… can you tell the difference?

Let me preface this little rant by saying this. I am not a world beater when it comes to photography. I doubt that I will ever make photography my full time job. I love it as a hobby, but I am not sure I want to turn it into work. That said, I know I can take a reasonable photo. Ansel Adams I am not, but I think I take a better photo than Aunty Mary after a few Sherries at the family wedding. I could be wrong.

Now, to the rant.

I have had a bug up my arse for months about this. Bull shit artists selling ordinary photos. It seems to me that there are loads of, lets say, mediocre at best photographers out there that are selling photos for big dollars. How are they getting away with it? Could it be that people are not aware what they should be paying for photos? Probably not, after all, what should you pay for a photo? Some people will say “let the market decide.” I agree, but purchasing a photographer, and photos, isn’t something we do every day like buying your lunch. How many people do you know who have been unhappy with the price of their wedding photos? I was! I got married on a beautiful beach, and yet the photos we got were ordinary at best. We didn’t pay a lot, but I still don’t think we got value. At the time, I knew a little bit about photography, and still managed to stuff the decision up.

So if I manage to make a bad decision, with some knowledge of photography, what chance does Joe Public have? Especially when faced with an over confident photographer who’s real skill is selling, not photography? Time and time again I have seen photos from photographers who really know how to pump up their own tyres, and when you look through their portfolio, you wonder what people see. Obviously they are seeing photos that are better than Aunty Mary’s last effort, but are they really worth the asking price? I know that a lot of time goes into post processing and sorting through photos, but quoting the same hourly rate as a brain surgeon is a little bit ridiculous. I know also that there is some skill involved, but the salesman photographer usually doesn’t possess that much skill when it comes to photography. Photoshop is his best friend. Too often you see some faux vignette added to a photo. Why? A tilted photo, Aunty Mary’s speciality, is seen as some sort of artistic expression!

Now I realise that there are some damned fine photographers out there. I know quite a few of them. There are also the gear heads. A person with $10,000 worth of the latest gear, isn’t necessarily a great photographer, no matter how much they say they are. I know that people are going to fire back that I am jealous that I don’t sell my mediocre photos. Fair enough, but if I can save one person from being robbed by these over confident sales reps, well I will have done my job.

You may be sitting there thinking what was that all about? Well, just know this, I feel better for getting it off my chest. Don’t listen to just the photographer, ask around. Ask friends. Ask work mates. Be informed and you might not get stung like I did.