Kodachrome Dies At Age 74
Kodak announced today that it will no longer be manufacturing Kodachrome film. Kodachrome, first released in 1935, was one of the very first commercially available color films used in still and motion picture cameras. While many different technologies in film had emerged over the decades after it’s release, Kodachrome provided a unique look to images with excellent color vibrancy and accuracy. With a steady decline in film sales due to the massive popularity of digital cameras, Kodak said in their press release that Kodachrome only amounted to less than 1% of their total sales of film. Since the processing of Kodachrome film is more complex than processing of other color film formats, plus fierce competition from Fuji and other film manufacturers grew, it’s days were numbered.
I actually remember shooting with Kodachrome film back in the 70s in an old Kodak 110 camera I had. I was still in elementary school but I do remember talking with someone at a camera shop about which film should I buy, Kodachrome or Ektachrome (which was the more popular of the two back then) and he said I should stick with the Kodachrome as I’d be much happier with the results. Granted, at that age most of the things I was shooting were pictures from summer camp or of the neighborhood dog, I still remember that conversation to this day.
Even since those days, technology in cameras has changed dramatically. As time evolved good film cameras got lighter, faster, had more computer technology inside, and the comparative price dropped. With the emergence of digital cameras, film just no longer seemed necessary since, for the amateur shooter, the pros of digital photography eclipsed the demand of film very fast. Today, most people probably cannot even remember the last time the bought film, more so a film camera but just about everyone has bought a new digital camera within the last 2-3 years.
Still though, film does still have it’s purpose. I remember when my wife and I got married just five years ago, I insisted on the majority of photos be shot on film even though our photographers were using top-of-the-line digital SLR cameras for the time. It was because film just provides a certain feel that digital cameras lack. There is a soul to shooting on film as opposed to relying on the ease of use of shooting to digital. While I rarely shoot on film anymore and certainly rely on the technology that a great digital camera and expensive software provide, I still miss the days of when I used to shoot exclusively on film. Maybe it’s time to dust off my old Manolta from 15 years ago and scrounge up a box of Kodachrome somewhere and do a little shooting. Kodachrome, you will be missed!
Marketer First, Photographer Second
Hi everyone, and welcome to my new photography blog! Here I’ll be talking about fun photography projects, lessons in photography, stories from shoots, and everything encompassing the photography side of my business and my passion for taking pictures. For those of you who haven’t been to my photography sites, you can see my work at www.adamsternbergphotography.com and on Model Mayhem at www.modelmayhem.com/shotbyadam.
For my first blog entry, I want to talk about the marketing side of the industry. I’ve been a semi-professional photographer for over 15 years and a full-on professional for over five. Now, as many of my readers know, my primary focus is actually in Internet Marketing, owning my other business, the Millionaire Marketing Group. One of the most useful tools I have ever had in photography is something I’ve never put in my camera bag, it is the skill of marketing. One of the lessons I’ve learned a long time ago is that professional photographers who truly go far in the industry are the ones that know how to market themselves and treat their photography as a business first, and an art second. I know many photographers with a lot of talent that can’t make a dime and conversely, I know a lot of mediocre photographers who have to turn away work because they are so over booked for shooting events.
While I have always had a passion for photography since I was very young playing with my father’s Canon AE-1, I realized that the day I got paid for my first photoshoot, I had to start taking this seriously. In 2009 I decided to really take my work to the next level and I am in the process of creating a new unique business concept for photographers to shoot in nightclubs. More on that later though (shhhh…top secret stuff!). So in the last six months, I have had the pleasure of securing deals to get my photography work into an MTV reality show (details coming soon) plus I am now one of the senior photographers for the largest gossip site on the Internet, TheDirty.com. Just this week, I signed an exclusive deal with a new magazine here in Las Vegas to shoot their events and stock photography which will be a blast.
This all being said, there is another photographer here in Las Vegas that I have worked with on a few occasions. One of the shoots we were both working about a month ago was not a high paying shoot but their shoots are always a ton of fun and are usually worth a fun night out shooting. There were a total of four photographers shooting that night and we all had a great time.
Since I was the senior photographer on the shoot, I started getting emails from the other shooters about a week later asking me if I’ve received my payment yet. We all sent in invoices and nobody had been paid yet. I contacted the company and they said the checks were already cut and due to be mailed the next day. No worries. All of us got paid on time except for one of the four and it was the one who routinely said he was in the most need of getting paid. Another week goes by and this individual sent a letter to the parent company demanding immediate payment or complaints would be sent to the IRS and the labor board (which makes no sense as we were sub-contractors).
A few days later, I get this email from him:
Apparently the office manager put the wrong address on my check so it got returned. the problem is Im getting Evicted this friday, no way in hell that check gets here on time.I writing you this so that you can start to push for CASH PAYMENT for everyone. Im about to be homeless because though i did the job, some secretary did not do hers and the result is I cant pay rent so i get booted.
Now, at first, I was sympathetic to his cause and yet there is a point where we have to do a little self-reflection in our own lives. Hopefully this event triggered one in his. Now I can go on and on about maybe he should have taken a job to pay the rent or waiting for a few hundred bucks from someone to pay his bills makes him the slave to that person but I want to talk about a simple, fundamental issue here and that’s his being a photographer.
I don’t make my living as being a wedding photographer…far from it. But I do know many photographers who shoot weddings exclusively. It’s a real grind but good money. The key to success though is marketing your business. Running ads, responding to customer calls, etc. You have to build a ton of value to your work and deliver within a budget. It takes a bit of marketing savvy. Now this is not unique to wedding photographers either. I specialize in event and night clubs as well as doing model shoots and portraits. That’s a niche market too and many people I’ve met in that community are astounded to hear that sometimes I have to turn clients away because I’m too busy. What’s even more interesting is that most of the photographers I associate with are in the same boat. One person I met recently has lived in Las Vegas only four months and literally is having difficulty keeping up with the workload. He’s even looking to hire an assistant to help with the post-processing of photos beause he doesn’t have the time to do it himself anymore.
So what sets the successful apart from the struggling? It’s having the ability to market what you do. So many photographers focus on their portfolio and having a gorgeous Flash-based website and are always looking at pushing their craft that they never have time to earn a buck. All the artistry in the world doesn’t mean a thing if nobody can find you. Ultimately, this is true for any business, but it’s especially business where your artistry IS your business.
The world will always be filled with struggling artists and that’s a good thing. Without people having a desire to push the envelope in art, it will stagnate. However there are those who just fail to understand that photography as a BUSINESS is an entirely different animal. In the case of my possibly now homeless associate, Imagine what his life would be like today if he focussed more on his business skills rather than on his photography. Some people just can’t cut it in this business and, in my opionion, that’s one of the core reasons. The thing is, how have you seen this same mindset (or lack of it) appear in your industry?
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