It’s with mixed emotions that I throw my laptop bag into the back seat, grab a coffee and head down the 405 to start each workshop. On the one hand, I’m always excited as hell that photographers are interested enough to learn about the business side of freelancing that they’ll give up an…
The passing of Prince last week gave the world pause to consider the nearly peerless artistic success and untimely death of an iconic musician. He was renowned for his ability to create a distinctive sound and deliver to his worldwide fan base a library of songs that put him among the Lennons, Jacksons, Bowies and Marleys of…
“When you have a conflict, that means that there are truths that have to be addressed on each side of the conflict. And when you have a conflict, then it’s an educational process to try to resolve the conflict. And to resolve that, you have to get people on both sides of the conflict involved…
It always starts the same way, usually on a Monday. In fact, I’ve come to expect them so much that I can take bets on when they arrive and feel comfortable that I’d win nearly every time. It’s the “Thank You” email following a weekend of teaching my workshop. At first they were a pleasure to…
What was bred from frustration has grown into a passion. Who would have known? Certainly not me. Several years ago I began to build a curriculum for a seminar course with the idealogical approach that I could somehow do something to stem the devaluation of photography and photojournalism. I suspected that a middle aged…
After years of reading posts on various social media sites from young photographers with years (yes, years) of experience, I was almost ready to admit it: I’m a dinosaur, a relic from the past, a slow moving Snorkasaurus (picture Dino from the Flintstones) with one foot stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits and one trying desperately…
Josh Rossi, who founded a popular photography podcast, interviewed me recently about my experiences as a freelance photographer today versus years past, client development as well as mentioning my workshop. The interview runs about 20 minutes and is available for free on iTunes as well. Todd Bigelow Photography
The Titanic was the largest passenger cruise ship to sail the ocean. As such, it relied on the captain to steer the ship in a responsible manner in an effort to avoid a catastrophe. The captain failed, hit an iceberg and ultimately sank the vessel. But only after failing to realize the enormity of the disaster….
Despite all the angst from photographers about publications unwilling to license photography for standard rates, I’ve found that the licensing answer is exceedingly simple. Of course, this “answer” is really just my opinion and I openly acknowledge that others may choose to adhere to alternative solutions, but this works for me. In fact, it’s worked quite…
It took me a couple of days of reading about Getty Images announcement that they will make 35 million images available for free. Yes, free. As in “you want it, you can have it.” A few of the stories, like these from the Niemanlab site and Photoshelter focus more on the reality of Getty’s bombshell move, while…