This guy sure is busy:
He buys his eyeglasses in eastern USA.
Editorial Sports Photography Is Dead
If you’re thinking of becoming an editorial sports photographer, don’t.
Or at least first read this 2015 interview with five veteran sports photographers.
This short article describes what has happened over the past dozen years in editorial sports photography.
Basically, the deal is, editorial sports photography is completely dead as a market for a photographer to make even a modest living. Dead. Kaput. Over. Flatlined. The best action photographers in the world, who freelanced or were staffers at the major sports magazines, are all out of work . . .
– Robert Seale, photographer
Toronto Film Festival 2017 Review
My annual, ridiculously long rant about the recent Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). If you’re not somehow connected to, or involved with, TIFF then it might be better to skip this post. I’m just trying to reach a certain audience. The reason is that each year, TIFF sends out a survey asking for journalists’ thoughts about the film festival but there are no questions for photographers. The film festival seemingly has no regard for photographers because it treats photography as an afterthought.
tl;dr:
1) Someone must have read this blog because this year TIFF finally sent out a directory of publicists. In the past, photographers weren’t allowed to have this list. The directory is important if you have to arrange a photo shoot with a director, actor, producer, etc.
2) Someone did not read this blog because TIFF, yet again, failed to email the list of red carpet events even though this information was available almost two weeks prior to the festival. Thank goodness publicists sent out much of this information ahead of time.
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Value is a two-way street
Over the past month, I lost photo jobs to:
1) A photographer who quoted $1,200 for a two-day shoot, in two cities 100km apart, consisting of 22 business portraits, 11 environmental portraits and up to 66 finished images delivered.
2) Someone who quoted $1,500 to photograph a four-day business conference.
3) The “best professional headshot photographer in Toronto” who, according to the customer, quoted $3,000 for 120 business headshots. That’s $25 per headshot.
(When you have a quote turned down, try to ask the customer what the other photographer quoted. Sometimes the customer will refuse to divulge what they’re paying but tell them that you’d like to know where your price stands.)
Was I disappointed not to get these jobs? Yes.
Am I upset? No.
I am wondering how these photographers make any money.
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Running a photography business
Confucius was wrong when he said:
Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.
Running a photography business consists of short moments of photography broken up by long periods of business. But those moments of photography make it worthwhile.
While photographers do need to make money, the need to create pictures may be more important. It’s not always about money.
Making money is a job. Making good pictures is an accomplishment.
The Photography Gig Economy
You may have heard the trendy phrase “gig economy” which, I suppose, is the opposite of a job economy. Of course, if you’re a self-employed photographer, you’re probably laughing at the discovery of this “new” economy. Another laughable trendy phrase is the “sharing economy”.
In the old days, someone could have one job for their entire life but that is disappearing. Today, more and more people are self-employed and they freelance for a number of employers. A short-term job here, a temporary job there.
As every self-employed person will tell you,the (growing) problem is that freelancers fall through every crack in every labour law. No minimum wage, no set hours, no legal overtime, no guaranteed meal breaks, no sick pay, no holiday pay, no statutory holidays, no benefits, etc.
Canadian freelancers aren’t covered by any labour law. In fact, Canadian freelancers aren’t even guaranteed that they will get paid for their work.
A few days ago on October 27, 2016, New York City passed what could be a landmark new law in the USA. The so-called “Freelance Isn’t Free Act” will help protect freelancers from late-paying and non-paying customers.
Recognizing the shift toward the gig economy, a British MP yesterday called for a minimum wage for self-employed people. The United Kingdom already has a late payment law which helps freelancers collect on late payments [link to PDF].
The number of self-employed and freelancers is going nowhere but up (and here). And it will get worse.
Canada is doing nothing.
Using Craftsmanship In Your Photography
One of the good things about being a photographer is that you get to make pictures. There are many other occupations where people do things but they don’t make anything.
But as digital technology progresses, we move further away from working with our hands and further from actually making photographs. When I was your age, photos didn’t just pop out of a camera or a computer, they were birthed in a darkroom :–)
Old-time photographers will tell you that working in a darkroom was therapeutic, stress-relieving and magical. You were hands-on with your photography as you created your finished pictures. Note those two ingredients: working with your hands and being creative.
With today’s cameras, you get to be hands-on with a computer keyboard. This is certainly faster, easier and less messy than being in a darkroom but it’s not as beneficial as when you got your hands wet. We don’t really make photographs today but rather we process digital data.
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