digital is not cheaper...

you want it for what? free?

while many people see the digital age of photography as the greatest thing since sliced bread, i on the other hand, as well as many of my other photography colleagues, think otherwise.

while there are indeed some great benefits to digital - faster turn around, greater retouching abilities and instant gratification - the flip side is at what cost does this convenience come with? i'm not just speaking dollars and cents. i'm also talking about the deterioration of the industry as a whole (which i'll address in another entry).

there are so many negative sides that i really don't know where to start...or where the end is. one of the biggest misconceptions is that because it's digital, it's cheaper.

let me say this loud and clear...DIGITAL IS NOT CHEAPER!!!

while there are no film and processing costs and digital media keeps getting cheaper and cheaper, people often forget that professional photographers need to upgrade their equipment a lot more often.

back in the film days, i used the same two camera bodies and five lenses for over 10 years. fast-foward to digital. in just over 5 years, i have upgraded my camera bodies twice and my computer twice. thankfully, i have been able to use the same lenses. my laptop, however, is due for an upgrade within the year. add to that the cost of software and upgrades. as you can imagine, this will all add up into the 5 digit zone. give me back those film and processing charges...at least clients were willing to pay for those!

as a result of this digital-is-cheaper mentality, people tend to want it for less...or worse yet, free. people seem to think that because there are no real tangible costs to copying or transmitting digital files that they shouldn't have to pay for them.

think again.

while there may not be any tangible costs involved, there is still intrinsic value within each digital file. after all, if someone wants to use it, then it should have value.

a colleague of mine sent me this youtube video, which led to me to write this blog entry. although he's talking about a video interview, i think screenwriter Harlan Ellison pretty much covers the notion of giving your stuff away and why people shouldn't expect it for free.


any questions?