I have no idea what professional photogs get in terms of compensation for an assignment, but it appears that with the fast moving technology the business model will have to change. The point has been made here that there are simply too many photos and sources available, for any given company with tight budgets not to take advantage of it.
not saying that is right, but not sure if anybody can do anything about it. no matter what you do, you have to give somebody a reason to buy your product or service. be it experience, efficiency, quality, whatever, i don't think you can artificially shape the supply, especially with the available technology.
as a rookie in this field, if i ever managed to take a photo, that somebody would like to use, i cant say that i would charge anything, since i would be so thrilled that somebody even cared. on the other hand i am also learning that there are a lot of controllable factors in any given shot, which make photography a quite challenging skill. a skill that if i mastered somehow would be great to be compensated for.
why cant we all live in a Utopian society where we all do what we love and dont have to work for a living? in that world I would have a few L lenses and would not be sitting here on a sunny 70F day
