Don't Have A Wall Paper Event!

Hello everyone! As promised this is a special posting especially for those of you who are planning on getting married or know someone who is. That probably encompasses just about everyone. Now, if you are good at reading between the lines, this blog posting would also benefit those individuals who are promoting themselves as wedding photographers. Either way, the purpose of this posting is especially important for you who believe that your wedding day is an event you want to remember and not take a chance in missing out on the memories in the future because I am afraid that in the next few years we might start seeing a few major problems develop. Why? Well, hopefully that will become clear as you continue reading. It might be a little long but compared to how long you might have to do without your wedding photographs you might find this time well invested.

What has prompted this post is a news letter I received from one of the nations top wedding photographers, David Ziser from Cincinnati, OH. I've had the good fortune to study under him about one and a half years ago there in Cincinnati. Some of the photos I took during that training can be found in our gallery. In this news letter David was talking about a "guest blogger" article he was invited to write in one of the leading photography blogs about the state of the wedding photography business. What he had to say was very enlightening but also a little frightening as well. Why? Well what I heard him saying was that because of the development of the digital photography age, the economy, and yes the failure of the professional photographer to make adjustment to match the changes in the industry, the door has been left open for a stampede of new "photographers" entering into the market place. Now here's the scary part. The largest percentage of the "stampede" is made up of people who, because of the digital market, have gone out and purchased a "good camera" and, because of the technology built into those cameras, are take pictures that are exposed well and are in focus. In short, they have taken some nice photographs with their camera and, viola, they are now a photographer. And to encourage that thought, most of the dictionaries have changed the definition of the word photographer to one who takes pictures. Well I can change a flat tire, a burned out headlight, the oil in my car, and put gas in it. Got a Lamborghini you would like me to do some work on? The fact is this, yes, there are a lot of people out there that can take a decent looking photograph and because they are not solely depending on that to pay the bills and put food on the table they can offer their services for very little money. They may even be a friend of yours who you have looked at the photographs they have taken and they look great. Well that's similar to the changing a flat tire thing. There is just a little more to it than that.

A number of years ago, a family I know needed to have some wall papering done in their home. Some how they were told about a guy who could do the work at a real good price. While this was something he could do, it wasn't his main source of income if you know what I mean. Well this family got such a good deal that they had him do almost every room in the house. When he was done the family noted that the job had a few faux pas in the quality but the walls had nice looking paper on them and they got a good deal and besides they weren't that noticeable anyway. Well I was in that home just recently and guess what? There wasn't a room that didn't have major problems going on with the wall paper. Seams were separating and peeling off the wall. I'm not talking just in a few spots either, it was almost everywhere! They are not happy and the good deal isn't quite cutting it any more! I heard a story once where someone called a contractor of some kind and said to them that they want something done good, fast, and cheap. The contractor told them to pick two of those and then call him back! Well folks, here is the truly funny part of this story and it ain't no joke either. I use to be married to a lady who along with her mother was one of the best if not the best paper hangers in the Kansas City area. Top contractors call them for all their paper hanging work cause there was no compromising from them. They only use the highest quality material and when they hung the paper it stayed hung. To get it off the wall the first step was to rent a jack hammer. Seams? What seams? Saying seams to one of them was like saying "bump" to a low rider or "cops" to a thief. When they got done there were no visible seams anywhere. Maybe they were the exception but I don't think so. They took pride in their work and every job was a billboard advertisement. They never had to advertise because they were never without jobs scheduled way in advance. So much so that they finally got burnt out cause they just couldn't let their contracting friends down. This family with the falling wall paper wish they had known them. In short the good deal has mutated into another kind of good deal as in a good deal of problems and headaches.

So how does this relate to your wedding photographs? A lot more closely than you might think. Just because someone has a "good camera" and can take a well exposed, in focus photograph and is offering a "good deal" on their work isn't the whole story. The paper hanger had good tools and used pretty paper with the right type of glue but that wasn't enough in the long term. At first the family though he had done a good job. Compared to what? Just as in wedding photography you don't have anyone or anything else to compare it to and once the job is done, it's done. If the job has a few faux pas it's a little late to change it. And then there is the resulting product you're left with. Will it last? Yes there is a good chance that something will happen and you could have your photographs fall off your memory wall. Unlike the family with the wall paper problem who think they can glue the worst parts back with a little super glue, when photographs peel off they can't be fixed. Law suits have happened more than once involving "wedding photographers" with a "good camera" and disappointed brides. I'm not talking about artistic interpretation or the bride just didn't like many of the photographs she got, either. It was much more to the skill of the photographer that was the issue. My company is very careful about who we use for work on the studio side of the business. We work with those who are interested in learning more and doing more in photography then just taking pictures. We have them sign no compete clauses when they come to work for us. At first it was because we don't want to train our competition but that has changes somewhat after a few interviews we had. One applicant was interested in our training program. They had been taking wedding photographs for numerous weddings over the past couple of years and their references told us that she was a "great photographer" and would take great picture for us and we would be well advised to hire her. Thinking that she had a good working knowledge of the basics at the very least I began giving her an idea of the basic skills that we would most like jump over for her but I quickly realize that everything I was saying to her I might as well had been speaking in Greek. She didn't go to work for us because she was afraid that she would not be able to continue doing weddings and she was right. Because of this and others we now have and additional reason for the no compete clause be signed.

Many of those individuals who are out there doing wedding photography to make some extra money are doing so by doing little more than take a couple of hundred photographs and down loading those photograph many times unedited onto a standard CD or DVD disk. Then they get your $250 to $500, give you the disk, and say thanks and goodbye. You are generally left with the task of going somewhere and having your photographs printed but in many cases that little task is put off. Besides if you ever want to look at them all you have to do is plug it into the old computer and viola (I like that word if you haven't noticed). Here's a bit of homework for you. Search out information about how long information such as photographs stays on standard disks. If you think that you can wait to view your wedding memories say on your 10th anniversary you might find those photographs are only a memory. Ok, so you'll get those pictures saved on your hard drive. Might want to think that over because that hasn't worked out for some folks. Ok, you'll get all of them printed. So you go to one of the more popular cheap places to get them printed, all two hundred of them. So now you have a little chunk of change wrapped up but you got such a good deal on the photographer you can splurge. Remember the paper hanger? Did the whole house right? How will you store that many photographs. In one of those cheap sticky back albums or a shoe box? Have a relative that did that. Wedding was about 5 or 6 years ago and you guessed it, can't find a one of them. But let's say you're good and you keep good track of them. Are they coated? Yes, coated like as in UV and water resistant coating. If they aren't than they are vulnerable to the environment. Oily fingers, acids, light, moisture, and a host of other things that conspire to destroy your memories. Ever looked at a faded picture and wonder what it was taken of? One thing is clear and that is the photograph is not doing the job it was intended to do.

Let's face some reality here. The economy, high unemployment, and reasonably price cameras and ease by which those images can be saved and viewed is making weekend photography a tempting quick money maker for a lot of unexperienced people. I don't believe they want to do any harm, they are just like everybody else who needs or wants a few extra dollars. In fact, many of them will tell you that they think they are doing a great service for those who are getting married, graduating from school, or wanting memories of special events. They would say that in this day and age the prices that the pro photographers are wanting are so high that the regular Joe and Jane can't afford them and in many respects it's a valid point. Some photographers coming out of the film era failed to see the need to adjust the pricing. Before when a photographer would shot a wedding it wasn't out of the question for them to shot between 40 to around 400 rolls of film just for one wedding. They had to have equipment to make sure they were getting the picture right "in the can" because until they had the film developed they didn't know if the shot turned out right or not. So they had to get proofs or contact sheets made so they could go to the newly weds for them to choose and decide how they want those pictures to be edited. Then those were sent back in to the photo labs who would then make the editing changes and process the final photographs. Talk about costly, some of the film was roughly $4 or more per roll and to get the photos edited and developed could be nearly $1000 by some reports I've heard. That was just the cost to the wedding photographer not including their equipment which was really expensive! Then if you wanted those photographs in a wedding album, well let's just say that really went to a whole new level of effort, time, and cost. Any wonder there wasn't that many wedding photographers 20 or more years ago. But that's just it, a lot of people out there in the real world think that it was the expense and the time putting all those photographs in order that made the need for the pro photographer instead of just having someone take pictures with their Polaroid camera. Don't get me wrong because I do know that back then people recognized that a photographer had to have a lot of knowledge to do what they did. But that has been forgotten as of late because todays cameras have built in computers which make taking a descent picture in the automatic settings almost goof proof. Goof proof that is as far as good exposure and focusing is concerned. As a result I think that there has been other factors that has also been forgotten, skill, creativity, craftsman/workmanship to name but a few. The true professional photographer practices their skill and takes pride in the work they do in a profession they love. Photography is there main focus (no pun intended), their principle job that they work at daily to improve their skills. They don't do this for weekend beer money or to add to their vacation fund. It's not a hobby or a sideline. Sure the pro photographer makes a living doing it but they realize that they need to also be concerned about the customers need if they want to continue in their profession. The weekend photographer doesn't have those worries to that same degree.

In Davids' article he made it clear that the pro photographer needs to reevaluate there business. First we have to show to the public at large that there is more to having quality photography done than just getting the picture in focus and descent exposure. For the consumer there is to much at stake and to great a chance for losing those precious and irreplaceable memories. We have made it look too easy and the skills needed are so invisible that like a lot of things there is this thought that anyone can do it. Ever listen to someone talk about how poor of job a sports figure or team did during a game implying they could have done better? Ever listen to someone criticize a decision someone made in a high pressure situation or a player on a game show not able to solve an easy puzzle? When a professional of anything does their magic it will look almost effortless, that's why their pros. When everything is going right and not complicated such as changing the battery or oil in your car, than a lot of people can handle that. You might be able to change a flat tire but have you ever tried to put a new tire on a wheel hub and balance it? How good are you at replacing brake pads or replacing a tie rod? There are a lot of people out there who can work on cars very well and not mechanics, but there's a lot more who think they're mechanics and really not someone you would want to work on your car. Same holds true in photography. There is a wide range of skill levels out there and unfortunately a consumer doesn't know how to identify the level of skills that each potential photographer is at with the exception of looking at a few sample photos out of there vast collection and the price. Maybe one thing to consider is whether they do this as a sideline or full time. Think about it. If you need a doctor do you want one who lives, eats, and breaths being a doctor or one who does it only on weekends?

The next thing that pro photographers need to do is make there service affordable and more in line with the digital age environment. Like our studio, many pros are already doing this. In fact, many are providing more value and services than the weekenders and at nearly the same or better pricing. Let me ask you if you had the choice between a new bicycle or a new car for the same or reasonably close price, which one would you choose? Let me just say that if you are settling on a few hundred photographs taken of you wedding and delivered to you on a standard CD or DVD especially unedited photographs and little if any future options for around $300 to $500 you just might being missing out on something a lot better. Surely it's worth the checking out as most consultations are free. Just how important is your event? Is it worth remembering? If so you just might give this post some consideration. Not only that, but many photographers are now making it possible for you to get "more bang for your buck" due to the extras that those other guy can't or won't do. There's a lot of time and effort that still goes unnoticed and unseen in the world of wedding photography starting with the first consultation meeting. Don't gamble on the thought that none of those will matter at the end of the day. Don't forget the wall paper!

At the end of the day what really matters is you and the quality of service you receive. More and more the cost factor is becoming less of an issue but a new issue is slowing coming into focus (again, no pun intended, just trying to EXPOSE something). The true down side of those weekend non pros is starting to be understood and the changes in the service and value of the pros are starting to be recognized. The non pros may be your friend or a friends friend but your memories are important. Would you trust your friend to do surgery on you simply because they have a knife and a bandage and read a book called "surgery for dummies"? I would hope not. Don't get me wrong. Pro photographers don't walk on water or at least most don't. They are no different from other pros in different fields like the mechanic who bangs up their knuckles or makes some other faux pas. Maybe it's better seen this way. In bowling I doubt that there is very many people who have gone bowling and haven't gotten a strike (knock all ten of the pins down for you who don't know the game) and most likely even picked up a spare. The professional bowler gets more strikes than the occasional bowler but when the pro doesn't get a strike they pick up more spares then the non pro as well. What's the difference between them? Both do basically the same thing, right? The results in the score would suggest that something is different. How about skill, knowledge, and practice, practice, practice! Subtle differences, some not even seen, with a big difference in the results.

I believe you have come to the conclusion that there is probably a lot that you haven't realized about this subject. Hey, the closest that I get to being an expert is being a "has been drip under pressure". But I haven't forgot that the more you learn the less you know, so you'll never learn it all. That doesn't mean you should be content with where you are and not keep striving to push the envelope. Knowledge is power and you need to use it to your advantage in making your life both in the future as well as those memories as time goes by the best you can make them. I know that this post has been extremely long (I haven't covered everything so it could have been much longer) but I wanted you to be aware and have the opportunity to avoid your own wall paper good deal event. So with that I guess I'll peel and separate.

If you have any questions or if we can help you with your photographic needs, contact us. We have new package pricing for weddings, school and senior photos, as well as organizational services available, which will all soon be update on our website. Have a great day everybody!

Richard

New Photogology Requirement

Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping by. I have some funny things to talk about today. So let's get started.

Recently, I've been spending a lot of time looking on the Internet for different projects ideas for some things I’m doing. The Internet's kind of an amazing thing. It's surprising what you can find on the Internet. The information that’s available is simply boundless. It seems like that if there is some sort of an idea for a project you have somebody has already put something about it on the You Tube. The thing that has struck me the most is the kind of knowledge that seems to be exhibited by some of these folks who are putting these examples of techniques on the You Tube. Some of the ideas they are demonstrating are quite good. But in demonstrating those ideas they also show a great deal of inexperience and lack of knowledge of photography. In fact I was watching one gentleman trying to demonstrate a technique using a fishbowl and different lighting setups. This guy would record his video for about a minute describing what he was doing and then pause the video to set up for the shot and then come back and say, "We're going to change our lighting set up." This guy changed his lights set up four times before he even took the shot. It drove me crazy to watch it. You would think if you want to make a good tutorial on the You Tube you would have your set up the way you want it before you start videoing. Don't get me wrong, the information that I got from the video was great. I got a lot of ideas from it. But the way he did the video made him look silly. This is but one example of many that I saw on YouTube. It was really clear that the majority of the people who were giving these tutorials were falling into the old saying of the blind leading the blind. On a couple of these tutorials, they were instructing people to use a higher ISO and shutter speed. This would probably be a good time to have one of my own tutorials as I tell you that when you use a higher shutter speed or higher ISO setting the colors of the photograph will not be as vibrant or as sharp and therefore the quality of the picture overall will be diminished. With that said, the idea is that these guys are just out shooting blindly it would appear and there’s not sound reason or skill behind their actions. Just what appears to be trial and error. Don’t get me wrong, lots of photographs have a certain amount of trial and error to them but there needs to be some knowledge behind the efforts not to mention that if you are giving a tutorial on a subject it would be on one that you had a bit of experience in doing at least once.

So what’s my point? Just more evidence that there are a lot of folks out there who have a “good camera” and think that makes them a “good photographer”. I was reminded while I watched some of these “train wrecks” of the words of Abraham Lincoln when he said that “It’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” If the object is to gains some credibility it didn’t work, in fact it did just the opposite for me. Now, am I an expert in these matters? Nope! But I am in the field and while I want to give them some credit for the effort and at least experimenting, I’m not sure these folks are giving a good name to those in the profession when they fumble around reminiscent of the Three Stooges or the Keystone Cops.

I have fought with myself over the past day or so trying to decide how these guys might fall into my Photogology movement. On the one hand they have very little if any knowledge backing them up let alone professionalism but on the other side they are experimenting and trying to get better. All of them were using manual or shutter/aperture priority settings so they were above the Automatic curve. Even up to now the fight continues, so much so that I took a break to think it out again. My conclusion? Well, I’m not sure that I have one other than this. As I thought about this I recalled a photographer who has a business that thrives much better than ours. He doesn’t have any formal training that I have heard about and, if I not mistaken has even been heard to say he doesn’t know much about how camera works or at least the principles behind its operating. But the guy does know how to make it work even though he may not know the reasons or science behind it. He has just continued to work at taking great photographs and learns from his experiences. He’s taken outstanding photos all around the world and makes far more money at what he does than I do. So if he can take all those outstanding photos without being a whiz at knowing the ends and out of all the parts of the camera and proper names of all the fancy techniques of photography what’s the difference? I know a lot of other “Professional Photographers” who have all kinds of degrees, certifications, and a lot of letters behind their name and they sure don’t impress me a bit. It’s kind of like the old heater repairman who was called after numerous younger repairmen from a couple of big name repair companies had failed to repair an old outdated heater. After being on the job for only 15 minutes, the outdate heater roared back to life. When the company received his bill for $1000.00 they called protesting the amount. After all, it only took 15 minutes to complete the work. The old repairman said he understood and would resend another bill. When the second bill arrived it stated that for the 15 minutes it took for the need repairs the charge was $50. For knowing how to repair the heater the charge was $950. The company paid the bill.

So where is the foul on these You Tube videos if not the knowledge levels on display. After all experimenting helps to acquire knowledge and as pointed out in the example above with the photographer I was writing about, that’s reportedly how he has gotten where he is today. Let’s face it. Even the best pro photographers take some very ugly shots. They make faux pas all the time, and that includes me! The question is how many of those miscues are you the viewer of the work going to see? That’s right, NONE! Why? Because the love and passion for the field demands that we get it right for our clients and all who view our work. “If a thing like this is worth doing at all, it’s worth doing right.”- Hunter S. Thompson. And there in lays the key to all of this. There are so many folks out there who “play at it” in my opinion. They take pictures of weddings and students because they like to or to make a fast buck but don’t want to take the effort to do it right. They’re placing the focus in the wrong place. It’s not that they don’t care; it’s what they care about. The Bible in the books of Matthew and Luke both say that “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In an earlier posting I talked about the three dirty little secrets of photography. Maybe we should add a forth. Care about your work and be passionate about the profession. Don’t get personal value at the expense of the client or the profession. Yes it’s ok to receive pay, recognition, and value from you work and even take a health amount of pride in it. But I am afraid that far too many folks don’t have any of that in mind. When one’s care doesn’t venture past themselves, it doesn’t venture far enough. The moments we work to capture are important and will never be repeated again. They are someone’s life long memories, not momentary ego builders. They are a one of kind act of art and captured beauty, not another dollar towards a 42” TV. Yes, times are hard but that gives no excuse for gaming the profession. Times are hard for the clients as well which is why we should care for them more than ever. Zig Ziglar once said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you just help other people get what they want.” Caring is not a one way street if you want to be a success in getting what you really want. I don’t know much about Chi but I know that a lot of folks believe that “what goes around, comes around”. You may get by with gaining at the expense of others for a while but sooner or later you learn that Pigeons shouldn’t poop on statues. If you don’t get that let me know and I will tell you the story.

So where is your treasure? What do you care about? I don’t know what some of those folks on You Tube were attempting to accomplish but it has reminded me of how important caring about my work is and should continue to be. How about you?

That’s it for me today kids! Have a great day everybody…..and care!

Richard

Where has the service station attendants gone? part 3

Hello everybody. Are you ready to put lipstick on this pig? Have you had enough time to figure out what your thoughts are on all of this that we've covered in the last two blogs. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then STOP! Go back and read the past two blogs cause I'm going to skip the summary and go right into it. If you need some more time well this is your chance to back out of the blog and put off reading it until later when you think you're ready. Go ahead, I'll wait...........(I'm whistling a tune while I'm waiting for you to return.........).

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