Why does everyone think that everything is photoshop?

Someone commented on a picture of mine recently and it went along the lines of: "WOW, you must have worked on that for a while in photoshop to get the colours so vivid".

Hmmmm, no actually, it took about 2 minutes to get rid of the sensor dirt (my fault for not cleaning it regularly) and do a slight crop, I replied.

"No, impossible, you have totally changed the look of the colours and the picture, you must have used photoshop".

Fine, I replied. But please don't forget that some of us actually know how to take a picture without having to spend hours fixing it aterwards.

Here is the "offending" shot. Before and after post processing.

Spot the differences
Before (i.e. raw file straight out of camera)

After spotting the sky and slight cleanup and crop

Total time taken - about 2 minutes.
What was done?
Spotted the sky to get rid of dust bunnies
Boosted the colour slightly and cropped.

Yeah of course it is "shopped". But certainly not overly.

Had this been taken on a "chrome" then it would have been underexposed slightly in camera and maybe not cropped.
What exactly is the difference??


Seems we don't do photography anymore, we do photoshop.

AAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH

How much should I charge for ............. (yet more YA questions)

OK, the last post was the “I have started a photography business” questions. This one is the “How much should I charge” questions. Some from the same people in the first lot and some not.

Why do these questions piss me off so much? I mean surely it is a good thing that people ask questions and it is all a part of the learning process.

Yeah, sure you can look at it that way but charging for ANY work is not just a case of sticking your finger in the air and picking a figure. There are specific ways of working out what you should charge.

Anyway, more on that in later posts. Here are some of the posts which I find particularly annoying.

Note: the answers are only what I am adding here not on YA itself.

How much should I charge my client for hiring me to be a photographer on their private boat party?

I'm new at this and and I'm not sure how much I should charge them for using my services. It's going to be a 4 hour event.

So let me get this right, you are touting yourself as a business, well you talk about clients hiring you, but you have no idea how to charge for your time or services. You will go far.

How much should I charge for a cd with all the pictures on it?

I am a beginning photographer and I am wanting to lean away from proof books and steer towards CD's. I will charge for the CD and the editing of the photos, but from there they will have the right to take the CD and make the prints they want. I'm having a hard time deciding on how much I should charge them. any ideas????

A "beginning photographer" and yet talking about leaning away from proof books etc. If you are a beginning photographer then you will not have the necessary skills to take the shots in the first place but this is about charging not photographs. If you are going to charge then you need to research properly not on a site like YA. What is good in Europe/UK/Russia or anywhere else in the world may not work where you are.

How much should I charge for doing photo shoots.?

A local auto salesman wants me to take pictures of his cars and post ads in various lists and papers. I'm not new to photography, but I am new to making a business out of it, so I need to how I should charge my client and how much. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you are new to making a business out of it do you not think that it would be a good thing that before you accept commissions you actually know what you are doing and what your costs and charges will be.

How much should I charge to take pictures for a wedding?

I have been taking pictures for almost a year now and charging (kids, couples, family, etc). Someone has asked me to do their wedding and I have no clue as to how much to charge. What I would do is take pictures of the wedding, reception, getting ready, the whole wedding day, edit the good ones and burn them onto a CD and give the right to print which ones they want.

So how much should I charge? What would you pay for something like that?

Ah my favourite. First wedding, no experience and asking what to charge. Charge nothing, why? because you won't be doing the gig. You are NOT skilled enough. Wedding photography is specialist and not for the fainthearted let alone the inexperienced. What to charge is the least of your problems.

That is just a very small sample, in themselves not really that bad, sensible questions you may say.

Well yes, they would be except for the fact that some of them are coming from people who are "beginning photographers" (in that case why are you accepting a paying gig for which you have absolutely no skill or experience) or are from people who have supposedly been charging for a while and yet are asking the most basic of questions.

It is no wonder that, according to surveys, more small photography businesses are failing now than at any time in the past.

NO, it is not because people do not want professional photographers. It is simply that the amount of idiots who got a digital camera for their birthday and now think they can take photos like a pro soon find out there is more to it than they think there is.

Please all you new snappers, do yourselves and everyone else a favour and at least learn your trade first before pretending to be professional.

Starting a photography business !!

During my "down time" I check blogs, other photographers sites and for a bit of a laugh (and often a scream in frustration) I check out Yahoo Answers, specifically the photography section. I actually enjoy answering some of the more intelligent questions that people ask and if I can help I will.
HOWEVER, some of the questions which really boil my 'P' are the "New business" ones.
Here are some examples of what I mean.

I want to start photography business,what kind of camera should i buy?

I want to start photography business what kind of camera should i buy? price range $600 to $1000.. should i get Canon or Nikon? i wanna the camera to be professional! pls help!

What basic equipment do i need for outdoor photography?

i am starting up my own photography business and i have the following:
canon slr
canon 50 mm lens
corel paintshop pro 4x
tripod
remote
clip on flash

Best places to start photography business?

I want to start a photography business. What are some places where portrait photography is in high demand or popular?

How can I make my photography business boom?

I started my own business but am looking for ways to attract alot of new customers!! right now ive had only non paying customers that i've worked with because they are about as broke as me, i havent charged. I have to paying appointments bieng set up for fall, one wedding,one halloween mini. other than that i have no more customers. I have set up fan pages which aren't getting enough attention, word of mouth, and telling people I meet or see, other than this, how can I build this up and get more appointments so I can finally generate an income!?! I feel kinda awkward just walking up to people and asking if they are interested in a photoshoot..... is that how most people do it? it just seems odd to me... I have thought about telling the parents at my kids school, but im not exactly comfortable with just walking up to people to offer my services.especially when the school is doing the same for school pics... what can I do??

Photography business without a studio?

I am starting up a small photography business. I will not have a studio until later on whenever I know my business will be profitable. I am wondering if anyone out there has any suggestions on how my customers will pay for their photos. I will take their photos, send them the pictures online, they will choose them and I will have them mailed to their home or brought to a location for them to be picked up. But I do not know of a way to have them pay for the pictures, since most people have debit cards it will be a little difficult for me to grow my business if they all have to pay cash up front. Is there a way to pay with paypal with having an ebay account or anything?

What is the best way to start a photography business?

Anything ideals are appreciated. Where should I put my business? From home or storefront? How much will it cost? What should I charge? Who should I allow as clients?.... Any insight would help

 What is the common theme?? Simple, not a single one of these people who have either "just started" or "are starting" their new photography businesses has taken even a minute of time to research the business side of things properly.
Not a single one of them have the slightest idea of the most basic things required for any business let alone a photography business.

One of them asks "what kind of camera should I buy"??
Another asks "Who should I allow as clients?"  ALLOW as clients for crying out loud???
The one I like best is the one which asks the question, "how will my customers pay for the photos".

Come on folks - I know that the web is a great place to ask questions and Yahoo Answers is for exactly that but for pities sake at least do the most basic research for yourselves first.

Starting out.

That is starting out on this blogging game and not starting out in photography. I have been pratting about with cameras since the 70's, the internet since the 80's but this is the first time I thought to have a go at this game.

I am not about to make this yet another blog trying to push my ideas of what people should and should not do in photography. There are already enough people doing that to totally confuse anyone picking up a camera for the first time as it is.
I will offer some links and the odd bit of advice but I do not consider, even after 30 years, that I should be trying to tell people how to do things in the photography game.

No, what I am going to do here is vent my annoyance at the know nothing people who think they know everything or those who are picking up a camera (off course I mean one of those "big black professional" cameras) for the first time and a week later decide they are capable of "going into business".

Here is some news folks, the first lot don't know everything, they are only telling you how they do things and the second lot are nowhere near capable of running a photography business yet.

Just because NiCanFujSon inc. say their camera will let you take pictures like a pro, does not mean you can.
It is advertising, it is designed to get mugs to spend hundreds of pounds/dollars/yen/Euros etc on their latest  (the 15th model of the year) offering.