Something has been bothering me a little bit recently, Brain. I think most people realize its rude to ask a professional person, especially a relative stranger, to give you the benefit of their professional experience for free. You wouldn't ask a doctor you just met for medical advice. You wouldn't expect a lawyer to counsel you for free. You wouldn't ask a strange carpenter to build you something gratis. Why do people think they can ask me for my photos for free?
Its a totally different story if you arent aware that I am making a portion of my living from my photos, or, alternately, if I know you really well. If we are friends I've probably offered to take free photos for you. That's fine, that's something I want to do because I care about you and being able to give you something I've made helps me express that. Instances like those are not what I'm getting at at all. Maybe with there being so many digital cameras out there, and just about everyone taking photos and sharing them with the world every chance they get, people just assume that photos are communal property. But I think that is what is bothering me though. The fact that people ask me means they make no distinction between a print quality photo, and a snapshot taken on an iphone. I invest a lot of time and money into my equipment and my photos (and believe me I wish I could invest more, and I know that I have a lot to learn and I am not the world's greatest photographer). Maybe its just my ego talking. maybe I'm getting a big head for no good reason. In which case there is probably a lesson to learn and I will go through some really humbling/humiliating experience to learn whatever it is (that seems to be the only way I learn important lessons, unfortunately) . Oh goody. Pride goes before a fall and all that.
I don't know. I draw no conclusions yet. I'm just disgruntled. I've decided that I have no problem giving a watermarked, low resolution file to people who just want to use a photo for non-commercial purposes. That way I dont have to sound like a horrible, conceited, loser and at the same time I'm hanging on to a little artistic integrity. From now on I will also post only low res stuff instead of the big files. Make that a note to self, Brain. For anyone who happens on this post by accident, please think before asking someone to give away their creative work for free. At least for me, I would appreciate the offer to compensate me. I would appreciate it so much I would probably turn it down and offer you the photo/artwork for free, but I'd feel a lot less taken advantage of at that point.
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