It's good to know...

[HTM|JaK_5quat]

...that there are still a "couple things" left in this increasingly graceless world that can make your "heart sing" with the joy of being alive.

http://www.tagtele.com/v/11924

[HTM~ZenEye]

Dude this has got to be like the 5th time Rodney has been posted here lol.

i do like boobies tho yes sir... mmm... yes indeed.

[Freak]

Boob in 1 hand & a beer in the other. TB!

[HTM|Minion]

I love my country for sure!

Thanks Jak!

[HTM~Night_Ranger]

I had a really shitty night at work last night. Thanks Jak, you just made my day!

[HTM|JaK_5quat]

Dude this has got to be like the 5th time Rodney has been posted here lol.

I admit I didn't even check. But I'd never seen it and when a buddy emailed me the link the first thing I thought of was Freak and the Titties and Beer song, so I posted. It had also been a while since I'd been in so there ya go.

[Freak]

So is our boat ready for some fishing yet?

[cUnNiNg_StUnTs]

Don't know if y'all knew it or not but the Tiddies and Beer I used to active on the zounds all the time is the same guy. That's TB on the zounds command. Thank got'allmighty! for tiddies and beer.

[HTM|JaK_5quat]

So is our boat ready for some fishing yet?

Well, not quite. She's pretty dirty from a fairly hard winter here this year. And actually that dirt includes most of the winter before because last summer, when gas prices were at the $5 mark she remained on the trailer, lost and forlorn. You could say I'm one of the many that helped get the prices lowered by simply not buying the same amount I have for years - probably well over a thousand gallons I usually pump into the boat over the summer, stayed in their tanks helping cause the surplus the eventually brought the prices down.

2008 was the worst year financially that I have seen since my twenties. When the economy goes as badly sour as it has, the commercial photography biz is like the proverbial 'canary in a coal mine'; it's the first to wither and die. It's not that companies necessarily slash their advertising budgets - sometimes they even raise them - but they usually push the lion's share toward the publishing/placement end and squeeze the production end, and the first guy in line on that end is the assignment photog.

So anyway, not to belabor the issue, I'm still digging my way out. Things are picking up and I've been really busy the last few weeks which is quite a relief, though a little depressing because at 53 I had perfect credit and now at 54 it's in the crapper and I'll probably be fighting it the rest of my life - thanks again for your great service to the country George W, you mutha'fuc... shut your mouth!

I'll be washing and waxing in the coming weeks (as you know, summer doesn't really come to the Northwest until July - and only if we're lucky LOL).

So just for fun, below are my last two assignments for a client I've had for fifteen years. they also serve as the perfect examples of why I love commercial, as opposed to portrait/wedding, photography.

Over the holiday season in 2008 I fell back into doing some portrait work so my kids could have a Christmas. Here's how a typical interaction goes: I shoot this one family at their home and they love the shots. I make $75 for the location sitting and they buy Christmas cards for one of the shots and I make around $25 profit for that. Then over the next two months we exchange numerous emails; the wife narrows it to about 8 pics - one 16X20 matted and framed and the rest as $8 4X6's; I give her the estimate and put up a web gallery of the finals; she complains about the $10 one-time retouching fee for the first print of any pose (for which I get $100/hr when it's commercial; so she changes her mind; we exchange more emails; it goes on eating more of my time; I'm friendly and professional but tired of it and becoming annoyed inside. FINALLY, she buys one matted and framed 11 X 14 with my cheapest frame; I spend the half-hour it takes to make the family beautiful in Photoshop; do a small test print, tweak it, make the final print and mount, mat and frame. Total=$75. Frame, matboard, foamcore mount around $25 my cost, so $50 profit. So my total profit for a 2 hr location shoot and 1hr initial development ($75 profit), the Christmas cards ($25 profit). 2 to 3 hours of emails over 2 months, along with an hour total creating web galleries and estimates ($0), and about an hour retouching, tweaking the final print, cutting the mat and mount and sealing the frame ($50 profit) come to - drumroll please - $150.

Commercial Photography: It's very simple: Full-Day(up to 9hrs)=$900 Half-Day(up to 5hrs)=$600 Overtime=$125/hr Editing and Admin time=$100/hr

The first shot: One 10hr day to set-up the scene and light it. One 8hr day to lay in the fresh fruit and the 3 spoons with product, shoot roughly 200 frames and break it all down and go home. Then roughly 5 1/2 hrs to pare it down to about 10 perfect shots, retouch any flaws, create a gallery for final approval (sometimes it's a meeting with a few prints - for which they are charged) and finally upload it to their graphic house's ftp. No fuss, no muss. Basically 3 days work = $2500 plus reimbursement for all the perishables (the toaster, dishes, cutting board, spoons, etc are out of my own prop stash). And that gets them the limited license for "...advertising use in all markets, both electronic and print, for one full year. All other rights reserved ©Jeff Lindeman" Continued use beyond the first year requires an additional negotiated fee.

And that's why I love advertising photography! That and the "respect" the client gives. They understand the value you bring to the table. They don't usually "gush" and blow smoke up your ass on how wonderful you are and then complain about the fees; it's usually a simple "good job and thanks for your expertise - please submit your invoice to Accounts Payable."

Didn't plan on a "rant" here, but there ya go and I feel better now. And here are the 2 shots I promised. The second one, being a little simpler to set up, was a one-day shoot with a half-day of editing for $1500.

[Freak]

Just ask 1 favor,don't just blame Bush.The huge government spending and total stupidity goes back too many administrations to even count and continues on as I write.Now I hear them say oil prices are rising again and this is good for the economy,geez not from my perspective.How much more money do we borrow from China until they say we own you and are now taking over? Just a thought.

Piss on this,let's go fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HTM|JaK_5quat]

Piss on this,let's go fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The worst day fishin'....

Just ask 1 favor,don't just blame Bush. The huge government spending and total stupidity goes back too many administrations to even count and continues on as I write.

Truth. My little Facebook site; don't laugh, I've gotten 3 jobs in the last few months through contacts on Facebook; but it states my Political View as Apathetic. I neither love nor loathe Obama; I'm hopeful, if only based on the popular reaction of the rest of the world - kind of a change to see tears of hope and joy instead of grimacing faces shouting and burning flags.

The thing about the Bush Administration is just that they were handed a balanced budget by the Clinton Administration (hmmm, maybe Oval Office Blow Jobs should be a requirement added to the Oath of Office.) and in eight years we have the largest deficit in history. That and his embarrassing buffoonery and ignoramus mangling of the language on the world stage make him an easy target. Comedians the world over must be in a state of shock and inconsolable mourning. hehheh

DONE - NOTHING MORE ABOUT POLITICS SHALL MY LIPS UTTER. "My lips utter"... YD is closing his eyes right now and rolling those words around in his mind as he plans his next dinner date with The Goat. mmm... udder. Baaaaaaaa

Anyway, yeah, fishin' sounds good to me

[HTM~ZenEye]

The thing about the Bush Administration is just that they were handed a balanced budget by the Clinton Administration (hmmm, maybe Oval Office Blow Jobs should be a requirement added to the Oath of Office.) and in eight years we have the largest deficit in history. That and his embarrassing buffoonery and ignoramus mangling of the language on the world stage make him an easy target. Comedians the world over must be in a state of shock and inconsolable mourning. hehheh

Anyway, yeah, fishin' sounds good to me

Your lips may not utter it, however VB has this wonderful quote feature hehehe. Bush would have done better if his wife would have let him drink more, sometimes things just look clearer at the bottom of a whiskey bottle ya know? Ok so blowjobs and whiskey, check!

All we need to do is re-invest in ourselves and stop giving into corporate greed and we should be fine. If not, I'd love to see some enemy insurgents deal with the mountainous terrain of PA without gettin' sniped by numerous .50 cals. Lol, bring the pain.

ok now im done with politics too

Someone say fishing?

[Freak]

And if Hilary would have swallowed no Monica and Bill would have done much better.

[HTM|Minion]

I have a couple "fishing" related issues myself....

1) Stick to your campaign promises, I've yet to see this "scalpel" that was supposed to "trim the fat" out of government spending.

2) Proven fact: You can't BORROW your way out of DEBT.

Bush was far from perfect, but I can't fully blame him for our situation. He spent money no doubt, but he did it to protect our freedom. It wasn't his watch that loosened the regulations and gave everyone the right to buy a home regardless if they could afford it or not. I believe you get out of life what you put into it, if you choose not to contribute through good old fashioned hard work then you should be entitled to nothing.

Let the American people fix things, we are what made this country great, let the strong survive and rebuild from there. I hate to see my grandson be left with the bill from something he didn't take part in.


I know we have a "No Politics" rule around here, but these are challenging times and I think it's ok for you guys to speak out here. I'll create a new section if you want so we can keep it contained if anyone wants to avoid the issues.

[Freak]

Thing is as history shows eventually the economy will turn around regardless of how many costly and stupid mistakes the administration makes.Hope the grand kids don't hold the payments to China(aka extreme high taxes) against us.