Photographer in The Land of The Button Pushers
“I’ve worked at about ten difference portrait companies.” I say as I trade war stories with a fellow photographer. “Done everything from School Year Book pictures, to Senior Portraits, to Big Box stores and Directories.”
“I’ve been doing this about ten years.” The Other Photographer says. “But I’ve spent all ten years here. I plan on retiring from The Company.”
“Good luck with that.” I say, as I think back on at least half of the Companies I have worked for that are now out of business.
“This Company is different.” The Other Photographer says, reading my mind. “It’s not going anywhere.”
Most Real Photographers don’t last long in the Assembly Line Portraits game. Between working with junk, getting paid next to nothing, and putting up with morons in Management, it’s hard not to long for the good old days of a Real Studio. But a few of the Studio Rats stick around. Old guys that don’t want to go back to owning their own business, but still want to take portraits.
Working with these guys is always interesting. Some of them like to show off by talking about Lighting Ratios and how they like Broad Lighting or Narrow Lighting. They used to asked what the film density was in the good old days of film. They would talk about The Wedding they shot last weekend for three times what they earn a week at The Company-and you knew that was total bullshit.
You could walk up to any Assembly Line Portrait photographer and ask them if they are a photographer and they will say yes. They will even say they are a Professional Portrait Photorapher, as we are paid to do what we do. But once you see the portraits, you will have a better idea as to whether or not they are a photographer or a button pusher.
There is a difference, a sometimes subtle, sometimes glaring difference. It has to do with Light. It has to do with Flattering The Subject. It has to do with the simple repetition of using Butterfly, Rembrandt, Narrow, or Loop Lighting until you know where the shadows are going to fall. It’s putting those shadows on faces where they will make The Subject look better, not worse, than reality.
I love the act of learning, the act of trying new things, new backgrounds, new lighting, new depth of field, new cropping. But it’s also the feeling of confidence that comes form not trying anything new at all and still making the good paycheck. See? Just sell the pictures I give you.
Sometimes I am frustrated beyond words by The Books I buy from Amherst Media. These are pricey little items, usually about $35 a pop and only a about 150 pages. They offer the promise of more money, happier Subjects, more creativity, more fun. And most of them are totally useless to the Assembly Line Portrait Photographer.
They talk about using equipiment I don’t have, props I don’t have, backgrounds I don’t have. Some of them have way cool tricks for ligting that I can never get to work. Some of them have piss poor instructions on how to recreate the lighting effects I bought the book for in the first place. Some don’t have any lighting diagrams at all and speak in only the vaguest terms about how the shot was set up. These books are more the Author saying See? I’m got skills than the Author say here-this is exactly how I did that.
Once in a while I have the lights, the props, the backgrounds and whip out the handful of books that say, here, this is how to do it. And I am amazed that I can do it. Like using a recipe for a great dish and finding that you can make one that tastes just like the resturant made. There is pride in this, there is art in this, this is being a Photographer and not a Button Pusher.
The problem, of course, is that once you reach a certain level, you realize that you are making something on the order of $500K a year for The Company while they begrudingly pay you maybe $50K a year to do it. Some guys talk themselve into leaving pretty quickly, others-like me-just hang on.
My excuses for not leaving are the Usual Suspects-Not Enough Money, No Equipiment, and No Accounts to shoot even if I can rent the Equipment and max out my credit cards. Back in the days when I had credit cards to max out.
So I keep drifting and keep learning more and more about how to take Portraits that sell. I have taken uncounted thousands of portraits, I’m pretty sure it is way past the Ten Thousand needed to be really good at something. I am a Photographer, not a Button Pusher.
Being a Photographer doesn’t really make any difference, it’s all about where and when the Company lets you practice your craft. A button pusher can make just as much as a photographer at a Buying Shoot. One more reason to make a break for it.
Anyone got an old Portrait Studio they aren’t using? And maybe a little money to run it till I get established? Well, it never hurts to ask.
There nothing wrong with working for one Company your whole career, what’s wrong is thinking that what you learned in three weeks of training is all that you’ll ever need to know to be a Photographer.
I am often asked if I had to go to college to learn to be a Photographer, and I always say no. You do need to keep learning, as with any art form, you must keep growing and expanding your boundaries. Adding new things is never a bad idea, replacing the tried and true with new things is. Once a pose or a lighting set has proven it’s worth, I add it to The Basic Set.
All things being equal, I will make money on a Shoot than a Button Pusher, but all things are very rarely equal.