It’s Guest Blog Wednesday featuring Aaron Johnson!
Thank you, Scott for letting me interrupt your guest blog series with some unnecessary foolishness.
Photographers are a weird bunch, which is why a daily comic strip centered around the business writes itself (or so I wish). For this guest blog I’ve decided to highlight 10 themes (some controversial) that have made for good comic fodder over the years.
1. Man vs. Machine
One of the six elements of comic strip humor is writing something that is “recognizable”. It’s no wonder then that this strip has become an all-time favorite to many…
OK, who HASN’T heard that before? By the way, I’m still look looking for an upright bass that will make me sound like Brian Bromberg.
2. Pro or Pro bono
That strip has been turned into a verb. My dad emailed me to let me know he was “WTD43’d” one time. Writing for one of the most unregulated industries provides a fair amount of material. Who’s a professional, who’s not and who cares?
The following strip is inspired by the second most asked question of photographers. (the first most asked question being: “Can I have a copy of that?”)
3. Photoshop vs. Photosh*t
Photoshop – It’s just a tool. Really? Just?! This may be the understatement of the century when considering Photoshop’s impact on photography in the last twenty years. It may also be one of the most abused “tools” in recent history.
Endless debates exist as to how it should be used and how much it should be used. When something looks TOO GOOD, it MUST have been Photoshopped.
Unfortunately, powerful post production tools have created a lazy “fix it in post” attitude among many professionals. Personally, being on the back end of many shoots (both live and still) it’s a frustrating job security.
4. Size matters
It’s not the ax, it’s how much attention it can get you. And yes, I’ve pulled the big gear card before and it can get you free admission and better seats. I have no shame.
5. Gearheads
Photography is a very interesting hobby where half the population is obsessed with the technical aspects and the other half doesn’t know what an f-stop is. That’s probably what makes photography great. It’s so inclusive. People can find joy in complete different aspects of the medium. Some find joy in peeping, some find joy in seeking.
6. R-E-S-P-E-C-T
WTD is like the Rodney Dangerfield of photographers. It makes for better humor. A comic strip about Scott Kelby just won’t be as funny.
7. HDR
I looked through the 1000 plus WTD strips and just realized I didn’t have an HDR related strip. So here’s one I created exclusively for the Scott Kelby blog…
8. Film
The following strip is based on a very real experience I had…
You have to kind of feel for all the abandoned film cameras out there. Of course they’ll have plenty of company with all the outdated digitals.
9. Low-ball-ers
It’s really fun and cathartic writing for a character who has the absolutely worst clients in the world. The sad part is how many of these strips hit really close to home for so many.
10. Edumacation
Photography/education is always an interesting topic-combo to tackle. I’d like to know the ratio of DIY’s versus formally educated photographers. If the DIY’s aren’t in the lead, they certainly will be after enrolling in the duck’s class…
Thanks again Scott, for letting me lampoon your awesome blog. And thank you, to everyone who has supported WTD over the last four years. May we never forget to stop and laugh at ourselves every now and again :)
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