From: tse@ra.nrl.navy.mil (Anthony Tse)
Subject: A photographer's story
Organization: Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 02:20:09 GMT

   I am going to catch a lot of flame for this, but I think some
of you will like it, so here it goes.

   Seems to me most people who are interested enough in photography to
scrap up what little money they have to buy a "real" camera when they
were in high school or college started out dreaming about being a
photojournalist.  Travel around the world, shoot important events,
have their pictures printed on the front page.  Sometime around puberty,
they dream about photographing beautiful women and have their pictures
published in Sport Illustrated or something even more interesting.  In
rare occasion, some will dream about lugging 50lb of large format
equipment and that damn wooden tripod wandering around in the middle of
nowhere, waiting until the light is just right, the puff of cloud is
at just the right place, and sell their pictures for $5000 a piece.

   In most cases, we read magazines like pop phot, find out what each
and every camera can and cannot do, I mean, we know those spec so well,
we can recite them on the spot.  Then we make up our mind, spend the
last penny from the last pay check (or last allowance) and spring for
that super 35mm camera with all the features possible, and of course, the
cheapest possible zoom we can find cause we just spent all our money
on the camera body.  Off we go, shooting friends, mom, dad, and the
family dog.  Few lucky ones get to shot football games and have their
pictures published in the school paper.  And a few more are still reading
pop photo and learning about what all the new cameras will and will not
do, thinking how are they going scrap up another $600 for that new
camera body with even more features.  I mean, you can have a bar code
reader, RS232 interface, 5fps moterdrive, 2000 different metering mode,
just got to have it.  After a year or so, most photographers find
out that cheap zoom is really not that good.  For the sport
photographers, the picture quaility is almost acceptable, but it's just
too damn slow.  For those who run around hiding behind trees to
take pictures of pretty girls, the 8x10s they get back from the
neighborhood drug store look horrible.  For the Ansal Adams wannabes,
they are a unhappy bunch, their prints just don't look good.  But those
who are still reading pop photo are happy as a clam, casue there is yet
another generation of cameras with even more features.  As we grow
older, we find jobs, and pay checks.  The high school photojournalist
now work for a newspaper.  He can finally dump that piece of junk zoom
and borrow/buy good fast zoom and even a few fixed lens.  The portrait
shooter make enough money to buy that fast short tele.  If the girl
has a big boyfriend, he can alway rent that 300 2.8.  A small number
go as far as signing up for a nude photography class and get to
post all the beautiful models.  A few peepers are good enough and
work for Sport Illustrated & Vanity Fair, some even move up to
medium format freelancing.  The Ansal Adams wannabes are still a
unhappy bunch, seems like they can either buy a car or they
can buy the Sinar P-3 and the cool light head, but they are smart,
knowing damn well their wives will leave them if they go for the
P-3/cool light, they went for the car, picture quaility be damn,
something are more important in life (although I am sure some will
disagree :))  Those who are still reading pop photo is on their third
camera body, if they were smart enough to stick with Nikon, they will
still have the piece of junk zoom, whereas the unlucky Canon owners have
to spring for another zoom.  By the time we are 55 years old, most
of us will be travelling all over the world, taking pictures of
interesting people and places, and bore our grandchildren to tear by
making them watch 5 hour long slide shows.  The photojournalists and
glamor photographers will retire satisified with their life's work.
The Ansal Adams wannabes finally got their 4x5 camera and even a Minolta
45A, some stick with b&w, other tinker with cibachrome, the few
who've been drop head first from the upper bunk too many times print
dye transfer for a living.  Maybe they didn't sell any print for
$5000 a piece, but they are happy.  Those who have a life subscription
to pop photo, well, they haven't touch anything more then a point and
shoot in over 20 years.

END OF STORY

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