Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/12/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]When people put out the idea that to the effect photography is not a viable profession as its impossible to make a living at it to me its just an underscoring of their own prejudices to approach the craft in a very casual way. How do you like to spend your free time? It's about defining your avocation interests. Are you having fun yet? As photography is first and foremost just that. For every person approaching it as a vocation there are a ten million who approach as an avocation. Fun vs. work. Many people though like to get real serious about their fun. They delve into it. They read all about it. Take seminars. After all to them fun is serious business. They only have 4 hours when they get home from work to do this or that and then its 15 minutes of Johnny Carson and lights out. If they could bill out their fun time they'd rate it at many times more than their work time. And they work much harder at their fun then then do at their work work. But a bit more people when they approach something they are going to do for fun want it to be like falling off a log. And that's their definition of "not work". A point and shoot with one button and then bring it to the drug store and get back snaps in a few days. Throw the negs out as if you want more you just bring it the snap and they copy it. Mindless as possible. And plenty know that if they want a great photography of themselves or their gerbil or the tree in their backyard its not all about what camera takes it but who. And if the who is a major entity like Ted or one of the great photographers then it's going to cost real money. Not "who's can we get with a big camera who will do it for free". They are paying for vision and commitment. I'm wondering how more complicated it is than that? Just because our own approach to making photographs is very low key does that mean that we have now awareness of what great image making takes? It takes money in most cases. To hire a good photographer. If the image does not have to be that great then forget it! I've always and two kinds of clients. The ones which respect me and my craft and the ones who don't. The ones who don't have crummy stuff hanging in cheap frames on their walls for the most part. They don't need me and I don't need them. -------------------- Mark William Rabiner Photography http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lugalrabs/ mark at rabinergroup.com Cars: http://tinyurl.com/2f7ptxb to