BBC televisions programs autumwatch and spring watch ,even the wife had one last autumn . from flickr i have had requests to use some of my photos in a book (didn't get paid ) but got a nice signed copy of it and from that a couple of my shots were used in the national paper "the mail on sunday" then late last year i had a request for a 4 year old photo to be used by a japanese pop group in a c.d cover ,they paid for that and in turn it paid for most of a nice new carbon fibre tripod . so yes it can be done ,join flickr ,become popular on there i have quite a few contacts that have done extremely well from there on the same basis .you never really know who's looking at your work but if its good it WILL attract attention |
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MaxSouthOz
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I had a half a dozen of my photos published in a hard covered book a while back. It was titled, "Digital Command Control - the definitive guide." It was written by Ian Morton, who wrote to me asking permission to use the photos which had been uploaded to a forum. Fifty Shades of Grey it isn't, but it is a well respected reference for rail modellers; and I was very chuffed to be asked. I even got a free copy of the book. :thumbsup: I'm embarrassed to admit that the photos were taken with a Sony Cybershot Poynton Chute, but I had owned the camera for a long while and had become quite adept with it. The learning curve with my new D 7000 is very shallow and I'm nearly up to where I was with the Sony  Just sayin" |
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