tag:www.cendrowski.com,2009-06-24:/blog//1 2010-09-03T14:03:46Z www.cendrowski.com Movable Type Pro 4.34-en tag:www.cendrowski.com,2010:/blog//1.36 2010-09-03T13:47:55Z 2010-09-03T14:03:46Z

Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com
    Outsourcing has hit the photo business.  Where you might pay $75 to $150 per hour for photo retouching here in the United States, now just FTP your images to New Delhi and get them zapped back the next day.  As their email says, 'Our prices CANNOT be beaten'.  I replied to find out just what those prices are, but I would be surprised if they topped $10 per hour.

    Photo books showcasing photographers' work have been printed in China for a long time, so it's no surprise that all aspects of the digital work flow are now being scattered around the world. Who wins?  Who suffers?  It's clear photographers and picture agencies can get a lot of work done cheaply, while US retouchers will lose work to overseas firms. But it seems in the end, both the photo and graphics businesses comes down another notch. Stock image prices have plunged, and continue their downward trend.  Cheap digital cameras have taken a huge bite out of the professional photographers'
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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com
∞Kodak announced in June that the iconic film Kodachrome will no longer be manufactured, ending its 74 year run. The film dominated the film world, especially in magazines like National Geographic.

∞ High end digital cameras like the Canon 1D Mark IV continue to incorporate video, providing stunning  HD video owing to the very large image sensor. Video capabilities will only  improve

∞USC's Annenberg Digital Future
Study highlights, July 2010:
     •Only 22% of newspaper readers say they will miss print editions.  Just 56% rated newspapers as important sources of information
     • Americans spend an average of 19 hours per week online.
     •0% of users say they would pay to use Twitter
     •Looking at unprecedented levels of online communications, authors ask, "Have we reached the point at which users are going into 'online overload?'"
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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com How we Decide by Jonah Lehrer  explains how our decisions are made with a combination of feeling and reason.  The best in any field, from photographer to chess master, quarterback to radar operator, operate on an intuitive level based on emotions generated by something called dopamine neurons.  By endless practice and reviewing past errors, we all ingrain a native intelligence that bubbles up and points us in the right direction when we have to make quick decisions. 

    But it's not all a free ride on the emotions.  The keys are constant study and examination of our methods. So when we have an involved photo shoot, deciding all day how to light, where and how to position our subjects, how to position a reflector, when to joke and when to cajole....we're building up a bank of deep knowledge that allows us to make those decisions quickly and correctly the next time. 

    So never be afraid to experiment and make mistakes.  We have to goof-up to learn. 
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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com
http://www.annarborbusinessmagazine.com/
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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com PhotoLicensingOptions.com.  The man behind the site is Jim Pickerell, who published one of the first and finest stock pricing guides called Negotiating Stock Photo Prices. If you're licensing any stock or thinking about it, this is a great site to check out.
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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com Porter Cases, which I've used for years now.  The case folds down and lets you use it as a dolly, which is a Godsend for carrying other heavy cases. And they have a new PCI case coming out soon which will be even more durable than previous cases.

     I have no financial interest in the company.  Just a satisfied customer.
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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com
      I'm dismayed by how many of those tax dollars are spent, especially for endless war.  But I know that I'm privileged to be able to live in this country, a destination whose shores so many around the world risk everything to reach.  Simplify the tax process. Yes.  Make it equitable so those who pay their full share don't feel like chumps.  Absolutely yes. Eliminate wasteful spending.  Of course.  But pay your share and stop the whining.  I've been to many other countries, and I'd rather pay, pay, pay to live here than suffer in most of those other countries.

      Happy April 15.
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Marketing author Seth Godin has written a post for all those trying to say something and exhausted by the "quick-click, move on to the next thing" culture. http://ow.ly/1mNud...

Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com
http://ow.ly/1mNud
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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com    

    When you spend a lot of time like I do taking environmental portraits for trade magazines or shooting machinery and workers in an industrial plant, you tend to art direct every shoot, determining lighting and directing every aspect of the shoot.  You make pictures, not take them.  So it's good to occasionally challenge yourself and take on quick moving challenges to keep the eye and reflexes sharp. 

    I photographed a gymnastics meet this past weekend, the Wolverine Classic in Saline, Michigan.  My daughter spent a lot of years perfecting her leaps at the meet's sponsor gym, and I like to help out the owners with photography a few times a year.  And just like my father used to tell me that success playing sports was all about anticipation, so too in photographing them. It's a challenge to figure out where the gymnast will be at what time, and to be at that spot a split second ahead of her.

    And the secret is not to burn up your motor drive by photographing every second of a beam or floor routine.  We already have a technology for that.  It's called video.  Instead, use short bursts at just the right time.  I'm not a fan of wasting 100 frames to get one usable.  Better to know where the right moment will be. The skill being lost in the rise of modern digital cameras is the aptitude to look, concentrate and select the moment.  The studious ability to analyze beforehand and expose that one sheet of 4x5 film.  I fear we're becoming too lazy while holding down the shutter button.

     It's also fun and fullfilling to keep the photojournalist's mindset and observe all of life that's going on, not just on the competition floor.  Keep an eye behind scenes.  To paraphrase John Lennon, life is what happens while you're focused on the action.

 

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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com
     I was going to step up some business promotion through this site, but their frustrating lack of customer service now makes that unlikely.

     Pen and paper anyone?
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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com
     For more information visit the PPM website: http://www.ppmevents.com/

     Lots of good information for all levels of photographers.  Check it out.
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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com    I spent a few hours at the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center in Detroit this past week.  I got my press pass and wandered like I've done the past number of years.  Interestingly, I thought I was going to be there shooting for a client this year.  A client from, of all places, Russia.  A car enthusiast website had searched for a Detroit photographer and I was one of at least half a dozen local photographers targeted.  They certainly appeared legitimate, and I actually thought I had the job, until the editor, Evgeniy, suddenly stopped returning my emails.  I had insisted on payment before I shot the job, worried about the nightmare of trying to collect fees from a Russian company.  I don't know who did shoot for them, though I'd find it interesting how it all panned out.

   Now I have to admit I'm not really a car enthusiast.  I don't get worked up about seeing all the latest models.  Never have.  What's more, living in Michigan I've been dismayed for years about the apparent tone-deafness of the American car companies. But even for someone like me who buys a vehicle not for the sex appeal, but simply to have a reliable hunk of safe, reliable metal to get me from here to there...even for someone like me who enjoys a little glitz now and then, I found the auto show flat, unmoving, and fairly melancholy.  Lots of electric exhibits, bigger Chinese presence, and a rather sad continued reliance on preternaturally handsome men and women models.   Mostly women.  In flowing gowns or mini miniskirts. But it's hard to get worked up about shiny cars in a state so devastated by this economic downturn.  The comparison of real life on Michigan's mean streets with the pseudo-upbeat car show vibe is just too dispiriting.
 
   I want the auto industry to evolve and succeed.   I want my neighbors and myself employed.  But I want also want a breathable planet for my children.  So I'll head over to the electric displays, and plan on buying a hybrid for my next car. And drive less.  And hope for more sustainable mass transit. And jobs for the men and women of Michigan.  Are all these things mutually exclusive?  I don't know.  We'll see how the windmill business goes.

   

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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com
     "I've been a member of ASMP since 1989, and have just gone online to pay my dues for 2010.  But along with that dues payment I need to also pass along concerns about our organization and its operation.

     I've followed the debate over the past months about payments going to board members who conduct seminars, write and edit materials, and perform other functions for ASMP.  I tend to be a fairly even-handed and tolerant person, and I do listen to all sides of an issue, as I have in this case.  At the end of the day I am feeling uneasy about the increasing amount of payments and seeming lack of transparency around this issue.  I've been around ASMP long enough to know that most of the work needing to be done has traditionally been done on a volunteer basis, apart from those jobs done by paid staff.  And that volunteer setup has felt right. 

     What I'm advocating comes down to the word transparency.  For members and potential members to feel sure of the integrity of ASMP proceedings, they need to see everything done in an open manner, fully exposing the machinery and inner workings.  If there's any whiff of a feeling that insiders are at work, and that those with connections are using the organization for their own benefit, then the effectiveness of ASMP suffers, and a pall starts to settle over everything. 

     These are concerns of a longtime and fairly non-vocal member.  I've also communicated these concerns by phone to a board member.  I very much want ASMP to remain an effective voice for photographers, and as membership grows and increasing amounts of money are available, I think it's critical that all of us feel comfortable that our elected board and staff are acting with a scrupulous fairness.  I'm not saying anything improper has happened, but as one of the many photographers who has just struggled through a horrendous year in business, I want attention paid to this issue of transparency. 

Thank you very much for your time and consideration."
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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com holiday season and hope for us all in the new year.

.      

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Dwight Cendrowski http://www.cendrowski.com
    Negotiating a reasonable agreement for a magazine shoot has never been more difficult.  One example is a recent contract being forced on photographers by Reader's Digest.  Read this post for a primer on typical magazine contracts and how to interpret the terms.

                 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/just-say-no-to-contracts-like-this

      Unfortunately we as photographers tend to deal only with art directors and photo editors.  They do not set their companies terms, and are squeezed between pressure from their bosses and the grief heaped on them by the creative community. Remember, publishing houses have teams of lawyers coming up with contracts that favor only the publishers.  Any contract is negotiable, and photographers must educate themselves and work to change terms that are detrimental to our industry. In fact, we should have our own terms and inform the publisher that since we are the supplier we'd like to use our terms for the assignment.

      Many photographers do not understand how to negotiate and what they should expect and demand of an agreement, the result being a downward spiral of fees for those supplying the art.  If you're new to photographing for magazines, start with a trip to asmp.org to begin educating yourself. You owe it to yourself and to the photo industry.

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