I've seen most of these, and not just with photography. When my niece got married years ago I did the photography free, I thought it would be great experience. I'd never done a wedding, and was scared to death, I rarely used a flash either. 35mm doesn't give you the chance to correct mistakes...fortunately my sister and other niece got everyone together, herded families and bridesmaids etc over to the spot I picked to do group shots, and out of 5 rolls of film I got no more than a half dozen less than flattering shots. One was the reflection of the flash on my mother's glasses, another had lots of red eye. Other than that it went very well, I got them a bunch of nice shots.
I've been asked since then a couple of times to do free weddings, I tell people no thanks, I'm not a wedding photographer.
better equipment means better pictures- yeah right...I got a shot years ago of a friend's band that I had printed at 8x10 and gave both guitar players as christmas presents...with a 110 instamatic. That's a film frame you can cover with a dime and a really cheap camera. I use guitars onstage every time I play that are nowhere close to the Gibsons and Fenders you see pros use. One is a yard sale find, $4 and a bit of work. No name copy guitar probably made in either Japan or Korea, no markings at all. Great for slide guitar...
My brother can do it - Fortunately this hasn't happened often, but once or twice family has tried to volunteer me for weddings. I try to do as above, no thanks I'm not a wedding photographer.
They have no right - WRONG...as the article says, the Supreme Court decision long ago is that anything you can see from the street is considered to be "on public display", and you can photograph it, as long as you stay on public property. Some businesses will try to tell you otherwise, but typically they don't display sensitive material in their downtown business location. A lady in town where I used to live called her daughter, a sheriff's deputy, because I was walking down the street with a camera. I talked to her, it was friendly, showed her my pictures ( I didn't have to, I could have told her to get a warrant) and diffused the situation by just being polite and cooperative. Her mother got upset because she asked me what I was doing, while I was on the street. I just pointed, I was watching some birds fairly close and didn't want to spook them. after they left I went to her yard, told her I was taking bird pictures, and showed her. She told me she wasn't comfortable with me in her yard, I told her I just wanted to answer her question, said "have a good day" and left. 10 minutes later a patrol car showed up. Her daughter..I told her "I guess you're looking for me", which I knew was true. She lied, "No, I'm here to check on my mother". I was NOT happy, but didn't show it and simply talked to her. Diffused the situation without incident, but she can be glad she didn't try it again. I went back several times, and carried a digital recorder in my pocket every time...
It has to be photoshopped - Nobody has pulled that one on me, but I've been asked if I do a lot of editing in general...nope, as little as possible. But pay attention to the first sentence:
A talented photographer knows that getting an image right “in camera” is the best way to end up with a great result.
Very true. I do very little editing, and I have to have a good shot to begin with. Usually it's a crop and a slight increase in contrast, nothing else. But I have to have a good shot to begin with. So I try to get it right in the first place.
They'll be grateful and work cheap - I don't know how many times I've seen people try to get me to work on their lawnmower or computer for 10 bucks...I finally started asking people if THEY want to work for a dollar an hour...Especially computers...I didn't study computers for 3 years and work on them for 12 years to work for nothing...I'm not going to spend 4 hours working on your machine for 20 bucks.
I know a guy who can do it cheaper - OK, go for it. I've done this plenty times. And quite often they bring their computer to me later to have it redone...and pay more because it takes me a lot more work to fix what someone else screwed up than it does to do it right the first time. So I just tell people go for it. Before I moved, I already knew I was the only computer repair tech in town who actually knew how to work on them. One of them actually tried to tell me he found a virus on a motherboard...that's impossible, a virus is quite simply software, and the motherboard has no way to store software, period. He insisted...and without trying hard, told me he knew absolutely nothing. I got about 15 jobs thanks to his cheap "work"...and every one of them cost at least twice what it would have if they had brought it to me in the first place. SO yeah, someone may be able to do it cheaper, but always remember...you get what you pay for...
Here's a good read
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2006-08-11-photography-rights_x.htm
Check the links to his other story and the PDF file too.
