Great! You're back. I'm glad cause that tune I was whistling was getting pretty old. Let's get to it. Here piggy piggy.
A long time ago some friends of my were telling me a story of how their daughter was telling them that when she grew up she wanted to be a checkout clerk at Walmarts. As you can imagine there was a few chuckles even though at the time that really wasn't a bad thing (Sam was still around). I think the big thing was a lack of ambition that the idea conveyed. Over the past few days or so this story has popped up again and again as I thought how a parent of the little 10 or 12 year old child today would respond if that child were to announce that their dream was to grow up to be a service station attendant? If you got a kid (not the goat kind but a real two legged yard ape), what would your reaction to them be? I doubt very seriously it would be "Well you can be anything you want to be as long as you put your mind to it and study real hard". Why? Because I wouldn't be surprised that there is more call for Blacksmiths in todays world than service station attendants. The irony is that the need for pumping gas and doing what those attendants use to do is greater today then all those years ago while the need of the Blacksmiths have declined. Every one is a SSA (getting tired of typing it all out), and as a result the demand for paid SSAs is near zero. And again irony raises its' head with the idea that we would all be better off if the SSAs would return because they did a far better job than we do for the most part. We are only an adequate replacement of the SSAs of yesterday because the standards by which the SSAs of today (you and me) are much much lower. Wow! I just heard some brain gears kick in and start running.
Just as the position of SSA hasn't gone away, just saturated by all of us who's ideas of what one is has really fallen short, so has the position of photographer. Everyone is a photographer and as such we have changed the meaning of what a pro photographer is and by what standards we use to qualify ourselves as one. It's the old supply and demand thing accompanied by the old good enough "it looks good from my house" thing. As a consumer our expectations our lower and the folks with a "good camera" who are looking to make a fast dollar with very little hassle are more than happy to meet those lowered expectations. Yes I know that there are still many "pro photographers" out there taking a lot of commercial photos. You see them on advertisements and product packaging but I would submit that because of the shear numbers of photo want-to-bees, the demands are getting higher while the pay is getting lower. Everyone wants a deal and there always someone waiting to give them one. Even on many of the "stock shot" sites the standards that they require have sure sky rocked in the past year or so. But even with that I would submit to you that those high end photographers are having to make changes in there businesses and even been practicing things that I am discovering now to be my answer to what the real pro photographers need to do now.
Sure we could adjust and jump into the huge pool of photographers and cut our prices and quality of service. In many cases, I'm not sure one of our (pro photogs) bad day of picture taking wouldn't beat these weekend worriers best days work. There would sure be a notice if the weekend worrier would have a camera failure in the middle of a wedding or once in a life time event. Odd lighting situations might make for a bad day at blackrock for the worrier while a pro could fix it with a touch of a button or customized sitting. When those photos mysteriously vanish from the DVD disk after a few years with no archive to fall back on there might be a bit of an "a hah" moment. That's the problem with the "good enough" theory. You don't realize that it really wasn't good enough until you have a catastrophic failure that proves that it really wasn't good enough. By then, it's usually a little late to do anything about it. And like in the case of the SSA, a lot of the folks won't even think that the problem has its' roots back at the weekend worrier. How do you know you missed something you don't understand you missed? But what's worse is that I don't see any of this changing anytime soon if ever. It's all about the convenience of the moment. Well, enough of this. Let's get out the lipsick.
Remember when the microwave and the home computers came out. For a while it seemed that you couldn't buy a brand new one before it was out dated by the time you got it home from the store. When I was a MGR at well know electronic store we were having brand new computers put on the discontinued list before they could be delivered to my store. I remember buying a computer after being told that I would never use all the memory in the computer only to find that in less than a year or so it didn't have enough memory available to install the software I needed let alone run it. But lately that has change. It seems that the only major changes in the computer and microwave world is the upgraded software or the new microwavable bowls. But the hardware has for the most part stayed the same. And here's another thing to think about along those lines, do you use all of the setting and programs that are standard on the microwaves or computers. Not in my world and I'll bet not in the world of the majority of the public. Why? Not only the good enough thing but also because that people will almost always stop at doing things for themselves when it isn't overly simplistic to do. In short, if it ain't easy I don't need to do it or if I do I'll have someone else do it for me. I use to change the oil in my car all the time but now that there's a oil changing business on almost every corner and they can do it in only a few minutes, well it's more convenient for them to do it. Why? It's not as easy to change the oil in the newer cars. Some of those oil filters take a 50 page manual to change anymore.
Cameras haven't had that many changes over the last few years or so that is making the camera any easier to use. Better ISOs and improved noise limiters and higher mega pixels but I don't see a camera that is coming that will one day take a great well lit and composed photo despite how poorly the "photographer" took it. We can make cars that can park and stop themselves but so far you still have to have a human steer the thing down the road and fill the gas tank. You did hear about the guy who was driving an RV down the road and decided to go to the refrigerator for a can a pop figuring it was ok because the curse control was on? Yes it did happen but it wasn't me. My point is that I think that easy has gone about as far as technology can take it for now allowing the "good enough" thing to reign in many of the things were the pros dominated for years.
As I said in one of the earlier blog, I have listen to a lot of classes lately, and one of the instructors made a statement that should have been a "duh" moment but I guess just caught me at the right point in time. He said something along the lines of not looking though the view finder to take a picture. Instead use the view finder to capture the picture. In other words, the view finder is your canvas, use it to paint your photograph with all the brushes that the camera has available for you to use. Use and adjust all the light sources to make the picture be what you want it to be. Do whatever it take to capture your subject in ways that others overlook. When I heard this I thought that's what a photographer did years ago, the very definition of what I thought a photographer was suppose to be. But the standards and in turn the very definition of a photographer have been radically changed. If we as "photographers" live by this higher standard, than we by default have to have transformed into something different. But what? As I thought about this a few things came to mind, digital artist, digital painter, or maybe photogologist. The point is that we can continue to try to ran with the ever increasing number of dogs that make up the photographer pack, or we can recognize that some areas of the photography world as we once knew it has for the most part gone. Yes there is still a need for the higher end photographers that will most likely not completely disappear but the competition will continue to increase making it harder and harder to make money in those areas as demands increase while pay decreases. We the photogologist will need to leave the easy, quick money (at least as it has come to be) stuff to the new type of photographers while we take advantage of the opportunity to use the new tools that technology has given us and be willing to do the not so easy things. Those things that will take our skills that we have been using, but apply them to the new view finder canvases. Those things were only the brave and skilled photogologist are willing to go, you know, where there is no appearance of being easy to do. I called it using new eyes a few blogs ago. It's really easy for us to get sucked into group hysteria and run down the same road just as hard, fast, and full of intent when we see everyone else doing it. I'm sure to the rats, following the pied piper seemed like the thing to do at the moment but ultimately found that they were all wet in the end. And while we're on the subject look at what happens when you try to get something without paying the price (read the story of the pied piper if you don't get this).
As photogologist we need to create more than capture. It's an extension of the WWATT (what would a tourist take) thing. If they can take the shot why would they buy yours? We need to search for and create those images that are easily overlooked or to inconvenient to take. Paint the images with the view finder that others can't or won't see. A few days ago at one of the restaurants we shoot souvenir photos, I saw group of ladies refuse one of our photographs in a glass frame only to have one of the restaurant servers take the same picture of them with their own camera. If the general public can reproduce it they wouldn't buy it. They will buy those things that are placed in front of them that catches their eye and appears to difficult for them to do themselves. Does this mean we as photogologist need to walk away from the more traditional photography events that have been such a money maker for all these years? No, it's just we don't need to think of those as our sacred cows or sources of salvation as much as we once have. And maybe that's not a bad thing. Maybe we who will make up the new world of the photogologist, after removing ourselves from the mass hysteria of the photographer dog pack feeding frenzy, will be able to revisit our industries core roots and reinvent our profession. To create with our new eyes with the use of our new canvases photographs that touch the viewer with emotion and depth of feeling both physically and spiritually.
Whether we lost the very soul of photography or just had it's life blood diluted to the point of being unrecognizable the past years, I can't say for sure. But I am sure that it can be and has been in the process of being rediscovered by some of the new pioneering photogologist who are showing us the way back to the promise land flowing with milk and honey. They, thank God, didn't loss their way, weren't caught up in the frenzy and stayed true to the profession. It's easy not to as many have already turned to the dark side using their point and shoots and leaving the creativity and artistic skills behind in search of a quick buck. Photography has become a puppy mill or an assembly line lacking feeling and passion. For the true pro, the photogologist, this should be unbearable.
There are still gas attendants out there. You just have to know were to look. Have you visited an airport lately? You don't see pilots pulling up to the self serve pumps. Now, I know that's not comparing apples to apples but it does give a clue to were we as photogologist might want to look at. There are numerous areas in our lives that we as the public depended on specialist to serve a need that we no longer have today and those specialist have adjusted and refocused on similar but different areas of their profession. The suppliers of ice for one, use to supply everyone with blocks of ice for their ice box almost everyday before the the new modern refrigerators that we have today, but did the go out of business? Nope, they broke those blocks up into small chips, put them in a plastic bag, and sell them at convenience store that use to be service station so that all the folks who buy beer and pop to take with them fishing or to parties can keep them cold. Photogologist need to adjust what we take photos of and how, where, and to whom we sell to. There may come a time when some of the more traditional events may be what oil changing has been for me. If and when the economy and the monsters in in the woods start raising their ugly heads (those land minds connected to the new breed of photographers that will ultimately be stepped on more frequently), a returned to the professional photographer or the new photogolgist may come but I wonder to what levels.
I for one will continue to be available for and pursue after the more traditional photography jobs but I believe that when I do it will have to be with the understanding that the competition is high in those areas and the costumers priorities have changed. Until that changes we can do our best to inform the consumer but I'm afraid unless the "car" starts having major difficulties with greater frequency than is occurring now the market will remain or even get worst than it is now. It doesn't help when marriages are failing almost as fast as we can get wedding albums done. Why pay a lot of money or care about the quality and longevity of the photographs when this is only your first marriage? Equally, if not more so, I will and already have started pursuing after other avenues of the profession. Areas where patients and persistence are the big demands. Operating with new eye with a new canvas digitally painting what the minds eye sees. In doing so, marrying the past techniques with todays technology. Expanding my definition of "WWATT" to include that what a tourist would take of picture of is nothing I probably need to. Some things will continue with some change while others will and must progress forward. That sound like a job for a "Photogologist"! It sounds like an adventure!
Well, I understand that the Genius Book of Records people are getting interested in the length of this post so I guess I better stop before someone turns it into a movie. See you next time. I promise it will be about something else more photography practical. Have a great day everyone.
Richard
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