Even if it was only 'omitted through cropping', it's still removed.

That's prohibited by law.

I think what people are really missing is that the business of being paid to make the photo is over. Technically it's on life support, but it's terminal. Technology will completely replace the photographer. There will be art directors with cameras, professional retouchers and unemployed photographers.

If you work in a field that has anything digital as a final output, you are in the branding business. For a band, and album is the equivalent of a Ford Taurus TV commercial. It's what makes them popular. When they're lucky they gross 10% of 90% of wholesale. They then use that to payback all of the production and marketing costs. If there's anything leftover, they split the 10% of 90% between their manager and their producer and whatever is left is insignificant. It's all moot because they never recoup.

Let's leave top level fashion photographers out for a moment. They've always been the exceptions.

Let's take an MM photographer who wants to make income shooting models. My guess is that the ones who try really hard have a couple of $50-100 shoots/year.

Let's take Jamie Ibarra. He get's paid because he shoots models, but that's not what he gets paid for. He gets paid by photographers who want to learn what he does.

Look at the strobist guy. I think someone posted that he's making $100k/month in advertising? Even if it's $100k/year, that's better than most photographers. He's making that by being a brand.

A photographer's largest market now is other photographers. I'm sure there are a million photographers who'd pay $1 for the Mi Do LR preset, but they're not going to do that until they've seen images over and over and become a fan of the style. You could spend a lot of money advertising the preset, or let your images and tumblr fans do the work for you. (I have no doubt you get this.)


It's not profound to point out that we are in the Technology Revolution or Digital Revolution. iEli Whitney and eHenry Ford 2015 are going to put photographers who sell their labor or photos out of business permanently. They will not put photographers who sell their ideas out of business.

The cliche around here is that everything has been done. That's great, because if one day you trip and bang your head and can't think straight and accidentally come up with something new, that's going to be extremely valuable. Reselling that idea to everyone who owns a camera - which is everyone who owns a phone - is a far better business to be in than selling photos to magazines one or two or six or twelve at a time.

You need to be an Instagram star and then you can license your name via a new filter. Mi Do 2012 filter. Star 2013 filter. GWC Vintage 1973 filter which cross processes and adds bush to nude and non-nude photos. For $1 you can put a pubic hair beard on your friend's face and then Instagram/Tweek/Tumble/FB the guys face to everyone you know.


But only the people who are known for their photos will be in the position to do that. You don't get know for your photos by restricting their circulation.


Back to big time fashion photographers - they're going to be replaced by CGI, just like car photographers.

CGI car photographers are going to be replaced by car designers and marketing teams who skip the prototype process and just design a CAD commercial. If it goes viral, they'll hit "print" and make the car. If it doesn't, they'll make a new design.

The only way to make income is to establish a brand.

Converse built a recording studio in Brooklyn where all they do is give away free time. I got to see their annual report for the first year. They valued the marketing far, far, far higher than even twice what you'd guess.

Giving things away to build your brand is unbeatable. You just have to model your business to capitalize on your brand not your labor.

That's really what it is that people don't get.

The answer to this is simple. Many people get their identity from their work and when you alter their work you're making a statement about their identity.

I'm guessing that you're not a full-time photographer. The reality is that to have the type of success most photographers want and and make a living in certain genres you have to give up a lot of the rest of your life. You see friends less, you may have to be single or not have a family. You may drive a car that costs as much as a t4i because you've spent what other people spend on a car on your camera equipment.

When you give up so many things in your life that are things everyone takes their identity from and you put all of your time in emotion into the photos you make, it doesn't even matter if the edited image is better. Your betting your life that the choices you make that result in that photo are right for you and it does not feel good to have someone else fucking around with what you've bet your life on.

Whether it's true that you've sacrificed everything and bet your life on it or not doesn't matter. That how it feels to people and that's why it's upsetting.

I do think some people can't be faulted for being to young and inexperienced to understand that, but I think there are a lot of people who know enough that they should be able to recognize when they're working with someone who feels that way, but they're too lazy and selfish to care.