May 9th, 2007
Sigh. Another doom and gloom article about how amateurs and hobbyists are making life difficult for professional photographers.
The Demise of Professional Photographers from Mail and Guardian online takes a quick look at how photojournalists and stock photographers are seeing declining business due to the rise of the amateur (but somehow manages to do it without mentioning the penny stock agencies and only focusing on flickr).
While it is true that things are a bit more difficult now, the article also points out the following:
These developments may have diminished the value of a professional photographer’s skills. But they couldn’t eliminate the need for professionalism: the difference between a professional and an amateur is not that the amateur never takes really good pictures. It is that the professional will always come up with usable ones.
A talented, hardworking and lucky amateur can produce wonderful pictures on the best days. But that will be one picture in a hundred. A professional can produce something that is nearly as good as their best 50 times in a hundred. That’s why they are worth employing.
Some skills are difficult for the amateur to and it’s there that the pros can excel. Whether it’s through technical accomplishment through lighting, logistical savvy, or just general dependability, pro photographers should remain the choice for those customers who want to be sure they get the job done and done well.
November 28th, 2006
The Wall Street Journal has this article on companies who have used non-exclusive images and, as a result, wound up with a bit of egg on their face. It points to a few examples of situations in which different companies have used the same stock image for their promotions and, as a result, have diluted their brand identity. It’s an embarrassing prospect for marketing departments and a good reminder on why it’s sometimes a good idea to spend a little bit more on your photos.
November 10th, 2006
Over the coming days, I hope to add a number of galleries to reflect my travels in Taipei. Taiwan was my first stop on the journey I began at the beginning of 2006, so these photos are long over due, but I hope that I can soon make up for the delay be showing off some of my adventures there.
While I did manage to get out of the capital city for a few days, I’m going to start off with the island nation’s entry point and show you around Taipei. This first batch of galleries includes shots from the Snake Alley Night Market, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Bao-An Temple and the Confucius Temple.
Keep checking back for more from this fascinating city.
October 10th, 2006
I’ve just finished adding a huge batch of photos from the Southeast Asian, island nation sensation. For anyone eager to get straight to it, I shall cut to the chase and invite you to check out my photos of Singapore.
For some of my time in Singapore, I was accompanied by some great travel companions in Jenny, Katy and Sam. Our mini-golf game on Sentosa Island stands (strangely enough) as a highlight of my stay in SIngapore. Really, what could be better than being a kid again with some fun friends while bouncing around a mini-golf course in an exotic location. Sam thought I should take up a career of photographing miniature golf courses around the world thus combining a few passions into one undoubtedly lucrative career.
As you will see from the photos, however, I did have a lot of time to wander the city on my own with cameras in hand. Singapore has fabulous locations where a shutterbug traveller can keep himself busy for hours. The colonial district is full of history. The Singapore Zoo satisfies every zoological interest. The modern skyscrapers mark the country’s economic ascendency. Populated by peoples from a diversity of backgrounds, the cultural influences blend and mix like streams flowing to form a larger river that has an identity of its own. And if you want to put away the camera, you will never find yourself wanting for someplace to shop or eat.
I could easily spend more time there and I hope someday I will. Until then, I will content myself with looking at a few images:
July 15th, 2006
Just as with my photos of the Petronas Towers, I noticed that my photos of Tokyo’s Sensoji temple were not representative of a few visits I had made there. I’ve stayed in the Asakusa area and walking over to the temple with camera in hand is a great way to spend an evening. It may not be the most architecturally ornate or elegant of Japan’s temples, but the size of the gates, the iconic, five-story pagoda, and the active visitors of the temple make it a great shooting location.
July 11th, 2006
I was only able to spend a few short days in Osaka when I was travelling through Japan. It seemed, even more than Tokyo, the very definition of ‘urban.’ Many people have a vision of Japan as a futuristic, modern city that covers virtually every inch of the archipelago and if they only visited Osaka, they would be justified in believing that.
The photos I have uploaded include images of the Osaka Skyline, the Dotonbori Shopping and Entertainment District and The Umeda Sky Building. When time permits, I also have images from Osaka castle and Osaka Aquarium that I intend to process and upload as well, so stay tuned.
And as always, a few samples:
June 26th, 2006
I have just added a travel photography portfolio to the site. This micro-site provides a concise selection of my photos for anyone who is feeling a little overwhelmed by the thousands of photos on this site.
Please have a look and feel free to let me know what you think.
June 12th, 2006
Angkor Wat was one of the most magical places I have had the good fortune to visit. The spectacle of the temple has endured for centuries, but I can’t even imagine the grandeur of its appearance at the height of the Khmer empire. To witness Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, the Bayon or any of the other spectacular temples in the region when they were full of the life of their creators would be a worthy destination for any time traveller.
As it is, without defying the laws of physics, visitors can feel transported backwards to a different era. Yes, most of the bodies populating the temples are tourists, but it’s easy to look beyond them when the scenery is so gorgeous.
I have recently finished processing some of my photos from the area and I have uploaded them to dsphotographic.com. In the gallery section, you will now find images of Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, and also a gallery of photos featuring the different monks I met at Angkor Wat.
These are, of course, only a few of the sets of photos I have available from the region. As I process photos, more galleries will be available.
Read more about my time spent in the Angkor region here and here.
Lastly, here is a taste of what you will find in the galleries:
June 9th, 2006
More than once a day, I wonder if I am working my way into the right business. As though the travel photography market wasn’t already terribly competitive, the rise of crowdsourcing has made the business that much less profitable for professionals.
This Wired article on crowdsourcing explores the issue of micro stock photography’s role in the diminishing profits of professional stock shooters. This is a central issue right now in the world of stock photography and I have often witnessed heated debates on message boards when the the two sides have met.
Good discussion on the issue can be found at the site of author of the above article (Jeff Howe): crowdsourcing.com. In particular, a good discussion can be found in the comments of the site’s mission statement.
As a professional photographer, I have a bias against the micro-stock sites, but it’s not merely because of the smaller profits for the pro shooters. Just as outsourcing tends to have an exploitative side to it with third-world citizens being paid a pittance for their work, the crowdsourcers, in this case the amateur photographer, gets a similar pittance. Hobbyists are content with $1 sale and the knowledge that their image has been used by someone else. What many of them either don’t know or don’t care about is that their images could fetch much higher prices for similar uses.
The amateurs, however, do not rely on the income generated by their photos. Their day jobs pay the bills. Extra dollars from micro-stock sales are a happy bonus. Too bad there seems to be so many cases where these bonuses are snatched from the hands of the professional photographers whose livelihood depends on traditional sales.
June 8th, 2006
Strobist, an informative blog featuring advice, tips and articles on how to use small, shoe-mounted flash units has a good article detailing Ant Upton’s use of off-camera flash when shooting a soccer preview assignment.
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