This Is Fly – photography article
- This topic has 79 replies, 31 voices, and was last updated Oct 8, 2009 at 6:23 pm by
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Hey not sure if you guys have checked out the new issue of This Is Fly (July ’09 with Jeff Soto cover), but there is a photography tips article in there. It covers a lot of basic info, but the rest of the mag is worth the read too.
I’ve gotta say, this is my favorite fly fishing mag and if it were in print form I’d have a subscription. But instead it’s an eco friendly online mag. Click through their sponsors to give them some support. Where else can you read about fly fishing and good contemporary urban art in the same place? TIF is the best!http://society6.com/grainfarmer Fly Fishing and Landscape open edition Photography prints.
http://grainfarmer.vsco.co/ iPhone photos
http://instagram.com/chad_simcox InstagramDood – you’re right; that’s a really nice mag.
I’ll surely click through – nice stuff though, no doubt.
KL
I enjoyed the story about the man vs. fly rod competition.
LOL – my buddy and I have already argued about the flawed parameters under which the contest was held.
Bob I’m with you. When it first came out I described it as “looking like a dropped pizza supreme while on a bad acid flash back”.
They wanted me to do something on Australia – 2,000 unpublished words and a submission of 30 images. I said “How much do you pay”?
They said “We don’t pay”.I won’t say what I said. ;D ;D ;D 😮
Morsie
“We don’t pay”.
I tried the same line last time I bought camera gear, and you wouldn’t believe it, they told me to piss off… 😉 ;D
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
it is what it is… some like it, some dont. i like most of it… but i do know that everytime i read it, it gets me jacked up about fly fishing…
thats the main thing…
Can understand that just fine. Some of the content is pretty good and if I was a young guy wanting to make a name for myself in a sport dominated by old guys with grey beards and mustaches I’d be sending them stuff as fast I could produce it.
I agree… That does suck A.
Personally, I dig TIF … and very much like the graphic style and layout. Like any mag .. Sometimes I like the content, sometimes I dont … 🙂
As far as doing work “for free” … I think John said it pretty well. Its a trade off for exposure and making contacts. I also think that, if your not already in a position where photography and/or writing are paying the bills, it might be the right move. Perhaps, at this point in their careers money is secondary for the people submitting and the e-zines provide entry into a competitive arena.
In my 20 year experience, doing things for exposure is a risky business.
I’ve found, on average, that if you shoot for nothing for someone, you’ll find it hard to ever get money out of them in the future.Photography is both expensive and undervalued at the moment due to digital having made it so accessible for so many and it’s important that everyone, be them pro or weekend warrior work towards the image maintaing it’s value.
IMHO anytime an image is used anywhere, the photographer should be paid something, even if it’s not a huge fee.My fear is that current practice of things on-line not being valued will be a disaster in the future when all publications and books might be on-line.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
All very good points David and in large part it’s what I meant by if not done carefully it can lead to abuse.
Everytime a publication gets images gratis, they are less inclined to pay you or someone else. Or, once people know you do it Gratis for others they are less inclined to pay you themselves. And yeah, e-zines are a concern.
However, for people starting out you need 3 things imo and this includes myself
1) Ability,  the ability to produce consistantly and the ability to produce on demand. Meaning if your asked to get a shot of X and its piss pouring rain on the day, you still need to deliver useable images2) Exposure. One it gets your name out there but more importantly I think it lends legitamcy to you. This is related to 1) in so much as it becomes alot easy to gain acceptance and thus paychecks  at “Fly by Night” when they know and see that “Fly by the seat of Pants” is using your work, even if FSP is an e-zine. I can tell you first hand now that Im a regular with A, quite a number of doors have opened.
3) Contacts/Networking.
You never know whats around the corner and who you meet today, Â might open doors for you in the future.
Pro Bono
Will it pay off? Who knows but offering to take the picture for them and the father Gratis, when their camera was awol got me names and contacts my work in front them, and my foot in the door.
Focusing on number one; imagine working in horrible weather conditions and not getting paid for it! My clients understand that weather is a factor, and they don’t want to pick up the cost of repairs or replacements at today’s costs. shannon
Thats what Insurance is for 🙂
I guess it depends on who your shooting for. Probably my worst day yet was a Turkey Hunt I did last year. I accepted the assignment, set a date to meet the writer who happened to live 2hrs away. So I get paid at that point no matter what.
3am arrived it was cold
4:30 am arrived we entered the field. Dark and Cold
By 6am it started to rain, freezing rain.
We didnt see the sun until the we started packing up at 10am, nor did we see 1 single Tom.They still got a couple dozen useable images, 2 of which made it to print. I suppose I could have called it off but how much more work do you think Id get from them?
The point I was trying to make is that its critical you deliver no matter what. Tibor Nemeth I’m sure could postpone a shoot for a day, or be a day late with a deadline.
People trying to get started don’t have that luxory. If you not wiling or able to do it, theres always someone else who is and that applies to “exposure” as well. Thats just a reality.
Every Professional photographer I’ve talked to in the business has said part of the battle is getting the work, so is keeping it.
/Raise your hand if you you have or would like to be “Featured” by Midcurrent. I could be wrong but Im guessing thats done for “Exposure”.
No?
John is right – getting something whatever the conditions is vital. Clients sitting in the relative warmth of an office don’t really want to hear about rain/dark skies/lack of fish/rubbish anglers (!!)/duff info etc..
Consistently producing material that works for the publication(s) is a large part of what it’s about.
And yes, something like Midcurrent is done for exposure. Nice to be asked of course, the kind of thing that can’t hurt to do – and especially when the asking is done so nicely.
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