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| #4  08-Nov-2009, 19:57 | ||||
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| No insult taken Craig from me, and can I say I never mean to sound flippant or arrogant, I just say things how they are (the Yorkshire in me) and don't believe in beating around the bush. I also think people should know how things really are on the inside of an industry I know something of and that there's a whole raft of people wishing to fill the boots I left by the door (should have been a bleedin poet not a snapper!!!!!  )Tis a difficult one. I don't see it that riders or anyone else should necessarily "help" trackside photographers. Like anything else in this world, you earn your place in line. I feel it's up to the photographers to differentiate themselves and take better pictures. From what i've seen in mags and on forums, there's a big feeling that you buy the gear and turn up, and that's enough....I didn't accept that ethos and wanted to do my profession proud (to sound very old school), but that didn't do me any favours one iota. I just disollusioned myself seeing some **** shots get on the pages week in week out. On the flip side though raising your own standards is the easy part. I honestly feel the bottom has fallen out of the photo market to a degree. Everyone and his dog has a digital camera now so the photo has become a cheap commodity except for the few. The market is awash with images, some stunning, some exceptional, some average and some I frankly wouldn't wipe my neighbour's dog's behind on....The differentiation between a stunning shot and an average one disappears when you come to negotiating for a fair price. Everyone seems to want everything for nothing so you're up against it from the off. It's even harder when you try to sell to riders. They seem to spend almost every penny on their bikes and racing (which they should). That means the disposable cash to spend on a "snap" is not there so the shots have to be much better to sell. As I said in my last post, the photographer has a speculative job and sadly quantity (in terms of trying to capture every rider to get a sale) reduces quality (i.e. not gettting that stunning shot of every rider that will sell). The only plus side for the photographer I have seen in club racing (when it comes to possible revenue) is that there's never 5 or 10 photographer's there with trackside access so he/she has a "captive audience", albeit a pretty frugle and demanding one. I'm not sure if there's a huge amount of money going from trackside photographer's pockets to friends and family standing on the public side of the fence with a digital camera. I could be wrong... My income from the DSC trackday is reducing year on year. A free picture seems always to be better than a chargeable one. As I also mentioned before, getting the shots isn't the only part. You have to earn money from other areas to supplement you trackside activities. You have to be pretty dedicated to carry on two jobs and spend a lot of your weekends at one for little return. If I knew the answer I would have still been doing the part of photography I loved. Regards, Guy Last edited by Guido : 08-Nov-2009 at 20:06.  |
| #6 19-Nov-2009, 19:44 | ||||
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| Its still not happening with PLJ, perhaps they think if they put a note on their page, it buys them time. Like you say the moment has long gone now.  |
Guido
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