Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Big snip >I probably won't get wealthy with this attitude of charity. But in my >heart I know it is the right thing to do. >-- >Carl Socolow Carl, You hit right on the head what I was getting at a few days ago with my response to Bob about what I find rewarding and what keeps me going in photography. There is a big difference in the pay I recieve and the reward I get from my work. Sometimes I can do a multi thousand day rate and feel very little reward except for being technically proficient....not exactly a rewarding feeling IMHO. And there are days I shoot a photo no one will ever pay me for and feel greatly rewarded for the moment captured - example a pix of my daughter that I will put on my wall. I do not make a practice of giving my work away. I will do some work for my church. If a good friend asks me to make some photos for them personally and I feel like doing it I never charge as friendship is far more valuable to me than monetary value. I have photographed 2 weddings, soon to be 3, all for very close friends (Well one was for a close friend of my ex-wife...damn her for getting me into that one...those ungrateful sobs never even said thank you) The one coming up is for a very close friend who I go fishing with. He and his fiancee do not have alot of money so I told him my wedding gift would be the photos for his wedding. I do not consider this selling myself short. I used to do a lot of work in the Country Music arena, shooting a lot for Country Weekly magazine. I frequently had the labels calling me wanting to use my photos or hire me to do publicity photos during the filming on videos, albumn cover shoots and such. When I would quote my rates they would get all pissed and say we can get xyz for $60/hour. I would respond "Well hire them then, I don't work that cheap."....They would hire them, the video would be taped, I would shoot it for Country Weekly, then they would call me back asking to use my photos because the $60/hour shooters stuff was crap. Then they would have the audicity to bitch about my use fees...damn these guys are selling platinum records then bitch about a few hundred dollars for photo reuse....go figure. They get what they deserve. In case anyone misunderstood my post from the other day (rereading it it would be easy to do) I did not mean to imply that I do not think about the monetary side of the business...if that were the case I would be a broke photographer. No what I menat was that I do photography as my job because I love it. To make a lot of money was not the reason I went into photography, getting a huge check, while a nice feeling, would be hollow if I did not enjoy creating the best image I am capable of creating. That is when I begin to feel like a prostitute, when working soley for the money involved. I have done that a time or two, and now only do the kind of photography I enjoy. Probably miss some cash, but make up for it in years added to my life. :) Harrison McClary http://people.delphi.com/hmphoto Preview my book: http://www.volmania.com mail: mcclary@iname.com