Bluejacket Photo

Remember my conversations with Ink Publishing?  It seems that they aren’t the only company trying to get something for nothing.  The website “The Photography Biz” wrote  an article a couple of years ago about the value of giving away a photograph in exchange for “a photo credit… Their opinion?  I think the title says it all:

Why photo credit lines aren’t worth the paper they’re written on

Since the advent of digital more and more people are making images. That’s a good thing. The downside is that the explosion of photo sharing sites like Flickr and PBase have created a ready made amateur market for business savvy publishers to exploit.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re not doing anything illegal. They are simply playing on the fact that there are lots of new image producers in the marketplace who don’t have the first clue that their images are worth anything, and they are banking on the fact that “being published” is reward enough on its own.

Read the rest of their piece here…  Highly recommended (as is the website), if only to get the link of Harlan Ellison ranting…

“Some say opportunity knocks only once, That is not true. Opportunity knocks all the time, but you have to be ready for it. If the chance comes, you must have the equipment to take advantage of it.”

– Louis L’Amour

Grrr…  Here I am, getting ready for a nice relaxing night at home, when I get a text message.  Apparently there’s a rocket launch tonight.
I don’t know how I missed this… maybe it’s a spy satellite (despite being called “weather observation satellite”).  Oh, I see.  It’s  a DoD payload.  Those don’t get announced until the last minute.

It’s at 9:24 pm, so it’s a true night launch.  It’s an Atlas V, which is the largest rocket the US has, so it should be an impressive sight to see…

I really have no choice, especially after vowing the other day to not let opportunities pass me by…  I can leave my house at 8:00 pm and be there in plenty of time;  a “mere” rocket launched on a week night doesn’t draw the crowds like a early evening shuttle launch does….

Wait, this just in.  It got scrubbed due to fuel valve problems…  All that debate for nothing.  Oh well, what else is new…

Back to editing pictures.

I realized yesterday that my biggest roadblock in my “five year plan” was not lack of equipment, or time, or customers, or even talent (maybe).  The thing that stands most in my way is… me.

There was a rocket launch last week, a night launch no less, and I didn’t go.  I had reasons excuses:  I was tired, I had to work the next day, I suck at night photography.  But these are all irrelevant at best, and bullshit at worst.

If I want to make photography my full time job, that means treating it like one.  My “real” job doesn’t accept the excuse that “I’m tired” as a reason to not show up, and I shouldn’t can’t let myself get away with it either when it comes to taking pictures, editing, writing here, or putting new items online.

Of course, some activities are more useful than others, so I’ll work on finding a balance.

TwipPhoto.com has an excellent article with ten tips for negotiating a price for your photographs and photographic services…

1. Think and aim high. There are plenty of low-ball photographers out there. They will offer to do the job for less than you. Let them. Don’t be afraid to ask for a FAIR price. If it’s too high for your client – better to let it go to a low-baller. This keeps the perception that you are worth more alive, probably helps drive the low-ball competitor out of business, and leaves you in position to charge this client more next time.

(continue reading…)

Frank Horvat : Now it’s all set up, the model, the streets, the dog and the baby. There you are, with your camera.
Helmut Newton : There I am with my camera. Frank, you see, if I don’t set it up, what am I going to do? What do you do? Do you go out with a girl and God sends you an inspiration?
Frank Horvat : But when it’s all there, girl, streets, dog and baby, do you shoot it the way you had in mind, or do you wait for something else, that is godgiven ?
Helmut Newton : Sometimes it happens, not very often, that God chooses to give me that ray of sunshine or that cloud, at the right moment. That’s why I work outside, because I know that in the studio God can’t do anything for me, all he could do would be send a thunderstorm that cuts off the electricity. Outside he can help me, he could also fuck me up by sending a lot of rain, that would make it difficult, but he very rarely sends me light that’s no good to me. Practically any light, somehow or other, I can deal with.
Frank Horvat : Because you are very clever.
Helmut Newton : No, because any light that God sends me is different. This keeps me interested: “quick, quick, quick, something is happening!”

“Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.”
–Vincent Van Gogh