Dealt by the devil

First of all, I love my job. Getting the opportunity to take photos of my good friends in an environment that very few are lucky enough to witness could be called payment in itself………

Unfortunately this form of payment doesn’t help with providing food to eat, gear upgrades, mobile phones, petrol and maintenance of the automobile and internet bandwidth for sending off files and following weather. This isn’t even taking into account the time spent learning the skill, hours working and the dangerous situations every surf photographer faces at some stage.  I don’t want to put negative spin on this at the moment; I take photos because I absolutely love it. I enjoy seeing my good friends getting the exposure they well and truly deserve.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a time before the digital onslaught, when every man and dog didn’t possess a camera that could shoot 8 frames a second, a good autofocus system, USB cord and a email address. In these days my biggest influences such a Phil Gallagher, Tim Jones and others were able to make a living from it. These guys had a system, it may not have been perfect, but it worked. This resulted in us being lucky enough to witness a abundance of amazing images from a variety of different countries. This inspiration is what led me into the industry.

Today there are still photographers battling away trying to make a living.  Unfortunately the industry of today is very different. We as photographers and aspiring photographers are lucky enough to have three beautiful bodyboarding magazines in Le Boogie, Movement and Riptide to exhibit our most prized recent work. But the magazines are not where the heart of the problem lies. Because magazines have there own set rates, there is order and control throughout the selection and editing process of the submitted work,. The bulk of income for a Surf/ Bodyboard photographer has always come from advertising work. We as experienced photographers try to keep a set of universal rates to base any quote to a client from. Without these rates then we start seeing full page and double page adverts getting sold for $200 or a board and pair of fins.  I highly doubt Mr Gallagher’s  wife would be too impressed if he came home and lumped a brand new bodyboard on the table for dinner that night!

The purpose of this article is to educate. If you’re a young photographer and a worldwide company approaches you and offers you a free board in exchange for your hard work, say NO! The temptation will always be there to say yes; exposure, seeing your work in print, future contacts etc etc ect, whatever you want to tell yourself. I can guarantee that before the said company has approached you, they would have approached a more experience photographer with the same offer that was most likely laughed at and turned down. But just be warned, if decide you sell a photo to one of these companies for a free bodyboard or some form of clothing, the next time around they will offer you even less.  If you do accept the offer put forward, please know that as a consequence of your actions the guys you have sought inspiration from in the past have been bent over and screwed as a result of your deal.

Ive had a lot of frustrating and hard times in my few years spent in this industry, but probably my most gutting one happened today, ill try to explain the best I can without naming names. I am fortunate enough to have a good friend that is rapidly climbing the ranks to the elite group of Australia’s Bodyboarders. Over the past few years he has shown amazing persistence and hard work ethic to chase his dream. I’ve been spending the same amount of time and countless dollars following him overseas and roaming the countryside. The past week has seen me negotiating with his major sponsor for a new double page advert in future magazines. I was offered the usual product in exchange for use of the image and politely declined, all the while keeping up negotiation with the client. Today I received news that a said friend received the same offer of a free bodyboard and jumped at the deal. This person is the perfect example of what is wrong in the Bodyboarding today. Not only have I lost out on all the hard work from the previous few months, the rider is also let down by receiving a advert that does not truly reflect the hard work and commitment he has put in.  In this case there are no excuses, the said person has been floating around in this industry for the past few years, just not very successfully.

If ANY young photographer out there wants to know more about the industry or would like a copy of rates to base their own off, please get in contact with me. I’m always happy to lend a hand.