This week has sucked!
I feel like I have hit a dead end and I am not sure where I'll go from here. I'm about to hit over ten million views on Flickr. I'm proud of it, it makes me one of the top photographers in the world, but that's not really what it's about for me. I had really hoped it would be a path that would lead me somewhere, specifically traveling and taking pictures full time.
A couple of my friends who were trying to make a go of it as full time photographers had to start looking for other work this week. Meanwhile about 20 others took their places with freshly bought cameras and brand new Facebook page businesses with a free giveaway if they get so many likes on their page. I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me! Technology has killed the profession. Cameras are cheap and simple to operate, heck cell phone cameras take as good and sometimes better pictures than a DSLR. Nobody needs to pay photojournalist anymore when you have two hundred cell phone pictures and video of a news event from every angle for free. Portraits and weddings have become a popularity contest of who you know and how many people you know and do you know them better than the other photographers they know. Nobody is going to pay when they've got a friend or a cousin who will do it for free or for a little of nothing. And even if they aren't that good the people don't want to hurt their feelings and hire someone else.
I kind of knew the only way I would have a chance was doing weddings. They are so much work and such a pain in the butt a lot of photographers won't touch them with a ten foot pole.
A couple of my friends who were trying to make a go of it as full time photographers had to start looking for other work this week. Meanwhile about 20 others took their places with freshly bought cameras and brand new Facebook page businesses with a free giveaway if they get so many likes on their page. I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me! Technology has killed the profession. Cameras are cheap and simple to operate, heck cell phone cameras take as good and sometimes better pictures than a DSLR. Nobody needs to pay photojournalist anymore when you have two hundred cell phone pictures and video of a news event from every angle for free. Portraits and weddings have become a popularity contest of who you know and how many people you know and do you know them better than the other photographers they know. Nobody is going to pay when they've got a friend or a cousin who will do it for free or for a little of nothing. And even if they aren't that good the people don't want to hurt their feelings and hire someone else.
I kind of knew the only way I would have a chance was doing weddings. They are so much work and such a pain in the butt a lot of photographers won't touch them with a ten foot pole.
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