Rant Mode : ON

Many of you who know me, know that my atitude about my website is pretty laissez-faire. I am not shooting on spec, I have a guaranteed sale on all the assignments I shoot.

So maybe I shouldn't be so pissed off at this, but this really got my dander up earlier today at the soccer games.

The were two games this morning, Girls at 10, and boys at 12. The early game was for the Middlesex League Championship, and it was Woburn -vs- Winchester (archrivals for years!). So as I am standing photographing the girls game, a photographer I have never seen before shows up, sporting a PRESS pass around his neck, and starts talking to me.

What are you shootin' at?? He asks, and I casually answer him with "200 ISO at whatever the camera says is OK".

He moves off and we shoot the rest of the first half.

So here is the incredulous part: I asked him who he represented, as he was sporting a press pass, and he told me this: "Oh I am a FULL TIME STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER for _______________ ( a large daily paper in an area of Massachusetts that is a 40 or so minute drive away) and I don't work on the weekends, so I just find out the top games in the area and I go shoot them, and then I pass out lots of business cards to the crowd. I do really well with the parents from _________________ and _______________ and _________________ etc.

Is it just me?? I just cannot beleive that this guy has the unmitigated gall to come to my house and try to sell photos to my customers. Ya ya I know, it is a free country etc...

So now I am competing against the parents, the big corporate website shooters, and some GWCAWS.

It is enough to make me just want to fold my tents and go back to refusing the reprint business.

No, not really! The website for me is a time saver and an income generator, though not a ton - I will never get rich on the web income, but it is enough to take the family out to dinner or buy some small camera gear.

I suppose I should be happy though... many of those on the sidelines threw away the small sheet of paper he passed out, and his website is so long, I doubt anyone will remember it (www.xxxxxxx.exposuremanager.com sheesh!)

So I hope you will tell all your friends about MY WEBSITE and I truly thank you for any and referrals!