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| Posted on July 9th 2008 by Bryan |
 
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Time tough (time tough)
Everything is out of sight, so hard
(so hard) so hard (so hard)
Time tough (time tough)
Everything is going higher and higher
(higher and higher)
-"Time Tough" - Toots and the Maytals
Times are tough now for many Americans, including yours truly. I'm in freak-out mode now that I don't have the money I need to do things and yet, I HAVE a job! That's how hard it is to live in the United States these days when you have a job and you consider yourself poor. Sure, I have a nice apartment at the moment (that I can't really pay for). My work commute is only 15 minutes away but gas prices are around $4.35 in Orange County, I still feel like taking a bike to work. Maybe the country should go back to riding horses? Food prices are also up and it makes me feel like eating peanut butter & jelly sandwiches everyday. I can probably do it too, I love me some PB&J!
But the things you've grown accustomed to doing over the years have to take a backseat to normal life it seems. Things like going to lots of concerts, going to lots of movies, going on vacations seem near impossible in 2008. I love going to shows in the city but now every time I go to a show, it will probably cost at least 60 bucks in gas, parking, bridge tolls alone!! That's a lot of fucking money just to go into the city WITHOUT even going to anything yet. Then you have to factor in the ticket price, but thankfully I don't have to pay for that too often. In the end, it just doesn't seem worth it.
As much as I want to see as many shows and shoot them; the cost to do everything isn't worth photographing shows. It's especially hard when I don't feel like I'm getting that much more exposure anyway. I want to get exposure more and shoot more but when you're not getting paid for any of these photos, it doesn't seem as important anymore. It's certainly hard to make a living as a photographer. Unless you have contacts with a magazine or a big website that pays for photos, I can't see myself doing this concert photography thing as side business. Don't get me wrong, its fun shooting shows but it's not so much fun spending all this money and you never see a return. Occasionally you'll get some fan wanting to buy a print but the price of those isn't that much. As a photographer, you need to shoot everything to make a living out of it. I've tried to contact bands to shoot some promotional photos of them, but everyone wants the photos for next to nothing OR nothing. Gimme a break, people need to make a living. If you want your dopey girlfriend to keep taking pictures of your band with her point & shoot for free, be my guest. There's something definitely wrong with the photography world but that's another rant for another time. I already seemed like I ranted about it enough here.
I want to move closer to NYC in the fall so that should help out tremendously with going to shows but I'm sure I'll feel just as poor trying to pay for NYC area prices. 8 dollars for a sandwich!? Are you fucking kidding me! Yes that's how much a sandwich in the city cost. The rent prices are high but I wouldn't be using my car, or at all. I'd still like to have a car so I can go upstate to see family and go on vacations when I can actually afford it again. I could move to some Bumblefuck, Arizona or something but the jobs would probably be scarce and wouldn't pay as well. Maybe when I'm older I'll move down south where things are cheaper but for now I need to make money. I'm not even talking like becoming rich type of money, just money to stay afloat.
I'm always looking for side work but haven't been that aggressive with it lately. I think it's time to start knocking down some doors and trying to get myself some work. I mainly do web design but I can also do some photography as well. I was thinking of trying to do wedding photography but don't know anyone who's currently doing it that can bring me in. I guess for now I'll just send cold messages/e-mails to bands, companies to see if they need design or photography work. If you happen to know anyone that needs those things, please contact me at bryan@readjunk.com or IM me at XXXSkaPunk. Thanks!
This blog entry is quite long enough and I'm done ranting. If you think you have any solutions to my money problems, post a comment below! |
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