Photography vs. Music (operating costs)

somebody called me asking for a price quote for a picture for a band, when I told him how much I charged he was like... "you charge that much just for that? Okay, I'll have to think about it. 'Click'"

I don't usually get that kind of response being that I'm still on the low end in terms of price. (Although not when it comes to quality of course.) People just don't realize how expensive it is to run a photography business. And sure, other businesses like say a manufacturing plant or whatever have vastly greater operating costs and a larger investment in terms of capital but at least they're able to make up for it in terms of quantity. With photography, one is very limited in terms of how many gigs we can take on. Not only because of the time we have to spend on site actually shooting but also, and especially, because of the insane amount of time we have to spend in post (production). This is especially true now that the digital age has forced most photographers to do much of the editing themselves.

The fact that photography is an expensive craft became quite obvious to me when I first started out several years ago. Since then, I've grown fairly accustomed to this unfortunate fact of life, and don't usually give it much thought. Lately though, I've been contemplating getting back into music. Songwriting, composing, recording, that sort of thing. And a fact of life which I had managed to deal with for the past few years became once again a very apparent thorn on my side.

I figured, okay, I spent X amount of money in photography equipment, software etc. in order to produce a professional product consistently and reliably. So I figure, okay, I should probably expect to spend about as much for my home recording studio.... more or less. WRONG!! Music is soo much cheaper. I won't go into the details but just to give you an example...

Adobe Photoshop (the industry standard for imaging professionals) - $700

ProTools (the industry standard for recording industry professionals) - $250

The price I'll eventually have to pay for a respectable recording thingamajigums is about half of what my backup photography gear cost. That's right. That's just my backup gear. Ugh. I hate spending money.

I love creating stuff though so what can you do :(

Camila Sofia's first photoshoot

Camila is doing much better. She was at Mary Birch Hospital for a total of 2 months... I think, or was it 3? Usually I'd check my pictures to see what day this or that happened but my hard drive had a total melt down whilst at the hospital, and now I'm missing most of the pictures I took from March to August. Anyways, here are some updated snapshots of the little whippersnapper (taken September 28th, 2008). Sept 28th!?!?! Wow, I can't believe how time flies. I really should start getting ready for another photo shoot.

Camila Sofia

For those of you who haven't met her, this is my daughter Camila Sofia. She was born on June 3rd 2008 with a few complications. The first picture was taken when she was 4 days old and the second at 17 days. The edema is gone now and she is breathing room air on her own. The arterial line is gone and so are most of the IVs. The only thing we're waiting for now is for her to eat entirely on her own. Once that happens, they'll take out the last IV line and we'll probably be able to take her home.

google ranks (again)

I spent the first few days in February relentlessly adding links to my website (sbaphotography.com). It took hours and days of going from directory to directory but it looks like it finally paid off. Yup, that's right, I finally moved up on the google search results. 6th on the first page now for my primary search terms (san diego wedding photographer). sweet. we'll have to wait and see how long it lasts. Who knows, I might actually be able to pay the rent now after all LOL.

my little dude (or dudette)

check out my little dude. supposedly 14 weeks and 2 days old in this picture... i think he (she) kinda looks like a monkey a little bit, oh well, you win some you lose some :)

cable

well, the cable guy came by tonight. Apparently they just now found out that I have been getting free cable for the last three and a half years. LOL! It took them long enough.

Mama Rat (a.k.a. Bonita Bonita)

it's so sad. My mama rat is in her last dying days and I think it might be better if I put her down before I leave to go to Mexico. So so sad. She used to be such a vivacious little thing, now she's just a bag of skin and bones who can barely pick herself up when she falls (which is often).

Work!

This is starting to suck. I'm not sure exactly how it happened but I'm actually starting to work again. I'm starting to feel as tired and overworked as I did when I was working 60 hrs + going to school at the same time. I've been editing photos pretty much all day today, (trying to meet my Thursday deadline) and I'm still no where close to being done. It's a little stressful 'cause I know I'm not going to have any time these next two days to work on them. I have to be in the O.C. in five hours to start my inspection route, and I won't get back home 'till probably about nine, at which point I'll be doing paperwork until I pass out asleep. And then all of this again the next day. And some how during this time I need to finish editing the engagement session from last week so the bride can get the prints done in time for the wedding. Not to mention the quinceanera from last week and the engagement session from yesterday which should both be done by this weekend. Now don't get me wrong, I love what I do but sometimes I almost think I've bitten off more than I can chew... the key word being almost. I guess this is a good thing. I'm just worried I'm going to fall asleep behind the wheel one of these days. Anyways, here are a couple of small low resolution images of the lovely couple from last week.

Oh and guess what? I'm finally on the first page for the search phrase "San Diego Wedding Photographer". Not for Google mind you, just MSN. But it's a start!

President Rodham Clinton ?!?!

So what would you think if you found out your president was receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, directly into their personal bank account from the leader of a foreign country. Possible conflict of interest you think? Well that's exactly what the situation is going to be if this country does something foolish like elect Mrs. Clinton in 2008. Don't believe me, read this link, it's worse than you think... http://www.terrorfinance.org/the_terror_finance_blog/2007/02/clintondubai_co.html

oh, and Google up some stuff on Dubai and their, umm policy on Israel, I'm too lazy to get the link for you, I think you'll find it interesting. They won't even let you into the country if you have an Israeli passport, and stamp it if you've ever even been to Israel so they can then restrict your travel.

Hmm, being that New York has such a significant Jewish population, I wonder what they think of having one of their Senators in the pockets of an anti-Israeli (to say the least) government?

starting to work out again

I just got back from the gym and I think I'm going to puke... IT'S FREAKIN' AWESOME!! I missed that feeling. I have really let myself get into a pitiful state, I am in the worst shape I've been in in my 28 years of existance. I weighed in at 220 lbs today!! out of which 25% was body fat! That's over fifty pounds of fat! It's just disgusting. Oh well, I guess that's what happens when you don't work out for over a year. No more though. I am going to get back in shape if it kills me. Give me three months and I promise you I'll be back to the 202 lb - 14% body fat me from two years ago. That's right, that was me two years ago, and it will be me again, I promise thee. (I was going to attach a picture of the current (fat) Sal, but it was just too embarrassing)

Search Engine Optimizing

I am finally done updating my website for my photography biz. I swear it was like a month long marathon of image and code editing. I'm anxious to see how it starts doing on google and the other search engines.

When I started my website last summer my first goal was to place at the top of the searches for the term "Ayala Photography", a modest goal I'm sure but it still took me about six months to get it. Now I'm moving on to placing high for san diego wedding photographer and san diego quinceanera photographer. My site seems to be crawling up slowly in yahoo and MSN, but google still treats me like a leper, I seriously don't know what's up with that.

DT's

Damn, i think I'm having withdrawals. I ran out the door today at around 1:45AM to get a beer before the 2AM curfew and wouldn't you know it, my car battery was dead. Who would have thunk that that little door light would drain a car battery in less than 2 days. I looked around frantically for someone to give me a jump start but to no avail. I could feel my chest starting to tighten up and the cold air was making it more difficult to breath. I thought crap what do I do? What do I do?! Of course! I can probably get a spark if I roll my car down the hill and get the alternator moving. So that's what I did, I pushed the car back a few feet, jumped in and let it roll down the hill. The little Kia was accelerating quickly but still it wouldn't start. Come on come on! Start damn you. 20 mph and still NOTHING! The car slowed down as it reached the end of the slope. I turned the key one last time. Nothing. Not a peep. I looked around. I was on the road about a quarter mile away from my apartment and there was no way I'd be able to get that car up the hill. Looked at the clock. 2:02AM and still no beer. No choice now but to push the car into a safe spot and wait until the morrow, and as I struggled to pushed it into a parking spot it occurred to me, THE CAR WAS STILL IN NEUTRAL!!! Damn it, how was the alternator going to turn if the car wasn't even in gear?!?! Oh well, nothing I can do now except rummage through my medicine cabinet for some scope and a few ounces of rubbing alcohol which might together get me through the night.

New Beginning

All right, I'm starting to get sick of spending so much time on this damn computer, I think I spend an average of at least 2 hours behind the computer for every minute I spend behind a camera, I think it's time for things to change, from now on everything you read in here is going to somehow relate to my photographic exploits (daily photgraphic exploits). I know I know, I'm more bark than bite but you just wait and see.

Yosemite in November

Alright so here's some of the stuff from Yosemite (November 24th, 2006), I can't post them all up, way too many for that, here's a couple though...








All right I think that's enough, I also have a panoramic image on my home page which I probably won't leave up for long, so don't be surprised if you look and it's no longer there (www.sbaphotography.com)

My Hero Lester Young

The demise of Lester Young (Prez)

...he sheltered himself away from the world with a wall forged of empty bottles of gin and bourbon. Racism, the constant criticism of his sound and his music, his best friend’s death, and his traumatic experience in the military were painful memories that would haunt him throughout the remainder of his life, he had lost his ambition and whatever passion that he might of had for life had all but faded away. He entered his hotel room and sat down in front of the window overlooking Birdland, moving only to refill his glass, and to finger his imaginary sax, playing along to Frank Sinatra until his hands could no longer move. When the doctor arrived it was already too late, all he could do was confirm his death, and so, fifteen years after leaving Count Basie, Lester Willis Young died on March 15th 1959 of a cardiac arrest brought on by malnutrition and cirrhosis of the liver. A few months later, Lady Day followed suit.

newton's third law and personal responsibility

I was remembering today some photographers complaining about other photographers not paying their taxes. It's not fair to the rest of us they said, wah wah wah. This isn't what this is about, but it brings a few things to mind which I think I'll share right here.

Just about every step that we take in life has both a positive and a negative reaction, and it's up to us to put the pros and cons in a balance and determine if the possible reward is worth the possible price. Take taxes for instance, to pay or not to pay, pay it all or pay a little?

pros of paying ~ avoiding possible fines or even jail time, the satisfaction of knowing you played a small roll in maintaining both our physical and social infrastructure and the continued benefits one might get from those two entities, and in some cases (depending on ones upbringing and our prevalent cultural bias) the piece of mind of knowing you did the "right" thing.

cons of paying ~ a loss of income that might have been used for any number of things including higher wages to employees, advertising, equipment, or even a few more rocks and a new pipe.

and associated to each of these possible consequences (both pro and con) are its value to the individual in question and the likelihood of occurrence. What are the chances of getting a fine or jail time? What are the chances of receiving an audit that might lead to that? Is there a paper trail? How valuable is that income to that person? Will that money be necessary to avoid eviction or will it be spent on get rich quick schemes and other internet scams? Now the decision becomes personal and deeply subjective, and is not (I think) for others to judge. Instead one should think, "does this person's actions affect me or my loved ones?" If so, how? Are we just trying to find a "rational" excuse for judging someone based on our own socio-cultural biases?

The moral of this story? Don't judge, but always be ware of other peoples intentions, what might others have to gain by doing something that might harm you, what do they have to lose? How exactly will their decision affect me or my loved ones? Will I have to intervene to change the course of events? If so, what will be the consequences of my intervention?

To those of you who know me and might have ever wondered what makes me do the seemingly impulsive and irresponsible things I do, there was your answer. While it is true that I am a little impulsive (maybe even irrational at times) my decisions aren't always entirely so. When I joined the military in '96 at the age of 17 it was not impulsive, it was simply the best option I had amongst many lousy options. When 2.5 years later I got out of the military it was not completely impulsive, it was simply that the idea of getting a dishonorable discharge (and maybe doing a few months or even a year in the brig) was more appealing to me then spending 3.5 more years locked up inside an underwater, titanium prison, babysitting a bunch of nuclear warheads and waiting for the end of the world while sinking deeper into depression. More recently, the decision to leave a stable job with a decent wage to start my own business while still heavily in debted and without a dime to my name was not on impulse. It is simply that I would rather risk a financial catastrophe rather than spend my life trapped in a dead end job stressing out about things I should of cared less about. I'm happy now. I love what I do, and I have faith that I will sooner than later be able to carry my own financial weight. Who knows, in a few years I might actually be able to afford to pay my taxes : )

en el principio...

So here it is, Chavidas' much awaited much talked about blog. As my first act in bloggdom I figure I should probably provide a bit of an introduction. So here's a little somethin' somethin' about myself. Nothing long winded just a quick intro. I reside in san marcos, california and here are some pics of my current immediate family. The sleepy one's name is Bonita Bonita, and the black/white one is Chiquita Bonita.

See, well that was painless. I guess I'll smell ya later, don't hold your breath though, chances are I'll probably forget this blog exists. Yeah I don't exactly have the greatest attention span in the world.