Quarter 4 update

The beach outside the Public Market in Basseterre Bay.  I can live with this, and only hope that the person who maintains this piece of real estate is given all the support to keep the maintenance engine running. In days of old the strategy was to start fast, look good, and when people have gotten accustomed to the idea, subtly drop the ball, and we allowed them to work that one on us. Those days are now behind us, but some peole never learn, and still try to take us back into the dark ages. How can you convince those of us who born in electric lights, that it is better to use lamp. I tell you that some of them politicians crazy, or is it that they have a plan, and working on something to try put pon us? This is the photo blog, but we will look at a little politics in the wordpress blog later.

In the last 12 months it seems that photography has gotten worse for some folks, but others seem to have discovered their missing link. Photography is like food and water, which we need all the time. If the photographer does not know this he is dead in the water before he begin. What seem to be killling photographers is mainly their negative mindset. I see a lot of youths with cameras, and I hope that they are not just followers, but seekers after the knowledge and principles of attaining success in photography.  They may be in a third world country, but quality photography cost the same here as it does in New York City. Do you for a moment think that when a photographer comes to Saint Kitts from New York on assignment that he is paid 5 bucks for a picture?

Photographers in Saint Kitts are selling their services for nought. Let a foreign pro photographer set up shop here and you will see his clientelle and what people pay for the services. One of the problems with some photographers is that they do not see themselves as professional. In a sense they are not, because they have not visited an institution of higher learning and received a certificate, diploma or degree in the art. That training also prepares them for the million dollar photography business they are expected to manage. There are some amateur photographers who are almost as good as the universuty trained professionals, and with the correct mindset, the photography business works for them.

I have said enought about this, but it is a vexing situation when photographers allow themselves to be bullied and brutalized by clients, who can more than afford to buy the photographer. Recently I told a photographer that he needs to have a staff solicitor, this may be the only partner that he really needs. I do not keep any long talk with people about work and price. You either can afford or can't afford. You either take it or leave it. And after you have taken it, pay up forthwith, or talk to my solicitor. I am not into any long talk. End of story.

I don't know how many photographers deal with contracts for any kind of photographic work. No photography business is done word of mouth in first world countries. Contract. Black and white. Protection for the buyer and the seller. No matter how simple, every photo operation runs on a contract. If we can get all our photographers in Saint Kitts and Nevis to embrace this one business principle, there could be a dramatic improvement in SKN photography as we know it.

The next thing killing us is that there is no Photography Association, Club or Society, in Saint Kitts and Nevis. All the photographers are running wild, and some photographers seriously cutting prices on others. There is  no minimum price structure. No photography organisation to strengthen the price control. As we approach 2020 I hope that the photographers in Saint Kitts and Nevis would indeed become more professional in all aspects of their photography busines and take the standard and quality of photography in Saint Kitts and Nevis to another level.

I did not get into my update for the quarter, but I had to let off on this, because I have gone past this a long time ago, but there are some folks who still need to know. A place to start updating photographic business knowledge is the photography business book search on BHphotovideo and the best place to buy any protography product.

2020 will be here in under 60 days, and skn is heading for another general election, looks like there will be many images to capture. These days I am seeing more cameras on the streeets but less pictures on social media. Can someone help me look in the correct places?

Please have a nice day.