Hate Mail!

I finally got one, sent from the Contact form on this website. The sender was complaining about finding “another editor claiming to be a colorist” and mentioned something about the real-time nature of his color-correction hardware and how he charges “$1000 per hour” (sniff, sniff).

On the one hand, I love the fact that I got hate mail from a “professional colorist”. It means the software is starting to make the hardware-based folks nervous enough to start Googling us. And that means our tools are getting powerful. Though not quite there yet – as evidenced by his ‘real-time’ comment and another comment he made that Apple Color’s “secondary tools are crappy”. Gee, I guess he cracked open a copy to check it out (though I’d counter than Color’s secondary tools are far less crappy than FCP’s non-existant secondaries – we’re moving in the right direction).

On the other hand, I’m annoyed by My First Hate Mail. Where did My First Hater get the idea I claim to be a Colorist? Certainly this website makes it clear, my finishing skills are broader than just color correction – but color correction is my specialty. I have grown tremendously in that skill set over the past 7 years. I read everything I can get my hands on and then I do it… over and over and over and over and over again.

Yes, I enjoy color correcting 1200 shots in a few days. Tweaking contrast, balancing tones. Yes, there isn’t a single show I’ve worked on that 6 months later I don’t look at and say, “I could do that better today.” But heck, if there’s *any* professional working today who thinks all their work is perfect and they have nothing new to learn – they’re on a professional decline or delusional or both. They’ve definitely stopped growing.

Color correction – and Final Touch (now Color) – rejuvenated my enthusiasm for my career. I originally renamed and refocused my company to specialize in Finishing and Color Correction for very pragmatic reasons (easier to differentiate myself from every other FCP owner working in his mother’s basement). 18 months later I discover I love this focus far more than I thought possible. It blends my dormant Director of Photography gene with my Editor gene and gives balance and indulgence to each.

In the end, the writer of My First Hate Mail and myself have this in common: We both make pictures look better. And, ultimately, who decides if our pictures indeed look better and our services worth paying our asking rates? Our clients.

I’ll let My First Hater claim the mantel of “Colorist”. I’m on the road to Craftsmanship. I’ll continue to grow, learn, and occasionally teach. I’ll keep trying to base my business on my Skills. I just hope My First Hater does the same or he’ll get Moore’s Law’ed out of the business. When today’s iMac can handle 1080p, how much longer before it can run his DaVinci? In Real-Time? Something to think about…

- pi

 Subscribe in a reader

Related posts:

1. Isolating Colors in Color’s ColorFX room
2. New color correction service: PrimaryShots
3. How To Talk To A Colorist
4. Color’ist Stamina
5. A shot across Color’s bow???