When you're old and grey and thinking about your life as a professional "whatever", I'm pretty sure it's the apparently harsh advice, comments and criticism that you will tell others "made you what you are".
ABSOLUTELY! But the comments here aren't harsh in a constructive way at all. They are snide and rude and picking fun at the newbie because he PROBABLY doesn't know what he is doing. No one bothers to ASK if he knows jack squat about his camera and what he is doing. For all you really know he could be an amateur who has been shooting for YEARS with the camera skills who has just plain never had the desire to go into business before. Yep, I know the chances are slim that it's the real way of it.
The harsh comments and criticism can be given with some tact and respect. The crap here has not an ounce of respect in it. It's all "you've made one post so your are a moron and we'll make fun of you until you go away."
Did your math teacher tell you to go away because you couldn't add when you stated? Was he or she mean to you because you didn't know how to do a damn thing with numbers? Did the dreaded English teacher berate, poke fun and laugh at you with her pals in public because you didn't know how to read and write when you were little?
Yes, it's certainly an awful environment here where people are encouraged to think for themselves or at least give us adequate information so that we can do their thinking for them. And the poor folks that ask for C&C? The people that respond to those threads obviously have no idea that it means Compliment & Coddle.
I am pretty confident that my reply encouraged the OP to do a little research without being flat out nasty and giving the total joke that was given. It didn't "compliment & coddle," it explained in a rather respectful manner that he needed more information and education to come up with a price. Far from compliment and coddle.
Ah, yes. God forbid people should have to be decent to anyone asking a question that is annoying. Everyone should be able to say and do whatever they please regardless of whether it is flat out rude or not.
Being under educated and seeking knowledge in a forum that was SUPPOSED to be for sharing knowledge is a crime. How dare they seek knowledge????
Perhaps I can put this in perspective for you MLeeK: "I just bought a bag of medical instruments the other day and have an appointment to remove someone's appendix tomorrow. Could someone tell me where in the body it is located, and how best to perfrom the procedure?"
Now, before you mutter, "Moron, what a stupid analogy", think about it it for a moment. You'd expect your doctor to be a trained professional, right? Why should your photographer be any different? Many times potographers are charged with the task of recording once-in-a-lifetime events. Things that can NEVER be a 'do-over'. Is it fair to the client, who, in good faith thinks that he or she has hired someone knowledgable in the field, only to be find out three months after her wedding the that the Fauxtographer only purchased their camera from Best-Buy that morning.
I have been in the field and seen the Fautographer come and go. I know what the odds are and I know that the analogy holds true. You can't curcify someone who is learning that for the sins of the others. Then again, according to the Catholics Sins of the father and all that crap, maybe you can.
The poor dude who bought the camera at Best Buy sees everyone else doing it and it looks easy as hell. He DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE DOESN'T KNOW yet so picking at him and being an a$$ sure isn't going to teach him a damn thing.
This is useless. Evidently it's with the site owners and moderators here to allow you to berate, belittle and chase off any new members that the place may get. This is a gang of self important wanna-be's with a little bit of talent who need to feel oh-so-important so they've created a forum to invite people to so they can nail their asses to the wall while they get a few laughs out of it. I don't see any of your names up there on the marquee for Imaging, PhotoPlus, WPPi, PhotoShop world because they're not going to be. I do see you pointing to those guys who are on the handbill using their blogs and information. Thankfully the PROFESSIONALS are willing to share and teach all of that without being a$$holes to the new guys. They have chosen to EDUCATE the newbies with a little respect, tact and giving them guidance.
In doing so they are preserving the industry for the pompous asses like you who think that berating the new guy for ignorance is going to help. It's not. He's going to do the shoot and ruin something and give all of us a bad name as photographers. He thinks it's easy and will walk away from here thinking we're all a bunch of rude a$$holes who don't know what we are talking about.
No wonder I don't see any of the big names contributing here. I see them on other forums... Why is that??? Perhaps they don't want to be affiliated with the nastiness?
The best ant killer in the world attracts the ants with sweetness. But it's lethal in killing the pests.
Laughing at ignorance and un-educated newbies isn't going to stop them. They are going to do it. Tell me, has it worked for you yet? I see more determined newbies leaving here calling "bullsh1t" and heading off to charge $50 for the session and throwing in everything but the kitchen sink. And when he fails? there will be 10 more to take his place.
