[Leica] RE Cost of pictures

Tue Sep 4 19:34:16 PDT 2018

There are enough photographers I know here who make a very good living,
even now, from photography. They choose their niches carefully - wedding,
industrial, medical, forensic, fashion, advertising, high end food,
wildlife, among others - where the Iphone masses cannot compete. They have
business extensions that marry their expertise to other related fields -
some have opened studios and do high end digital printing, others take
classes and seminars, and still more have regular photo tours through the
year. It is a question of planning 5 years ahead, being realistic about the
future, eschewing denial and changing directions early, rather than when
one is forced to. Just like any other small business, in fact.

Cheers
Jayanand

On Wed, Sep 5, 2018 at 3:47 AM, Ted Grant via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
wrote:

> Hi Tina,
> Well all I can say about "money earning photography today?" It absolutely
> sucks compared to "being an in depend business 20 years ago? Maybe even 10
> years ago?
> Let me put it in a monetary fashion compared today to the
> yesteryears....... When I would receive a day rate of $500 per day, plus
> $250.oo for down days of no shooting. Plus purchase cost of every roll of
> film shot! Plus all processing and a contact sheet for every roll! Some
> documentary
> month long assignments. Sometimes several months in a row and quite
> possible 9 or 10 months in a year! Quite often for a variation of clients.
> Stock material sold through an agency some years would be close to $40,000
> a year on a good year. And I didn't really work at stock as my time was
> nearly always assigned work!
> LEICA's were a piece of cake to buy. TODAY? NOT ON YOUR LIFE! Why?
> Well the number one reason as far as I'm concerned?????
> Those telephone cameras that everybody and their mothers own and use them
> quite often? Quite well for publications.
> Their photography is quite well done for the pictures required these days.
> Plus the "seller?" :-( quite often give their pictures away for merely a
> "credit line" under the photo. In turn cut publication rates to almost
> nickels & dimes. OR NOTHING!
> Photo books of how to do it being published are almost null & void! Why?
> Because you can learn so much off the TV screen down loading lectures and
> lessons for almost give away prices.
> Even photographer hired positions are far and few between. Do I have an
> answer to correct this new life style??? NOPE! :-(
> I suppose one could be factious and say " Just stay an amateur and have
> fun!!
> cheers. Dr. Ted Grant O.C.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: LUG [mailto:lug-bounces+tedgrant=shaw.ca at leica-users.org] On Behalf
> Of Tina Manley via LUG
> Sent: September-01-18 7:09 AM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Cc: Tina Manley; Lawrence Zeitlin
> Subject: Re: [Leica] RE Cost of pictures
>
> That wouldn't work for me!!  I currently have 10,000 images with my largest
> stock agency.  I'm lucky if they sell 10 a month!  Prices for stock have
> gone from an average of $500 per sale to $20 per sale.  If I didn't have
> digital and had to pay for film, I would never be able to afford my
> Leicas!!
>
> Tina
>
> On Sat, Sep 1, 2018 at 12:20 AM, Lawrence Zeitlin via LUG <
> lug at leica-users.org> wrote:
>
> > As a point of interest, the latest issue of Science magazine, the journal
> > of the AAAS, reports on the annual number of photographs taken. “In the
> > early 1800s, the first ever photograph was taken, an unassuming picture
> > that required days of exposure to obtain a very grainy image. Over one
> > million photos were taken during the US Civil war of which 100,000
> survive.
> > In the late 1800s, photography was used for the first time to see the
> > movement of a running horse that was too fast for the human eye. In the
> > following years photography played a pivotal role in human history,
> ranging
> > from creation of the national parks in the USA all the way to documenting
> > NASA’s first moon mission  In the 1900s, roughly 10 billion photographs
> > were taken per year. Facilitated by the explosion of the internet, we
> will
> > approach 2 trillion images this year - roughly about 1000 images per year
> > for every person on the planet.”
> >
> > As a frequent reviewer of art and photo shows in the TriState area I have
> > noticed several results of this plethora of images. First, figurative
> > images are almost impossible to sell. Unless directly ordered by the
> > recipient (i.e. a portrait or picture at ones children or a prized
> > possession) the chance of selling any image approaches zero. Second, we
> > have run out of wall space to exhibit images. It is virtually impossible
> to
> > book a display space unless reserved far in advance. Modern houses have
> too
> > many windows and too little blank wall space.
> >
> > I can conceive on only one simple fix for too many images. Raise the cost
> > to at least one USD per exposure. Use film instead of digital. Currently
> it
> > costs only pennies to take and print a picture. At current rates a year’s
> > worth of photos requires only a few dollars of expense. The price of a
> new
> > Leica kit is  thousands of times more expensive. Does anyone have a more
> > sensible solution?
> >
> > Larry Z
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
>
>
> --
> Tina Manley
> www.tinamanley.com
> tina-manley.artistwebsites.com
> http://www.pbase.com/tinamanley
> <http://www.alamy.com/stock-photography/3B49552F-90A0-
> 4D0A-A11D-2175C937AA91/Tina+Manley.html>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
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