Jim Gilley wrote: >To begin, I believe that shots taken today are essentially worthless.
Talking about RR slides, other than possibly resulting in a few free calendars or book copies, you are correct. You don't want my opinions of the industry standards current publication rates (by circulation) compaired to what the 'fan' magazines provide (without proper rights and copyright labeling). I'm talking monetary here. Historical value is obviously a moot point on slides from last week. And the sheer quantity of RR slides keeps values of all types down in the long run. >Supply and demand determines the value of most commodities, rail >photos included. True. But treating RR photography like a hobby will only get you minimal 'hobby compensation' when you (or whomever) decides that they may be worth something later (historical 'donations'). Supply and demand/quantity is interesting. It is also interesting that I can get $375.00 for a slide of corn growing, but I can't get $50.00 (or $12.00) for a shot from a RR fan magazine. I admire those of you who continually submit your RR shots just for the fun of sharing them with the rest of us. But monitarily, your shot is only worth as much as your last check for it ($10.00?), because that is the 'fan' policy and we have a very slim market for most RR shots outside of the hobby. >A friend of mine (speak up if you wish) I am... >laments the fact that fan >magazines don't pay worth a damn. That's exactly what I said and that's why you can't open your monthly fan magazine to see my 'donation'. Where you did in the past, the compensation barely covered the postage. >Why? Supply and demand. Sure, you >get into a field which isn't hobby oriented, you can probably make >decent money selling shots to magazines; but with railfan mags, >nickels and dimes are the rule. Why would a magazine want to pay >$300 for your photo when they have 10 other guys willing to give >them the same shot for free just to see their name in print? Anyone >who thinks they're making good money by taking train pictures is >suffering from delusions (with VERY few exceptions). Bingo! >Anyway, back to our main topic. Do you not agree that modern era >train pictures essentially have no monetary value? Ok then, what >about 50 years from now? Well, there ARE a hell of a lot of fans, and >a lot of them seem to think they are serving some higher cause by >preserving some precious piece of history that would be lost were it >not for their noble efforts (more delusions)... Jim, I'm glad you addressed this accurately so I can get back to work on another screen. :) As a closing note: >I suppose one idea is to donate your collection to a state >historical society. I like this idea, because in theory, it makes >your work a public resource. So at least IF there is any historical >significance to your work (highly doubtful), then it is available to >all for free. I believe some rather notable fans of yesteryear took >this route (e.g. Otto Perry). An excellent idea and suggestion that many can benefit from in a positive way. Regards, Dave Cohen Photographer [EMAIL PROTECTED] --> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects X-Mozilla-Status: 0001 Content-Length: 7476
