TWIP (This Week In Photo) episode 406 is online. Go to thisweekinphoto.com/twip-406-i-villain-i-photographer/ to see and hear this episode, which I co-hosted with Frederick Van Johnson and Ibarionex Perello.

To celebrate, here’s some great news: for one week, until April 10, you get 15% off any order on http://learning.photography by using discount code TWIP on the last order page. My e-books, courses, and shoots: everything is 15% off, for one week only.

Now go on, and read on.

Time out for an unusual post!

You know I am always on at you all to back up your data? I also recommend you back up your cameras. Which is why I have more than a few. Cameras break. Memory cards go south. People drop things, including cameras. There is only one way to prevent issues, and that is by having spares for everything.

But there is such a thing as “too much”, and I have too many SLR cameras: one of them, my 7D, is therefore for sale.

If you are interested, let me know. Body only; plus an aftermarket battery grip. Camera has minor normal wear and tear and is in full working order and in great shape. $650.

Tomorrow, back to regular programming.

According to Poynter in an article dated today, Sports Illustrated has just fired all of its photographers. Story is here (click).

A sad story, but it is perhaps not quite as sad as it seems at first sight. After all, the magazine will still be illustrated. Someone is still going to be sitting there with big lenses snapping away. The magazine will just have to use freelancers instead. Meaning varying quality levels and logistics challenges, but also meaning (or so the accountants in charge hope) savings.

No more vacation time. No sick leave. No travel cost, hotels, or airfare. Now, the freelancer has to buy his or her own lenses. No cost except a fee per shoot. An accountant’s dream.

But a manager’s nightmare: it also means no loyalty, no common approach, no consistency of skills. And debatable cost savings once all that is taken into account.

Uncommoditize Yourself

What it shows very clearly is that the accountants see photography as a commodity. The perception is that photography is what you do with a camera, so if you have the camera you have what you need: just aim and shoot. “My uncle has one of those” means “my uncle is therefore a photographer as well”.

So what you need to do if you want to make a living (or continue to make a living) as a photographer is to ensure that your product or service is not seen as a commodity. From beginning to end, you need to educate your clients and potential clients. Some of the ways are photography related; many are almost trivial:

• My product says “quality” from beginning to end.
• I use large cameras. Uncle Fred has a smaller camera.
• I write this blog and I write books.
• I have a good web presence.
• I use techniques (like dramatic flash) that ensure I am seen as different.
• ‘I develop a personal style, a recognizable one.
• I produce prints, with a nice margin, on pro paper.
• I handle them with gloves on.
• My emails have a good signature file.
• My envelopes have printed labels, not handwritten scribbles.
• I do professional post work in Adobe Lightroom, again with a recognizable personal style.
• …and so on.

It’s not so difficult to make your product stand out. But it is essential. The small, almost trivial things can in fact be very important (consider the “out of the box experience” or the magnetic power supply connection when you buy an Apple product). Offer value, and once your clients see this value, they will appreciate it.

It may of course mean moving out of photojournalism and into, say, weddings, or something else. The world keeps changing and nevertheless there will always be successful photographers. Just not as many of them as there were before. Start thinking now and you can be one of them.

By all means join the comments (above, click in the bubble).