Follow me on Twitter / Be my friend on Facebook
I saw a photographer friend I know on twitter retweet another photographer I didn’t know about how many photographers it takes to change a light bulb. I loved it so much I wanted to put my own spin on it.
So, how many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 136.
- 1 to actually change the light
- 33 to say they could have done it better
- 24 to say that there would have been more soul and dynamic range in the light bulb changing if they would have used film
- 41 to say that no one should be paying attention to that photographer changing the light bulb because they’ve only been changing light bulbs for 2 years and with the digital age it’s just too easy for newbs to start changing light bulbs when they should be studying the art of light bulb changing
- 3 to say that the photographer should only change lightbulbs on facebook — not on a blog (that’s a knock on my pal, DJ :P)
- 17 to rhetorically ask “have they ever even used a darkroom???“
- 13 to pay absolutely no attention
- 4 photographers to actually say “good for you!“
So I’m sort of in that group of 13 that doesn’t really pay attention :) but aside from that, out of that whole group of photographers, I know that I would only want to be in the group of 4 photographers or the 1 photographer. The rest (aside from the silly jab at DJ) are annoying, in my opinion.
It’s way too easy to be cynical of everyone in the industry (in regard to their skill/success). Don’t do it. It’s tempting, I know. But it’s just so silly and inexpensive. And did I mention it’s useless? Because it is. Oh, and it’s lame too. Again, I know it’s tempting because some of the “rock star” photographers (who act like they are “anti-rock stars” — but they are “rock star” photographers just the same. They’re selling stuff to photographers who look up to them. Nothing wrong with that — but they’re the same.) make it sound cool to tweet and facebook how this photographer sucks, how the industry is soooo terrible, how that photographer shouldn’t be doing workshops, or how it’s way too easy for people to become pros these days — but it isn’t cool. In fact, it’s about as gay as it gets (and I say that affectionately as some of the people who are doing this are people I love dearly and who I know are otherwise great people).
So this is me saying I don’t think you should partake in this silly behavior. We live our lives far more effectively when we don’t knock people for silly reasons. Especially when we usually don’t know the photographer.
It reminds me of my uncle who’s a super successful businessman that I look up to. In talking about taxes (to which he told me he paid 6 figures in taxes), he said he could either waste energy getting worked up about how annoying it is that the government would take THAT much of his money (he wasn’t making millions a year, or anything) OR he could focus on becoming even more successful. I’ve always subscribed to this approach :)
——————–
On an unrelated note, how cute is this?!
This is Remmy and Trouble (our dogs) and Lindsay’s parents’ dogs, Gretchen and Uma. I’m in dog lover’s heaven out here in Nashville :)
Bobby
Contact Bobby / View Wedding Portfolio / Travel the Globe with Bobby
by Bobby Earle
18 comments
link to this post email a friend