Thom Loc: Cleveland Ohio

You are correct, too many are money oriented, but I believe in this economy you need to be flexible, and look at all your options!

liv2paddle Loc: Wall, NJ

"WE NEED TO RE-EDUCATE OUR CUSTOMERS AGAIN" How about run workshops to teach these amateurs HOW to become good photographers. Information is power..and money. Teach, run workshops, print for others, post process for fine art photographers. The sky is the limit and I think that is where the money is in photography not selling photos. All of these photos are very high quality....but they are a dime a dozen. Just ask Scott Kelby where he made all his money. Example..did a photo walk in NYC with a not so famous photograher..cost $65 for 3hours..10 students..total $650 for mentoring..do the math. Teachers and chefs have been elevated to a higher level the ever before..and thats a good thing. Love to eat..and love to learn from the experts.

rowandjr Loc: New Jersey

Scott Kelby has come a long way in our profession. He has an excellant workshop online featuring all the pros. He just took a chance and stuck his neck out there and succeeded. We can try this with a good idea . GOOD LUCK TO ALL. Its funny Scott does a workshop with Jay Maisel and he could not shine Jays shoes and he admitts this. lol

liv2paddle Loc: Wall, NJ

Jay Maisel one of very favorites..love him! And for around $5000 you can spend a week in NYC with him..not a bad chunk of change..hmm 12 students x 5000. I don't think we have Jay on the boards...but certainly many with marketable skills.

Thom Loc: Cleveland Ohio

How about we gather together somewhere for a day or two.....share information...and save 5 grand....

Dria Loc: Ohio

Bob-- those photos are beyond fantastic- apparently that whistle gets to them-- than tiger wants to eat you.
You need to go to the zoo with my son Alex- he drives a powerwheelchair, the animals all stare at him (they must hear a high whine). Tigers usually come from wherever they are perched to get a closer look-- good thing they can get to him!
Bo

Gary Truchelut Loc: Coldspring, TX

The niche I seem to have fallen into is helping those people who have bought new cameras and have no idea how to get the best shots using them. I have started a photography class which is designed to explain how a camera works and how to use it to get the results you want. This was suggested to me by a friend who couldn't figure out why she couldn't get consistent results in terms of picture quality etc.
I am teaching this class for two evenings one week apart and charging a good price for it. The classes are full as I only work with a maximum of 8 pupils at a time.
I teach them in a classroom in the back of a gallery where my work is hanging and the gallery gets the "exposure".

Local sunset

Thom Loc: Cleveland Ohio

Excellent Gary!!!

liv2paddle Loc: Wall, NJ

YUp my point exactly..spread the knowledge and charge them for your years of experience. I bet once these students gain better knowledge you can do photo walks at $50. per session..that way you all get to have some fun in the field.

johnr9999 Loc: Carlton, OR

one satisfying experience I had back in the '80's, while not on point, I feel is amusing. I was shooting a wedding and was doing some stock shots of the bride and groom using an on camera flash and two off camera flashes using slaves. Every time I got ready to shoot, some yabo with a 110 camera would fire of his camera setting of my slave flashes. I would then have to wait for the flashes to recharge and sure enough, they would fire off their trusty 110's again. The only satisfaction I got was the thought of their grossly over-exposed shots.

JAL Loc: Toledo Ohio

you should have no problem with your skill level, bob

sinatraman Loc: Vero Beach Florida, Earth,alpha quaudrant

Gary in the words of the Gusiness stout commercials "bRILLIANT" that is thinking outside the box and a great example of entrepenutal spirit. I love hearing about all the different creative ways people are doing to flourish in business. It gives one hope that the American dream is far from dead.

PNagy Loc: Missouri City, Texas

Bob: Every one of your posts was nice.

evandr Loc: Tooele, Utah

There is one silver lining to the digital revolution that has made decent digital and cheap camera available to everyone – “there are a lot of crappy pictures floating around”. If you are going to sell your shots then simply produce better shots and they will get noticed if you show them to the right people.

I've known photographers who started by spending two or more years putting together a portfolio of shots carefully selected to showcase talent not equipment, the customer does not give a darn about your equipment, they want results that the casual point-and-shoot person cannot provide. The problem with being a wedding photographer is that the customer often does not understand the difference between what they get from a pro and a rank amateur with an i-phone camera until it is too late. They want cheap and that is what they get with Uncle Joe or Aunt Theda. That is why they feel justified in trying to get you to cut your rates – they try to leverage all the point and shooters that they could have gotten for free.

I work for Kennecott Copper at their Smelter and I was delighted to see their latest Calendar, what a mess of amateur snapshots for such a huge company, I am quite sure they were done by "upper level managers" who wanted some sort of bragging rights so they armed themselves with a fancy entry level camera, got themselves "inserted" as the photographer by their bar buddies in top level managment, and went hiking for a day or two - it was pathetic. Most PR departments hate what they are forced to use.

I am putting together a series of shots of the open pit copper mine that I am going to present to the Rio Tinto PR department that will blow their current work right out of the water (yes, I am bragging but you would not believe the garbage that they currently print)- the nitch I am looking for is to become the photographer for a large enough company that I can get all the benefits, get paid to shoot, and travel - that is my goal and fortunately there is so much crap out there that shinning is not that hard if one is willing to do the work necessary to get noticed by these companies; every large company uses imagery and in today’s economy they usually look to over confident employees armed with digital cameras and inflated egos.

Show your work to greeting card companies, calendar companies, advertising agencies, and billboard companies, “anybody that uses images to make money”. That is where competition can make you shine; Fresh product is always in demand and a fresh eye is likely to top even their in-house photographers; most people send them crap so it can be easy to stand out if you are good at what you do.

The Kennecott Copper Mine in Salt Lake City Utah


The southwest corner of the mine


The truck shop at the north edge of the mine taken at night

Thom Loc: Cleveland Ohio

Evan....."your hired"!!!