Photographer’s life in graph

Carey Schumacher over at Barefoot Memories sent this funny graph to me:

photographer graph

Comments (95) left to “Photographer’s life in graph”

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Posted on 18-Apr-10 at 3:01 pm | Permalink
Fatih wrote:

Very funny. I like it a lot.

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 2:38 am | Permalink
@craigwk wrote:

It’s not funny, it’s true.

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 2:50 am | Permalink
neal carpenter wrote:

Very cool. I think you should create a second graph for photographers who began with film. There is a HUGE dip in their quality when they discover Photoshop. I’ve seen it repeatedly. I experienced it personally.

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 4:25 am | Permalink
Sunita Thyagarajan wrote:

So true! The kick to the ego with the inc. in knowledge is the make or break point for a lot of folks, I think.

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 5:41 am | Permalink
Jeff Flindt wrote:

=)

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 7:06 am | Permalink
Cameron wrote:

I like this,
but there is an unexplained increase in quality coming off the HDR Hole, but before the perception line crashes…
kidding

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 7:34 am | Permalink
ed | zawadzki » the evolution of a photographer wrote:

[...] over at RobertBenson.com. absolutely hilarious, and very true… hits close to home [...]

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 7:35 am | Permalink
Icelandic volcano, freelance standards, travel polaroids, black and white landscapes - The Photoletariat wrote:

[...] - APhotoEditor shares a humorous look at the several stages of a photographer. [...]

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 7:55 am | Permalink
Maggie Hunt wrote:

So very very true! Great post!

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 7:56 am | Permalink
Esther Benson wrote:

Robert, that graph looks like my golf game!!!!!!!

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 8:11 am | Permalink
Chris Barton wrote:

I think I will need to direct a lot of our ‘applicants’ to this graph…. a very useful tool.

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 8:14 am | Permalink
Mo Ewens’s Road To Success | How to make money with online photography? wrote:

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Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 9:32 am | Permalink
Ben Bender wrote:

I think there should be many more holes than just HDR in the “Quality of Photos” line (selective coloring, tilting composition, over-saturation, etc…).

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 10:36 am | Permalink
mikko wrote:

Definitely gave me a giggle!

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 1:40 pm | Permalink
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Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 3:03 pm | Permalink
coolnalu wrote:

this plots the opinions of a pretty humble photographer.

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 3:05 pm | Permalink
Mike wrote:

I’m still in the “All I shoot is pretty” stage.

Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 10:27 pm | Permalink
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Posted on 19-Apr-10 at 11:29 pm | Permalink
La vie d’un photographe illustrée par un graphique… « Zeck's Blog wrote:

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Posted on 20-Apr-10 at 3:54 am | Permalink
Tania wrote:

I am midway between first tripod stage cos I have just got a teeny weeny tripod haha. What a creative way to outline the different stages of a photographer!

Posted on 20-Apr-10 at 4:00 am | Permalink
will wrote:

I couldn’t agree more! Another stage I’ve found game changing is getting my first 50mm prime, and losing the need for zooms. I think it happened around the tripod stage.

Posted on 20-Apr-10 at 4:26 am | Permalink
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Posted on 20-Apr-10 at 5:23 pm | Permalink
stephen gelb wrote:

I feel like I am always at the bottom of the blue graph.

Posted on 21-Apr-10 at 5:47 am | Permalink
cho wrote:

It’s funny to know this: when the photographer dead, his/her skill and photo quality’s getting higher, but he/she doesn’t think that his/her work pretty enough.

Posted on 21-Apr-10 at 10:55 am | Permalink
chris Kelly wrote:

Oh this means I have crushing self doubt to look forward to in the near future. At least I’ve stopped taking photos of cats and flowers, well, nearly.

Posted on 21-Apr-10 at 4:05 pm | Permalink
La evoluci wrote:

[...] [...]

Posted on 21-Apr-10 at 4:14 pm | Permalink
Succeedright wrote:

LOL Thats Awesome!

I can appreciate my frustrations so much more now

Very Good!

Posted on 21-Apr-10 at 5:05 pm | Permalink
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Posted on 21-Apr-10 at 8:48 pm | Permalink
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[...] A photographer’s life as a graph. Man, this is so true. Crawling out of the “man, I suck” hole right now. Shut up Pedro. [...]

Posted on 22-Apr-10 at 12:08 am | Permalink
John wrote:

Who is the author of the graph? Carey Schumacher?

Posted on 22-Apr-10 at 12:15 am | Permalink
Mel_Edwards wrote:

I agree there is a slightly different curve for those of us who begin with film — after the first tripod. Glad to know I no longer fit the pictures of flowers and cats category.

Posted on 22-Apr-10 at 3:40 am | Permalink
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Posted on 22-Apr-10 at 5:03 am | Permalink
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Posted on 22-Apr-10 at 5:09 am | Permalink
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Posted on 22-Apr-10 at 9:31 am | Permalink
Shari DeAngelo wrote:

Brilliant. I can’t vouch for the death part, but everything else seems pretty right on to me.

Posted on 22-Apr-10 at 9:44 am | Permalink
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Posted on 22-Apr-10 at 10:27 am | Permalink
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Posted on 22-Apr-10 at 11:14 am | Permalink
osselin wrote:

Absolutely true also in my case. Great auto-criticism.Great sense of humour.

Posted on 22-Apr-10 at 1:07 pm | Permalink
Cyndi wrote:

Too flipping high-larious!

Posted on 22-Apr-10 at 4:36 pm | Permalink
Weekly Photography Links: 04/23/2010 | Your Photo Tips wrote:

[...] graph of a Photographer’s life is funny. And accurate. Did I mention [...]

Posted on 22-Apr-10 at 6:41 pm | Permalink
frikosal wrote:

Well done. Most people never get out of the HDR hole.

Posted on 23-Apr-10 at 12:30 am | Permalink
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Posted on 23-Apr-10 at 6:28 am | Permalink
Zaug wrote:

LOL!
This is great, very clever.
ThankZ!

Posted on 23-Apr-10 at 10:45 am | Permalink
Adam wrote:

I am enjoying my time in the HDR hole it seems to be as fun as the photomerge hole i was in last month.

Posted on 23-Apr-10 at 2:24 pm | Permalink
100PROOF » Blog Archive » Parody: Photographers Life in a Graph wrote:

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Posted on 23-Apr-10 at 8:25 pm | Permalink
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Posted on 24-Apr-10 at 12:40 am | Permalink
jan wrote:

damn it… this is really true while looking around at the market

Posted on 24-Apr-10 at 3:21 am | Permalink
Thishya wrote:

i was stuck in the “HDR Hole” for a while. tried to turn everything into an HDR. sometimes still go into that mode.. but much more controlled great post!

Posted on 24-Apr-10 at 5:52 am | Permalink
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Posted on 24-Apr-10 at 6:36 am | Permalink
maunet wrote:

Such a cool idea, Robert. Thanks for posting.

Though I have to counter with the notion that the “Gearfaggotry” stage tends to stay constant from Tripod all the way to Death

Despite starting out with film, I’d still grade myself at the 65th percentile. Hell, maybe i’m dreaming. You be the judge:

http://maunet.com/topic/photog/

Posted on 24-Apr-10 at 5:39 pm | Permalink
Photography Techniques wrote:

[...] graph of a Photographer’s life is funny. And accurate. Did I mention [...]

Posted on 25-Apr-10 at 2:16 am | Permalink
Stacie wrote:

Damn it! I just started taking pictures of cats. But they have such pretty shiny eyes….

Posted on 25-Apr-10 at 2:47 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:

Bahaha. I like the the /p/ chasm on the “how good I think I am” line.

Posted on 27-Apr-10 at 3:20 am | Permalink
richard wrote:

My humble opinion is that the cat stage should never be forgotten…At least when You can see a tiger close enough to get his eyes .

Posted on 27-Apr-10 at 12:26 pm | Permalink
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Posted on 27-Apr-10 at 12:43 pm | Permalink
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Posted on 27-Apr-10 at 5:53 pm | Permalink
Max Archer wrote:

This is actually the work of an anonymous (I think) user from 4chan’s photography forum. (the /p/ in the graph refers to that board’s URL.)

Posted on 27-Apr-10 at 6:55 pm | Permalink
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(Image)…

…

Posted on 28-Apr-10 at 5:04 am | Permalink
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Posted on 28-Apr-10 at 6:12 am | Permalink
anon wrote:

Max Archer is correct, this was originally posted at http://boards.4chan.org/p/

Posted on 28-Apr-10 at 1:36 pm | Permalink
Robert wrote:

If I knew how to read a graph I wouldn’t be a photographer.

Posted on 29-Apr-10 at 12:41 pm | Permalink
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Posted on 29-Apr-10 at 5:42 pm | Permalink
John wrote:

Can it be funny and true all at once? Great graph!

Posted on 30-Apr-10 at 12:08 am | Permalink
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Posted on 28-Jun-10 at 1:45 pm | Permalink
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Great information. helped me a lot.

Posted on 28-Jun-10 at 1:48 pm | Permalink
Giorgio Zanetti wrote:

Finally a graph able to depict real life

Anyway it misses the “strobist” step in knowledge (with the consequential “fake Dave Hill effect” hole).

Posted on 02-Jul-10 at 12:16 am | Permalink
Kel wrote:

Love it. Saw the link on FB and followed to here and then your website. Great stuff– love the athletes especially.

I go up and down between “I suck” and “I don’t suck”. I don’t know how to do anything in Photoshop or how to create an HDR image. Sometimes I wish I could, other times I’m glad I can’t.

Posted on 08-Jul-10 at 6:23 pm | Permalink
Markus Spring wrote:

sob – that’s all too true…
Amazingly well thought out – congratulations to this work!

Posted on 09-Jul-10 at 1:27 pm | Permalink
Pixels | Big Shot Cameras wrote:

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Posted on 09-Jul-10 at 10:04 pm | Permalink
Lars Clausen wrote:

It’s funny because it’s true!

I’m somewhere towards the end of the ‘Dammit I suck’ hole, having done single exposure per motive several times, but keep slipping back.

I don’t get the /p/ and dotted line, though.

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Posted on 16-Jul-10 at 1:13 pm | Permalink
Devon Photography wrote:

Yeah very interesting graph I don’t know if this is accurate but if it is that would be great.

Posted on 21-Jul-10 at 4:57 am | Permalink
Marc Fasel wrote:

That “dammit I suck” dip is awesome. I first got aware of it when I read “Pragmatic Thinking and Learning”, a book mainly for professional software developers. One chapter is about the journey from novice to expert. The model described in there is not just for software developers, but can be used for any profession. Interesting enough it mirrors the graph shown above.

The model and divides this journey into five stages. One clear sign that you are in stage 2 – advanced beginner – is that you think you are an expert. Once you figure out “dammit I suck”: Congratulations! You are not an advanced beginner anymore and entered the next stage. I just love that insight.

Beware: Just saying “I suck” just to feel you are in the next stage does not count. it has to be a revelation!

Posted on 21-Jul-10 at 10:41 am | Permalink
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