Or is there?I don't know how many of you read A Photo Editor. Perhaps you haven't noticed it quietly nestled amongst my recommended links? Personally, I read the APE blog daily. If you're like me and you make your living with cameras in your hands, or hope to, or not, I highly recommend putting APE on your daily blog-visit list. It will expand your photographic consciousness.
Yesterday, Rob Haggart, the former Director of Photography for Men's Journal and Outside Magazine, APE's founder and, currently, its chief bloggmeister, wrote about a new music service, Qtrax, which offers a free, legal, P2P downloading service with over 25 million songs available!
Twenty-five million songs!
That's a two and a five with six zeros behind them.
Free.
Legal.
Available... but with a small catch. A catch that might be nothing more than a minor nuisance to many music fans: Enduring some ads with the music. (Like commercial radio hasn't been doing that since... well, since there's been commercial radio.)
What's all this have to do with photography? Maybe very little. Maybe quite a bit.
Haggart wonders, "Will the same eventually happen to photography where photos download with ads loaded around them just like in newspapers and magazines?
Hmm...
Some of you might have heard or read about the adult industry being an $8 billion or $12 billion or $28 billion industry depending on whose numbers you believe. The Wall Street Journal, well known for monetary exaggerations (or maybe not, I can't ever keep that straight) says "adult" is a $12 to $14 billion industry. What you might not have read or heard is that this big-money business, the business of smut, has been brought to its knees by free content available on the web. And who, you might ask, is taking it in the shorts the hardest as a result of this? (Sorry for the pun.) The content creators.
For whatever it's worth, I was on the phone today with someone who, in the grand scheme of all things "adult," is very high on the food chain. In fact, very near the top! He's scaling back. He's scaling back in a big way and he's more than a little concerned about where it's all going.
Back to photography-- Sure, there will always be work for truly exceptional photographers. And this "free" trend might not disastrously impact, for example, family and event photographers. (With the possible exception of some of those "truly exceptional photographers" suddenly becoming your competition for the next wedding you were hoping to shoot.) But with so many photographers, especially hobbyists, seemingly so willing to give away so much of their work for free or near-free (think Picasa and Flickr and more) you might want to buckle your seatbelts because professional photographers might be in for quite a long and bumpy night. Add to that the advances in user-friendly cameras and accessories equating to more photographers able to shoot competent images--perhaps not extraordinary images but competent images nonetheless--than ever before, and you don't have to be Nostradamus to envision where all this might go.Okay, I'm done being Chicken Little for today.
The images of Faye and Bree, from the recent fashion shoot I participated in--for my cousin, the designer--were shot and processed by Leesa J. Personally, I think Leesa has more of an editorial eye than I do and, frankly, I envy her natural talent in that area. I particularly like the monochrome image of Faye with the Metrolink train approaching.
And now for something completely different: Jowlers!
6 comments:
In the UK too, the professional photographers are struggling desperately, particularly due to the rise of free photo-jounalism ("upload your camera phone photos to our news web site here!")
The business software industry is going the same way. Folks are getting used to free. Our day-job business is disappearing before our eyes.
Now all we have to do is try to figure out how to make money out of "free."
Looks like the labels might be backing off from this deal.
I was gonna say....
"Wow, its about time he posted some really great images" then I found out they are not yours. These 2 fashion shots today are very well done.
I still enjoy your blog for what its worth.
"Wow, its about time he posted some really great images" then I found out they are not yours. These 2 fashion shots today are very well done.
LOL! You certainly put a big (smug) smile on Leesa's face!
Interesting comments. I came across your blog while doing some research on "glamor photography" (although I really like your term for it... Shooting Pretty Girls). The only thing I'd change is that I want to add motorcycles to the mix.
See, I run the internet and marketing operations for the leading dealership of a high-end European brand and we are looking to pick up a new premium motorcycle line that is much more in line with using photo-based assets like calendars, download-able wallpapers, etc. that feature beautiful young women with little to no clothing on or around sexy motorcycles.
Anyway... To your point about photographers getting squeezed out...
This is happening more and more in all kinds of industries that rely on "good" people getting a premium for being "good": cabinet makers or furniture makers would be another good example.
I call it the curse of "good enough"
It leads to the "consumer" having a flood of Wallmart or Target level goods or services that while only (at best) 60% as "good" as the legit premium offerings (quality, design, durability, aesthetics, etc.) they are 80% cheaper. They are "good enough" and they are cheap.
The same thing is happening in services, especially if they are easily displaced by geography (an exceptional car mechanic is hard to outsource to India or make due with less from flickr).
Back to my original point, I'm working a marketing strategy that relies heavily on having a strong visual presence that is lead by the "hot chick on a bike" idea. To me, it's worth paying what it's worth if I can find the right partner that recognizes that they are in fact a partner and that the work I want from them does not exist in a vacuum as art for art's sake and not try to do it myself or hire some cheap dweeb off craigslist.
I'm sure you know this as it sounds like you've been around, but others in the creative arts would do well to remember that the output of their talents are typically the means to an end. If they can position themselves to demonstrate that understanding, and can work with the client to help them get there, there's not a lot of legit clients that will have a problem paying a premium for that.
Just my $.02
Hey Monkey Farmer!
Your points are spot on. These days, it seems, consumers of many types of products are less quality conscious than ever before: It's all about the cost (free being the best) and they'll sacrifice many product qualities only to get a better price. Disposable income spent on (quickly) disposable products.
If you're looking for a shooter who is highly experienced photographing pretty girls and one who also knows a bit about motorcycles (I own a 2007 Harley Night Rod) shoot me an email and let's talk!
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