@threex, thanks man i appreciate that
but i just gotta say that there has happened to be a surge in the past 5 years of anyone and everyone going out and "becoming" photographers with the availability and access to prosumer DSLR cameras. People going out and spending around $500-$1000 on low end dslrs that still produce great images - yet they aren't investing in learning the technical side of photography. and im not saying go and spend $40,000 at Brooks Institute, Academy of art or whatever - there are great affordable classes at City Colleges as well as a vast amount of information for free on the web - and i am talking way beyond just learning about Shutter speed, ISO & Aperture.. those are just the basics - and if you're going to invest in a D200, D300, D3 or higher you need to immerse yourself in manual functions - everyone seems to proclaim themselves as having the "eye" but aesthetics of photography can only take you so far - im taking classes on video production, motion & final cut pro at sf state and over 90% of the students there call themselves filmmakers but are clueless on knowing the technical aspect. Im in no way a filmmaker, but have always been interested in that field so instead of teaching myself like i did photography & some minor design, i went and looked into scholarships to take these classes. Same goes with design, alot of "graphic designers" have been self taught and only know their way around Adobe Photoshop and have neglected to immerse themselves in Illustrator or InDesign for that matter which are both programs you need to learn in order to become an actual Graphic Designer in this industry. (Speaking on myself as well) I still am a student when it comes to design and have barely managed to open illustrator and poke around - the pen tool is still something thats so fuckin foreign to me and thats just being honest.
Another thing that i see which is fairly common especially in the bay area is "one man does all" mentality which does quite some damage to the economy and trade
2 years ago i was doing photoshoots about 10-15 times a month, of course at chump change which im still making - but now that everyone has a prosumer DSLR or has a cousin or someone in their "camp" with one, business has gotten real slow (im only talking about the Bay Area Music Scene) which is why im starting to make connections with Modeling Agencies & other genres who pay alot more than chump change. I also see a surge in graphic designers going out and getting cameras themselves which is great on their end, bad for business on a photographer's end who primarily just specializes in photography as qwasion mentioned.
To be honest, photography is just something i wanted to do for fun as a hobby, but i've always had some kind of hustle one way or another and in order to fund making music since im not on any label or have any type of financial support, photography just became a way i could do that. It's gotten to a point where i've put my music aside and have become more known as a photographer which really wasn't how i wanted to enter this small little industry in the bay area. It's not that im not greatful for people wanting to spend their last paycheck on a photoshoot, or being an inspiration to other up and coming photographers - it's just that i wish i could have worked on my music a little more and pushed that aspect instead. Reality is that music doesn't put food on my table, but i just started putting things into perspective last night (which was my 23rd birthday) - realizing im getting older and time waits for no man/woman. ages 20-30 are peak for making it anywhere in the industry, aside from Rick Ross lol im probably over reacting and right now im just typing without thinking so if i've offended anyone i do apologize that wasn't my intention. But i think that's why i never really went after or tried to pursue celebrity photography (most of the shoots i do are with regular folks just trying to make it like everyone else) and i treat them as i would treat anyone with the utmost respect. I've never been the groupie type and everytime i watch those red carpet shows i see how fuckn cutthroat the paparazzi game is lol and even if i was hired by a celeb, or management, whatever - i still don't like being in that position, i dont want to be the one taking pictures of Rihanna or whoever, i wanna be kickn it with the bitch..shit maybe even tastin the bitch LOL id rather be taking photos of concrete and cigarette butts -
No one fuckin remembers photographers honestly, unless its someone that inspired another photographer, or just monopolized the industry point blank. I do think of photography like art, and artists should be remembered.
Okay, im gunna end this here because i kinda went on a tangent and don't remember the point of anything i was trying to say lol, but i hope it made sense to someone
