rant

Take the long way

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About two years ago, a US survey asked kids what they wanted to be when they grew up. One of the most common answers was “a celebrity”. When asked what they wanted to be famous for, the kids said they did’t know or it didn’t matter – they just wanted to be famous. (Here’s a British news article about a similar but unrelated UK study.)

In the old days, someone had to work to accomplish something and then, maybe, they might earn a degree of fame for their achievements.

Today, it seems many people want to take a shortcut. They want the fame but without achieving anything first. Popular shortcut attempts are: appearing on a reality TV show, releasing a scandalous video or tweeting provocative pictures of themselves.

Photographers are not exempt from taking shortcuts.
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Why photography?

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There are many photography web sites that offer advice on “how to”.

How to photograph portraits, how to photograph children, how to take pictures of pets, how to shoot sports, how to take pictures at night, how to use a wide angle lens, how to take pictures with a flash, how to take pictures without a flash, how to . . . ad nauseam.

But there are few sites that talk about “why”.

Why photograph portraits, why photograph children, why shoot sports, why use a wide angle, why use a flash, . . . ?
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Don’t call me maybe

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(Sorry about the title and this post has nothing to do with photography.)

Canada’s National Do Not Call List turns five years old in September. If you registered your phone number(s) with the Do Not Call List back in 2008, remember that registration lasts only five years. To keep your number(s) on the list, you must re-register every five years. Thanks to a recent change, once you register a phone number, it stays on the Do Not Call List indefinitely unless you de-register it.

Political parties are exempt from the Do Not Call List. A provincial by-election is being held later this week in the area of Toronto where I live. Today I received 14 phone calls, between 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm, from the three candidates running for election. A few of these calls were from real people but most were automated “robocalls.” This telephone assault started a few days ago and will continue right up to election day.

Business to business telemarketing calls are also exempt. You are not supposed to register a business phone number, or even a personal number used for business purposes, with the Do Not Call List.

Surveys and opinion polls are exempt from the Do Not Call. So some telemarketers will use a fake, meaningless survey as a prelude to their sales pitch. Sometimes they will offer a fake prize for completing their pretend survey. To collect your “prize,” you have to phone another number which leads to their sales people.

Speaking of scams and fraud: the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

 

Prisoners or pictures?

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When did “photograph” become a bad word?

When writing online about their pictures, some folks will use statements like “I captured this on…”, “This was captured at…”, “My favorite capture of the week”, “sunset captures from my vacation”, “holiday captures”, “best wedding captures”, “creative pet captures” and “candid kid captures”.

On sites where viewers can leave comments to posted pictures, people often write things such as “Nice capture!”, “Cool capture!”, “How did you capture that?”, “Lovely detail in that capture” and “I love the feel of this capture”.

There are many sites that offer tips on how to “capture” a winning photo, how to “capture” the perfect picture and how to “capture” your children.
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Getting on base

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A recent article in a Canadian photo magazine gives advice on how to become a professional sports photographer. The article talks about the excitement of being at sports events and blasting away at ten frames per second. A quick check shows that the author’s web site is filled with fantastic photos … of weddings and portraits.

The author’s advice for wannabe sports photographers is to call sports events and ask for a free “photo pass”. If necessary, the photographer should offer free photos in exchange for said pass. Later, when the photographer has gained some experience, they can sell pictures to the event and enter the exciting world of sports photography.

This information is wrong.
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Back in the darkroom

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Over the past few years, almost all photography-related software has taken a turn for the worse. Such software has adopted a dark-coloured user interface along with either reverse type (white text on a dark background), dark text on a dark background, or even grey text on a grey background.

Some software companies don’t seem to understand how our eyes work. Since reading a computer monitor is known to be more difficult than reading a piece of paper, one would think that software companies would take this into consideration.
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Unpaid photo internships

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Some companies offer unpaid internships to photographers. Typically, the company requires the photographer to supply camera equipment, computer and car. In return, the photographer can work up to full-time hours and get nothing in return except a credit line.

These “internships” are illegal.

From the Ontario Ministry of Labour:

The fact that you are called “an intern” does not mean that you are not an employee for purposes of the [Employment Standards Act]. Generally speaking, if you perform work for another person or a company or other organization and you are not in business for yourself, you would be considered to be an employee, and therefore entitled to [Employment Standards Act] rights such as the minimum wage. There are some exceptions, but they are very limited, and the fact that you are called an intern is not relevant.

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