Professional
Beware of Hucksters
19/Jan/2013 19:47 Filed in: Entrepreneurship
While watching Lincoln last night, I noted the use of the word “huckster” in the dialog.
Wikipedia defines that word as “a person who sells small articles, either door-to-door or from a stall or small store, like a certain type of peddler or hawker. In the United States, there developed a connotation of trickery - the huckster might trick others into buying cheap imitation products as if they were the real thing”.
Yesterday, I examined some photographs taken of a good friend of mine, by a “professional” photographer. Several photographs of my friend appeared on that photographer’s web site. That photographer’s web site said great things about him and his natural and soulful approach to photography. There’s nothing wrong with natural and soulful, but those attributes seemed to imply quality in the work he does. His pricing page quoted rates that also seemed designed to put a high premium on his character and soul. Sadly, the quality of the images of my friend did not reflect the cost or the self-promotion apparent on the web site. Admittedly, some of the photographs on that “professional” photographer’s web site were very good, and he seemed to have a fair bit of credibility and accomplishments. Even though some of his work was good, I was surprised and disappointed to see blatant flaws in some of his work, including some of the photographs of my friend.
The lesson for those hiring photographers: Do not judge anyone’s talent at photography (including my own talent) by the person’s web site, or by the cost of his or her work. It is very easy to buy a camera and set up a web site these days: it is much more difficult to create a body of work that exhibits quality and sensitivity. The images of my friend were blown-out, blurred, stilted, contrived, and not at all reflective of the person she is.
The lesson for photographers: Don’t let up! Always do your best work, and don’t forget the basics: avoid slanted horizons, distracting elements, poor focus, and other basic mistakes.
Wikipedia defines that word as “a person who sells small articles, either door-to-door or from a stall or small store, like a certain type of peddler or hawker. In the United States, there developed a connotation of trickery - the huckster might trick others into buying cheap imitation products as if they were the real thing”.
Yesterday, I examined some photographs taken of a good friend of mine, by a “professional” photographer. Several photographs of my friend appeared on that photographer’s web site. That photographer’s web site said great things about him and his natural and soulful approach to photography. There’s nothing wrong with natural and soulful, but those attributes seemed to imply quality in the work he does. His pricing page quoted rates that also seemed designed to put a high premium on his character and soul. Sadly, the quality of the images of my friend did not reflect the cost or the self-promotion apparent on the web site. Admittedly, some of the photographs on that “professional” photographer’s web site were very good, and he seemed to have a fair bit of credibility and accomplishments. Even though some of his work was good, I was surprised and disappointed to see blatant flaws in some of his work, including some of the photographs of my friend.
The lesson for those hiring photographers: Do not judge anyone’s talent at photography (including my own talent) by the person’s web site, or by the cost of his or her work. It is very easy to buy a camera and set up a web site these days: it is much more difficult to create a body of work that exhibits quality and sensitivity. The images of my friend were blown-out, blurred, stilted, contrived, and not at all reflective of the person she is.
The lesson for photographers: Don’t let up! Always do your best work, and don’t forget the basics: avoid slanted horizons, distracting elements, poor focus, and other basic mistakes.