Client vs Photographer

I, on the other hand, cannot stand monotony. It's not really easy money if it drives you insane. Hah.

It does depend on the project. It can go sour rather quickly. My job history is filled with monotonous jobs so I may be conditioned to them.

I've had them in the past but I never was able to adjust. I usually quit after a couple weeks. Hah

My current 'day job" is still one of monotony. How I deal with it is... I can set my hands to work, but my mind is elsewere. I am either planning a shoot, generating other ideas, or listening to (about 7 hours of) podcasts. While what my hands do is bio-med, my head is firmly in photo.

Somehow I'm not finding that very comforting.

Awe come on....comments dont get any warm and fuzzier than that!

Mark1 wrote in post #11204048
I would die for some work that is the "over and over" type. At first it may take 4 days to do the project. But after a small amount of "overs", it now takes you a day and a half. And you are still charging the same amount. This leaves you more time to work on expanding you skill set.

There's a lot to be said for a bridge painting contract as I called my catalog work, it did get boring but it paid OK and regular so as much as I complained then I miss it now. I must say I don't miss the grind of unreasonable deadlines and last minute additions to make things even more difficult. This was mostly done with film, when I switched to digital it was a burden lifted. Working in a darkroom under pressure 12 hours a day for a week or more straight sucks big time. It's one reason I don't miss film at all, others are welcome to it. I'm glad it's dead for me.

Unfortunately after the first catalog or two the time consumed was about the same in my case.

korrektor wrote in post #11202367
interesting points of view! Keep them coming!

how about the issue of not progressing over time? Shooting the same thing over and over again... doesn't that get old?

Yes, it does get old, boring, frustrating and tedious.

The regular salary-like checks do come in handy though as they even out the peaks and troughs of self employed income.

Nightstalker wrote in post #11204454
Yes, it does get old, boring, frustrating and tedious.

The regular salary-like checks do come in handy though as they even out the peaks and troughs of self employed income.

honestly that just makes me sad. turning art into a craft, doing this JUST for the salary is what kills any talent. just my opinion. in fact I think a photographer like that can later be replaced by a robot with two cameras instead of the eyes )

Its not an all or nothing deal. The ability to play that robot for 3 days a week may be what allows you to be the "artist" for the other 4. Is not that bad of a deal. None of us want to be the robot, ever. But at the same time not all of us can live off the "artist" side. So the compromise is made. Robot it enough to bay the bills. Then be the artist you want to be.

RL. wrote in post #11202645
While I agree with your post, I must say that we as photogs shouldn't ever be cocky or think we can't learn anything from a client. I've actually had a client give me some nice refreshing ideas/poses for a shoot. And also, just because we are photogs doesn't mean we know everything. And back to your can anaolgy, I've had a mechanic tell me to use brake cleaner to clean my throttle body. If you know anything about cars you would know that is ridiculous. And he was actually a mechanic for a local bodyshop...wow.

Sometimes I think we as professionals need to step down from our high horse...if the client wants "crap" then they should get "crap" lol

I agree to a point. Being cocky will not get you the reputation that you want. Steering a customer wrong will do the same.
In any business that I am in, I want to become the 'trusted' person. You don't get that reputation by giving bad advice or delivering a poor product/service.
A smart customer will also do a little background research or whatever is needed to make sure that they aren't getting ripped off.
I always had a non-stop parade of customers that asked 'how fast can you get it done?" My answer was always 'do you want it done fast or done right?' Then you do the job properly in the proper amount of time, and you have a happy customer.