terrykelly

Learn to print.

"photo gear" will be worthless in the next few years due to advances in smartphones...

I think many/most people who need/want decorative prints have known about Etsy and the like forever....or at least for the past several decades.

I don't agree with that, though I understand what you done "seed". I think drone imagery in film/video is mostly filler, killing time rather than dealing with relationships or events....much like driving from place to place rather than using subtle imagery tools, like "booms, dollies, and zoom lenses." However I'd much prefer tp see someone walking or driving through a new place (eg. Tangiers or Newark, NJ or Minot, ND), rather than looking down on that place.

Cameras are becoming nothing more than cellular apps. Nikon can't make cellular devices but does have a brand name that still appeals to an elderly minority. .

Lots of drone video in all sorts of Netflix . Often contributes, imo, but is probably mostly a cheap substitute for car chases etc. Do you like it? Is the value mostly novelty?

I use a V, but only for my archives. If Kodachrome film and Kodak processing became available I'd still be stuck with V's issues with Kodachrome. Nothing E6 rivals Kodachrome.

It's not my photo unless I personally printed it. Obviously can't be "competitive" online. I always want to meet the buyer in person. No fantasy about collectors, resale etc. I want to see and hear the buyer's personal response.

Important, extended projects might want purchase orders, but individual assignments might not. That was my experience over ten years exclusively working with corporate clients. I did many small assignments (typically $15K) with no purchase order, solely on the authority of client officer, or officers staff, verbal authorization. Requiring purchase orders is likely to throw a monkey wrench into the works, slowing things down bigtime. Smarter, in my experience, simply to work with corporate officer with appropriate title or recognized responsibility (such as Art Director). You have to step up to the plate and make judgement calls.

Don't try to adapt a tripod. Difficult/impossible to get perfectly squared. Buy or build a dedicated copy stand (mine is the stand from my old Durst 609 enlarger with extension devices to get camera centered vs enlarger column). Logan A-7-A LED light box is excellent.

Perhaps foolishly I accumulated 3 mirrorless Samsung cameras, 2 @ 16MP and 1 @ 30MP. Extraordinary sensors. Samsung zooms are OK but their primes are wonderful. I frequently use adapted Pentax K-mount lenses, my favorites being 50 2.8 macro and 50/1.4. My photos are almost always made with printing in mind (I visualize and inkjet print, sometimes intending to match the file and sometimes to produce what I visualized). I don't have much use for files that I won't print.

Excellent. Me, for the New Year, I've promised myself to avoid photographing walls for a while. Aaron Siskind was too big for me, early-on (Sixties). The temptation to photograph peeling paint and grafitti may be part of the reason that I've not done much casual portraiture, which actually makes me happier than just about other imagery.

I've had bad experiences with Dell, having entirely to do with poor quality telephone responses both technically and due to the most extreme subcontinent accents I've ever found over the past twenty or so years.

Do you gentlemen make your own prints?

My favorite paper has been Ilford Gold Fiber Silk for a LOOONG time...it has had availability issues on and off over the years and seems again to be unavailable (in US). I asked one of the biggest vendors if that was due to Covid in Britain and they guessed that was the problem. I have just ordered Simply Elegant (brand) Gold Fiber from IT-Supply, which has long had best price for inkjet papers and competitive prices for Canon and Epson pigments (I abandoned Epson printers decades ago, but that's another story). Simply Elegant claims Simply Elegant Gold Fiber is identical to Ilford's product. I'm hoping for the same warm tone paper (not the same as warm pigment tone) and the same very fine "luster" surface...which is more noticeably faintly textured than Canon's otherwise excellent Luster surface and is dead neutral. I suspect both papers are made/packaged at the same European factory but passing through Britain may have become a Covid issue. Will report back when I've received and tested. What's your experience with Simply Elegant?