The term “spec” in the photography world stands for “speculation”. Thus, the longer phrase “Working on Spec” is pretty self explanitory. You put your time and effort into a project and in the end hope someone wants to buy it from you.

If you are working on something creative, some sort of artwork or book, then that falls under the “spec” umbrella. That’s fine - that way you are your own boss. The problem is when you work on spec for others.

There’s a nice little blurb over at Common Cents concerning this topic - Mark Loundy crystalizes the problem precisely. Pop on over and check it out.

Hey all. I’ve been really busy the last couple of days with something that I ended up involved in that has become HUGE for me. I happened to be in the right place at the right time on Monday afternoon and as I waited for my friend to join me for lunch, there was a shootout in the parking lot of the restaurant.

Guess who had their camera.

It’s been very hectic - basically I shot some really good photographs that ended up running 4-5 columns on the front page of the Sacramento Bee (the major paper here in town) as well as back page, the Associated Press (allegedly - I haven’t yet seen it or heard from them) and one of the television stations here in Sacramento. I even had a piece written about me in the Sacramento Bee and a piece about my photographs that opened the local television news.

I barely had time to shave this morning.

I’ll get into what happened sometime in the next day or so, but let me just say something here and, please, listen to what I say:

Keep your camera with you at all times! You never know when something big will happen!

Related Tags: Photojournalism, violence, robbery, safety

… make sure that you protect your equipment from crowd surfers.

Last night I was shooting at a Deftones show here in Sacramento.

There were bodies a-flying and I realized how bad it could be if one them came down on a photographer and said equipment. You almost need a second set of eyes to watch behind you…
Related Tags: Caution, Photographer, Deftones, Damage, Safety

Camera Hacker is a site devoted to hacks for your camera and equipment. Looking through I found a bunch of neat little tips and tricks dealing with everything from lighting to more technical subjects dealing with triggers and smartmedia hacks.

The one I found ingenious was the “mirror lock up” trick - so simple but so genius!

Related Tags: Camera, Hacks, Mirror, Lock Up, Tips, Tricks, Photography

So, because I’m sort of new to this whole networked blogging thing, I started poking around into some of the other Wurk sites and came across freelance.wurk.net . It is tended by a freelance writer named Alicia Sparks; in addition to her Wurk role also she also writes for a number of online sites. (One of which, Revolt-Media, is a cool, mostly indie online music magazine.)

Although a “word” person, Alicia writes a lot about freelancing overall - sometimes even dropping some information concerning freelance photography (note to self - remind her to “stay off my turf”! … that’s a joke).

Drop on by and say hello to her. She has a lot of good information that applies to freelance photography and is just fun to read!

Related Tags: photography, freelance, wurk, pictures

Here is a link to the online gallery of Gregory Colbert’s show Ashes and Snow. It is a sprawling and, frankly, amazing website featuring some of his work that is currently on display at the persistantly-temporary Nomadic Museum (another amazing feat in itself - here’s a description).

His show consists of more than 100 large scale photographs and other “pieces” (a curtain made from over one million tea bags, a “novel of letters”, films!) and is currently open to the public for viewing.

If you want to experience it and are located around California you will want to do it fast! Ashes and Snow is currently it is showing in Santa Monica, California, but closes May 14, 2006. The show (museum and all) then will be continuing its tour covering other parts of the United States as well as South America, Europe and Asia.

Related Tags: Gregory Colbert, Ashes and Snow, Nomadic Museum, Photography

Here is a post from photographer Tim Gasperak that he made on Sportsshooter.com back in March about a situation he has observed going on in the Seattle area.

I post this because there is a growing trend that looks toward the amature photographer for stock images. This is the first time I had heard of agencies scanning photo sites like Flickr and then making contact with the photographer to use the images, but have previously heard about publishers looking for what amounts to free snapshots for publication where stock photos would previously been used.

At least the agency is paying for usage as well as offering licencing agreements, right? That’s good, RIGHT?!?!?

I’m sorry, but not really.

It might not sound like a bad idea but in the end it just takes jobs away from photographers who spent years in school and thousands of dollers in equipment, those who depend on a paycheck and make their living by shooting stock. Again, keeping in mind all of the erosion taking place in the photography job place from amatures, make sure you really want to be a professional photographer.

Related Tags: Photography, Stock Photography, Amature, Flickr

Still here after reading the last post? Good. Hopefully you are a committed photographer who needs to know how to make a living doing what you love. Before I really get going with all of the handy-dandy little things that will help you on your journeys (hopefully), there are two things that I have to address - get ready, because you may not like them:

1) Look at your work and decide whether the quality is good enough to charge the money you need to make a living. If not, DON’T work yet. Go back to school..
2) Work for what you are worth.

That’s it. Well, not actually it - there’s some explaniation involved.

When starting out in photography, we all feel insecure about what our time and end product is worth. I am SO guilty of this problem myself and it is something I constantly battle with every day while negotiating with clients. More than a few times in the past I have ended up losing money (out of pocket, mind you) on shooting a project for someone who “hired” me.

I realize now that I was screwing professionals out of their livleyhood for a few measly bucks - basically working for a fraction (if not for FREE) of what a client should be paying for art.

You have to understand that there are literally thousands of working photographers who depend on jobs that pay enough to survive - be it make their mortgage payments, equipment costs, kids college tuition - whatever anybody else at any other job needs money for. By low-balling yourself, you not only undervalue the costs of photography in the eyes of clients overall but also make it harder for an established, working photographer to justify their prices when a client says to them, “Well, I could just get a student/beginner/amature to do it for much less than what you are quoting me.”

Believe me, everyone likes to see their pictures in print along with that little tag line that includes their name, or having their pictures shown off by a client who paid them for portraits. Eventually though, the novelty wears off.

Some people think that photographers aren’t worth the money they ask for. (And, truthfully, many aren’t - but these folk aren’t real, professional photographers. They are people that aren’t commited, that either dabble in it or are deluded into thinking they are pros because they get money from people in exchange for a few snapshots.) Photographers ARE worth the money because of the quality of the image, the professional way that they deal with clients and the fact that, like any other business, being a photographer isn’t about just some guy or gal with a camera that takes pictures. There are huge amounts of overhead - from the cost of equipment and computers, to vehicle maintainance and gasoline, insurance (both against theft and liability), rent on storefronts/studios - the list goes on and on.

Frankly, by not charging what the local market shows as fair, you are not only setting up yourself to fail in the long run, but others as well.

So, what do you do? How do you know what’s fair to charge without undercutting everyone else so drastically? Check out a program called FotoQuote (www.fotoquote.com). I’ll be getting into this awesome program later on in the month, but it is a great way to figure out how much others are making and what you should charge depending on who you are doing the work for.

Related Tags: Freelance, Photography, Rates, Fotoquote

Did you come here looking for some tips on how to become a freelance photographer? Let me give you the most valuable one - don’t. Becoming a photographer isn’t a smart idea. Let’s look at why you shouldn’t:

1) There aren’t a lot of jobs available. It’s a fact. With the invention of the internet, many magazines and especially newspapers have felt the squeeze of their readership dropping which, in turn, affects their ad revenue and ultimately their employing power as well. And unfortunately, many editors and publishers value the written word more than the pictures that accompany them. Writers stay - photographers go.

2) Everyone is suddenly a photographer. Because of the falling costs of digital SLRs there is currently a plague of amateur-at-best shooters out there with dreams of seeing their pictures in print. The editors and publishers referenced above are more than ready to accept pictures from these types of photographers with no more compensation than a cutline under the photo - eliminating a paying job for a pro somewhere.

3) A segment of the population hates you. Going out in the field makes you a target for people who don’t trust the media and they’ll let you know. This job requires a tough skin.

4) You will be poor. For every staff position a photographer holds at a newspaper that pays a salary, there are untold numbers of freelancers waiting in the wings for the call that sends them out on assignment - and a paying gig.

…still here?

So, why should you be a photographer? Because you love making photos and sharing the images and your point of view with the world. Don’t take that last statment lightly. It’s one thing to say it (in fact, you’ll see that exact statment on a lot of different photographers’ bio pages), it’s another thing to live it. And, don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to be a downer. Sometimes people do really well right from the start - but that isn’t usual. Becoming a photographer is a lot of hard work - mentally, physicially and financially.

Unless you are willing to keep at it, even if it means living out of you car and eating Top Ramen straight out of the bag, you should just keep taking pictures as a hobby.

Hey there! My name is Devin and I want to welcome you to photography.wurk.net ! What is this little blog about, you ask? Well, right now that is the question. I’m not sure entirely what it will become. It definitely will be a resource for people who love photography and want to make their living (hmpff) doing it. I would also like it to be a place for people to ask questions and exchange ideas - both with myself and other readers. Other than that, it’s up to you — tell me what you want or what you need and I’ll do my best to help you out.

So, come on in and kick your shoes off for a while. Get comfortable and feel free to look around!

- Devin Bruce
www.devinbruce.com