Talking about what did NOT work

[Georg R. Baumann]

Some people think, well there is a chap with a camera and a printer, making tons of money for pressing a button, but what they do not know about is the other side of the picture....


Pretty stressful week with administration, meetings with banks, insurance, accountant, exhibition places, reporters, politicians, solicitor, architects, a flippin nightmare of a week, apart from that, last night 4 hours sleep.

4AM doublt shot of coffee...shooting in national park.... weather changed, total crap, midges are eating me alive out here shooting a tree, 55 pictures for a single tree, but what a stunner, I can already see a 60x40 inch print....

Back home, itching like crazy, must have something like ~100 bites all over me... NOW what?... Computer trouble.... RAID-O ****ed, after 5 years the first time.... re install, manage backup... forget about food... no time...phone calls... "flippin leave me alone!".... 3,5 hours later Puter back up and running fine.... sigh....

Processing files, 5x exposures per shot, ACR, then tonemapping.... another 1.5 hours later....finally... Photoshop....stitching.... 30 minutes later.... <cursing like a docker> a tiny miniscule bit is missing from the bootom, but it is flippin essential.... whole shot is ruined.... have to do it all over again...

Such is hopefully common experience and known to most of us, or am I the only idiot around here? LOL

Once the print of a limitted edition is on sale, and someone would ask me.... "Did you photoshop that?"

I think, I would be tempted to answer "No, not at all, I just happen to have a camera that produces fine art prints at the push of a button, regardless what and where I shoot, it is always the same worldclass quality, no effort needed at all, I do not even need to leave the house, it has randomized templates that are updated via satellite with pictures from all over the world, not even photoshop is needed anymore, that's why it costs 2950 Euro, the damn satellite connection is so expensive!"

 

[John_Nevill]

Georg, I share your sentiments and frustrations!

Last month, I spent countless hours printing off and mounting limited stock for a large Country Fair. I eagerly awaited the event and laid out my stall. The morning went well with ~10 images sold and mid-way through the afternoon things died off.

Around 3:00pm, a young lad and his mum came up to the stall and the boy says "wow mum, dad would really like that tiger picture". He then whipped out his mobile phone, leant over the table and snapped away quite merrily!

 

[Alain Briot]

Georg,

I think that you have described the challenge of balancing art and business very well

I would just add the part about someone saying "you are so lucky to do what you love".



At any rate, that's the price to pay for being successful. It makes success that much sweeter.

 

[Dierk Haasis]

IME this happens with all services creating [more or less] intangible rewards to the client. Take writing, especially journalistic and advertising copy. Since reading a good text is easy and should be so natural readers don't realise they are doing something, it is assumed writing this stuff is as easy, 'I could have done it!'

Since the actual work - in writing as well as in photographing - comes from years of learning and honing resulting in a print [today not even that necessarily] with relatively low cost of material, people are not willing to pay dearly. 'Hey, I've got a digicam and Photoshop Elements.' Yeah, sure, and you are sureyl a DIY'er ...

 

[Georg R. Baumann]

Georg,

I think that you have described the challenge of balancing art and business very well

I would just add the part about someone saying "you are so lucky to do what you love".

At any rate, that's the price to pay for being successful. It makes success that much sweeter.

Thanks for chiming in here Folks!

LOL, YEAH Alain! No no, on the contrary, I am just lucky to love what I do! Hehehe. - As if all this just landed in our arms out of no where. -

I intend to think that it is this bourgeoise artist stigma which often is the underlaying cause for such views. Most of the people who we meet with because they might want to buy a print, well, they live a very different life in deed, hence they have a certain jeleaousy on the perceived aspect of FREEDOM in what we do.

From a little philosophical point of view, what they often lack to understand is the aspect of choice. We all are choosers, full stop.

However, established is a "no can do" clima which is nurished by excuses made up like "I can not do that because I have to _______" fill in a long list of external reasons made up to fundamentally display the impossibility of them to make a different choice. Dig a l little deeper and you find that all this has to do with fear, fear of the unknown. A sense of false securities and "necessary" decisions is the result.

So, on the one side they admire us, on the other they hate us. LOL Not all of them of course, but I am sure you know WHO I am describing here, it is someone out there which we will meet quite often as an artist or "artist in business" to say it with Alain's words.

Or like Dierk said, the attitude of "I have a Blah blah 12 Megapixel and PS elements, if I would have a big printer like you, I could do that as well."

It is a little like a student in chemistry who has cooked his first aspirin and would go to a Professor in molecular design and say, Well, if I would have that equipmment, I could do that.

I think a good Professor would encourage him, make him think and answer, Yeah, of course you could, if you continue to study and practise the next 25 years, you might just continue the work I am doing here and sit on my chair by then.

Thank you for sharing this John, much appreciated! I thought, it would be nice to hear from others as well about their obstacles and hurdles to overcome, as it often puts our own little bullshit into perspective.

Guess what, now the weather changed again and is brilliant, but I am nailed to my office chair today.

So keep it coming, and share with us what you face in your daily work, be it a landscpae photographer, wedding, product, architecture, whatever you do, I am sure your input is much appreciated and valued, and for damn sure it helps to vent. LOL

In my case yesterday, well, I opened a Cotes du Rhone and went to bed early, with the knowledge that I will go back there and shoot again and again, as long as it takes, until I have what I already can see in a print....

 

[Tim Armes]

Hi Georg,

I'd love to see some of your work, but I just can't find it.

I've tapped "OceanViewStudio" into Google, and there are quite a few, but I can't find you. Do you have a web site?

Tim

 

[Georg R. Baumann]

Hi Tim,

Website is in progress, I'll let you know once it is up and running.

 

[Michael Fontana]

He then whipped out his mobile phone, leant over the table and snapped away quite merrily!

I suppose he' s got the copyright for that mobilphoneshot, now ;-)

 

[Georg R. Baumann]

For what it's worth, here the thingy that did not work, this tree is the biggest challenge I have come across so far....