A Losers Guide to Photography

Cognitive Distortion in Photography Backstory I think many people experience a sitation where they are criticised and take the critisim too personaly. As a photographer, I am used to people critiquing my photos. Hell, my college professor told me, while I was presenting my portfolio in front of the class, my photos were, and I quote, "shit". I should be used to criticism; a professional receiver of criticism. However, that wasn't the case when a coworker of mine, in passing, said I need to change something about myself. It was out of left field. An unanticipated critique. In my professional life I try to be perfect and I want to do my best. So hearing I "failed" at something, while I innocently felt like I was helping, destroyed me mentally. It wasn't a critique about my creation, it was a critique about my being.  I focused on my coworkers criticism. It was eating me alive. The criticism had me staying up late at night. I was contemplating social, and possi...

Perspective Compression, the New Way Background I had a conversation at work with a coworker about the benefits of Medium Format cameras. One of the main talking points was what he called "compression" or "lens compression", or what I think is a better fitting term Perspective Compression. I wanted to know what would justify the cost expense of upgrading from an APS-C or Full Frame camera to a Medium Format camera, other than professionalism. I wanted tangible evidence to prove Medium Format was worth an extra 100%+ dollars. We had a long conversation about "compression" and the confusion surrounding that term because of it's interchangeability with other components of photography, like JPEG or PNG. I spent some time thinking about a better term to define 'the background appearing closer to the foreground'. I came up with Perspective Compression because it can be measured in terms of high and low and the words describe what is actually happenin...

The Reclamation of TFP I want to start by saying I think TFP is great at the macro level. It enables new photographers a great way to enter the photographer sphere and learn new things about photography. It's great for networking and collaboration. TFP sets a more light hearted mood where everyone on set doesn't have to be so serious.  I use TFP because I am cheap, which is a bad habit. TFP was meant to be a subsection of photography. TFP wasn't meant for businesses to take advantage of photographers and other collaborators. TFP was meant for all people to collaborate and gain more experience in their respective field. While a lot of TFP collaborations still abide by that rule, I have been noticing a more sinister cancer growing under TFP. TFP has become the norm and not the exception. I'll explain this further because it's not blanketly true, but true enough to cause issues in the photographic community, which is why it's a cancer - it continues to grow and des...

Today I was talking with a popular photographer, Neil Kremer , about my future in photography. We discussed several topics ranging from:  industries that make money creating a 'you' style so a creative director can recognize your work  photography business stuff I really want to talk about my target audience and my 'style'.  Identifying Your Target Audience I have thought extensively about who makes the money in fashion. Aside from a few fashion photographers who are outliers and should be case studies for how to be a successful fashion photographer, there isn't a future in fashion photography. Neil confirmed my belief with his immediate interruption during my pontification of what I like to shoot. Magazines don't pay. Models don't pay. Designers don't pay, although they benefit the most. The market is completely saturated with fashion photographers who are all shooting the same stuff the same way. The only reason a photographer should shoot fashion/edit...