Competitions for image collections – the new future?

I almost fell off my chair today – while reading the newspaper (The Age), I noticed a little advertisement on the bottom of one of the pages pointing me towards the “Clique Photographers Association” – it reads like it is a membership club for amateur photographers where you can enter competitions to win prizes. Sounds innocent enough on the surface…

Why did I almost fall off my chair? Well, the site wants people to join the club, submit images that Clique and Fairfax Media can use without restriction (including editing), and they want you to PAY for the privilege ($50 yearly entry fee). I’m sorry, what? Is it just me or does that seem like a couple of very large media companies want amateurs to do their legwork for them, get them to pay for memberships as well, and the images can be used for anything?? Amazing, where do I sign up??

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Paid vs Trade

Ahhh, the photographers (and models) dilemma – who pays who, how much, and what is reasonable?? The topic of paid vs trade has been a long running “flame war” on various forums and in industry, particularly with the rapid growth in the number of people with reasonable gear who think being a great photographer is as simple as turning up and pushing the shutter button!

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Above and below the line

Interesting conversation with a commercial photographer this evening, we were having a general purpose discussion about “tyre kickers” – those studio enquiries where they want a quote, perhaps want to hire some gear, really aren’t clear on their project, and would be interested in hiring a quality shooter but we need to see the numbers first and take them to the boss… Like a half-hearted used car buyer, they’re kicking the tyres but aren’t really buying! Oh what is a commercial shooter to do, when they feel like they’re competing with termites who shoot for free/cheap, hollowing out the walls of their customer base right before their eyes but keep you busy generating quote after pointless quote…

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Tired, but it was soooo much fun

Finally I’m done – exhausted, but the last couple of months have been amazing!  Not only have I moved ShutterClass into its new home at Lightdrop Studios, but I’ve also just finished working on 3 different short film projects!!  Even better, I filled very different roles on each one:

  • Tropfest project – Director of Photography, responsible for all primary camera work as well as solving some of the more interesting lighting challenges 
  • Tropfest project – Gaffer, with quite a bit of 1st/2nd AC and Grip assistant work.  This was a great project, we even got to work on location in Melbourne CBD, closing down half a laneway to get the outdoor shots we needed
  • Footage for SFX project – I worked closely with a good friend who’s turned into an amazing SFX editor, and together we pulled together some very cool footage that he’s turned into a simply amazing little 3 minute short.

I wish I could say more about all of these projects, but they are being entered into competitions (Tropfest Australia for two of them) and I’m not permitted to say much.  Don’t worry though, as soon as they are announced to the world, I’ll be updating here!

I had the best time on all 3 projects, and I would work with all of them again in future without hesitation!  But in the meantime, I need to prepare for the Intro DSLR Filmmaking workshop that I’m hosting on Saturday, it’s booked out and should be a fun crowd.

New space, fun times

It took a little longer than expected, but it has definitely been worth the wait and we are SUPER EXCITED!!!  I’m pleased to announce that my studio business, ShutterClass, is joining the amazing team at Lightdrop Studios in Kensington.  After a lot of hunting for suitable locations, Lightdrop turned out to be perfect for a whole raft of reasons.  It’s not only a great place to shoot, but it’s perfectly suited to hosting workshops as well.  Also, I’ve been more involved in film projects lately, and this space is excellent for that as well!!

Check out the Lightdrop Studios space, and if you are keen to hire it for one of your projects, simply drop them a line – tell them I sent you, you’ll be sure to get a good deal!

Studio demolition

In order to move into a new space, first the old one needs to be dismantled and moved – and in the case of 600 meters of fitted out cycs, that means quite a bit of demolition is in order!  I had a great time building it when I first moved in, and I didn’t expect it to be so much fun pulling it down!  Cycloramas make a really interesting noise when they fall over, like a dull “whoomph” noise…

I’ve kept all of the gear as well as a lot of the useful fitout stuff (like the divider curtains), and expect to use these in the next space.

Anyway, here’s a couple of images before and after – I’m pulling together another timelapse and hope to get it out for your viewing pleasure sooner rather than later!

full_studio_800

studio_demol

Coming soon – news on the new space (a couple more ducks to line up and then awesome awaits!

The “Inspiration Rut”

Ever had too many ideas? I’m sure I’m not the first to suffer from this very strange affliction. It actually affects many parts of my life – so many things to get done, I have no idea where to start… and so I don’t actually start anything. Instead, I poke around the edges, make excuses (“seriously, I need a steadicam before I can even BEGIN that project…”) and generally get frustrated at my lack of progress.

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It’s 2013!! And Summer Film School

It’s been over 6 months since my last post, clearly it has been a tiny bit busy! Sooo much has happened, I’m not even going to try and encapsulate everything in this one little post! In an effort to avoid another long rambling post, here’s the quick summary:

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News and more news!

Where to begin?? Perhaps with my usual “sorry for not posting” apology – apparently regular updates are a good thing, and I’ve been completely successful at being useless on the updates, so sorry for that… But I have excuses, and good ones at that!! I’ll start with my very recent accreditation as a Professional Photographer by the AIPP – it was quite a daunting task, my portfolio survived the panel assessment wringer and now I’m on the journey. While I still don’t plan to shoot commercially full time due to my other business interests (including ShutterClass Studios), it does mean I can instruct workshops for professional photographers and potentially get my workshops accredited by the AIPP so that pro shooters get Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credit as part of their accreditation! It will also help me bring more amazing international photographers into Australia, something I really enjoy doing.

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Another Canon?? Portraiture and news…

Two days ago Canon released another camera – the EOS 1D C – I’m not going to go into specs or details, that’s not the point of this post. If you want to know more about Canon’s new 4K video camera, perhaps check here and here. The point of this post is to (briefly) wonder what is going on with the DSLR market exactly?? Are they for stills, are they for video, are they some weird blend of the two, and should I care?

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