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  1. <blockquote> <p>a sub-title like <em>66 Reasons to stay an amateur </em>would have the same catch to it but without the emphasis on the negative.</p> </blockquote> <p>Phil, I like it! Although I'm not opposed to the negative perception (that's what I'm going for, an unempowerment book in a sea of empowerment books as a counterpoint). But I could totally see using your suggested subtitle as a sub-sub-title when I talk about the book in public like " DON'T SHOOT | 66 reasons NOT to become a pro photographer – or 66 reasons to stay an amateur."<br> I'm totally using that and another suggestion from my friend Emma, "the uniquely helpful advice" in the book.<br> <em><strong><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/clickittycat/dont-shoot-book">The Kickstarter</a> reached 130% funded with 214 backers</strong></em> last night so it goes to print in December and ships in January if all goes according to my evil plan. Thanks to all for your uniquely helpful comments.<br> ;-)<br> -Schaf (all the links, info and updates to the book will be at <a href="http://www.66reasons.com">www.66reasons.com</a> from now on)</p>
  2. <p>James,<br> You mean photographers don’t take/want criticism for their ideas/photos?<br> Hmmm. New info.</p>
  3. <p>Today I was "featured" in a post on DigtalRev’s BOKEH blog. <a href="http://bit.ly/DRBokeh" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/DRBokeh</a><br> They used a bunch of my photos and 5 reasons for not going pro I had written. Pretty cool. Maybe.<br> Back in 2011 I was featured as a best of ASMP 2011 photographer. Also cool, maybe.<br> The irony here may be that the DigitalRev blog post actually has a cautionary tale about working for free. Wait … what … didn’t I just give DigitalRev and ASMP my work for free. Images and text I would have charged for. That my stock agency Corbis would have charged for if a media outlet asked for similar content. It occurred to me in 2011 when, after being accepted to the ASMP award, they sent me a questionnaire to fill out that I thought would be used by a writer to create text to go along with the dozen or so images I sent to accompany the story online. When the story was published it was verbatim the Q&A I had submitted (proofread and corrected at least, good thing I was only mildly snarky, it could have been so much worse). <a href="http://bit.ly/ASMP-schaf">http://bit.ly/ASMP-schaf</a> <br> The Bokeh post at least alludes to a possible mitigation of my egregious hypocrisy. If the outcome “ … has value and it’s not really working for free.” Because I will market the hell out of this BOKEH thing to pitch my book and I already used up every last drop of credibility from the ASMP-2011 thing. (I think I had that as part of my E-mail signature through 2014). So where is the line? How free is free? How much do we need to get from a low-budg project to be able to justify the effort? I think I got enough “VALUE” from the transactions to be reasonably satisfied with the outcomes. Now this wouldn’t happen with a simple photo we make for a client that serves them only and us not at all. Typical of a beginner struggling to make it.<br> I think I’ll still be sending limited content to a selective few outlets in the future so that I can reap some perceived benefits. Just a topic for discussion. ?<br> -Stephen D Schafer <br> <em>Selected as one of the Best of ASMP i</em><em>n their 2011 international competition: </em><a href="http://bit.ly/ASMP-schaf"><em>http://asmp.org/bestof2011</em></a></p><div></div>
  4. <p>Mike, I was going to mention that making forum posts on obscure topics is not the efficentist use of time spent on this planet. But who am I to say that? ;-)<br /> Anyway good news today. I (and by extension the book) was just featured in an post on DigtalRev’s BOKEH blog. http://bit.ly/DRBokeh<br /> They used a bunch of my photos and five of the topics (reasons) from the book. Pretty cool. I could have used the bump more a week ago when I was sweating the funding but I’m at 110% now thanks to my epic backers.<br /> Thanks for all those that helped and commented on the book. I reached 100% last night and with hours to go I am now around 110% funded. <br /> <strong><em>20 hours to go and then I sleep.</em></strong></p><div></div>
  5. <p>Thanks all for the input on this list. It wasn’t just a theoretical exercise, I am changing quite a few things with the book and although some of them are relatively minor they will add up to a better read. Guy Kawasaki suggests crowdsourcing the edit of his books and with millions of followers he send out the text of his books before publishing to get feedback. I thought I’d try the same thing and it works, people that are interested will give you their feedback and mostly it’s very helpful. and if it’s just a kind word then those my make their way onto the back cover or a Press Release as I attempt to find a publisher for the book as a soft cover some day. Ink hits paper in December so email me if anyone reads this and wants to look, the offer still stands.<br> Sometimes it’s the simple things that are the best and people will let you know what to look for.<br> My favorite quote from the book isn’t even by a photographer.</p> <div></div>
  6. <p>Hi Mike,<br> Yes I have noticed that people think the cover is negative (and by extension the book is negative). Even Scott Kelby said this about the book:</p> <blockquote> <p><em>Thanks for sending me a galley for your book, and for asking my permission to use the quote. When I just turned to the page and saw the quote, while accurate I wasn't too thrilled with it being in what seemed like such a negative book, but after I actually read through the book, I saw what you're trying to accomplish with it, and thought your idea and presentation style was very clever indeed. Of course, what went from concern changed quickly to being honored to be included the book, so yes -- you're welcome to use the quote in your book. I wish you nothing but great success with it. — I think you're onto something very cool here. :) All my best, -Scott.</em></p> </blockquote> <p>But I have had far more people smile and laugh at the reverse psychology when I tell them the title/subtitle. The subtitle had changed to <em>66 Cautionary Tales from a Professional Photographer</em> at one point about a year ago and everyone who I talked to about the book was unenthused and I got NO reaction when I told them the title. So I’m going with the in-your-face, you can’t handle the truth, negative. Rather get a laugh out of people since it’s supposed to be funny. I’m OK if some positive types don’t pick it up. Hey, the most popular self-help book series assumes you’re a DUMMY right on the cover.<br> The point of the book was as a counterpoint to the "Be a Pro in 10 Easy Steps” and “Photographing weddings made easy” books out there that I think do the emerging photographer a disservice. Look at the book store shelf and 90% of what is there is made to sell books and not enlighten photographers. So I’m doing a book that will enlighten and assuming you are right, not sell any books. I’m OK with that.<br> Mike, can I send you the book draft and if you ignore the cover you may find it entertaining. Send me your email in a PM.</p>
  7. <p>One of my first CLICKittyCAT comics from 2013</p><div></div>
  8. <p>Thanks for the input Greg. My proofreader just sent me a 12 page Word doc with corrections and “suggestions”.</p> <blockquote> <p>It's rather ironic that you expect people to be attracted to the idea of "why not to become a professional," but you're disregarding every post that isn't encouraging you and telling you it's a great idea.</p> </blockquote> <p>Mike, where did I disregard the negative posts? If someone has an issue with the cover, critique the cover, don’t assume the book is negative. I appreciate all the views. If 20 people tell you they like the book and one person says it should have photos to make it less boring how do you do that? More to the point should you try to accommodate every view? We do need to have a style/voice. There are quite a few changes I am making in the final book due to feedback from perfect strangers. I may even tweek the subtitle for UK release after I follow-up on that a bit more.<br> <em>Of course the topic of critique comes up a lot in photography forums so it made it to the book in the form of page #14 along with quoted internet forum comments below that I once came across:</em> </p> <blockquote> <p>Actual internet comments on a photographer’s body of work.</p> <ul> <li><em>Not great.</em></li> <li><em>Really enjoyed the concept.</em></li> <li><em>wtf. this suks.</em></li> <li><em>These are absolutely wonderful!</em></li> <li><em>Say what?</em></li> <li><em>I like turtles.*</em></li> <li><em>Uhhhh … I don’t get it.</em></li> <li><em>Decent idea, terrible marketing!</em></li> <li><em>Where can I get some of that what your smokin’.</em></li> <li><em>This doesn’t even make sense. Dumb.</em></li> <li><em>I enjoy the work.</em></li> <li><em>W.T.F.?</em></li> <li><em>I’m pretty well roasted, and still can’t see it.</em></li> <li><em>I know art is subjective, but come on.</em></li> <li><em>Soothing for eyes, at least!</em></li> <li><em>Fail.</em></li> <li><em>I think I get it … no wait not yet. I’ll try again later.</em></li> </ul> <p><em>*Note, the photos contained no turtles. </em><br> <em> </em><br> <em><strong>#14 YOU SUCK, NO WAIT, OK, YES YOU SUCK</strong></em><br> <em>Felling depressed? </em><br> <em>Post a sunset and in ten minutes you’ll feel like an übergenius after the flood of happy face emoji and likey-thumbs.</em><br> <em>You might not suk. But don’t expect “The Internet” to clarify anything (see above). Do not act on everything you read in online critiques and forums. Whether you get the proverbial (and useless) “<strong>Nice shot</strong>” or get flamed, please focus only on the constructive bits – and don’t take it too seriously. Loads of people are more clueless than you are, yet they comment anonymously online as if they are a Ef-in’ genius. </em><br> <em>I put my work up online and occasionally someone writes and says, “Your photo is really beautiful.” That’s nice – I don’t care. I know this makes me an jerk … but my peers, the ones whose opinions could really improve my work, don’t have the time to write me love notes.</em><br> <em>When you get more established, spend your time posting your best photos on your website and constantly remove the ones you’ve surpassed. Instead of posting on forums, seek out some peers you trust to give you worthwhile critiques that will be honest, meaningful and painful but without the flaming, thumbs or emoji. Constructive criticism needs to be constructive first and foremost, and criticism second.</em></p> </blockquote> I hope that the photographer who got the comments above disregarded some of them ... maybe all of them. :-) S.D.S.
  9. <p>Thanks for the input Greg. My proofreader just sent me a 12 page Word doc with corrections and “suggestions”.</p> <blockquote> <p>It's rather ironic that you expect people to be attracted to the idea of "why not to become a professional," but you're disregarding every post that isn't encouraging you and telling you it's a great idea.</p> </blockquote> <p>Mike, where did I disregard the negative posts? If someone has an issue with the cover, critique the cover, don’t assume the book is negative. I appreciate all the views. If 20 people tell you they like the book and one person says it should have photos to make it less boring how do you do that? More to the point should you try to accommodate every view? We do need to have a style/voice. There are quite a few changes I am making in the final book due to feedback from perfect strangers. I may even tweek the subtitle for UK release after I follow-up on that a bit more.<br> <em>Of course the topic of critique comes up a lot in photography forums so it made it to the book in the form of page #14 along with quoted internet forum comments below that I once came across:</em> </p> <blockquote> <p>Actual internet comments on a photographer’s body of work.</p> <ul> <li><em>Not great.</em></li> <li><em>Really enjoyed the concept.</em></li> <li><em>wtf. this sucks.</em></li> <li><em>These are absolutely wonderful!</em></li> <li><em>Say what?</em></li> <li><em>I like turtles.*</em></li> <li><em>Uhhhh … I don’t get it.</em></li> <li><em>Decent idea, terrible marketing!</em></li> <li><em>Where can I get some of that what your smokin’.</em></li> <li><em>This doesn’t even make sense. Dumb.</em></li> <li><em>I enjoy the work.</em></li> <li><em>W.T.F.?</em></li> <li><em>I’m pretty well roasted, and still can’t see it.</em></li> <li><em>I know art is subjective, but come on.</em></li> <li><em>Soothing for eyes, at least!</em></li> <li><em>Fail.</em></li> <li><em>I think I get it … no wait not yet. I’ll try again later.</em></li> </ul> <p><em>*Note, the photos contained no turtles. </em><br> <em> </em><br> <em><strong>#14 YOU SUCK, NO WAIT, OK, YES YOU SUCK</strong></em><br> <em>Felling depressed? </em><br> <em>Post a sunset and in ten minutes you’ll feel like an übergenius after the flood of happy face emoji and likey-thumbs.</em><br> <em>You might not suck. But don’t expect “The Internet” to clarify anything (see above). Do not act on everything you read in online critiques and forums. Whether you get the proverbial (and useless) “<strong>Nice shot</strong>” or get flamed, please focus only on the constructive bits – and don’t take it too seriously. Loads of people are more clueless than you are, yet they comment anonymously online as if they are a f-in’ genius. </em><br> <em>I put my work up online and occasionally someone writes and says, “Your photo is really beautiful.” That’s nice – I don’t care. I know this makes me an jerk … but my peers, the ones whose opinions could really improve my work, don’t have the time to write me love notes.</em><br> <em>When you get more established, spend your time posting your best photos on your website and constantly remove the ones you’ve surpassed. Instead of posting on forums, seek out some peers you trust to give you worthwhile critiques that will be honest, meaningful and painful but without the flaming, thumbs or emoji. Constructive criticism needs to be constructive first and foremost, and criticism second.</em></p> </blockquote> I hope that the photographer who got the comments above disregarded some of them ... maybe all of them. :-) S.D.S.
  10. Ok this is good info. To be clear, are you saying the Kiskstarter sell is American-pushy? I'd like to know because it just set it up to be snarky and it feels normal to me with a reverse phychology type of vibe. Like "You can't handle this book." I have gotten a minority of comments about the book being too negative. But I think those people didn't read it and only looked at the cover. Are you saying "pitfalls" title would be better in UK than current title ? And yes you guessed it "evangelical" I am not. I suck at empowerment. I am a big fan of encouragement though. Speaking of evangelical I did get a comment from a popular satirical imaginary wedding photographer who said she was disappointed because it didn't have "enough blessings." I responded in the affirmative. I suck at being blessed too I suppose. SDS
  11. <p>To clarify, I’d love to get your opinion so PM me with your <strong>email</strong> address so I can send you the book as a PDF email attachment.</p>
  12. <p>Thanks Marc. Noted. I will probably format the final PDF differently than the Book. You have a review-copy of the printed version with two-page spreads joined together.<br> Thanks Denny. I like your Nashville quote a lot. Where would we go as photographers to get the same test?<br> The reason I’m crowdsourcing the last edit (so to speak) by sharing the book here is to get these nuggets (and turds) sorted out. No matter what level you are you can tell me what you liked least, and what you felt was a new idea or reformatted idea. There are 80 quotes and I’m interested to know which are your most/least favorite since I tried to find new ones. The same old Ansel Adams quotes (while great) have been seen so many times before.<br> Thanks. anyone else who wants to read it before the ink hit’s the paper, just PM me.</p>
  13. <p>Thanks Donald,<br> Done, written, edited, designed, proofed, ready for printing which happens in December after the Kickstarter. (So much easier with no photos to color correct and obsess about) But until the ink hits the paper, I'm always open to thoughts and constructive criticism (and new ideas for book 2: 66 MORE reasons NOT to become a pro photographer). HA!<br> I’ll apologize for whoreing my book out on forums that I have participated in over the years: Photo.net, ASMP-architecture, Large Format Photography Forum, and DPReview. But that’s where my peers reside and I have gotten some real gems out of the discussions and thoughts posted therein, whether negative or positive.<br> You’re right I do "feel better."<br> -Schaf</p>
  14. <p>Send me a PM email to dirk@west.net and I’ll send you a PDF attachment of the book to read. It’s 160 pages and the quotes I found from famous artists and photographers are great even if you hate my style.<br />-Schaf</p><div></div>
  15. <p>On the last page of the book I write this:</p> <blockquote> <p><em>You remind me of me when I was young and clueless. ... The one thing that most influenced my path as a photographer ... was a face-to face conversation I had with David Lyman of the Maine Photographic Workshops while he was in Ojai around 1987. (I’m sure he has no recollection.) An acquaintance set up a portfolio review for me and I pulled together my best prints and made a few new ones in my garage darkroom. I bought a new 8x10 black-leatherette box at the crafts store and drove to see him, ready. We met and chatted and then we sat down at a folding table, he opened the box and looked at my glossy prints – one at a time – not long, I remember he didn’t critique any of the images or offer tips on how to make them better. He put them back in the box, looked across the table at me and said the one bombshell that I’ll remember forever … </em><br /> <strong><em>“Maybe you should just do photography as a hobby.” </em></strong><br /> <em>David’s advice may have been a sh* tty thing to say to a Gung-ho 18 year old, but it was the kick in the teeth I needed. F that, I thought. </em><br /> <em>To paraphrase posts from the internet: “I wish someone would have told me _________ before I decided to pursue photography.” That’s why I wrote this book. It’s definitely not a book for everyone, but the hard truth worked for me. I didn’t respond well to empowerment and wishful thinking, so it’s no surprise I couldn’t honestly write that kind of book. Now you’ve read my sh* tty little kick-in-the-teeth, how-not-to book with all those uninspiring messages: You suk – get a real job – you can’t handle the truth – it’s a good hobby – etc., etc. … You’ve probably figured out by now that I really wrote this book as a guide. The lovers (amateurs) of photography will realize disappointment if they think this business is as easy as it looks, and the students won’t last a minute in the real world if they’re not 202% committed. There are photographers of every age who CAN’T NOT do this extraordinary thing called photography. If you’re one of those determined souls, become a pro and prove me wrong. Drop me a line when you’re famous (or just happy and average like me), but don’t say David and I didn’t warn you</em>.</p> </blockquote> <p>So since it worked for me and there are other books that are more “positive” I believe in the quote: <br /> “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”<br> -Schaf</p>
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