Toronto and NYC This Week

Short notice is the best notice. If you're in Toronto or NYC this week, I'd love to cross paths. Here's what I know:

First. This Thursday November 12th at 7:30pm I'm excited to be giving a chat about creativity on behalf of the Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators. Open to the public - please tell your mates. I'll also be signing The Best Camera Is The One That's With You. Books will be on sale there as far as I know. I'm speaking at the Gladstone hotel, reserve your tickets here. Some sort of social debauchery or requisite tomfoolery will surely follow.

Second, I have some business in NYC on Friday and Monday. Which leaves me mostly free on Saturday and Sunday (November 14 and 15). As such I'm thinking of getting people together to take pictures and be social. Actually, slightly more formal. A free "underground" event of sorts. If you're interested, pay close attention to my @chasejarvis twitter handle and my Facebook fan page. I'll post details there soon. Hope to see you.
--

Get my every move: Follow Chase Jarvis on Twitter
Get exclusive content: Become a Fan on Facebook

Podcastius Maximus

I've had the good fortune of being invited to join distinguished hosts on a handful of photo industry podcasts recently. Here are a few links if you might be interested in hearing us yap. Many thanks to the gracious podcasters below.

Photo Focus
Listen to the podcast here.

This Week In Photography (TWIP)
Listen to the Podcast here.

Typical Shutterbug
Listen to the podcast here.

Camera Dojo
Listen to the Podcast here.

MACiLife/KZYK Radio
Listen to the podcast here.

--

Get my every move: Follow Chase Jarvis on Twitter
Get exclusive content: Become a Fan on Facebook

Best Business Practices For Photographers, by John Harrington

If chapter titles like...

_Working with Reps, Assistants, Employees, and Contractors: The Pitfalls and Benefits, or
_Transitioning to Freelance, or
_Licensing Your Work, or
_Setting Your Photographer’s Fees, or
_Releases: Model, Property, and Others

..don't get you to buy this book, perhaps my assessment of the book will:

I think Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition is essential reading for anyone even thinking about licensing an image, starting a business in photography, or dreaming of taking their photo game "pro".

Long time photographer, author, and blogger John Harrington today delivers his 2nd edition of this book in epic detail. The thought of creating this book makes my head explode because it's so loaded with details, facts, and examples. It's dry reading - but a lot of this stuff mission critical, or at least sets the stage for your understanding. John is a vocal advocate of photographer's rights. And while things in our industry are on the move, John's got a smart, conservative, and worthwhile voice for dotting your business i's and crossing your business t's. We should be thankful that he's done the work to assemble a strong reference guide. Consider thanking him and informing yourself by spending the $23 on Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition right now.

--

Get my every move: Follow Chase Jarvis on Twitter
Get exclusive content: Become a Fan on Facebook

More Moving Magazines, This by Alexx Henry For Outside

As more and more of us photogs co-mingle our still capture with motion capture, we're going to be seeing increasingly co-mingled media outlets increasingly more excited to increase their co-mingling of media.

You get my point.

Looks like Outside is along for the ride now, thus adding another solid print title to the short list of those that are doing more interesting things--either out of desperation or innovation--which is still up for debate. This cool vid from photographer Alexx Henry is his second such project if I'm not mistaken. He's got an "imagine the future..." sort of blog post that accompanies the vid here on his blog. Nice moves, Alexx.

Which brings me to my favorite thing about this sort of new media: in my experience (and I've heard here from Alexx's and many other friends out there too) the media outlets are actually interested in collaborating with their artists once again, rather than dictating to them as seemed to be the norm in the few years past.... That's a key word, collaboration. I think it yields far more interesting results. Hope this is more than a trend.

--

Get my every move: Follow Chase Jarvis on Twitter
Get exclusive content: Become a Fan on Facebook

Priced To Sell: Gladwell vs. Anderson Considering Photography

About 18 months ago, I wrote about Chris Anderson's 'Free' in the context of the ever-evolving landscape of photography, video, and their relation to new media. In today's New Yorker Magazine, Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point,Blink,and Outliers,) offers some cogent analysis and great counterpoints to Anderson's claims that are well worth the read:

"...And there’s plenty of other information out there that has chosen to run in the opposite direction from Free. The Times gives away its content on its Web site. But the Wall Street Journal has found that more than a million subscribers are quite happy to pay for the privilege of reading online. Broadcast television—the original practitioner of Free—is struggling. But premium cable, with its stiff monthly charges for specialty content, is doing just fine. Apple may soon make more money selling iPhone downloads (ideas) than it does from the iPhone itself (stuff). The company could one day give away the iPhone to boost downloads; it could give away the downloads to boost iPhone sales; or it could continue to do what it does now, and charge for both. Who knows? The only iron law here is the one too obvious to write a book about, which is that the digital age has so transformed the ways in which things are made and sold that there are no iron laws."

Counter to some predictions, photography and video are are not bound to 'Free'. I'm in agreement with Anderson that 'Free' is most certainly carving out its space--even reasonably so--in every digitally based industry, but I'm in complete alignment with Gladwell that the two markets 'Free' and 'Not Free' can and will continue to co-exist reasonably nicely. The trick is/will be in...[click the 'continue reading' link below]

--
...finding the balance. I find this to be the case in my own personal preferences, both in regards to how I obtain digital content as a user, as well as my life as a content creator and distributor.

Suffice it to say, this article is an essential read if you're at all interested in the intersection of art + new media. Get it here (for free ;) at the New Yorker: Priced to Sell, Is Free the Future?

Update...Featured Comment: I thought this comment by Craig Swanson of CreativeTechs was particularly smart and did a nice job of bridging the gap between Gladwell and Anderson. As such I'm featuring it here. I'd also say you could sub my name out of his thoughts and insert any independent artist who has taken a similar path...be it you or any other photographer on this march...

I've spent the weekend listening to the abridged audiobook of Chris Anderson's FREE. Which I (of course) downloaded for free as digital MP3 files. I think there is a tremendously important, and frequently missed point in the concept of "Free" as a business model tactic in today's digital economy.

In Chapter 3, Chris Anderson compares the results of abundance vs. scarcity in the prices of digital items in today's information industries.

I can't easily find the specific quote in the audiobook (which is one reason I've already ordered and paid for the printed edition), but Anderson compares the prices of digital commodities that are racing towards "Free" with other digital products such as Microsoft's Windows, or Adobe's Photoshop which have held their prices even while the marginal cost of manufacturing individual copies has dropped to nearly nothing.

The difference being that, for the moment, Microsoft and Adobe have maintained a level of monopoly with their products. If you want "Photoshop" there is only one company who makes it (Leaving out piracy and theft for the moment).

The question becomes where you and your creative work falls.

Today, we've seen the great abundance and availability of stock photography reducing the value and revenue from individual stock collections. Based on results, I think it is fair to note that generic stock image libraries are among the digital products already on a steady march towards "Free".

Meanwhile, the value of time and creativity from certain specific photographers (like you Chase) have increased greatly over that same period. While photography as a whole is quite abundant (abundant digital items are racing towards "Free" status), the availability of, for example, "Chase Jarvis" is quite scarce these days. (Scarce items maintain and even increase their value).

So I think this has a lot to do with how we manage our careers and art in the future. To maintain our value we must become our own monopoly. Become a "generic" photographer, designer, copywriter, or in my case Mac IT tech, and watch your market value drop as the world shifts.

Become a monopoly of one, and watch your value grow. I may be able to hire a generic photographer at a wide range of prices (including free in some cases). But if I want to hire Chase Jarvis, there is a single person who controls the price and availability of that particular monopoly.

It isn't easy. It isn't even fair. But it is the world we're living in.

[Thanks @mcbill for the tip! Gladwell image by C. Davidson/Hastac; Anderson image by Joebeone.]

Photoshelter Closes Collection + Corbis Cuts Jobs

Today Photoshelter announced that, beginning October 10, 2008, they will no longer be licensing stock images. Major bummer for the industry. I'm currently in NYC, so I'll try to connect with Allen and Grover to pass along well wishes over a stiff drink...

Accompanying that news, Corbis today announced that they've cut a bunch of jobs and trimmed spending. Ouch.

In looking for a silver lining amidst today's news, Photoshelter will refocus their resources and continue to enhance and grow their Personal Archive feature that allows for bi-coastal, bulletproof backup of your images. That's a good thing. Consider also that, although Photoshelter has pulled the plug on Shoot! The Blog, the witty and charming blog stewardess, Rachel Hulin, is spinning off another blog of the same flavor. Tune into her - she's great.

Condolences to our comrades.

--