$ vs Apathy

Say you have a two day gig that will pay just under 9k net, but it is HARD work, non stop for 18 hours both days, the result is something you are not that thrilled about but none the less it is a client.

The client is ok, the money is not a factor, my assistants and crew could use the work, the talent I have to work with is C grade. I'd probably spend the two days watching TV or putzing about in my own leisurely (now comfortable) weekend fashion.

I am on the fence. Thoughts to get one motivated? Don't say I've got nothing better to do, because I'll make busy work for myself, like... paint the house.

 

I don't know what type of work you are talking about but, I'll give it a shot. In my career, I've put in many of those long days with crappy pay on many thankless jobs. You see, I work for the Government and I know I will have many more to come in the future. That situation that you are talking about is a very good time to get to know your "C" grade crew and what makes them tick. You find out their strong and weak points and motivation factors. After all of that, you take and educate them on their weak points and let the magic begin. If properly motivated (not with an iron fist), you will see the benefits of the weak becoming the past and the strong the future. Then, you will then start to feel the power of your leadership through better productiveness and profits.

 

the line of work involves girls pretending to be models, and not even pretty girls, much less model quality. somehow i have to fake the funk and be all happy and excited to see them. my crew, well i have been using the same guys for atleast 4 years. it is old hat for them.

it is not like i can divide the work, it is an all or nothing and i need to figure it out by tuesday morning. I'll literally spend 6-7 hours at a time standing and kneeling, hand holding a 5lbs camera, loading unloading bag after bag of film. I'll get a few nibbles of food here and there, but not enough time to actually eat. normally i don't mind as much, and well let's be honest, who could not use another 9k, but i know that the shoot will produce nothing i can personally use to advance my career status, just good money and sore arms. guaranteed after the shoot, i'll be bleeding from under my fingernails (part of peeling film), sore arms, dehydrated slightly, starved, back spasms, and other exhaustion related maladies.

 

Don't do it.

It's clear you do not want to do it, and the more misery that you get involved with in connection with your job, subconsciously, little by little you will begin to hate your job. trust me on this.

 

give everyone a tab of acid beforehand and answer everything in the form of a question.

 

Simon,

If your really going to hate it, pass. But, if it's just a bit of aggravation, then do it and plan to make it easier. For example, slow down, let someone else peel the film and have someone standing by with water or Gatoraide, have the shoot catered. Sounds like you could add an assistant in the budget.

Good luck & let us know what you decide.

Also, you mention the girls are Bs at best, this might be good practice for those "off days"

 

I have 3 assistants each day, usually have a loader, but sometimes I gotta load too, on the now 36+ models, I'll be doing heavy loading. I do cater frequently, it is just not having time to eat.

Sadly one of the 6 new girls that I now see is really hot, and I don't know if I can alienate a client. I know I am making excuses to shoot now, how hypocritical of me, oh well.

I am 40/60 on shooting this. I'll probably make a bet on some sporting event this week, if the home team wins I'll stay home.

 

9k for 2 days work, I'd sure as hell do it if I had nothing else to do. Don't know if you need the money or what you'ld do with it, hell use it to pay for your insurance, a tv, vacation, whatever or just save it. Or you could take $5-$15 and pay for a subscribtion , but this coming from another unsubribed member

Plus if one of the girls is HOT, then you sure as hell better do it!!!

have fun
Dan

 

Good plan...mebbe interview some sperm sorters too?
Everyone has to phone it in for awhile. Problem comes when you only can phone it in. That's when to quit/change horses.

 

i cant belive you are complaining about taking pictures of naked women. LOL. JK. If you dont want to do it, dont. But if money is tight then do it, and complain every second that u are doing it.

 

At $4.17 pre-tax a minute, you should have no complaints.

Make it a labor of love. Have a goal in mind with the earnings. After all, it wasn't that long ago a certain production company wanted to stiff you on your share. Seeing how a stroke I wished upon said company founder happened, you should have a wicked little grin going the whole time.

Just do it. Swoosh.

 

Take the job. Use the $9k to hire someone to paint your house. Set up a lawn chair in the back yard. Drag out a cooler full of beer. Yell "you missed a spot" every five minutes. Remind yourself that you are a photographer and you're damn glad you don't have to paint houses with some arrogant jack@ss yelling at you every five minutes.

Does this help?

 

Do it, then treat yourself to a vaccation. Plan to make the payoff more than just money.

 

If nothing else motivates you, you could donate some/all the money to the tsunami victims

 

I'll second that!

/Peter

 

Uh oh, sounds like burn out to me.

Dr "Is that toast burning?" Who

 

At least you didn't offer to match that

 

be careful, you may wake the troll...

 

not gonna do it, decided to do another smaller assignment instead for far less money. too much work for what it was worth...

 

You made the right decision, absolutely. YOU are controlling your life. good man.

 

Well I have a scheduled shoot of 6 girls on the 29th, and instead of doing the mass shoot, I just sold two e-commerce cart installations and hosting for $6k a pop. Took me all of 8 hours (cumulative) to get the databases up and running and the ssl certs installed. I like those numbers more than doing a bad shoot. Actually it is another barter situation for one, Timmy gets a new bigscreen Damn, I am selfish.