Endangered species list: Newspaper staff photographer

This is a reality that many 50,000 and under papers, for sure, are facing. Days of someone who just writes or photog who just snaps pictures is ending pretty quickly.

 

I work hard because my name's on the product and I value my reputation.

I used to believe that, but after surviving five rounds of layoffs in 18 months, I know that is not the case. The powers that be will get rid of whoever they choose for whatever reason. In my experience, the vast majority of those decisions have not been performance-based.

 

No.
The "wedding mark-up" on photos is a myth.
Say you pay $4,000 for a wedding photographer.
That's a 12-hour work day with the wedding. Add in travel, cost of equipment (the good ones carry 2 camera that cost around 5K each and probably a backup that runs 1K-2K; plus lenses and those are just as pricy) and the one thing everyone seems to forget - editing. If you're getting paid big $$$, you're not hitting auto-correct. That adds up.
Oh, and that doesn't even account for experience. Yeah, anyone can come it, put their camera on the A setting (doesn't stand for automatic, BTW) and fire away. You might get one nice one.
People who are really good at this - and that's not me by any means - know exactly what to do in any lighting situation, how to manipulate scenes so they look perfect and always finding that one shot that makes people's jaws drop.
That's gotta be worth something, right?