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Defining being a photographer

Published August 11th, 2011

Let’s face it, to be a modern photographer, especially when you’re starting out, it’s far too easy to become a jack of all trades.

When a client is looking for a photographer they are not necessarily looking for a specialist (those are expensive).

As a result the finished product is of course less than satisfactory to both the client and the photographer… perhaps less to the photographer as they got paid but there you go!

But who can we blame for this?

The photographer just wants to do what they love and get paid.

The client only really knows that they need a photographer.

So think about how the word Photographer is defined.

The Wikipedia definition is both strange and complex – but that’s hardly surprising! What’s most interesting is that there is no Wikipedia page for 'professional photographer'.

The Dictionary.com definition is nice and simple…… but personally I think some way off the mark…

pho·tog·ra·pher

a person who takes photographs, esp. one who practices photography ...

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Open question to the photography educators of B...

Published August 4th, 2011

What are you doing to prepare your students for an over saturated market in terms of business skills?

This is not necessarily a question I know the answer too hence the reason I’m asking it. Thinking back to my own experience at Manchester Metropolitan University (where I graduated over 10 years ago) I can’t remember ever being taught ANYTHING about business!

How much time do we spend ‘doing business’ compared to actually taking pictures? How has our education prepared us for this?

Sometimes the best education is throwing yourself to wolves and learning the hard way by making mistakes, talking to those who are successful and embracing online communities.

But I ask the question again ‘Where is the foundation for this at degree level?’

Some might argue that a degree should really build the foundation for skills and technique rather than actual business practice. But why should it?

Personally I have gained so much more from learning along way and being thrown completely into the dee ...

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Are your pictures timeless?

Published August 4th, 2011

I was just pondering this thought after attending a talk with Trevor and Faye Yerbury.

He described simple, black and white images as timeless. That may at first seem a pretty valid point, but 30 years ago black and white photography was considered dated or at the very least, unfashionable.

Trevor is the first person to urge his attendees not to take his word as gospel, but I think perhaps timeless isn’t the right word to use.

Trends in photography, just like trends in fashion, keep coming back round full circle. The evolution of digital photography allowed many old Victorian techniques to become popular again. Spot colouring and montaging are perfect examples of this.

The reaction now, 15 years down the line, is to pull back, to produce work which has an essence of timelessness. Or put quite simply…… black and white.

We can certainly see this in modern wedding album design, lots of negative space, plain backgrounds, no image boarders. Again, this is a reaction to an overuse of ...

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