A Picture is Worth a Thousand Dollars?

Dandole Duro para Obtener una Buena Vista
Originally uploaded by dcumminsusa

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service loves me.

I’m single, no kids, do not own a home, and I have a good paying job with a large company. That means I have virtually no tax breaks in the U.S.; the IRS can hit me from all sides.

I actually find comfort in my financial status with respect to the “Tax-man.” It means I have a good income with a regular paycheck, health care, and no one else is dependent on me financially (as much as the Girlfriend and I have tried… the dogs don’t count as dependents).

This past weekend I witnessed how someone on the other end of spectrum lives. Not someone who is unemployed, but a person who is self-employed and whose vocation is subjective to various external factors, who is married, and has child.

I saw a small piece of what it means to be a full-time professional photographer.

Recently I was hired to be a 2nd photographer for two separate sporting events. I was paid for my services. Let me repeat that… paid for my services.

The more recent of the two sporting events was the Iron Horse Classic. The event got canceled due to an unusually late snow storm that caused conditions to be unsafe for the cyclists.

No Event = No Service = No Pay.

Was I upset by this? No. I agreed to the terms going in. Was I disappointed? Yes. Photography is still a hobby for me (the Girlfriend might call it an addiction) and my main source of income is my above mentioned job. I lost some money on expenses traveling to the event and missed an opportunity to earn some extra spending money.

However, the photographer who hired me lost out on a significant piece of revenue. He was more than disappointed. How is he going to make up for his loss of income? Will he make it up? I don’t know. I feel for him. This folks is why I haven’t made an effort to go professional with my photography. I really want to… but I’m too scared.

Last year on our way to photograph a Quad (Bike, Run, Snow Shoe, Cross Country Ski) we discussed our differing situations, “I can’t imagine not knowing when or how much my next paycheck will be.”

To which he responded, “And I can’t imagine working on something I didn’t want to work on and working on something I didn’t absolutely love.”

Touché.

(A great article written by Craig Tanner called “The Myth of Talent” talks about ‘false’ limitations and is available at the Radiant Vista website. It is a great read for anyone who wants to make a career change.)

Lingering Self Doubts and Photographic Complements

Earth's Moon...
Originally uploaded by dcumminsusa

I often don’t like my own photographs. Right after I get done with a shoot, I will go through the shots and find one (maybe) that strikes me. Often I have to wait a few days and then go back and look at them. I’m getting better, but still I’m often unimpressed with my efforts at first pass. However, in the last year or so I have received many indications that I might be a better photographer than I think I am.

In 2007 I shot photos for other people. I did not charge them because I didn’t feel I was good enough to justify charging them. Also I enjoy taking pictures, so these were opportunities to take photos of people (which are out of the norm for me) and learn some new things. Twice when the recipients of the photos took them to be printed, the store(s) refused to release the shots because they were shot by “A Professional”. (In this age of digital photography, many places are protecting themselves and photographers by not letting people mass produce professional works.) In both cases the stores eventually released the photos. It was nice to hear a complete stranger who deals with photos all day, felt my work was of professional grade.

Recently, I was selected to have one of my images hang in a local club. I had to pick the image… I was terrified. I looked at some of the other work that was already on display; I did not feel that any of my stuff was of the same caliber. So I posted in a discussion thread on flickr; asking for some suggestions on which image I should put up for display. The group was very kind and a few suggested images; however a few people did give me grief about hijacking the thread and begging for attention. Truth of the matter is, I didn’t (and still don’t) feel my photography is all that great. How does one gauge their own talent fairly? And will I ever?

The above shot is currently hanging in "One Up" in downtown Albuquerque.