One-Two Punch for Photographers?

The internet, affordable prosumer dSLRs, microstock and image hosting sites like Flickr and others, and a whole new generation of serious hobby photographers have taken it's toll on professional shooters. Suddenly, everyone with a dSLR and a computer is a pro, albeit a weekend, part-time, avocational pro.

Let's say you're someone looking for a photographer, for instance...

You need someone to photograph your wedding. No problem. There's thousands of shooters to choose from, many of them related to you or working with you on the day job or, at the very least, somehow connected to you by less than six degrees of separation: You know, those friends of friends and friends of friends of friends.

You need images for your new marketing strategy? No problem. There's millions (yeah, millions) of photos to choose from courtesy of the many microstock sites on the net. And best of all, many images can be had for a only a buck or two.

You need editorial imagery for a magazine article? No Problem. Flickr also hosts millions of images and many of the photographers who posted them would be thrilled, make that ecstatic, to license their photos to your prestigious publication... for free! They won't even ask for a tear. They'll buy your magazine and tear out their own tear. That's almost like them paying you to publish their photo!

These examples are the hard left jab to the right hook that's now pummeling pro shooters.

Right hook?

Yep. You guessed it. The economy.

As if everyone's cousin Albert's new-found love of photography, snap-shot-shooting soccer Mom's, weekend warriors with cameras, Digital Debbies, and GWCs weren't enough to make a grown, professional photographer cry, here comes the freakin' economy. Or should I say, "There goes the economy!" Suddenly, no one seems to have much money to spend on pro shooters who earned their bones the old-fashioned way. I'm talking about everyone from your friends and relatives who are about to get married to huge corporations who used to spend on experienced photographers.

Now I know many of you who read this blog fall into some of the categories I listed above. But just so you know, I'm not pissed at you guys nor do I resent or hold anything against you. Things are what they are. It's progress, I suppose, and I certainly can't halt progress. Besides, I completely understand how easy it is to fall hopelessly in love with photography. Photography captured my heart many years ago and still hasn't loosened its grip on it. I'm just ranting about business. Besides, I doubt anyone reading this blog has taken any bread off my table. Most of you didn't jump into photography because you thought it was all so very simple and you could easily undercut the guys doing it for a living. You jumped into it because it's fun, challenging, and creative.

Here's what does piss me off, including some of the folks who are causing... make that enhancing my angst.

First, I don't believe there's substantially less money available to spend on quality photography. I think that, if I may be completely candid, a whole lot of people are full of shit in a whole lot of ways. There's a big difference between not being able to afford appropriate and reasonable budgets for photography and refusing to spend on such budgets. Viewers have been dumbed-down when it comes to photography and buyers of photo art are well aware of this.

We live in a country where the most prosperous of our citizens are prospering nicely--incredibly well, in fact--while many of us, not just professional photographers, are taking it in the shorts. Not only are the prosperous prospering -- Mobil Exxon just announced record-setting profits for the 2nd year in a row of $45.2B -- they're thumbing their noses at the rest of us. Don't believe me? Here's an example I learned about just today:

While another 100,000 people lost their jobs just this past week, while so many hard-working Americans are losing their homes, AIG, the largest recipient of federal bail-out money, announced they're going ahead with plans to dish out $450M in bonuses to their execs, i.e., to those very same people who screwed up the company and, to some extent, the country. Four-hundred and fifty million dollars! That's a four and a five with seven zeros behind it! Are you freakin' kidding me?

To make matters worse, for me at least, it turns out that certain industries, i.e., those which were thought to be recession-proof, aren't recession-proof at all. The industry I often work in is one of those thought to be recession-proof. It ain't. It's in the toilet.

Just today I sent a text to the production manager of a company that is often cited as the most successful in the adult biz, the top of the "A" list. I haven't worked for them since just before Turkey Day. I read an interview with their CEO the other day who said, essentially, while sales have declined in certain sectors of the market, others are doing well and the decline in sales has had no effect on production or production plans.

"Anything on the horizon for February?" My text asked.

The response came within seconds.

"Nothing."

The smoking girl at the top is Cytherea. Shot it two or three years ago. It was from a set I think of as studio-lit semi-candids. Cy wanted a smoke. I said, okay. But stay there and smoke while I shoot. She shrugged and lit up. They're not completely candid, of course, that's why I call 'em semi-candid. Obviously, she's playing to the camera... flirting with it... seducing it. I didn't say a word. I just pressed the shutter and watched her smoke. That glamour back-lighting sure comes in handy when you want to see the smoke.