Speculative Photography - Introduction

It seems that my post "From the 'Are You Kidding Me?' Department" (October 15, 2007) has engaged a great many photographers in the debate over at Sportsshooter, with 75+ people going back and forth on the subject in this and this message series.

Many of the folks who were writing on the subject opposing speculative photography (a.k.a. "spec") had cogent arguments and interesting perspectives, and many of the folks trying to defend it took the attitude that it was a second or third job, or, a "loss leader", for them. I thought I'd write and echo some of the points, and add a few more of my own. Because this will be a long piece, I am going to break it down into several sections, for your ease of reading.

Read More:

• Introduction
• The Loss of Assets to Leagues and Teams
• Risks and Liabilities for Leagues, Venues, and Teams
• The Credentialing Spectrum
• The SPEC-photographer's Mentality
• Leveraging League and Team Assets to Promote External Income Sources
• The SPEC-agency's Mentality

(Comments, if any, after the Jump)

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