Roundtable Anyone?

I have been giving this idea some thought for several years now... Here on Maui, we don't have a local chapter of any of the trade organizations for commercial & editorial photographers. No ASMP... no APA... no EP. Now that we no longer shoot film and gather at the local commercial lab every afternoon to collect our daily processing runs, we rarely even have opportunities for any sort of face to face meetings. 

This is a sad thing to me, especially given the ever increasing demands for rights from clients without the formerly customary compensation for those rights. I feel we can all collectively benefit from a regular opportunity to gather on some sort of regular basis, whether it be monthly, every two months... whatever, and discuss what's good about our respective businesses, what's happening within our industry, within the statewide editorial & advertising marketplace, problems we are facing in conducting sound & time-honored business practices, strategize on ways to face head on the coming issues surrounding use & the new digital media, occasionally present our recent work to friends & colleague & shoot the shit in general...

I propose some form of regular gathering of those of us who call ourselves freelance creatives... my main interest of course would be a gathering of photographers working primarily in the editorial & commercial realms of our industry (sorry wedding/portrait folks... you do have a local group). That said, there is a community of freelance writers, graphic designers, illustrators, etc. out there whom I'm certain find themselves without any sort of loosely organized support network. I would suggest that our meetings, should they eventually come to fruition, be open to these artists as well. After all, we do share many of the same industry concerns and business practices. In addition to working freelancers, I would also suggest that aspiring and seasoned assistants also be welcomed into the fold as they, too, are an essential part of our businesses and will all eventually go on to be photographic freelancers.

What do you think? Good idea? Bad idea? Anyone willing to chime in on the matter? I would even offer my Wailuku studio as a place for these meetings to be held, though perhaps some sort of neutral ground like a restaurant or cafe might be a more appropriate venue. I'll leave that topic open for suggestion & discussion.

Anyone interested in seeing a regular or semi-regular gathering of this sort get established, feel free to either leave a comment here at the blog entry or contact me by email at:

photoho@hawaiiantel.net

Be sure to include some means for me to contact you. And by all means, be sure to pass along this idea for a regular gathering to those industry colleagues that you know. There IS strength in numbers.

Words To Live By

"When the gong gets weird, the weird turn pro..."

Dr. Hunter S. Thompson first committed that phrase to print many moons ago. Though he was talking about the profession of journalism, these words of wisdom seem equally applicable to the professional photographic industry. And the going has been pretty weird around these parts for some time now... slow times for most of us... increasing attempts at rights-grabs from publications trying to capitalize on our fears, self-doubt, fragile egos, insecurities, and the ever-pressing need to keep eating... advertisers demanding buy-outs of copyright for no additional compensation and a hungry mass of colleagues either uneducated in the business practices that were long ago established by organizations like ASMP, APA and other trade groups or willing to toss them aside in hopes of landing an assignment to keep the bills paid.

It's quite a pickle we all find ourselves in these days. Do we knuckle under and give in to the demands in hopes that we keep on working, cut our fees in hopes that the low bidder wins the assignment?

The only wisdom I can dispense on the matter is this: There is absolutely no value in being known as the cheapest guy on the block. While a low-pricing strategy will, in some circumstances, win you an extra assignment or two... in the long run, you will end up working harder for less, you will find yourself displeased with the end results because you've been forced into cutting corners production value-wise, and worst of all, you will end up pigeonholed as the guy that works for cheap. Next time that client calls for an assignment, don't ever count on getting a better fee because you did it for less the first time out. Is that how you want client's to remember you?

Sure, times are tough for everyone these days. It makes a little sense to attempt to work with art buyers, cutting expense items where it's possible to do so without compromising the quality of your work. I encourage you to make sure you're not the only one involved in the project that has to make those cuts. There are several options available to us when it come to negotiating fees, use licenses, etc. If you're forced out of necessity and a need to pay the mortgage to cut your fee, try to limit the licensing period or media inclusions in exchange, try to get a substantial deposit prior to commencing production on the project or an agreement for payment immediately upon delivery, try to get commitments for future projects... you get my drift here... tit for tat. Otherwise, it's the photographers that end up being the chumps.

You must act like a pro, even when times get weird, if you want to be taken seriously when this economic shitstorm eventually passes. Get thee over to the ASMP website when you have some downtime and scroll through the free, printable papers on business practices for the professional photographer. You can find them here. You'll find lots of helpful info regarding business practices, negotiating, copyright registration, self-promotion, digital workflow, keywording & meta-data, legal issues, forms, etc. You owe it to yourself to spend a little time either re-reviewing some of this information, if for no other reason, to remind yourself that you have chosen a profession... it's a business and as a business, has it's own sets of practices, legalities, etc, unique to that profession. Those of you relatively new to the business of professional photography... I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for you to make yourself familiar with this information.

Over at the APA website, there is also a wealth of information on these matters found here.

So... when YOUR going gets weird... make sure you deal with it like a pro!