SargentRay Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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Pyrat wrote:
SargentRay- I much appreciate the great shots, the thoughtful reply, and the hard earned counsel - it's what has made this forum incredibly valuable to those of us emerging into sports. But while I agree with most every one of your points, I think that there is more too it, as Paul Alesse alluded to it in his earlier response.
I started out with a bit of a tongue in cheek question regarding the differences in landscape/ portrait work that seldom tops a couple of hundred shots in a session to ending the day shooting sports with shutter counts that have commas in them, and needing to post process most of those to find the shots I was trying to capture in camera. There is a ton of work in this business, and seeing you and others put up consistently good shots, QUICKLY is impressive.
Learning how to be a better shooter, having the right tools - those things take time and attention to the craft - but the biggest transition tI'm seeing is learning how to sell the work. It's the business side of the equation, and arguably, the more important one when it comes to making this work successful. I have two friends on the portrait/wedding side of the business, and IMO, the far more talented one of the two is far less successful than the guy who spends as much time building his business as he does his photo skills. So it isn't just about the craft, or the tools, or about who gets the shot. It's who can sell the shot.
So starting out, it's a bit overwhelming. I'm focusing on improving skills, building kit, shooting sports I don't know very well, and getting prepared for the long cold indoor season (I'm only a few hours south of you). For those of you that have built your portfolio of clients, have established workflows for processing and distribution, developed proven pricing, reliable labs, etc. you have earned your additional time that you can now spend making money and doing the fun stuff. I'm looking at picking up with some other shooting organizations and becoming one of those "don't have time for lunch guys" to gain some experience and observe some workflow before getting too far down the path of reinventing the wheel for myself, and we'll see where it goes from there. Until then, I'll post when I have something worth seeing, and continue to follow the forum, sports shooters, etc. to see what's out there. Going to be a good winter of work ahead.
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Thank you very much and you are quite welcome by the same token Pyrat. Your post simply grabbed my attention and i just felt it spoke of my experiences, hopes and aspirations (which have toned down quite a bit over time, i'm 53 now). In a weird way i feel stuck at a certain level and can't reach the next one because of my equipment's limitations. No really i now it sounds cliché but it's true, especially with sports shooting where proper focal length, high FPS rate and good iso performance is key. Especially since the internet explosion, good pictures are available now everywhere and what was considered a good shot just 2 years ago is so passé now as new technology (including post processing programs) evolve.
We are ring side witnesses of a great photography (if not art as a whole) democratization where almost everyone can become a good photog almost overnight with a little skill, patience and of course money. This is why i suppose those who develop a winning recipe along with good marketing skills make it as opposed to those of us who are more artistically inclined.
Like others selling myself has always been difficult and up to very recently i simply refused to do stuff i didn't feel was artistically valid. When i was a young man i passed on many photography job offers such as lab techs or Sears portrait photographer type of work. I never regretted it and at 25 y.o. i turned my life around and got a "real job" as my dad would have said. But my passion always chewed me from inside and it was a great release for me to embrace digital photography after many years of inactivity.
Your chain of reasoning is flawless my friend, you're absolutely right there's more to success than just being good and having a lot of equipment. I too have many averagely talented friends who make money from photography because they excel at marketing themselves as much as their work. Namely one who makes a ton of money doing real estate photography. The only problem is he shoots on average 8 houses per day at 99$ each, 7 days a week. I'm simply not willing to do that, not anymore that is.
As for portraits and weddings, i must say i payed my college photography studies doing weddings on week ends. Maybe that's why i hate it so much today. I have a infinite respect for those who do it, but it is certainly as much work as a sports shooter, and requires a tremendous amount of preparation, just as much post processing work (perhaps more) and last but not least finding, training and keeping good assistant (s). Portrait is also one of my favorite specialty but here again you need to work very hard to have a decent clientèle in order to work all year round. But it is not impossible, just very hard to get this clientèle.
In conclusion i have to agree with you it is not the most talented who will make it, but then again how can one define success ? For me as i grow older success means being able to live my passion and do only what i want, only the kind of gigs that move me, for others it will be making a lot of money despite the artistic side favouring volume and speed over creativity. It's not for me to judge i only have the prerogative to choose (to an extent) what i want to do after i retire from the force.
At present i don't know for sure what i'll do after i retire, portraits, sport shooting or even interior design photography who knows, i just feel i still have a few strings to my bow and i can probably do something both satisfying and a bit lucrative just to grow old and hopefully happy.
Be well my remote friend, long live photographers !
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