For Photographers

Worst Job Ever

No Comments

The worst job in the country?

According to CareerCast’s just released 2013 annual job ratings comparing 200 jobs, “newspaper reporter” is the worst job around.

In 2010, “newspaper reporter” was ranked 184th; in 2011, it was 188th; in 2012, it was 196th. Notice a trend?

This year, “photojournalist” ranks 188th. That’s right, dishwasher and maid are both better jobs than photojournalist.

In 2010, “photojournalist” was ranked 189th; in 2011, it was 185th; in 2012, it was 166th.

The job of “photographer” is slightly better at position 172. But “photographer” is apparently a worse job than cashier, carpet installer, garbage collector, bus driver and janitor.

In 2010, “photographer” was rated 126th; in 2011, it was 144th; in 2012, it was 147th. Hmm, a downward trend.

Best jobs? Actuary, biomedical engineer, and software engineer.

Of course, reports like this are meant for “water cooler conversation” – something that folks can chat about while standing at the water cooler. Today’s water coolers are blogs, Facebook pages and Tweets.

 

Bad Driving

No Comments

A Montreal photographer last week did an assignment for The Globe and Mail about an Olympic athlete and the car she drives. The athlete lives in Laval, Quebec, and she happens to drive a BMW Mini vehicle.

A Laval BMW Mini dealership saw the story and contacted the photographer to ask permission to use the picture for its Facebook marketing. The luxury car dealer offered the photographer a credit line.

Instead, the photographer asked for a nominal $150.

The car dealership refused and then just took the photo from the newspaper’s web site and reused it without any credit line.
Continue reading →

Invisible Property

No Comments

For computer-savvy people, “IP” is their computer’s Internet Protocol address. For lawyerly types, IP refers to intellectual property. But to the average person, IP means invisible property – something that’s free for the taking because they think it doesn’t really exist.

Since the year 2000, April 26 has been World Intellectual Property Day. This annual event was created by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to raise awareness of intellectual property and how it can spur creativity and innovation.

Some people think that only silly or greedy photographers care about copyright. But we live in an information age and information is worth money. Ask Google.

Photographers, writers, painters, musicians, songwriters, designers, illustrators, filmmakers, software companies, performers, and any business that creates almost anything, all use copyright to help earn a living.

Privacy, for example, is intangible and invisible yet everyone knows its importance and value. Copyright is also intangible and invisible and it also has importance and value.

Copyright and other forms of intellectual property are a valuable business asset. There’s no reason why a photographer or any other business or individual should give it away for free.

Without copyright ownership, photographs have only sentimental value.

– author unknown

 

Replacing Quantum Battery Cells

12 Comments

TL;DR Throw out your old Quantum battery pack and switch to either a Godox PB960 battery pack, or, perhaps better yet, buy a Godox speedlight (they use an internal lithium battery).

 

There are several web sites that show how to replace the cells inside a Quantum Battery. Over the past 12 years, I’ve replaced the cells in my Quantum Battery 1 and Quantum Turbo a few times with no problems whatsoever. I have no experience with any other model of Quantum Battery.

Replacing the cells takes about 15 minutes and requires only a Phillips screwdriver. Having the cells replaced by the Canadian distributor takes a week and costs three or four times more. To be fair, the factory technicians check and repair/replace other parts, if required.

Canadian photographers looking for replacement cells might try BBM Battery but there are other retailers.
Continue reading →

Capital Cost Allowance for Canadian Photographers

13 Comments

Who doesn’t love talking about income tax?

A photographer uses form T2125 to calculate the capital cost allowance (CCA) of their equipment when doing their income tax return. Each class of equipment has a different rate of depreciation.

Most camera gear goes into Class 8, most computer equipment goes into Class 50, and other business property, such as a vehicle, goes into other classes. Be sure to read the description for each class. The Income Tax Regulations have the official rules and good luck reading it.

And then there’s CCA Class 12.

Class 12 is a very desirable class because it has a 100% depreciation rate and often no half-year rule. (Some Class 12 items, like non-system software, are subject to the half-year rule.)
Continue reading →

There’s No Money in Cheap

5 Comments

Some photographers still insist on pricing below cost or competing only on price. In the race to the bottom, these photographers will always win, or lose, depending on how you look at it.

If a photographer sells very cheaply or works for free, hoping that customers will one day agree to pay much more or that a huge volume of work will magically appear, then this photographer will be greatly mistaken.

On April 6th, CPI Corp., the company that owned and operated all of the Sears portrait studios and about 20% of the Walmart portrait studios, in the USA, shut down its US operations. Its Canadian in-store studios are, so far, unaffected.

CPI, (in)famous for its dirt cheap portraits and free prints, was ….. (wait for it) ….. losing too much money. It owes about US$174.8 million. Creditors gave the company until April 6th to repay US$98.5 million. So CPI is a winner in the race to the bottom!
Continue reading →

css.php