The business side of photography
What makes a photographer good?
Getting pictures in focus? Having proper exposure? Good colour balance? Accurate flash exposure?
It’s none of those things because cameras have auto-focus, auto-exposure, auto colour balance and auto flash exposure.
Producing technically perfect photos does not make a photographer good. So what’s left?
If you’re new in town and need to buy groceries, you can go to any supermarket because they all sell the same products and same brands. Most supermarkets even have the same store layout. So people usually shop at whatever grocery store is closest to them.
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It may have been lucky that William Notman was born the same time photography was born.
Guessing a job based on its description is a game used for helping people learn English or just for fun.
Can you guess this job based on this real description:
• Repetitive and frequent standing, seeing, sitting, walking, and driving up to eight hours per day.
• Holding five pounds in one hand for five minutes.
• Repetitive hand and arm movements needed to type and write.
• Occasional bending, stooping, squatting, lifting, twisting and carrying are necessary to perform job functions.
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Does a camera have a speedometer?
I received a request a few days ago to photograph a Toronto conference later this month. The event organizer said they expected the photographer to deliver a minimum of 125 pictures per hour. Huh?
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Someone emailed earlier this week to say they needed a photographer to cover a business workshop in Toronto. Seven guest speakers will each be giving a presentation and then there will be a panel discussion with all seven.
The event wanted pictures of just the panel discussion because it’ll be the only time that all seven speakers are onstage together. The panel discussion is expected to last an hour depending on how many questions are asked by the audience.
The event person said they needed “only a few” photos of each speaker, the overall stage and the audience. They asked for a quote for “just 15 minutes of your time.”
Where to begin?
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Imagine if a restaurant charged for its meals based only on the time it takes to prepare the food. What if clothes were priced based only on the time it took to sew that piece of clothing? How about a grocery store that priced by the hour? For example, you get all the groceries you can grab for a rate of, say, $200/hour.
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