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I'll just say this- you never hear guys like Dean Capture, JustDaveXXX or myself complaining about a lack of work. And there's a reason for that. None of us are bragging about how reasonably priced we are either. It's not just about creative or technical skills, but business savvy as well.
A company owner complaining that he can't find any decent producers to work for peanuts should expect that the quality and reliability of those producer's work is worth only the peanuts you want to pay them. And usually not even that in by the time you factor in aggravation.
If you're a producer who has been dis-intermediated and replaced by your own clients or crew then you were lacking something in the first place, I'm not necessarily talking about talent as a photographer or director, but maybe business acumen or risk management strategies. I personally don't have all my eggs in one basket. There's no way a company could just hire some mope with a camera to replace me to recreate everything that my work encompasses.
I've been doing this since 1991 so I've seen more changes than most in this business and I'm always looking at the future and trying to figure all the angles and all the ways that I can improve myself and my photographic & technical abilities and add other services to make what I offer so unique and invaluable that company owners in North America, Europe and beyond are still hitting me up to pay top dollar for what I can produce.
The few times I did do some cheap productions because it was local or because the theme appealed to me or because I liked the client personally, it turned out to be more trouble than it was worth anyway since as many people in the service business will tell you, the people that pay the least are often the most demanding and unreasonable.
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