# And Sometimes, You Gamble and Win!



## sm4him (Oct 10, 2013)

(This may not exactly belong in Shop Talk, but it IS about paid photography, I guess, so that's where I landed with it).

Many of you read my recent posts about being asked by my boss to do the photo shoots for an ad campaign, and the thread that followed with some of the resulting billboards. I was really pretty pumped about the whole thing, but several of you questioned my sanity for doing the shoots without additional compensation. 
(To be fair, some of you question my sanity, period. As well you should. :lmao: )

Anyway...when I agreed to do it, I thought about asking for payment, but decided against for a variety of reasons, one being not really being sure I could pull the job off with the sort of quality results I wanted.  One thing I didn't really mention directly at the time is that I *also* used my own personal camera gear to do the job, something I've done for the past couple of years, ever since I got a DSLR. 

After the ad campaign was finished, I did talk to my boss about the fact that my job description was seriously outdated. In fact, more than half of what was on the job description was stuff I don't do anymore, and probably 75% of what I actually do *isn't* on the job description. I told her that I'd like for us to look at updating it, and that before adding "photographer" in an official capacity, I wanted to suggest a raise. I told her I knew the raise wasn't likely to happen, but that perhaps the company could at least buy a camera for me to use instead of using my own gear.

Flash forward to today:  My boss came in near the end of the workday and said she had an updated job description that she had reviewed with HER boss (our chief financial officer).  Then came the surprise (to BOTH of us):  The CFO came in to her office today with the revised job description, which she'd approved--AND with a letter to the general manager recommending that along with the revised description, I be given a pretty substantial merit raise AND we purchase camera gear to keep at the company for my use. The general manager had already not only approved it, but made it effectively immediately. 

My boss has been there nearly two decades, and says she doesn't remember that kind of raise EVER being given that fast in the middle of the fiscal year like that.

So, yeah...pretty good day. And really, the BEST part of it is just the sense of knowing that my skills are appreciated and valued. There are days that I think the CFO and general manager don't appreciate me AT ALL, so this was a HUGE acknowledgement of my worth to the company.

And...now I gotta decide what I'm going to recommend for a camera. Definitely staying with Nikon, because I do want the ability to use some of MY lenses. I will probably be looking for a camera body, one or two lenses that will do most of what we need, and a good tripod.   

Oh, AND it was my Friday, because I'm off tomorrow! Woot!!!


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## oldhippy (Oct 10, 2013)

Way cool sharon, way cool.


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## Overread (Oct 10, 2013)

Sounds like fantastic news!  A well deserved reward and it seems that its opened up a good few more doors within your current job as well!


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## shefjr (Oct 10, 2013)

Congratulations Sharon! It's always nice to be shown that you are appreciated at work. It's especially great when it comes in the form of monetary compensation. Have a great long weekend!


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## cgipson1 (Oct 10, 2013)

Congrats... you deserve it!


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## ronlane (Oct 10, 2013)

Congrats Sharon. That is so awesome.


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## pgriz (Oct 10, 2013)

D4 Sharon.  because you're worth it.  Just remember to ask for/get the camera caddy to haul it around on.


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## vintagesnaps (Oct 10, 2013)

Nice to see you getting something that's so well deserved. Seems like all your efforts were worth it - and have a great weekend!


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## 12sndsgood (Oct 10, 2013)

Now there is a good day.  Congrats.


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## Steve5D (Oct 10, 2013)

Oustanding!!

I recall being one of the ones suggesting that you should be paid. Nice to see they came around, and that they came around _big_.

Nice work!


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## Majeed Badizadegan (Oct 10, 2013)

Awesome!


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## mmaria (Oct 11, 2013)

Great! really glad to hear a story about getting appreciated as you should!


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## sm4him (Oct 11, 2013)

Thanks, all! I just love it when things happen that make you feel valued!



pgriz said:


> D4 Sharon.  because you're worth it.  Just remember to ask for/get the camera caddy to haul it around on.



 Yeah, right!  I don't wanna be greedy--so I'm thinking maybe "just" the D800. :lmao:  Actually, I'm thinking more along the lines of the D7100, a good tripod, a general purpose zoom and a decent prime.  Or, I *might* try to get us to go for a 70-200 f/2.8, but I don't know if that will really fly. I do want to consider that we don't have a huge budget for this kind of thing, and that the camera needs to be something that someone else could throw into Auto mode and still get reasonable pictures if there's an event that I can't attend or something.  Maybe I'll create one of those annoying "what should I buy" threads... 



Steve5D said:


> Oustanding!!
> 
> I recall being one of the ones suggesting that you should be paid. Nice to see they came around, and that they came around _big_.
> 
> Nice work!



Thanks! I really did struggle with the decision to not ask that they pay me to do the shoot--and in all honestly, I *never* imagined that it would turn out this way. My grandest hope was that they *would* agree to buy a camera for me to use at work; raises just don't happen around there, so I was shocked that not only did I get one, I got one before I even had to ask for it!


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## PixelRabbit (Oct 11, 2013)

Way cool Sharon! Congrats!

*doin' the Snoopy dance for you!*


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## IByte (Oct 11, 2013)

sm4him said:


> (This may not exactly belong in Shop Talk, but it IS about paid photography, I guess, so that's where I landed with it).
> 
> Many of you read my recent posts about being asked by my boss to do the photo shoots for an ad campaign, and the thread that followed with some of the resulting billboards. I was really pretty pumped about the whole thing, but several of you questioned my sanity for doing the shoots without additional compensation.
> (To be fair, some of you question my sanity, period. As well you should. :lmao: )
> ...



:Standsup and claps: Good things for good people   Plus to add icing on the cake, you get to enjoy the sugar high all weekend long lol...congrats Sharon!


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## manaheim (Oct 11, 2013)

Sharon, this is SO awesome.  SO many congrats.

First, SO rare to see a company take care of its employees.
Second, SO rare to see a company really acknowledge something above and beyond that someone is doing for the company.
Third, SO rare to see someone do what you did (take photos for the company when it's not your job) and wind up in a good place and happy with the results.

We should all bookmark this and be sure to post this anytime anyone asks "SHOULD I DO THIS?" as a counter-point to all the "oh my god no"s that are so prevalent (and that I personally agree with- but it's still good to know that the good stuff CAN happen)

Congrats again!

Very exciting!


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## amolitor (Oct 11, 2013)

A good boss goes to bat for you when you deserve it, and you've got a good boss. I'd keep that boss!


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## baturn (Oct 11, 2013)

Congratulations! Well deserved.


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## NancyMoranG (Oct 11, 2013)

Congrats Sharon! Besides everyone else's comments, your boss took the horns and worked it all out. It didn't' take months or an act of Congress, oh wait...
sounds like a place where things run smoothly and with some common sense.
Nancy


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## jwbryson1 (Oct 11, 2013)

PixelRabbit said:


> Way cool Sharon! Congrats!
> 
> *doin' the Snoopy dance for you!*










[/URL] Snoopy-dancing by jwbryson1, on Flickr[/IMG]


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## hopdaddy (Oct 11, 2013)

HIGH FIVE ! way-to-go !


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## Stevepwns (Oct 11, 2013)

Fabulous, congrats.  So you ended up getting paid for it anyway.....   I like to see things work out for people.  Thats one hell of a way to start the weekend.  Enjoy!!


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## Antithesis (Oct 11, 2013)

Very cool, sounds like a great opportunity.


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## ffarl (Oct 11, 2013)

Hell Yea!


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## cbarnard7 (Oct 11, 2013)

Well done! Keep working hard and enjoying the moment!


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## The_Traveler (Oct 11, 2013)

good for you.


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## Derrel (Oct 11, 2013)

Oh man, way to go SHARON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had missed this thread for days,apparently! Congrats on the pay raise. Could not have happen to a nicer lady!


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