Automotive photography Studio

Here is a incredible view showing one ideal way of photographing an automobile. I would guess that you wouldn't need to do much photoshop editing after all this work. This image is taken from Michael Furman’s website at http://www.michaelfurman.com/

Automotive Photography

Automotive photography is an interesting niche I would love to get into. It requires a large studio and or access to some breathtaking locations. As most photographers know as well, the key to getting dramatic body lighting and reflections is to take the pictures at dusk or dawn.
As I don't have access to a large studio, I have experimented with 1/12 scale models in my studio. You can always tell they are models, but the results were still impressive. This photograph was taken by by Osamu Uchida, and Kiyofumi Kuratani from the website, http://www.himalayagallery.co.jp/osamu/photo/automobile_motercycle.htm

Here is a great article of note. They go into detail and talk about all the micro agencies in detail. A interesting read.
http://www.diyphotography.net/how-to-make-money-from-micro-stock-photography

So much negativity.

Making ends meet as a full time photographer can be a nightmare. Sure, there are tons of people willing to do TFP (Time for Photo), but I have been doing so many over the last year, and the money is not adding up. Sure, I do get the signed model release so I can sell the pictures as stock photography, but the money is still not enough by a long shot. In a desperate attempt to make money as a event photographer, I took a job working in night clubs to take pictures for a promotion company.

My experience with that? Well, the first night was interesting. I would say 9 out of 10 people are more than happy to have their pictures taken. Maybe one out of ten politely decline. I makes me feel a little sheepish when they decline, but I understand. Heck, I myself am camera shy, so I would probably decline. But the issue that really get me is, on both nights I worked, there was somebody who expressed severe negativity towards my actions. The first night, I was taking pictures of these two happy, drunk girls, but in the background, some guy was accidentally captured in my picture. He ran up to me, grabbed my camera, and said erase all the f***ing pictures with me in it. I was very understanding, erased the pictures and tried to keep him as calm as possible. But wow, that experience just killed my mood for the night.

On another night, I was taking pictures on the dance floor at a promotional event, and some girl on the dance floor said, "go home", I looked at her confused and she kept on saying it in a progressively angry manner. I just walked away, but being the shy sensitive guy I am, I was deeply hurt. Thinking about it, I got a little mad. I actually wanted to walk by her again to see if she would keep on saying the same thing. I wanted to tell her to her face, "I am just doing my job and trying to make a buck". In my mind I was just thinking, "How dare her, the company asked me to come here and take pictures, so why should I have to deal with somebody like that" I am a nice guy trying to do a good job, and I wasn't even taking her pictures. I just walked past her.

Anyway, these negative events are enough to make me want to kiss my night club photography job goodbye. I won't stand to be around such negativity, even if 90% of the people are overwhelmingly positive.

Anyway, feed up with that scene, I have posted the $50, all included add on craigslist. Now, one photographer has e-mailed me and called me a photography "whore" because my prices are so low. Well, damn, that makes me angry on so many levels. I have experienced that soooo many people e-mail when you offer TFP, but the second you charge anything, there are no replies. Yea, I want to charge more than $50, but let me see how many customers I get, and if demand goes up, so do my prices. I will just wait and see. And just maybe I will e-mail that other photographer back, and have a dialogue with him.

Here is a new add I will place on craigslist, and hopefully it will get me more paid customers.

Photographer available. Easy to work with, relaxed atmosphere.

I am a professional photographer with my own studio looking to work with anybody. Here is my pricing plan. For $50, and a signed model release, I will take as many photos as you like, until you are happy with the results. You can even come back for another photo shoot on different day, and I won't charge more. My website is http://www.oscillator.ifp3.com/

The photography world is changing fast! Getty vs Istock

The photography world is changing fast! Gettyimages.com vs Istockphoto.com.

First off, I realize that Getty owns istock. When they bought istock for 50 million USD, some would say it is the smarted move they could have made. There was a time when I was desperately trying to get onto Getty to sell my photos, but now I feel indifferent about it. Using Alexa.com, I can see that their traffic ranking has fallen way down. They have shrunk back down to their 2005 levels. It seems people all over the world are starting to realize they don't have to pay tons of money to get top quality images.

It now seems that the main target for Getty will be for editorial and celebrity photos. However, this area too is in jeopardy. Shutterstock.com now has tons of great editorial and celebrity photography. In fact, I submitted all my celebrity photos from the Toronto International Film Festival, and they were accepted to shutterstock. I am glad because they were turned down by People magazine, some celebrity photo websites and all the local newspapers in my area. Oh well, their loss.

So, it will be interesting to see what happens in the end. With the growing number of all this digital information (including digital photos) floating around this world, will it be worth anything in the end? As we can see, high priced photo agencies like Getty will probably be forced to lower their prices to compete.