Two Great Tucson Photogs

At times I lose faith in the Tucson photography community, and at other times I am amazed by people.  It actually makes me even more pissed that some of these excellent photographers can't make their living when their work is spectacular.  But that's not what this post was about.

I met an awesome photographer on Saturday.  His name was Dave Mathes.  Dave spotted me at the Tucson Tattoo Expo which I took the time and effort to get permission to shoot and be on the guest list.  Another side note is the guys who showed up with pro gear and did NOT secure permission.  Another post.

Dave, though, saw my gear, saw that I was a photographer, and approached me, immediately inviting me in on his scheduled shoot.  What?  Seriously...  I was confused, he wasn't carrying his gear, so I asked if he was the one running the car show.  Nope, he said he's just a lowly photographer.  That's actually more confusing.  He had a shoot set up with a group of models and he's asking if I want to also shoot?  Of course I do, the whole reason I went to this expo was to network.  

So what's the deal here?  Is he so confident in his work that he knows he's going to blow me away and it won't matter?  Is he just a great guy?  I tell you what, it may well be the former, I've yet to see, but it is -definitely- the latter.  Dave was an awesome guy and we talked shop for awhile.  Both of us have day jobs and have kind of just accepted that there's no money in photography.  His work is great and he is as nice a guy as you could ask for.  I learned something from him there, and it is to not be afraid of competition, of sharing with other photogs.  

Then I met Rosie.  Rosie Johnson is proof that Dave and I are wrong about photography as a career and we just aren't willing to put the effort in.  I think I am, but I just haven't done enough.  Rosie runs No Regrets Photography and her works is awesome.  She charges to shoot models, and she is actually undervaluing herself still, but it's been working for her, since she has no day job.  Photography is her life and it shows.  This is where I want to be, and I plan to follow her lead, and I will certainly not undercut her.  

She voiced some concern to me at the expo that people haven't been willing, lately, to pay her fee, and I think it's bullshit.  Something around $250 for her work, and almost guaranteed publication, is completely worth it.  More than.  And it's what I've been talking about for awhile that is at fault here.

Some people undervalue good photography.  Some photographers undervalue their work.  Some people aren't even aware of what good photography is.  These people, both models and camera operators, are killing the industry.  You can't be in this industry if you're not willing to put the work in.  But 90% of these button pushers think photography will be easy to get into and doing free work will pave the way.  For some, the free work will pave the way, but you can't be offering to work for free doing the things that pros are using to put food on the table.  There are certain things that are already saturated and dead.  One of which is concert photography.  I shoot concerts for free because that's the only way to do it, but I don't shoot portraits or fashion for free because people use that as their bread and butter.  

Yeah, you want to shoot hot women so you think the best way is to just do it for free, but it's not.  Your photos suck and we can tell you're only doing it to be around these girls.  Do yourself a favor and get GOOD at this and charge for good work.  Stay out of Rosie's domain unless you're good enough to compete, and then don't undervalue it.  

Fuck, people.  If you suck, just realize you suck and get the fuck out.

The Dave's and the Rosie's deserve to be here, paid their dues, and you're fucking up the whole industry by watering down the market.  More bad and average images out there dull people's senses.  Dickheads.

Be better than you are

Do me a favor, do the human race a favor, and don't coast through life.  Enough of this good enough shit, don't just settle for mediocrity.  I've never been that way, and I can't understand those who are.  More, I can't understand those who encourage that kind of behavior.  Look, if someone is bad at something, just tell them.  They need to be told because they don't have the ability to self assess.

Look, if you're a photographer, and you put out your work and you think it's good, or good enough, or acceptable, and you have no reservations about it whatsoever, then you should find another profession or hobby.  You should, at the very least, step out of the profession and just shoot selfies or your stupid vacation no one cares about.  Seriously, the people you're shooting for as a so-called 'photographer' are the ones losing out.  Because your shots suck, they do, they absolutely fucking blow and there's nothing good about them.  They are marginally better than a cell phone shot but the color is wrong, the exposure is off, whites are blown out, the fucking thing is crooked, you're too far away, too close, wrong lens so they're all distorted.  Please stop.

I have no problem getting work.  But I bet you there's some good photogs out there that do have more trouble getting work and you're fucking it all up for them.  Your clients deserve better photographs and those photogs deserve clients.  You're probably fucking with photography pricing in your area too, by offering it for free.  Just stop.

Keep in mind, some of your clients don't know what a good shot is, and they are easily fooled.  They actually assume that those shots you see in magazines are not possible for mere mortals like them.  But that's just not true.  A real photographer, probably a dozen or so of them in your area, can do that for them if you weren't spreading your shit show all over social media.

And the rest of us, the real professionals who see through your charade, we can see your work, and we think it sucks, we know you're faking it.  We'd tell you, but it's poor form, and would reflect badly on us.  Instead, I urge you to go fucking learn what you are pretending to be good at.  Get good and stop watering down photography.  You make us all look bad.  Idiots.

Fuck it, I can't post these rants on my business website, twitter, facebook, or even my personal facebook.  It'll piss people off who I don't necessarily want to piss off.  I don't care if anyone finds out who I am, I just can't represent this directly on my sites and social media.

So, this is about photography and video.

Look, I can't go on my friends posts, or rival photographers and point out to everyone what the fuck is wrong with their photos.  It's poor form, it reeks of jealousy, but I swear it comes from a better place than that.  I see this photographer taking shots for this local group of girls that promotes local bands.  The shots are bad, in bad light, at bad angles, and then on top of it all, poorly edited in ways that are blatantly obvious to photographers.

I get it, you get a decent camera and you start taking shots, and people start telling you your work is great.  The masses will hump the like button on anything that's slightly better than their shitty cell phone shots.  It's easy to take better pictures than 50% of people.  It's not easy to take pictures in the top 1% or even 10%.  There are good photographers out there, and they even exist in your own home town.  The problem is, you see a decent shot of you for the first time and you're like yay that's awesome.  No, no it isn't.  It looks like shit and it isn't helping you.

I would rather shoot for some of these people for free, if only to show them the difference between a snapshot with an ok camera and a great shot from someone that knows what he's doing.  I just want them to have good photos that make them look good and help them.

I wish I could call these shit show photographers out and just rip them apart.  All that would do, though, is get those clients defending the person and then they'll never have me shoot for them.  So whatever,

That's just one of the many things that piss me off about the local scene.  There's a ton of photographers out here working that are just not good.  Stop listening to your family, critique your own work, send it out for critique, and find out how to fix yourself.  If you can't, then give up and move on to something you are good at.