Fade to Blacks

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Every Canadian news outlet today reported that Blacks, a 67-year-old Canadian retail chain of 59 photography stores, will shut down within two months.

[Update: It didn’t completely shut down. See end of post].

(To be accurate: In 1930, Eddie Black opened a Toronto radio and appliance store, “Eddie Black’s Limited,” which later sold a few cameras. In 1947, his sons opened a section in the store that sold guns, fishing tackle and cameras. The following year, in 1948, the sons took over the business and launched “Eddie Black’s Camera Store.”)

Today’s news stories repeatedly mentioned that the increased use of cell phone cameras has killed the photo store. The irony is that Blacks is owned by a cell phone company.
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Best Face Forward

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It’s often been reported (more examples here and here) that employers often check a job applicant’s background by viewing the applicant’s social media presence. I always thought these news articles were exaggerated.

While photographing an event today, a group of guests motioned me over. They wanted to talk about cameras and photography. The conversation turned to how they use photos in their jobs.

Their jobs: one person does the Canadian hiring for an international engineering company; another does the hiring for a technology company; the third does the hiring for a department of a major Canadian bank.
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The Job of Photographer

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France’s Ministry of Culture and Communication released a survey titled, “Le métier de photographe” (The job of photographer). The study (il est en français) is based upon a December 2014 questionnaire completed by 3,000 photographers in France.

While the results may not be surprising to photographers, it can help to have some numbers. Here are a few examples from this French survey:

• The number of people who called themselves a “professional photographer”:
1995 – 15,400
2000 – 14,100
2005 – 18,000
2014 – 25,000 (estimated)
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On your marks

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Earlier today, I received an e-mail that read:

Good morning!

I am looking for a photographer that has the equipment to remove watermarks from a school proof photo. I have a letter from lifetouch giving me permission to do so.
Is this something that your studio is able to do?
If not, are you able to refer me elsewhere?

With sincere appreciation,

(name redacted)

A school portrait business like Lifetouch or for that matter, any other type of photography business would not give permission to remove a watermark. It doesn’t make any sense.

This is like asking, “Can you shoplift a jacket for me? I have a letter from the store giving me permission to do so.”

As all professional photographers should know, it’s illegal (and here) to remove, alter, or hide, a watermark or copyright notice from a picture of which you don’t own the copyright.

As every consumer should know, the easiest way to remove a watermark from a photo is to pay for it.

 

Giving away the store

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If you were at a pizza store and you bought one slice, would you expect to get the entire pizza? If you were at a bar and you paid for one glass of wine, would you then ask for the entire bottle? If you purchased one ticket to the cineplex, do you demand to stay and watch every movie that’s playing?

Strangely enough, when some customers hire a photographer, they expect (or demand) to get every picture that was shot.

Why might a customer ask for every picture?

• Sometime in the past, another photographer once gave the customer every picture and now the customer (incorrectly) thinks that this is the normal practice.

• The customer thinks the photographer didn’t choose the best images and they’re worried that they’re missing out on something (i.e. FOMO).

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Photojournalism Conference, Vancouver, May 2015

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For those with an interest in photojournalism, documentary photography or newspaper photography, the News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC) is presenting its annual Photojournalism Conference on May 8 to 9, 2015, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

This year’s keynote speaker is photographer Eli Reed from Magnum Photos. Other speakers are Andrew Burton, John Moore and Darcy Padilla.

The two-day event also features a trade show, portfolio reviews, camera clinics by Canon, Nikon and Sony, and the annual National Pictures of the Year Awards gala.

The conference is a wonderful opportunity to meet and talk shop with others in the business. For photojournalism students, this should be a must-attend event not only for the guest speakers but also for the portfolio reviews and career advice.

This is the only conference of its kind in Canada. NPAC is non-profit and volunteer-run.

 

Photo Psychology

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A McGill University psychiatry graduate student, Jay Olson, and his fellow researchers last month published a study titled Influencing Choice Without Awareness which examined the psychology of magic. Olson is also a professional magician. The research showed how various psychological factors are used to influence someone’s decision making especially when it comes to magic.

The use of persuasion extends far beyond magic. In fact, some photographers already know this and they use psychology to influence their customers.

1) Some wedding and portrait photographers know how to properly list their photo packages. Never start or end with the lowest priced package unless you’re trying to sell that low-priced package.
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