{"id":1718,"date":"2012-02-22T12:23:13","date_gmt":"2012-02-22T12:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/?p=1718"},"modified":"2012-02-22T12:23:13","modified_gmt":"2012-02-22T12:23:13","slug":"newbies-v-oldies-northern-virginia-photographer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/editing\/newbies-v-oldies-northern-virginia-photographer\/","title":{"rendered":"Newbies v. Oldies: Northern Virginia Photographer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you a web surfer?\u00a0 I’ll admit I am a bit of a web surfer, especially when it comes to my industry.\u00a0 I love to search the web and see what’s relevant to photography right now and how it might affect or influence my business.\u00a0 There is an increasing trend in our industry that kind of mimics the political discourse going on in our country right now.\u00a0 It’s like class warfare.\u00a0 On the one side, we have photographers that have been in this industry for a long time and have seen a lot of changes, mainly an increasing number of photographers.\u00a0 And then on the other hand, you have newer photographers that are trying to get into the market and find their own niche.\u00a0 Frankly, it’s something our industry wasn’t prepared for nor could we imagine it.\u00a0 I credit this largely to the transition from film cameras to digital cameras.\u00a0 The dilemma that our industry faces is that there is a barrage of negativity swirling around the influx of these newer photographers.\u00a0 The problem I have with this is that usually this negativity is unwarranted and harsh.\u00a0 It points to a more serious problem within our industry and that is the inability or desire to innovate.<\/p>\n

It’s interesting to me how many “oldie” photographers as we call them in the industry are constantly doing blog posts about “newbie” photographers and what they should and shouldn’t be doing with their business.\u00a0 The fact is that all photographers were born the same as you and me; we didn’t come out holding a camera in our hands!!\u00a0 The biggest gripe I hear among “oldie” photographers is that the “newbie” photographers don’t charge enough and are undercutting the industry.\u00a0 This is true and false at the same time.\u00a0 It is true that charging too little for your time and your work will never result in a profitable business.\u00a0 That’s just a fact.\u00a0 My first year in business as a photographer, I charged far too little for my time and talent as evidenced by my first year taxes.\u00a0 I couldn’t believe that I had spent over $15,000 in photography expenses alone.\u00a0 It was truly astonishing!\u00a0 What makes this gripe false is that most legitimate photographers discover this pretty quickly and adjust their prices to reflect the value of their time, equipment costs, and any other expenses.\u00a0 So when I see a newbie charging very little for their work, I know that they will either figure it out eventually, or they will go out of business.\u00a0 Really I don’t know why there is such an upset in our industry over this.\u00a0 Everyone needs to start somewhere and I think it behooves more experienced photographers to not be so threatened by this influx.<\/p>\n

Instead of having an industry wide pity party, why don’t we look at ways we can innovate within our own field?\u00a0 Why aren’t we focusing more on social media, specializing,\u00a0 and improving our photography craft?\u00a0 I saw this phrase on facebook<\/span><\/a><\/span> the other day….
\n\"\"It says it all really.\u00a0 When I see a negative post about the changes in our industry from”oldie” photographers, I realize what they are really saying is: “I’m really scared.\u00a0 This is my livelihood and I’m feeling very insecure.”\u00a0 I get that and I can’t blame them for feeling that way.\u00a0 Most legitimate photographers are not photographers just because they love photography.\u00a0 Photographers have bills to pay just like everyone else.\u00a0 When I see someone trying to make their way in this industry I realize that everyone has to start somewhere and we should all try to cut the newbies a little slack and I mean that we should all use a little kindness in our words and in our actions.<\/p>\n

Another trend I have noticed is the condescending way some photographers feel the need to educate their clients on what makes a good photograph.\u00a0 Clearly our clients have eyes and can judge style for themselves.\u00a0 They may not know the technicalities of correct white balance, shutter speed, ISO, and aperture value but that is why they are hiring YOU, the professional photographer.\u00a0 Your clients will choose you not because you talk down to them.\u00a0 Every photographer has a different style from the perspectives they have to the way they edit their work.\u00a0 Photography is art and it’s okay that not everyone is the same.\u00a0 Diversity provides more options in the marketplace, which is a benefit to the consumer.\u00a0 Can you imagine if our only options were stuck in a certain era?\u00a0 Just go onto Pinterest<\/span><\/a><\/span> and see how much diversity has resulted in better photography.\u00a0 Ultimately, your clients will choose you because they like the style of your work and want that for themselves; plain and simple!\u00a0 As photographers, there is no need to use scare tactics to bring clients through our doors.\u00a0 Your work should speak for itself.<\/p>\n

Lastly, if you consider yourself a newbie photographer, there are so many wonderful resources out there to help you have a successful photography business.\u00a0 Leah Remillet of GO4PROPHOTOS<\/span><\/a><\/span> and Jodie Otte of J. Otte Photography<\/span><\/a><\/span>, both talented photographers and successful business owners, regularly have blog posts designed to help you along your creative journey.\u00a0 I highly recommend taking a stroll through their resources.\u00a0 I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic so leave your thoughts in the comments section below.\u00a0 Happy Wednesday!<\/p>\n

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Are you a web surfer?\u00a0 I’ll admit I am a bit of a web surfer, especially when it comes to my industry.\u00a0 I love to search the web and see what’s relevant to photography right now and how it might affect or influence my business.\u00a0 There is an increasing trend in our industry that kind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126,125],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1718","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business","7":"category-editing","8":"entry","9":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1718"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1730,"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718\/revisions\/1730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}