p.2 #3 · Photographers laid off at Chicago Sun-Times
Skarkowtsky wrote:
I'm unfortunately a part of that generation (I'm 30), although I didn't put much stock in video games, and don't put much more in social media.
It frustrates me, because I long for real world interaction, and can only find it when I associate with baby boomers.
Then go out and talk. Make the effort to connect. Although it feel so easy to just email, message/text, FB, whatsapp, etc my clients, I make myself to call them and talk on the phone. Even meet to connect face to face. There's so much value in direct communication.
Back on topic, I feel these days we are carpet bombed by news information. The sheer speed of delivery and resulting short temporal life span of headline news is driving people to click on the 'Next Big Thing'. So photo quality takes a back seat to droves of at-the-moment photos submitted by the public. A photojournalist is not onmi-present. Joe Blow with a phone-camera is everywhere.
p.2 #4 · Photographers laid off at Chicago Sun-Times
I'm a bit older than you and oddly enough, I find myself enjoying my time spent with baby boomers way more than people our age. Unless you find a 20-30 something old soul.
Skarkowtsky wrote:
I'm unfortunately a part of that generation (I'm 30), although I didn't put much stock in video games, and don't put much more in social media.
It frustrates me, because I long for real world interaction, and can only find it when I associate with baby boomers.
p.2 #5 · Photographers laid off at Chicago Sun-Times
This is also happening in the commercial photo world in a big big way. Most companies are being forced to cut costs a lot just to keep their doors open. If there's a choice to spend $150K on an ad campaign with an agency to hire a photographer to do a high quality spread vs hiring an intern to do a facebook page and adopt the "call for your photos so you can get the fame you so desire" mentality for free.....well....... Even if they choose to do a shoot, the new young photographers taking over the commercial world are working for the credit which of course is a completely unsustainable business practice.
p.2 #6 · Photographers laid off at Chicago Sun-Times
cineski wrote:
unsustainable business practice.
Then on to the next one ... i.e. disposable talent @ laws of supply & demand. I see it in the local wages @ all industries. If you don't like what we're paying, we'll find someone else. It's not really best business long term ... but when you have an oversupply, it is all too common @ short-sided bean counting what the market will bear (with its multitude of variables).
I just caught a break a few weeks ago ... one of my area colleagues that I partner with on occasion, recently raised BOTH his prices slightly above mine and and raised his travel rates. He finally realized that it was not "sustainable" at his previous "too low" rates (I was advising him all last year that he was too low).
I had "bowed out" of some work (i.e. not worth it to me @ "too low") and he became the "go to" guy for a while based on his "too low" pricing ... but it seems to have worn him out a bit, for peanuts. He called me up recently to ask if I was interested in some work because it wasn't worth the travel to my neck of the woods (clients now have to pay his new fees and travel rates).
Fortunately we have a really good relationship, and can service different areas, augmenting each other with comparable pricing now and overlap coverage as needed. I looked really high last year ... now I'm a bargain (but not too cheap) compared to his travel costs. Of course, there's always the next guy to come along with a camera who'll offer a lower price, but till then I'm "King for a Day" ... well, Court Jester at least.
Hopefully, I can secure some of his old clientele with my service, style and lighting ... before a lowball newcomer dangles another "too low" $$$ (but I've got a plan for that too).
Oh yeah, and borrowing from Glort @ Person, Product, Price ... I gotta work on my "Person" side of things (a lot), which btw, I've already seen some benefit of just from being aware of it.
p.2 #7 · Photographers laid off at Chicago Sun-Times
Rusty, this is exactly what I tell people I talk to who are newbies. I constantly hear how they feel their only virtue is to be competitive with pricing. While that's true to a very small extent, some of these people are downright talented and undervalue themselves severely because they do not know the business at all and read fast track photographer and decided to shoot to the top by being uber busy on social sites despite there being zero substance to their business. I tell them if you're so cheap, when you ultimately come to the realization you can't sustain yourself with those prices, you'll be replaced by 100 new cheap photographers next year who will underbid you while you try to raise your pricing.
One of my favorite stories I tell them; I used to do a lot of work for a big university in town. I was their main guy. Suddenly I stopped getting calls. When I inquired, I found out that some kid came in, contacted each department separately and was charging half my rates. Now, my rates for this school weren't something to write home about but I always got a call during off-times and it was nice to have some steady work like this. Anyway, this lasted for a year and during that time I'm sure that kid was writing to everyone they knew how busy they were living the rock star photographer dream. Then I started getting calls again. The kid couldn't pay his rent and had to move back home with his parents (where I'm sure the pro's in that town are now reeling from having that unsustainable kid there). Anyway, only difference was now my old client wanted to pay me what that kid was charging, half my rate. I said absolutely not and they started hiring me for my old rate but with far less shoots than before. I found out they started "hiring" intern students to shoot for free on the non-important things. I know, the newbies would say "Isn't it better to be shooting ALL they need for half your rate than just a little at your full rate?" Not when you come to the realization that your gear and time....and your body....are finite. Most people of a certain age don't realize that.
Another favorite example: I had a photographer friend who moved out of state and it was an interesting character arc. He was a staff photographer and weekend warrior. Thing was, with his weekend warrior stint he was charging extremely cheap rates. We used to get into friendly fights about this, he couldn't believe how expensive I was and I would get on him about his rates. Before he moved, he quit his day job and just went full time freelance. He had to raise his rates and it caused a backlash. He actually called me and was suddenly in the know. Before he left, he told me he had a client say something to him that just brought it all home and crushed him: "We're so upset to be loosing you, you were the cheap photographer and now we don't know what to do." His only value was being cheap and you simply cannot sustain yourself by being cheap. He actually gave my name out to some of his clients. It was rather fun having them call me up wanting extremely cheap photography, it's become a sport to hear people's jaws drop when I give my pricing
