[ratpack] Re: Car show photos
- From: Ray The Rat <RayTheRat@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: ratpack@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2010 20:12:33 -0600
On 10/29/2010 10:12 AM, Dan Greenberg wrote:
HI Ray,
I should have been more clear on that -- I bracket without flash --
even though my camera and flash have the capability I have never used it.
Ok. I understand now. I checked in the 430EX pdf manual and didn't
find anything relating to auto bracketing. That would be real nice, but
maybe it's only available with the 580EX II (the 58 Buick of
flashes...chrome, fins, bells, whistles and maybe even a little power.)
As far as car shows go -- I think in general they are a losing
proposition. I have turned down the request to be the official
photographer 3 or 4 times. They want you to take up your time so
that they look like a more professional operation for free. And
then you make all your money selling to the participants. The only
way I have seen this make any money is when the photographer shoots
everyone as they drive in in a predetermined place and then has a
facility to make prints and sell them right there and then. In my
case, that would totally defeat doing what I like doing since I would
be tied down in one spot.
Agreed on all counts. If I was working with a partner (like the guy who
wanted to work with me but never followed thru...more in the next
paragraph) it might work. As I've written to Mike, it's almost
impossible to make prints on location at races or shows. It's a
different deal on the salt, cuz the time frames are so much different.
We're talkin in terms of days, not hours. But at a show or race,
I definitely agree that most of the people who say they want a shoot
or whatever will not come through.
This is pandemic of the human race, not just people at car shows. It's
much easier to say, "sure" with no conviction behind it and then it's
immediately forgotten...whether it's a photo shoot or a date or a
promise to pay a bill. People who 1) think before committing to
something and 2) actually follow through are few and far between.
Personally -- I would never do the free photo thing. All it does is
cannibalize the sales you might have made and people for the most part
really don't appreciate or value it. I have given gift certificates
to sponsors to give away as door prizes a few times.
This is what I did. Maybe I didn't say it clearly enough, but that's
what the photos were. The promoters gave 'em away for me as raffle
prizes. The winners still haven't contacted me. Piss on it.
These were for a free 10x15 metallic print for an image off my web
site. But I made sure they knew the actual value was $45 for them.
I am trying to position my work as a premium product and therefor will
not try to sell at bargain basement prices -- a method that at best
leads to lots of running around, lots of work and very little
revenue. I do have quite a few experiences where someone really,
really wants something and then once they see my price list, they
don't call or email back. But others do. For what I am offering I
think my prices are very reasonable. When talking to other non-car
professional, photographers, everyone has said my prices are too
cheap. I have attached my latest price list so you can see what I mean.
It's pretty close to mine, although mine isn't as thorough as yours.
Also with regard to posing at a car show, I have done that very
infrequently and only if there was a chance of getting a far better
than average image from it. In your image - the car looks fantastic,
but it is still plagued by having the overall car show background
clutter. One thing I am not good at is removing a car from the
background and placing it on another background, but in my opinion --
the Corvette in your photo is clean enough that you might be able to
do that. Still a lot of work though.
It's a huge amount of work...and once you have the car removed, where do
you put it? I've used some stock images like the salt flats and that
sometimes works, but it's still a pita to get the lighting and shadows
right.
Below is a link to a shoot I did where someone posed his car for me at
his insistence. The password for it is *ray*-- all in lowercase.
http://www.pbase.com/dlgphoto/temp_rg
The images came out ok and as you can see I did quite a bit of PP work
on them and quite a few are HDR. So I did all this and the guy still
did not buy anything. At least not yet. I will contact him one more
time before removing the gallery.
They're great. My favorite is the shot with the clouds added to the
image. The more "art shots" I look at, the more low-angle, "dramatic
sky" shots I see. Some are way overdone, but it can produce a nice result.
I have been selling pictures, but not nearly enough to cover the cost
of time and travel and so forth. I feel like it might be ramping up,
but hard to tell. It is not my full time job (doing computer systems
and websites is) but I would like to get it to the point where it is
bringing in something more substantial. I don't yet know what the
answer is for that. I do make money on doing yearbook photos but I
am really not holding myself out to do that.
I'm with ya on covering costs...well, I've done better than that this
summer/fall. I sure couldn't live on what I make selling photos.
Funny, I retired after a career in computers, starting with vacuum tube,
analog systems in the late 60s and ending up as a software developer
mainly doing one-off interface programs to glue different systems together.
So I guess that is my rant. I was up till 1 as well, overslept and no
I am behind for the day -- so that's all for now.
Well, with my RLS acting up I have no idea what oversleeping is. I
can't get more than 5 hours at a time. But I'm tryin to work around it
to the best of my ability.
Good luck with your stuff. I guess we're all pretty much in the same
boat...scrambling to do the best we can. It COULD be a lot worse. We
could be trying to do it in Somalia, for example. I know that I have a
nice warm bed to sleep in and food to eat. That more than many others.
Workin on an "attitude of gratitude", as corny as it sounds really works
for me. I can get pretty down if I let myself, but gratitude always
seems to help get me back on track. For those who are of a spiritual
bent, this quote always seems to straighten my head out a little: "How
can you ask God for more if you're not grateful for what He's already
given you?" I'll put a lotta gratitude into my prayers this evening.
RtR
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