In a message dated 9/5/03 11:32:19 AM Central Daylight Time,
chilled_delirium@mailstation.com writes:
<< I would like to congratulate Leslie on getting this job. It's a great
opportunity and a break that a lot of people would love to get. My advice is to
focus on the assignment at hand, and forget everything else for now.
When someone like Leslie or Angi comes to us with happy personal news,
I think the least we can do is to affirm, congratulate and wish them luck in
this new endeavor.
The well-meaning, wet-blanket carpet-bombing by some here is stifling,
and a turn-off. Perhaps sending a few URLs and answering questions in a
friendly, gentle manner might work better than a sententious, preachy, dreary,
guilt-laden and seemingy endless jackhammer lecture series ? I wonder how many of
us did our first job for top-rate pay ?
We all have something to learn from each other. In Leslie's case, her
deep commitment to her own photography & her own way of working are things we can
all learn from. The conventional wizdom uttered here as gospel, of
journalists carrying cases and cases of lights is so old school. Some of the top PJs in
the world work with less hardware than many here take for a Sunday stroll.
I would refer anyone interested in this to look at _Sam Abell: The
Photographic Life_. It's a great read about the life of a top pro, who by the way,
rarely used flash, and for most of his career used two bodies, one with a 28mm
the other, an 85mm.
--- Luis
Ps. Eugene Smith was a master of subtle flash techniques, but used mostly
small flash units with minimal w/s output. >>
Luis-
Thanks so much for your encouraging words. I was really starting to feel bad
that I was charging so little, not for my sake, but for the rest of the
industry. This is actually my second experience doing this sort of thing. I also got
an assignment from American Photo Magazine in which I was paid around $2000
for 2 days work. That was what they said they were offering, but in this case,
it was a local quick assignment where I will be working around 3 hours total.
My main concern initially when I wrote everyone was not so much help in the
pricing, but rather the rights. I just assumed I was pricing things at a good
rate. Little did I know! Anyway, I do appreciate all the advice and the
encouragement as well. Hopefully, the shoot will go well.
Leslie Spurlock
<A HREF="http://lesliescottphotography.com/";>Leslie Scott Photography</A>
<A HREF="http://www.lesliescottphotography.com/phototours.htm";>Leslie Scott
Photography and Tours</A>
1-888-381-0854
lscottpht@aol.com
