Might I add everyone with a SLR thinks they are a professional photographer... -_-

It takes a lot more than a decent camera and over editing in photoshop to make good pictures.

 

Well, here's my thinking...

Not a lot of printing companies do graphic design work. We were one of the only ones that did. Most people that need something designed had to go to other sources. The problem is that the majority of "graphic designers" in this area don't know anything about the printing process. They don't set up jobs correctly to get them to print the way they want them to. We actually had a list of about 10 companies/designers that we would no longer accept work from because we would end up spending more time correcting their files than if we had designed the job in the first place. You know... the ones that use Illustrator to lay out pages and use Photoshop to create logos... that kind of tomfoolery....

Through doing the design work I have done, I've made a lot of good contacts. I'm hoping that I can keep those contacts and possibly get them to send some business my way. If not, at least I'm only out the $50 for the business license. And, if I get one job, that covers the cost of the license. Plus, right now I've got about 30 local businesses that I have designed and/or renovated web sites for, so hopefully that end of things will pick up or at least stay steady.

 

sigh....agreed very much so. im not photographer and dont try to be, but it annoys me when people have a decent camera and think "ill take this at an intense angle" and call themselves a "photographer"

 

Yep! Photography, just like any other art (graphic/web design included) require artistic ability more than good equipment. If you don't have an eye for a good picture, there's no camera in the world that is going to make up for that lack of vision.

 

Not to mention putting huge borders on their pics and plastering "________ Photography" all over them. I mean, I've been taking pictures for years. I worked for a couple seasons at Franklin County Speedway taking photos for their program. I did get paid a little for it, but I wouldn't consider myself "professional" by any means.

 

Yeah, but you suck cock for money.. does that mean you consider yourself a professional cocksucker?

 

We've been through this. Only yours because it's little and I don't strain my mouth doing it...

 

Then quit bitching about it and move somewhere else.

People that bitch about no jobs around here need to pull their heads from their ass and get out there.

I was in Roanoke twice yesterday, and was in 11 different businesses of varying services, sales, and technology, and all but 2 were hiring.

Fuck, even Burger King is hiring at 8.50/hr.

is the economy in the shitter? fuck yes. Do we have morons running the country that cause more problems for small business owners than they are fixing? goddamn right.

Too many people think that just because they have a degree in something or they have experience in one particular field that is all they can do. Suck it up and learn to do something else, ya pussies.

Am I a bitter small business owner? fuck yes. I have hired, and fired, 24 people in the last 3 years at the shop. I had TWO in addition to that quit. 26 people. None of them wanted to put forth effort to get work done or learn how to do something. They were content with showing up, getting a paycheck, and not having to earn their wage.

All I hear is people bitching about not being able to find work, yet almost every single business owner I talk to tells me they cannot find decent help that will actually work. People would rather use them as a reference for their unemployment, say they were not hiring, and draw a check from the government instead of going out and finding something.

3 construction companies I know are hiring laborers. Roanoke Times has 736 job advertisements in the Roanoke area alone as of 7:36am this morning.

 

So it's that easy? Just move? How do you propose that someone without a job pay for moving expenses, get a loan for a new mortgage, etc.? Believe me, if I could afford it, I would have moved out of this shit hole many years ago.

I'm all for learning to do something else. Of course I'm looking in my current field first. If you had to find a job, you'd look for somewhere you could work as a mechanic first, correct? My problem is that businesses think nobody is qualified if they don't have a degree. Yes, I realize that I should have gone to college. I'm in college now, but still a couple years away from getting my degree. A degree that will tell people that I'm now qualified to do the job I've been doing for 21 years.

That's what I'm doing. Trying to find a job that will take advantage of my skills first. Now that I've exhausted all those possibilities, I'm looking at other jobs in an administrative position. I pretty much ran my office for the past 10 years, so I'm familiar with that.

Once I exhaust those possibilities, then I guess I'll have to look at manual labor or some throw-away job. But, I'm not at that point quite yet.

 

I'd be on the lookout for your field but at the same time look for:

-Sales (auto sales might be a good fit since you are a "car guy", printer sales or other tech related sales)
-Customer support/service
-Whatever other field you think you can apply any of your skill set to..

I think you will be able to find a job, think positive, maybe go to some networking events if you can. Envision yourself having a job and doing what you like. Focus on this instead of NOT having a job; your entire mood and the choices you make are based on this outlook. You seem to have a heck of a lot of experience in several fields. Sooner than later you will run into an employer that focuses more on experience than a piece of paper.