Losing business to amateurs

[Mr. Innuendo]

"Certification" is a silly idea.

Photography is, first and foremost, an art form. We don't ask that painters be certified, nor poets, nor sculptors. Likewise, it would be nonsensical to expect some sort of certification for photographers.

The logistics alone would make it a virtual impossibility and, again, because it's "art", any certification would be meaningless...

 

[12sndsgood]

its changing like the cd is. I used to love buying a cd for that tangible thing, but now even I Just listen to Pandora or some other online music scource, the industry changed and so is the photography industry, some will rise to the top, some will sink, you have to find what works for you. there are people out there making big money in photography still while others are turning in there cameras left and right due to areas closing up, and so the real goal doesn't become making rules and laws to force others out but to learn what you need to do to take yourself to the top.

 

[minicoop1985]

There's a freaking union of photographers here in WI. I have no idea why there's a union of photographers, as membership means absolutely squat and I can't fathom what the union could really offer, as it's mainly for established photography businesses. I mean if there were mentorship programs, I'd be all over that, but...

 

[bribrius]

There's a freaking union of photographers here in WI. I have no idea why there's a union of photographers, as membership means absolutely squat and I can't fathom what the union could really offer, as it's mainly for established photography businesses. I mean if there were mentorship programs, I'd be all over that, but...

got a link for the union photography ?

wondering if their work is a cut above most others since unions push that quality and pride thing.

 

[snowbear115 46]

Some just push prices up.

 

[manaheim]

Is this still going? Yeesh.

Wow my memory of MC has drifted drastically from reality. Weird.

Ah well. Getting old.

 

[photoguy99]

It is worth noting that the bellyaching about business going away is not without merit.

Our society as a whole is moving in a bad direction. Technology and globalization allowed photography, and 100 other trades, to be eliminated as viable jobs. There's no law that says these need to be replaced with other equivalently viable jobs.

Henry Ford deliberately paid his guys enough so they could afford his cars. Henry could do math. Modern corporate leaders cannot. The goal is to produce products that can be afforded by people who work for someone else.

The march of technology is an inexorable component here, but so is the modern corporate attitude of placing profits first (and this is a very modern idea, make no mistake). Photography wasn't ruined by Apple paying people pennies a day in Bangladesh to build iPads, but there are similarities and relationships.

Guilds and unions put people first. Well, that's the idea, anyways.

The loss of each individual career, be it photographer, buggy whip maker, tailor, cobbler, or what have you, makes sense as a consequence of natural economic forces. Overall the pattern is driven as much by corporatism as economics, though.

When they come for your career, rest assured, there will probably be a few people left to explain how it was inevitable, you have to adapt, and perhaps you were just very bad at it. When we reach endgame, with 500 CEOs building products with near slave labor, products that there's nobody left on earth that is paid enough to buy, well, I guess we'll see some changes.

 

[Gary A.]

It is worth noting that the bellyaching about business going away is not without merit.

Our society as a whole is moving in a bad direction. Technology and globalization allowed photography, and 100 other trades, to be eliminated as viable jobs. There's no law that says these need to be replaced with other equivalently viable jobs.

Henry Ford deliberately paid his guys enough so they could afford his cars. Henry could do math. Modern corporate leaders cannot. The goal is to produce products that can be afforded by people who work for someone else.

The march of technology is an inexorable component here, but so is the modern corporate attitude of placing profits first (and this is a very modern idea, make no mistake). Photography wasn't ruined by Apple paying people pennies a day in Bangladesh to build iPads, but there are similarities and relationships.

Guilds and unions put people first. Well, that's the idea, anyways.

The loss of each individual career, be it photographer, buggy whip maker, tailor, cobbler, or what have you, makes sense as a consequence of natural economic forces. Overall the pattern is driven as much by corporatism as economics, though.

When they come for your career, rest assured, there will probably be a few people left to explain how it was inevitable, you have to adapt, and perhaps you were just very bad at it. When we reach endgame, with 500 CEOs building products with near slave labor, products that there's nobody left on earth that is paid enough to buy, well, I guess we'll see some changes.

A ton of valid and good points. Can't quite swallow the summary ... but that's okay, it was all speculation anyway.

 

[photoguy99]

I don't have any answers and I have no idea how it's going to play out. I do know a little about the various forces in play.

 

[minicoop1985]

The union appears to actually have started doing some mentorship things, but on a small scale. I learned about it 5 years ago from my wedding photographer.

 

[Gary A.]

While I haven't any data to support my speculative statement ... but it seems that corporate greed has replaced corporate responsibility.

 

[minicoop1985]

While I haven't any data to support my speculative statement ... but it seems that corporate greed has replaced corporate responsibility.

I can't help but to agree.

 

[KenC]

it seems that corporate greed has replaced corporate responsibility.

been a while now ...

 

[imagemaker46]

I had stopped reading most of the responses a few days ago. I did however find out that the poacher is now shooting Jr hockey for $50 per game. I did some figuring on this one. I believe there are 40 home games, each game is around 2-3 hours. There is the parking fee of $10 per game, and all the post process work. While it does look like on the surface she is making $2000 for the season, take away the $400 for parking, the post time and she is making less than minimum wage. I suppose as long as she's happy with that, and probably hasn't figured out she really isn't making any money at all, then good for her. There has been some very negative chatter among the other photographers in town about her practices, and it is getting chilly for her. You get what you get. Some will want to call it an old boys club, but the majority of those affected are the young guys just trying to get by that need the work.

I've decided to retire, buy a nice knife and become a plastic surgeon. Does Best Buy sell knives to amateurs for professional work? I'm thinking of diceandslice.com or oopsplasticsurgery.com. The motto would be "For when you don't care how you look in the mirror" Just getting the business cards and web site done up. I'm thinking of starting on facebook, and then working up to the pro ranks on Craigslist. Promo deal would be the first 3 cuts are free. Anyone know where I can buy the dummies guide to plastic surgery, Chapters didn't have a copy. I've always had a passion for plastic surgery and my family and friends said the breast reconstruction on the neighbours lawn gnome was nearly good enough that you couldn't even see where the glue was.

Photography the only business people go into when they retire.

 

[limr29 2]

Well, actually no. Retired people also think they can teach English or ESL because, y'know, they speak it, so they can teach it, too, right?

Wrong.

One of these types once asked me about what the problem was with these foreign students. "Why can't they learn the grammar? It's the same as in their language, just with different vocabulary." He really thought that all languages share the same grammar rules but just plugged in different words.

Even the double facepalm wasn't enough for that.

But it's not just English. "If you can't do, teach." Right? It's just as misguided as, "Well, I just have to get a good camera, right?"

There are certain professions that people think they can just do without training, or by learning on the fly, and they'll be good at it. Photography is one of them, but it's not the only one.