I’m evil and I want your money.
DISCLAIMER: All opinions expressed here are strictly my own and have also been known to change over time. I am a work-in-progress. I am not always right. I do not consider myself an expert at anything or necessarily uniquely qualified to provide advice (if given) that may be helpful to you. But advice, when given, is intended only for a positive purpose. All readers are encouraged to always inform themselves in greater detail and make up their own minds with regards to anything I might write. To get a better idea of who I am, my experience, and where I’m coming from, see my “about me” blog entry.
Wow, where to begin!? It’s been an interesting morning.
I recently made the mistake of contributing to a thread about studio lighting vs. natural lighting in which I expressed my opinion about another LA photographer’s F.A.Q. page. In his FAQ, he agressively touts studio lighting as being vastly superior to natural lighting and has several “before and after” shots that prove that it must be so.
Hey, it’s his opinion and his web site, he can say whatever he wants. I do that on my web page all the time! But I disagreed with his opinion. And did so in a public forum because a participant in the conversation appeared convinced that because what she’d read in the FAQ was written by Mr. So-and-so, that it must be so.
I just happen to have a different opinion about studio versus natural light, so I expressed it (excerpt below). And at the same time, commented on the text of his site as well as some before & after shots which I felt were a bit misleading.
My forum post:
“But, before and after shots are easy. You can always make an “after” shot look better than a “before” shot and I don’t think what’s on display are fairly indicative of the “best” of either studio or natural light shots.
I could put together natural light photos that blow away studio shots if I was inclined to say that natural light photos are better.
Personally, I don’t believe that in the hands of skilled photographers, one is inherently better than the other at all. You can get great headshots with both. And people do, all the time.
What matters is simply getting a great headshot.
As for the F.A.Q., it’s extremely biased, agressive, overly dramatic and is clearly the opinion of someone clearly trying to sell his services (However, that’s just my opinion). Nothing wrong with that, it’s his page, but I’d take it with a grain of salt before you consider it true gospel.
With that said, I’m not critisizing **********. He’s got some great shots in his portfolio and really looks like he has his act together. And so long as he’s served you well, then you can’t ask for more than that. Congrats on finding someone who works for ya!”
Much to my surprise, this resulted in a long, scathing and derogatory email from the photographer himself. And, among other things, a threat that if we ever meet, it won’t be a pleasant experience. Knowing what I know now, I can believe that!
He’d heard news of my post from a former client of his who happened to be reading and/or participating in the thread. He also happens to be a member of a forums.
There was so much rage in that letter, that I thought I must have somehow been misunderstood. I re-read what I wrote… yes, it is perhaps worded more strongly than I intended (but I did include a disclaimer), and it is definitely a different opinion than the one the photographer expressed, but I couldn’t see how what I had written could lead to such a toxic response. And being who I am, I don’t like leaving things that way. So I decided to call the guy and speak with him directly and hopefully work it out.
As much as I’ve experienced it in LA (this is not the first pro photographer who has butted heads with me since I’ve been here), I don’t buy all this “photographers must be at odds with each other” stuff just because they’re competitors. I like photographers. I want to collaborate with photographers. I want to be friends with photographers. I want to send people to photographers pages to see their latest and greatest.
People aren’t stupid. Photographers often want to project that they’re the one and only photographer good at what they do in their town. I don’t know about your town, but there are tons of good photographers in LA. People shop around. They google! They bounce from one site to another and admire the work and check out the prices and options. Acting like that doesn’t happen is crazy!
I want the people who work with me to be informed. I’m not afraid to send a potential client to another photographer’s site because I want them to work with me because they want to work with me. I don’t want people to regret it if they suddenly discover some other photographer that they didn’t know about after our shoot.
So I called the guy this morning. I’d hoped that we’d be able to open up a positive dialogue about the issues. I didn’t want to have any bad blood between us. What’s the point in harbouring bad feelings? None!
Well, it was quite an experience!
For 9 minutes and 46 seconds (!) of being shouted at, put down, called names, and not being able to get a word in edgewise, I calmly listened and tried to bring the guy down to a rational level whenever I could slip in a few words.
And finally, after almost 10 minutes of being shouted at, called names, disrespected, belittled, and not being able to really say anything, I spoke into the phone and expressed that I didn’t think this conversation was productive or leading to a positive resolution, which was my intention for calling. I told him that I didn’t appreciate being spoken to in such a way and that I would have to let him go.
I held onto the phone for another 20 seconds of his rage before, he finally hung up on me. Which was actually a relief. I cannot understand how someone can hold onto such negativity in a rant with someone they don’t know for so long. Especially about something so small.
The few things I did say to him during the conversation were intended to help calm him down so we could actually talk. I told him that I understood he was upset and I wanted to find out exactly what it was that made him so angry. When that didn’t work, I reminded him that I was a real person. A living breathing human being on the other end of the phone. When that didn’t work, I told him that I didn’t think he would talk to a dog this way, to which he said, he wouldn’t, because at least he had some respect for dogs!
I don’t think I can give justice to his anger, but it was about up there with “you intentionally shot my dog at our family picnic” or “you’ve dishonored our family and now you must die for it” type anger.
So anyway…
Among other things I picked up during the vent-fest, it was made very clear that because I’m a photographer, I’m a “competitor”. And that was one of his motivations for treating me without any respect. Seriously.
It was also expressed how I’m a phony, a loser, the only truthful thing about me was the first name my parents gave me (this coming from someone old enough to be my dad!), and that the way I express myself on my web page is just a front, and that it’s obvious that all of the “help” (ie. “piles of excrement”) I try to give people is just because I’m really devious, evil, and have hidden intentions. And basically, I just want people’s money.
So… that’s something I want to address, in case anyone really feels like that’s what I’m all about.
First, I love helping people. That’s not a front, that’s genuine. I guess you’ll have to take my word for it. But think about it… anyone who has ever had the opportunity to make a positive difference in someone else’s life knows how good it feels. It makes me happy. That’s why I do it. It’s actually a selfish reason… I feel good when I help others!
BUT…
Yes, I do things like talk a lot about how I like to help people, offer free photos shoots when I can afford it, and provide advice to others in articles and in my blog.
I also participate in online forums where I attempt to provide help to others with regards to photography related topics and things I am knowledgeable about. And I have been known, in the same postings, to mention I am a photographer as well as provide links to my articles and blog entries.
And I do all of this knowing that, just through association, it will occasionally lead to greater interest in my work and/or free publicity. And both may lead to more paying jobs.
And that’s how I make a living.
So yes, I am offering these things knowing full well (and even hoping) that they could lead to paid work, but being “evil” or “shady” about it is not my intention.
Yes, I’ll admit it, I’m not where I want to be professionally, which is safely and securely working knowing I have an ample amount of savings to get me through the “hard times”. So I still have to work very hard at what I do. I can’t “rest on my success”. I have to find affordable and creative ways to market myself and to get my name out. And doing so is a lot of work and not at all what I’m most interested in, which is working with people doing what I love. But if I’m going to keep doing what I love, I have to find ways to get my name out.
And sometimes I’ve accidentally stepped on some toes. In September of 2006, I posted a message to Craigslist, trying to promote myself, titled “Zero Dean Photography 100% Capable, Consistent, And Committed”.
Only a short time later, I’m attacked and accused of plagiarism by another LA photographer because he uses the words “creativity”, “consistency”, and “credibility” somewhere on his web site and I obviously saw that page and decided to steal his words. They’re not even the same or uncommon words! And they’re used in that combination quite a lot throughout the internet!
I tried to resolve that issue, too. But like today’s instance, the other photographer preferred to use the incident as an excuse to keep a negative rift between us. It’s like, people are going out of their way and expending a great deal of energy to dislike other people, just because they’re seen as a competitor (or perhaps they really just think I’m an ass, who knows!). Either way, it seems like an awful lot of wasted effort.
This is so weird to me!
I’m not here (on earth) to present myself as anyone other than who I am. What you see is what you get. I’m not perfect (far from it), but I do my best. My goal is not to ruffle feathers, but occasionally I do. I make mistakes, I learn from them and move on and try to be as positive about all of it as possible.
I used to have a web site that was all about SELL SELL SELL. I sounded like a used car salesman and made it seem that if you didn’t work with me, you’d be missing out. Did it work? Yes! Did I like it? Well, I liked how it made me look “so important”…for a while. And I thought that’s what I needed to project in order to be successful.
But then I realized, “that’s not me”. And the moment I changed things to reflect who I really am (a flawed, imperfect, artist just trying to do the best he can), I felt better. In fact, it had a profound affect. I feel like I’m swimming with the current now, instead of against it. Everything seems like less of a struggle.
I no longer try to convince people to work with me. And I don’t try to pretend that other photographers don’t exist. And while it may lead to some clients ultimately going somewhere else, it makes me feel even better about the clients I do have.
The thing to remember here is that whether or not some photographer makes it seem as if they’re the only skilled photographer in the world, and that their way is superior to all others and that you’d be a fool to go anywhere else (or you could jeopardize your career!), you always have a choice.
Folks who read some of the advice I offer (*insert all kinds of warnings & disclaimers here) are more than welcome to take it and then go work with something else. It’s up. It’s free. And I’m told it’s helpful. I don’t put it up assuming that every person who reads it will work with me.
In fact, my web site and gallery gets browsed thousands of times a month from people all over the world. And I’ve gotten “thank you” notes from people in Australia and Asia and all over the U.S. And I don’t really think I have much of a market presence (or even a chance!) in Australia…hmmm.
And when I offer a free shoot to someone, I don’t do it with the expectation that anything will happen because of it. There are no strings attached! I figure if someone likes what I do for them, then yes, they’ll probably talk to someone about it. In fact, that’s my goal with all my work. I want to make it so good that it’s worth talking about.
I’m of the belief that there is more than enough work here for good photographers here in LA. I don’t believe it really has to be as cutthroat as it is. But I also know that artists are generally pretty insecure (yes, I’ll own up to that!), and it’s a really tough market, so that may also have something to do with it.
Yes, it’s tough being a self-employed artist, but I’d rather work with people who decide in their own minds to work with me, than try to convince them they should.
And yes, I really do want your money, but only when you’re ready to give it, and feel like you can get something worth its value in return. And not because I’m evil. But because it’s how I make a living.
But if you want to think of me as a shady, devious, and evil person, that’s you’re opinion and I’ll respect it, even if I don’t agree with it.
Zero Dean
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