Month: May 2008

This is an interesting piece of animation. The last bit is particularly important–how will we make our livings in the future if the reality is that more will be freely shared?

I’m not saying the author is right–that the future is what he proposes–but its potentiality is something we should think about.

If you get the Manuals in your Email, you already know this new item, so you can save yourself the read. But, for everyone else, there are some big changes in store for me. 

I recently learned that I was awarded a scholarship to attend law school here in San Diego–it’s a full ride for all three years, books included even–a very big deal (we’re talking about $100K value). I have been thinking about going to law school for years, especially as I encounter so many legal issues in working with my clients. I have wanted to be able to help in ways I can’t, at least not without a JD and passing the bar, so I decided to take the LSAT and see what happens. Apparently, as the t-shirts say, I don’t suck. 🙂

So, starting in late August, and for the following 8 months or so, I will be significantly scaling back the Burns Auto Parts business because I will need to devote the first academic year to my studies. To keep the scholarship, I have to, of course, keep my grades up–it is an academic scholarship, after all. The first year is considered critical and, as a full-time law student, I will simply not have the time to devote to the business. Besides, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of anal-retentive and so will want to do my very best.

After that first academic year, I am hoping to be able to return to a more normal work schedule as many of the students do work in their second and third years. This is my plan.

This is a big shake up, no doubt, but I want to be clear about what it does and doesn’t mean:
· No, I am not closing my doors or giving up consulting–not at all! It is my intention to study intellectual property law so that I can better serve the creative community. You guys/women have lots of legal issues and I want to be able to better help you with them, in addition to the services I have traditionally offered.

· Yes, I will still work with clients, even in the first year. However, I will have fewer available slots in my schedule once classes start, especially for large projects, so if you contact me I may have to say “no” or schedule you further into the future than I do now. I just won’t be able to devote the hours every day to clients as I do now.

· Yes, I will still be blogging, podcasting, and sending Manuals. However, I am considering adding sponsorship/advertising to some of these items to help make up for some of the income I will lose during this first school year. I’m still on the fence about that. I definitely want to avoid having to charge you, my readers/listeners, for any of these items. I also do not want to turn things into a cheesy ad fest. Perhaps a “donation” system, kind of like Radiohead’s recent album “pay what you want, or nothing” idea. This is clearly still being worked out. Suggestions are welcome.

· I will still speak at groups as I can; however, I won’t be doing any speaking until after the first academic year is completed, in late April 2009, and then only between then and the Fall term. Travel during classes is pretty much impossible, but I love talking to groups and will continue doing this when/however possible.

So no, you’re not getting rid of me, though you might not see me around on the web quite as much. 🙂

I am quite excited about this opportunity and am thrilled about the scholarship. I am very happy that the school I will be attending has a very innovative attitude about law studies including a collaborative open-door relationship between the faculty and students as well as encouraging personal achievement for the students without having ugly aggressive competition–just as I have always preached for photographers. They even have a special concentration in “creative problem solving” which means encouraging ways to avoid having to resort to the courts for conflict resolution (not quite “creative” in the same way we usually use the term, of course, but still a worthy area to explore).

I hope you all will understand and be a bit patient as I fill my brain with more information. I will be there for you all as much as I possibly can during school and look forward to being able to help you even more in the future. 

Finally, as I said to some friends of mine, I promise that my becoming a lawyer will not result in my wearing frumpy suits (ew!) or suing everyone. 🙂 

Seth Godin has some more good stuff on his blog today. The post before this one is also good, but this one speaks directly to photographers (and please don’t use the tired complaint that music and photography aren’t the same to try and refute it). 

There has been considerable debate on some of the photographer forums about the Orphan Works bills now before congress. Much of the discussion has been about how ASMP has endorsed the House bill and some people think that group has sold out photographers in the doing. 

Without getting too much into the meat of the debate, I would like to take a minute to beg photographers to think and investigate more before they take a position and to please, once you decide your position, to announce and/or defend it with civility. 

I am so upset about the tone of some of the posts–it’s infuriating. For example, there are those who are saying that ASMP (and PPA) have sold out and/or rolled over on this issue. That is simply wrong and mean to all the people in those groups who have worked their asses off for you lot. I’m not saying I agree with them, and I’m not saying I don’t (in this post I’m staying neutral), but to think, even for a second, that the leadership of either of these organizations would deliberately do less than what they truly believe is the very best for their constituents is unfathomable to me. 

I don’t know the PPA folk, but I do know many people in the leadership of ASMP as I worked closely with them for SB2. I have never met a more devoted group of people in my life. The board members and, especially, the president essentially put their own businesses in second position (and their families, even) to their duties to ASMP and, more specifically, its members. They are devoted to helping photographers and doing what is best for them, even when the membership may not see it.

I see a parallel with the gas tax thing in the news. Suspending the gas tax is not a wise idea in the long run. Just about every economist has said so, but only one of the presidential candidates has taken that position. The other position will make the people happier because they’ll think that something is being done when, in fact, in the long run it will probably actually be worse to suspend the gas tax than to do nothing (or something else). It makes a great sound bite and it’s easier to swallow the idea of not having to pay as much for gas now. We don’t have to think about the long-term consequences. We like easy and we like the sensational, so someone saying “Obama doesn’t understand the suffering of the poor and middle class or else he’d back suspending the gas tax” gets traction. Even though it’s utter crap. We just hate the idea that we might have to do something tough–that we can’t have it all our way and get what we want, exactly how we want it, and now.

Similarly, it makes good blog fodder to claim that ASMP (etc.) are doing less than they ought for photographers–that if they had photographers best interests really in mind they would rail against this horrible bill. It excites people–we love a controversy! And we, apparently, love to attack more than to uplift.

The truth, however, just isn’t as sensational (in that tabloid “news”-ish sort of way). These groups have put in tons of hours and been in the friggin’ trenches, fighting for the best they could possibly get. Only they know what happened in all those meetings and letters and calls and hearings–especially the talking that doesn’t go on the record. We, as their constituents, need to decide whether or not we believe that they are being truthful when they say “This is the best we’re going to get, folks” and, considering their long track record of helping photographers, I think it’s just plain shitty to kick ’em in the teeth now.

Agree with the position or disagree, fine–we each have that right. But don’t accuse them of doing anything less than their very best for you. Don’t attack them with things like that they should have done better or that they weren’t willing to fight the fight–because that’s just hateful crap. 

Bob Sutton, author of The No Asshole Rule, has on his blog (left column–not directly linkable but just look over there on the main page) a list of 15 things he believes. It’s a damn fine list. I must say that I’m in agreement with him–especially numbers 6 though 10, 13 and 14. 

I noticed that several of the comments on my post about standardizing usage prices asked questions about enforcement. Issues of penalties for those who don’t use the system (whatever it ended up being) seem to be important to some of you. I, however, think that is wasted energy. There is no way to enforce and there is no need to anyway–people will follow if it makes sense, and if they choose not to, that’s up to them. So what?

I think people are afraid that if the system says that Usage X = $X some photographer will price it at $X-20% and thus get the gig, but I think that will be a rare occurrence. If we work with buyers (adv., corporate, whatever) to develop the system (like PLUS did for the usage language), then they will understand how it works and they will know that those who underprice like that are not ethical photographers and thus untrustworthy. Would you hire someone (plumber, designer, whatever) who you knew was underpricing just to get the gig? I wouldn’t. And I don’t think clients would either–especially when they need to know that whomever they use will get the images they need, and that requires trust.

When you have a systematic pricing system in place, then the choices become not about the money anymore. It opens buyers up to being able to choose photographers based on other issues like creative vision/style, production values and abilities, and a host of intangibles–all of which are better reasons to use a photographer than her/his price.

 

I love jott.com, and now there is chacha.com. Cool useful tools! Simple things like this could save your ass on a shoot someday. I so wish they had ’em when I was producing.
🙂