Jealousy / envy?

Hi all, so lately I've been getting pretty annoyed / jealous / down about photography as I keep seeing other photographers in my area getting more comments and getting gigs that I have applied for. When I look at their work I can see no technical artistry there. A lot of the so called togs in my area are people with cameras as opposed to what I would call photographers.

I know my work is technically better and I prefer my work to theirs, hell, I've had some awesome feedback and photos published but I can't help but feel down when I see others getting all the credit.

Does anyone else feel like this? What do you do to control it?

Is normal feeling jealous. Then, do you know how much they are charging or getting paid??? Do you know if there are any relationship with the "employers?" Like they are friends or etc? Look, personal relationship and having a good rapport with the clients are ESSENTIAL in any business dealing. Even more so with photographers since most people aren't too picky with the photo image quality...unless you are shooting high end commercial assignments. If the employers feeling comfortable with a so and so photographers for some reasons, he or she would get the job, provided that his or her price is within range and the photo image quality is good enough.

urbanfreestyle wrote in post #17981396
Hi all, so lately I've been getting pretty annoyed / jealous / down about photography as I keep seeing other photographers in my area getting more comments and getting gigs that I have applied for. When I look at their work I can see no technical artistry there. A lot of the so called togs in my area are people with cameras as opposed to what I would call photographers.

I know my work is technically better and I prefer my work to theirs, hell, I've had some awesome feedback and photos published but I can't help but feel down when I see others getting all the credit.

Does anyone else feel like this? What do you do to control it?

Heya,

One big thing to consider and remember is that the business is more a social networking venture, than it is actual skill these days. The best photog in the area may not get the work, while countless social media experts saturate the area.

I look at it as an art form, and work. I don't quite care what art someone else is doing unless I'm looking at it for myself. And when it's work, well, you work and walk away from it when completed.

Very best,

MalVeauX wrote in post #17981428
One big thing to consider and remember is that the business is more a social networking venture, than it is actual skill these days. The best photog in the area may not get the work, while countless social media experts saturate the area.

This x100

So true. If you are not out there pounding the pavement and kissing babies don't expect to find any work.

Technical skill is the least important aspect of running a photography business since it's already assumed that you have it. You need to learn how to sell yourself and give others a reason why they should hire you. Networking is key and having the attitude of 'i'm better than these so called togs' would pretty much blacklist you. Depending on where you live, the community is smaller than you think.

Annoyance, depression, jealousy, and envy have no business behind your camera. You're a photographer or you're not. What anyone else does is of no consequence to you. Otherwise you're just trying to do better than someone else, rather than creating your photos.

The networking is absolutely necessary, but it isn't just Facebook and Twitter et al. It's going out there and shooting, and getting eyes on your photos. I've made just a few dollars on my work, but it's infinitely more than the person who has made nothing. I've had photos published in a hard cover book, both covers and some on the inside. I have a photo that is to be a double-truck spread in a magazine with a print circulation of 50,000. (It's already electronically published, and the print version will be out shortly.) Most of what I do however is for my kid's high school band. I put in lots and lots of hours and for now get nothing in return. Except experience. And photos in a book. And networking. And now a two page spread photo. I've shot high school sports. I connected with a ballet company. While there was a lot of free work, there was paid work also. There was also a heck of a lot of experience.

I'm not quitting my day job. Yet.

You've got to hustle. Nicely. If you want paid gigs, you need to shoot the types of photos people want, and they need to be in your portfolio. Will you get every gig? No. You just need to get one gig at a time, until it grows.

Jealousy? Envy? I do admiration and passion to create my own work.

Good luck!

Welcome to the jungle! We got dirt cheap and lame.

And dirt cheap is trumping everything else this days. Someone in my area was, months ago, looking for a photographer to do family photos for Christmas—and the person in question wanted 'preferably someone who's just starting out as I don't want to pay more than $50'.

Maybe, just maybe, that's the case with some of those you see in your particular location.

Don't give in to the temptation of jealousy and envy, mate. 'Likes' we see all across the gamut, but do we really know just how sincere are they? And do we really know everything about the deals these other shooters are making? Yeah, it can be infuriating, but I'd not dwell on it.

panicatnabisco wrote in post #17981463
Technical skill is the least important aspect of running a photography business since it's already assumed that you have it. You need to learn how to sell yourself and give others a reason why they should hire you. Networking is key and having the attitude of 'i'm better than these so called togs' would pretty much blacklist you. Depending on where you live, the community is smaller than you think.

Hit the nail on the head. When you approach someone for a specific job you need to assume they already think you have the necessary skills. 90% of your work is the networking and getting yourself out there and getting people to take a chance. Your attire, friendliness, business cards, website, facebook page, etc all give an impression of who you are so make sure every single one is the best it can be. Make sure you know the market and what people expect to pay for pricing. It may just be that you are 20% higher than everyone else or it could be that you don't look approachable.

In my job I hire a lot based strictly on price but I also do a fair amount on word of mouth and then to some degree a little based on first impressions to give someone a chance. As many people have said, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

To be a success at ANYTHING, all you have to be is better than average, you just need to figure out what average is in your local market, is it price, quality, marketing.

And yeah, it's a small world, you never know when one of these competitors may throw you some work as they're too busy, or employ you to help them, or you may want to hire some reliable help, networking is a good thing. It's no surprise the most successful people are the best networkers, which I'm insanely jealous about as I'm rubbish in social situations so I have to work hard at networking.

As an aside I do fly fishing tuition, qualified to the max, networked to the hilt, great reputation, very experienced, published writer on the subject, and the busiest fly fishing instructor around here? No qualifications at all ( so technically illegal in the UK ), no network, terrible reputation amongst the locals who know what they're doing, but, he has got a great website, and that'd what his customers see, they research on the net and that's his shop window.

And my qualifications to the 'highest level', complete waste of time, nobody has ever asked about them or hired me on the back of them, and they were so expensive and hard to get as well! If I'd spent the same time and money on a fancier website.....

panicatnabisco wrote in post #17981463
Technical skill is the least important aspect of running a photography business since it's already assumed that you have it. You need to learn how to sell yourself and give others a reason why they should hire you. Networking is key and having the attitude of 'i'm better than these so called togs' would pretty much blacklist you. Depending on where you live, the community is smaller than you think.

This is so true, and the biggest problem is that in 90% of cases the customer is so clueless about what constitutes technical skill and "quality work" in photography that simply pulling out a DSLR will convince them that you have the necessary technical skills.

welshwizard1971 wrote in post #17981695
As an aside I do fly fishing tuition, qualified to the max, networked to the hilt, great reputation, very experienced, published writer on the subject, and the busiest fly fishing instructor around here? No qualifications at all ( so technically illegal in the UK ), no network, terrible reputation amongst the locals who know what they're doing, but, he has got a great website, and that'd what his customers see, they research on the net and that's his shop window.

And my qualifications to the 'highest level', complete waste of time, nobody has ever asked about them or hired me on the back of them, and they were so expensive and hard to get as well! If I'd spent the same time and money on a fancier website.....

Actually except in some specifically restricted areas, medicine, or professional driving instructors for example, you do not need ANY qualifications to teach most subjects to adults in the UK. There are many areas such as sports, where there are NGB's that would require to to have a coaching qualification before you can coach within their auspices. That doesn't mean that you can't set up in business as an instructor outside of the NGB's control. The only issue you might find is in getting your indemnity insurance, as the insurance companies will want to see proof of your competence to practice. Not that you actually need to have indemnity insurance in the UK. I have both Adult Ed qualifications, which were I to teach in a Sixth Form or FE College would get me on a higher pay rate, and also a sports coaching qualification, and have worked in FE teaching engineering, and also as an employed private sports coach. I didn't actually have the formal coaching qualification when I was working. I did that qualification afterwards for personal reasons.

Alan

BigAl007 wrote in post #17981816
Actually except in some specifically restricted areas, medicine, or professional driving instructors for example, you do not need ANY qualifications to teach most subjects to adults in the UK. There are many areas such as sports, where there are NGB's that would require to to have a coaching qualification before you can coach within their auspices. That doesn't mean that you can't set up in business as an instructor outside of the NGB's control. The only issue you might find is in getting your indemnity insurance, as the insurance companies will want to see proof of your competence to practice. Not that you actually need to have indemnity insurance in the UK. I have both Adult Ed qualifications, which were I to teach in a Sixth Form or FE College would get me on a higher pay rate, and also a sports coaching qualification, and have worked in FE teaching engineering, and also as an employed private sports coach. I didn't actually have the formal coaching qualification when I was working. I did that qualification afterwards for personal reasons.

Alan

Bloody pedant