Why is it that all of a sudden every teen on here wants to be in business?

Short answer: You cannot. We cannot. To borrow a phrase from another answerer (sorry I can't remember who or what question) even Captain Kirk cannot! Maybe Spock....

These new camera owners are here to stay, I am afraid, both here in Y!A and out in the real world. Of course, they won't be in business in the real world for long, but as one has a demise, another rises to take the place. But here on Y!A, nothing is stopping them from asking as many questions as they like, asinine or otherwise, and firing off hateful emails to the Infidel answers who are not on board with their business plan or photography skill. Eventually they will get bored and fed up, but it seems to take a while for some. As a side note, it is not only the photography section that is filled with this stuff, it is in other sections as well. If you want a more mature forum, try Photo.net. Way better pictures, too!

I keep at it because every so often one comes along who is worth the time wasted in typing an answer. (For me, that is a lot of time because I type slow!) Although still I read many of the questions, I am much more selective in the questions I answer. I never bother with the can I model, am I pretty, which one looks better, how do I do this in Picnik, how much should I charge questions, and seldom with the which camera should I get, what lens, etc etc etc. I do still like to look at beginner's work, and offer critique and pointers, plus I like seeing how kids look at things through a lens. So I still do some of that.

Age does indeed have quite a bit to do with this phenomena. Today I had an interesting conversation with my dentist, who has a HS senior and a college sophomore. Things are different for them. They have come up in a world of social networking and massive connectivity, and expect instant results and gratification from many endeavors, not just things like photography. You, as a late 20-something probably have a different view and outlook than I do, being several decades older. I guess every generation thinks that about the previous and the following generations.

These young people will mature in turn. The School of Hard Knocks is a harsh teacher. Since we can't change Y!A, my advice is to ignore those questions that you know will raise your BP. Or continue to contribute with a less caring attitude. Many of our more knowledgeable and experienced regulars no longer participate as they once did, they are suffering from Y!A burnout. Tilting at windmills causes some casualties. I have made some friends here, and probably a few enemies as well. Honesty is not always appreciated, both here and in the real world. I still participate because I get more satisfaction than irritation, and it helps keep my writing and thinking skills going in my remaining brain cells. When that scale tips, I will say farewell to here, too.

Best regards, and happy answering!

First, my compliments to WCG for starting an interesting discussion. This is one of those times when a message board would be a better forum than a Q&A. Most of the points I would made have already been covered in answers above, so I'll just toss in a few new items.

I have the *contact by email* turned off for Yahoo Answers, so I never get any replies from people. It sounds as though that was a good decision.

The "going into business" phenomenon is not limited to teens and photography. I'm an accountant by profession, and its rife in that field. You would be shocked at the number of untrained people who buy Quick Books and Turbo Tax, and then attempt to go into business.

The ads of the accounting and tax software companies imply anyone can produce expert results without having to know anything about the subject. In photography, we have all seen the ads showing celebrities waving cameras around while taking one National Geographic quality shot after another. Evidently regardless of the product, the "buy this and you don't have to know anything" marketing line works very well.

Ha, I totally know what you mean. Some girl blocked me because I answered: "Photos can go on either CDs or DVDs. However, when you purchase a RW you run the risk of your images being written over. CD-RW stands for re-writable. So anyone can accidentally erase all the images with a couple of clicks."

I think that these people don't have enough attention in their lives and come here to bother others and try to get noticed. If they would post their work, show off what they do, then maybe we can give constructive criticism on how to do better or if they are super good, then let them know and maybe they won't ask 20 lame questions each day.

I like one of the answers from a recent question - "Here on Y!A, there are a lot of gushers who feed the notion that the most mediocre and beginning level work is great and amazing. Many of these business hopefuls get all defensive when told anything resembling the truth, send nasty emails and often delete the question to get rid of the ugly truth they can't seem to face." The answer was Ara57, who then goes on to say hopefully this girl isn't one of those people. But unfortunately that is the same person that blocked me for my simple answer!

This is an excellent question, but there is no answer. I hardly answer questions any more. I don't bother with most of the "how much do I charge," unless it is from someone I know already. You might ask how I got to know some of these people and all I can say is that it happened over time. We "old timers" in the section remember when there was very little traffic over here (Cameras got it all.) and it was easy to get to know who was who. I guess I have closed myself off to new friends and relations, but there are better ways to spend my time.

I just read an interesting article in the new Shutterbug magazine and I have no idea where would be a good place to share the info, but your question seems to lend itself to that purpose.

In one of the concluding remarks, an event photographer being interviewed said (more or less), "If you want to start a business in photography, you have to love running a business even more than you love photography." The other two being seemed to share that sentiment, even though they did not articulate it quite so directly.

Maybe we can tell the wannabe business owners that they can take their love of photography and HIRE someone who has a love of running a business so they can devote themselves to photography while the other person devotes themselves to running and growing the business. Nah... That makes too much sense.

I feel the same as you all when I see "How much should I charge for a wedding?" and the likes but I usually take the time to answer anyways, no matter how annoyed I feel because we need to inform them of the reality of the situation so they don't devalue the market by offering unsustainable prices.

I've considered just nuking my account on here.

A perfect example of a person not willing to learn is in a question I answered recently:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiynA...

"Canon White Balance Icon-The lightning bolt (flash) Not sure when to use?"

This is a question they could have answered themselves if they had taken 3 seconds to rwead the manual. I take the time to answer anyways ...

different light sources have different colored light.

Incandescent lights emit a orangish light (this is what's called a warm light).

Fluorescents have a much whiter/bluish light (a colder light source).

Flashes have a very white light.

When you take a picture with a white balance setting, you are telling the camera what colored light there is in the scene so that it can compensate for the color emitted by the light so that the scene isn't heavily tinted in orange or blue.

AWB = Auto White Balance. By setting it to that setting, you are telling the camera "You figure it out!"

... and this is the Additionals the person adds:

"Additional Details

After a few answers I've received, still haven't heard what the difference is between AWB and the FLASH pre-set."

You volunteer your time and get **** on for it ... it's hard to stay motivated. If Y!A doesn't shape up and offer a "Already Solved... check here" category and crack down on posts that violate the ToS, they'll lose the people who make the system work ... all of you here currently answering this question.

It's not going to happen and for several reasons.

1. Yahoo itself doesn't give a toss what goes on unless it's blatantly illegal.

2. People do not take any trouble whatever to check if a question has been answered.

And the foremost....

Teens truly do not want to hear anything remotely related to the truth (I've got quite a collection of nasty and abusive mails to prove it.) What goes on in the mind of the typical teen you are referring to must be something like this.

I've got a DSLR. I shoot pics of my friends. I've learned how to do vintage processing on picknick or picasa. My friends like my pictures a lot, they tell me that often enough. Therefore I must be good. If I'm good I should be able to make a few bucks for the next iphone/blackberry/a new lens/a Holga (From urbanoutfitters of course)/a polaroid/my energy drink addiction.

Once this is set in their minds the very last thing they want to hear is anything that's not gushingly positive.

I'm not answering any teen requests for feedback anymore. In fact I'm really reluctant to offer any feedback at all unless I'm 110% sure that person can take it. I've posted a question once asking for feedback on my work ( http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ai91m... ) not exactly all positive but I was ready for it and I appreciated it.

EDIT: Ara57 does make an interesting point. Every once in a while, say every 30 or 40 questions you come across someone with real talent even though it's often a bit raw and unformed. Every 2 or 3 months you do see a real gem.

I still click on the links, at least the flickr and deviantart ones, not the facebooks and tinypics, but if it's yet another load of teen crud I quickly close that tab. Ah well...

Part of the reason I stopped coming to this section was because of all the annoying gushing going on. The same thing happens in Books & Authors and I've stopped responding to those begging for attention and wanting to be told their so-called masterpieces are best-seller worthy (98.9% are not).

I am 30 and have been shooting for 2 years. In those two years I've seen my work grow and change for the better. Not all of it is stellar or a work of genius but I like it and have seen good reviews from the work I do. Some of it does break rules of lighting, composition, whatever but unlike a lot of this over-edited garbage it at least makes sense.

If these people think they can press a button and hand over a disc of mediocre images for $30 and call themselves pro they're seriously deluding themselves. But I say let them fall on their a** and learn the hard way. All it will take is one pissed off client demanding their money back and threatening to take them to court for them to realize they're in way over their heads.

One thing I've learned about business is that you must ALWAYS be open to criticism, even if it is hard to hear and accept sometimes. These teens who are copping an attitude and getting defensive over being told they're clueless and need to improve before they can run a proper business will no doubt fail and/or give up within 6 months to a year. Sucks for them but oh well. Sometimes you really do have to learn the hard way.

I can empathize with kids and young adults in today's economic environment. The ways that used to be available to make a few bucks like babysitting, paper routes and flipping burgers have become sparse and the desire to work and earn is strong. Photography seems by many to be an easy path to a quick income. In today's world of instant information and the rapid results of digital photography, few understand that they can not immediately master the art. Especially when egged on by the sycophants who know nothing of what is required in the professional realm. I can understand this and do not take offense. What I can not comprehend is the rude responses to those who actually try to help these desperate souls.That said, there have been a few wonderfully talented young folks who have come on YA, asked intelligent questions, learned from harsh critiques and risen to the level of genuinely good photographers. Finding these gems has made it worth all the aggravation!

Lots of teens want to be photographer because it seem like such a fun job.You just take pictures, get paid and don't have to do much work. But in fact photography is not easy at all. It's expensive and art school is very difficult. I'm 19 and going off to arts school for now and I was going to pursue photography, but not i'm going for something else because photography is competitive and to make a good living with it isn't easy. Yahoo answers has helped me out so much with my photography. Yes at first I was sensitive about my work, but the critiques that were honest were the most helpful and the best. Though I haven't sent someone a message for giving an honest critique, that's just dumb.

I found that flickr has some good critique groups were people want honest critiques and don't act like kids most of the time. Some teens get told by there friends and family that there photography is awesome and when they are told otherwise they attack. My parents were opposite it took my mom four years just to get one of my images printed and framed, because my images weren't good enough to showcase. Most parents aren't like that and tell there kids there art is awesome and hang it on the wall. In all yahoo answers is a great nice place to learn about photography if your willing to listen. If not don't waste your time on them. I started out taking photos like these :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/annafur/page79/

and now photos are like this, kinda better I guess : http://www.flickr.com/photos/annafur/sets/72157625...

I probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere with photography if it weren't for yahoo answers and some of the people here.

I have given up worrying about it.

One of those recent posters (yup, the one photog mentioned) has sent numerous abusive mails to a load of people including me and blocked most of us I think.

That is fine, there will be no one left to answer the dumb *** questions soon and they can just listen to all the gushers and fall on their backsides.

I am afraid most of the questions on here are pretty much nonsense these days or they are the sort of question which these teens could and should be finding for themselves.

Problem is, at least to an old git like me, that they expect everything now. We are in the age of plug and play and instant fame.