Losing business to amateurs

[tirediron]

...Photography the only business people go into when they retire.

Mmmmmm... not so much. House inspector is a common one, as is "handy-man". If you know anyone in the construction trades, ask them about that!

 

[JacaRanda]

If she has a bootyload of money, then making less than minimum wage probably does not worry her.
Making things chilly for her, should really help the young guys that need the work.

 

[Gary A.]

it seems that corporate greed has replaced corporate responsibility.

been a while now ...

Sadly yes.

 

[DevC]

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.

And this is why we have minimum wage laws set in place.

 

[Gary A.]

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.

Costco has a pretty good deal on some KitchenAid knives.

 

[imagemaker46]

When I said photography was the "only" one, it was a generalization. I realize there are other fields of work that people attempt to go into.

 

[gsgary]

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.

Henry Ford also gave lots of his profit to the Nazi party

 

[vintagesnaps]

I'd said some pages ago that I'd read about the idea/suggestion of some sort of certification - or whatever it might be called - for photographers - if they'd so choose to do. I didn't say anything about it being legislated. Or required. Or anything like that (apparently some people misread my post).

As I said, I can't remember where I read about it, but the idea would be I think comparable to what PPA has available for its members who want a way to show they meet certain standards of professionalism. I don't think it would be a bad idea to have something similar not just specific to one organization. Then it would be a way for prospective clients to at least know they'll get something better than a CD full of crappy photos and after their wedding, the photographer is nowhere to be found (and the client's money is long gone).

Maybe the photographer in this case getting the big chill will think about if she was rather misguided in the way she's going about this. Or not. I think Scott's right. Sometimes you get what you give and for her karma might be a *****. Up to her if she learns something from this or not.

 

[DGMPhotography]

Yep.. it sucks.

I probably do it myself without knowing. Compared to more experienced photographers, what I charge is probably pretty cheap, but I charge based on how much experience I have. And I've noticed that my work is sometimes better than the "pros," who charge way more. Some customers are dumb and will pay the higher amount for more lower quality work. Some customers are dumb and will accept low quality work for low cost. In essence, most customers are dumb. I think you have to inform them of the difference in quality and the reasoning for your price.

But that's also just how the competitive landscape is. You have to offer something new to stay ahead. Perhaps I would also do the shoot for free on the contingency that if the client likes the photos that they have to pay, or else take the crap the guy shot for free. It's a risk. I agree in that it's probably safe to say that photography as a career is probably becoming a more difficult thing to do. But for those lucky few who get into the big leagues (photographing celebrities and what not), there's possibilities. And that's what I'm striving for. Here's to hoping to shoot with Taylor Swift one day <3

And my condolences for your friend!

 

[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.

Henry Ford also gave lots of his profit to the Nazi party

What conceivable relationship to anything anyone is talking about does this remark have?

 

[Derrel]

I've decided to retire, buy a nice knife and become a plastic surgeon. Does Best Buy sell knives to amateurs for professional work?

Seems like you are confusing an actual, real, genuine, bona fide profession with a mere trade or craft.

A profession requires extensive and rigorous formal education, a substantial internship period, a residency, and finally a series of rigorous certification examinations to join a very exclusive profession, with explicit rules for conduct, practices, and legally binding rules for violations of professional standards and practices.

The photography trade requires nothing more than a person proclaiming, "I am a photographer!" BOOM! Instant photographer. Buy a few tools,and one is...a photographer. No required education, no required internship, no apprenticeship, no examinations, no board examinations, no licensing, no nothing required.

It is more demanding,and more difficult, to become a hairdresser or a barber than it is to become a photographer.

 

[imagemaker46]

Derrel, All I can say is try putting 15 hour days for three straight weeks of shooting in +90f and in the same day -45 after spending an hour climbing a mountain with 40 pounds of gear on your back and then tell me that it is easier than cutting hair.

Your lack of a sense of humour in regards to my plastic surgeon comments has obviously been lost on someone that sits behind a desk pushing a pen around for a living.

The difference is that my desk is 7,926.41 miles around, and not a 6x6 cube.

 

[snowbear115 46]

When I was a police dispatcher (a million years ago) we used to get a lot of calls from convenience store clerks whom were also part time brain surgeons, so you might be onto something.

 

[imagemaker46]

I've met a few taxi drivers that were doctors in their country of origin.

 

[BillM]

She did the first gig for free, now she is charging $50 for a shoot, in a year she will be trying for $1000 an hour. That is when people will stop hiring her, UNLESS she is good enough to demand that wage. She either had a plan or she just figured out that it is in fact hard work. People do this in every line of work, look up Internship. I work for someone who started as an unpaid Intern. Didn't the young photographer who lost his client in the OP do an Internship with someone ? I believe he did. It is not uncommon. And in this case the woman in question had a connection and she used it to get her foot in the door. That happens in every line of work too. It happens every day in almost every line of work, people get screwed all the damn time.

And Photography is an art form. So lets look at another art form, Music. The kid sitting in the subway playing his six string isn't going to put The Rolling Stones out of work BUT if he is really talented he just might find his way out of the subway. And then you know what will happen ? He will start playing for more than pocket change tossed at him by by commuters. And you know what that causes ? Another performer loses a gig because this kid would do it for less to get out of the subway. And then the next kid will displace him to get out of the subway. So he also has two choices, get better or get out of the way. Welcome to the real world !!!!!!