One other thing that I ponder sometimes when reading a lot of people threads on different photography forums, is this 'need' to make money from photography. Why do so many people have this drive to make money from their hobby? Why do so many people see photography (their hobby) as some sort of cash cow?
Don't say it's a way to recoup monies spent on pricey equipment. There's many many costlier hobbies and pursuits than photography and people don't see the need to charge (even family members!) others to get some money back on their expenditure like many photographers seem to do.
Because they've 'produced' something? Honestly, you've pushed a button on an electonic handheld computer and it's captured an image......good for you (
).
One of my other hobbies is woodturning. XXXXX amount of dollars tied up in machinery, tools and exotic wood blanks. When you've spent hours and sometimes days making something from a rough piece of wood into a beautiful and functional piece of 'art' you can really say you 'made it'. I've made hundreds of pieces and given every single one of them away. I'm not unusual, in my group of "woodies" they all give their 'art' away for free. They don't see the need to recoup on their outlay of machinery and wood, nor make money from their 'art'.
Another pastime is water skiiing and wakeboarding. My boat is worth XXXXXX (yep six figures) the thought has never crossed my mind when friends and friends of friends are being towed behind me to ask them for a cheque or better yet have a credit card point of sale device on board so that after there go they can pay me.......so that I can recoup some of my outlay.
So what is this inexplicable (at least to me) need for lots of people to charge money for photography? What stops people from being generous, even with their own family members when it comes to taking photos and giving images away?
When it comes to photography, some of us do seem a little precious.