Bigtimers/Bigtime photographers; a very valid rant from another photographer

A great RANT from another photographer


I recently ran across a rant from another photographer. What’s he ranting about? Pretenders, huge ego assholes, who are absolutely obsessed with throwing the term “pro” around, but really just selling workshops or having a day job on the backend, which pays the bills. 

Take a look, read carefully. An amazing amount of good stuff both in the post, and the comments sections. It’s rare to find this sort of honesty in the LIE & ego-filled world of photography:

Bigtime Photographers

While he, (understandably), didn’t want to name names, I will. Here are some. You’ll recognize these assholes by their trumpet-blowing & lying on various online venues:

Marc Adamus
Mark Metternich
Kevin Mcneal
David Cobb
Adrian Klein
Ryan Dyar
Steve Sieren
Floris van Breugel
Jim Patterson


There are so many more, but these are some of the top bigtimers out there. They all make most of their “photography” money by selling bullshit workshops that don’t teach anything and are mostly designed to fill their own pockets. Worse, many of the images you see in their galleries are taken while teaching workshops (instead of concentrating on teaching their clients). None of them buy the necessary commercial use permits to teach workshops in parks. None of them buy insurance for workshop attendees. None of them operate anything remotely resembling a legitimate business. They are SCAMMERS and self-appointed Bigtimers who are tearing photography apart for their selfish vanity.

Thinking of becoming a professional landscape/nature photographer? Think, again, Gomer! A couple words of advice.

Thinking of becoming a professional landscape/nature  photographer? Think again, Gomer!

Forget professional landscape photography, an industry DESTROYED by Marc Adamus & his cronies.

 In these tough economic times, many are wondering what their next step will be in the search for a career, or a job to pay the bills. Times are desperate. I understand, truly. 

 You may have seen the online advertisements for art schools, especially the ever-present Brookings Institute ones. They use bullshit phrases like “follow your passion”, with a picture of a backwards-baseball hat wearing loser and a tripod/camera in a field, to describe one ad.
 Don’t even think about it! While many college degrees offer at least a chance of career advancement or a better job somewhere down the line, these photography degrees are worst than a waste of money. They’ll leave you deeply in debt, for nothing.

 In fact, even trying professional photography without a degree is a losing venture. Don’t believe us? Take a look at Flickr, for one. That’s thousands of losers you see, just itching to be published and have their “abilities” acknowledged publicly. Forget getting paid to be published; these losers will pay others to have “their” images published. You have no chance against these imbeciles! In fact, you have less than no chance, because these losers steal the compositions of real professionals, thieving hundreds of years of artistic experience, and throwing it away for pennies on Dreamstime (a de facto terrorist organization that wages economic terrorism against the USA). 

This is what Marc Adamus & Kevin Mcneal breeds: dozens of LOSERS who are desperate to be published.

See these losers? They’re all lined up, loser by loser, desperate for fame and fortune. They don’t care about being paid for these images. They will pay others for the glory of being published. You have no chance against these imbeciles!

 Look at the scum Miles Morgan. Earning mid to upper six-figures as a senior airline pilot for United Airlines just wasn’t enough for this ambitious artistic titan. No, he had to chase that elusive fifty cents an image that microstock offered. And so he did. This so-called pillar of the community was, in fact, waging a jihad against an all-American industry, all to satisfy his selfish, personal lusts for recognition and fame. He even exactly copied images Marc Adamus had taken, which Marc had no doubt hoped to license for hundreds of dollars, only Miles was offering them for cents. I wonder if Miles Morgan had any photographers living on his block. Photographers who would greet him and smile at him, without knowing that Miles was stabbing them in the back and undermining their work. Without knowing that his desire for vain recognition had no limits, even to the point of helping to destroy jobs and committing what can only be frankly described as acts of economic terrorism. What else would you call someone who steals something you made, and then tries to sell it for pennies on the dollar, only in this case it’s for vanity, not to pay the bills?

 Why am I telling you this story? Only to explain how the odds are completely stacked against you as a potential professional photographer. There is no hope, none, of employment in this field, at this time. Even if you are extremely good and manage to market yourself to the right audience, envious scum like Miles Morgan (and thousands of others on Flickr/photo.net/npn) will copy your work (ie, steal), and give it away for pennies. The photography industry is in rapid decline, and the unfortunate truth is that it may have to be completely destroyed, flushing out all the Miles Morgans/Darren Whites/Marc Adamus’, before it can be reborn and provide the jobs it once gave to decent Americans.


 Don’t make the mistake of investing thousands of dollars and hours of your time into a hopeless field. The scum that are currently ravaging this industry, the Adrian Kleins, Kevin Mcneals, Jim Pattersons, Steve Sierens, they just don’t care. Their personal quest for fame and money is far more important than anyone’s career, life, happiness, or anything else in this world. Don’t get caught up in this rat race. Don’t be another person stuck selling “workshops” or “photo tours” to pay the $6000 minimum bill for the photographic equipment you’ll purchase. Read more about that here.
 You are probably reading this blog post because you happened across it while searching Google on prospects in the photography industry. 

Don’t be another statistic, saddled with tens of thousands in debt from a photography school, or thousands in debt for equipment you can’t use to create enough revenue to buy a soda pop, thanks to the SCUM, THUGS, and fame-seeking MORONS out there.

THUG & Marc Adamus loving Flickr LOSER alert: Koveh Tavakkol

THUG Koveh Tavakkol

A Loserphotographers.com THUG & MORON review

Another Flickr “dainty little painter”, here is the LOSER Koveh Tavaakol. With a name like that, we wonder if he emigrated to the US for work. Of course, considering his dabbling in photography, that means he came here to pursue his dreams and crush the dreams of other people. Nice. Let’s go to the “about me” page at Kovehphotography.com, where all the bullshit is bound to be.

Koveh Tavakkol’s bullshit	Our commentary
Photography started for me as a hobby in October 2008, when I picked up my first DSLR camera.	Aww, how cute! Photography isn’t a hobby, certainly not when you’re dealing with heavy cumbersome cameras, tripods, and (bullshit alert), selling prints. What a hobby, right? Almost sounds like a J-O-B.
Little did I know that that used Canon 40D would change my life forever.	What a loser. He needed a Canon 40D to change his life? Next we’ll hear about how photography “brought him closer to nature”, and other shit like that. Here’s a hint buddy. If you really love nature, just take a walk. Capiche?
I soon discovered that I had a deep rooted passion for photography…	This LOSER does not have a deep rooted passion for anything but “comments & critiques” on Flickr, to which he probably jerks off every night. His wife probably misses little Koveh, ever since he found “Marc”.
…which combined with the encouragement of some extremely talented photographers…	Translation: other Flickr LOSERS commented on my stolen compositions and assured me that I really was All That, and a Dainty Little Painter, to boot.
…led me down a path to dedicate more and more to this incredible art.	This Flickr LOSER wouldn’t know what art is if it hit him in the face!
Teaching myself the basics of photography by reading many books was the easy part…	Hey, isn’t there only ONE book to read? The one, the only, The Ultimate Guide to Digital Photography, supposedly completely written by Marc Adamus (and claimed as “his” book (laughter).
…far more difficult was training my eye and mind to see the world differently.	Blah blah blah. We always read this bullshit on a bullshit artist’s website. He wants to impart how “elite” he is, a real Professional Photographer with a Keen Eye (laughter).
Although I spend some time in my home studio in the winters, I have found my true calling in nature photography.	Complete and total LIE. This LOSER’s true calling is his day job (senior systems admin or whatever), which gives him the money necessary to conduct his war against real photographers. If his calling was photography, that’s what he’d be doing for a living.
I have always loved being outdoors and exploring nature and the world around me.	Bet you anything that this LOSER didn’t so much as take a walk in the park before getting a camera.
Pairing my photography interests with my love of nature seemed a natural fit for me.	Koveh Tavakkol doesn’t love nature. He loves copying real photographer’s images, running to the nearest WIFI signal, and posting the images on Flickr, swollen member in hand.
I now spend most of my free time outdoors with a camera in hand…	He didn’t mention the other “thing” he’s holding in his OTHER hand, did he?
…pursuing my dream of one day doing this full time.	This LOSER will never be a real, full-time photographer. He’ll pretend to be one for the next twenty years, however, constantly committing his terrorism against real photographers. If you have any doubts, look at his rock-bottom prices. No one has become a professional photographer charging these kinds of prices. Equivalent to being a “senior systems analyst” for $5 bucks an hour, but you’ll never see this LOSER take a paycut at his Real Job.
My hope is that my photographs help inspire people to get out and see the amazing beauty that surrounds us.	Idiot. People don’t need “your photographs” to get out and see the amazing beauty that surrounds us. You are nothing but a leech and a parasite, and thousands will celebrate when YOU and the hundreds like you take your last breath, as an old, useless human being.
More importantly though is my desire to motivate people to respect the beauty of nature, and as a result take better care of our environment.	Bullshit LIE. All these bullshit artists write shit like this. The people actually protecting wilderness and teaching the public to respect nature aren’t blowing trumpets in honor of themselves, like this lying piece of trash does.
I sell quality prints of “my” work, both as a standalone print as well as in a white mat.	Of course. “His work”. As if. We guarantee you that buying one of this LOSER’s print is something you’ll instantly regret. Buy quality and buy real vision; purchase a print from a REAL photographer.
I also offer a beautiful ready to mount plaque option in larger sizes.	All the obsession with “larger sizes”. These LOSERS are completely infatuated with the bullshit idea that their pathetic cameras are capable of large, large format quality prints.
Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions, to purchase prints…	Sure. Go ahead and contact him. Make his week. He can then go on Flickr and rub one out while boasting about getting “interest” in his “images”.
…or inquire about workshops.	Yep. It always comes back down to workshops. We’re surprised he waited this long to bullshit about the workshops.

The rest of this SCUM’s website is filled with the usual bullshit. A page about his bogus “workshops”, a page about his equipment (of course, the most important page next to the “about me” page). A gallery full of badly photoshopped images (the pride and joy of his life, no doubt).

Avoid scum like Koveh Tavakkol. The only kind of “pro” he is is a fake “Flickr Pro”. This sort of lowlife will be the destruction of the photography industry, purely to fulfill his selfish lusts and desire for fame and glory. There’s no artistry here, just a walking, breathing Xerox machine. Do not buy one of his “prints” unless you’re eager to be disappointed. Ignore the bullshit about loving nature. He’s never so much as taken a walk before finding Flickr. We guarantee it.

Typical thug and his idiot, fame-lusting wife in the Columbia Gorge

Typical thug and his idiot, fame-lusting wife in the Columbia Gorge

We spotted these losers in the Columbia Gorge. Scum like these two turkeys have no artistic ability at all. It’s all about glorifying themselves on various forums, patting themselves on the back for what they imagine is their immense photographic skill and abilities. The only skill they possess is an uncanny ability to precisely steal what other, real photographers have taken before them. Kind of like how a copy machine has the uncanny ability to closely replicate whatever you place between the glass. It won’t be exactly the same, but close enough for all intents and purposes.

 If these losers just stuck to messing with gear or doing their Flickr “circle jerks”, it wouldn’t really matter. But they always, inevitably start trying to “sell” images. That’s largely because photography, practiced in this manner (ie, big DSLR camera, tripod, etc) is no hobby. So these losers always try to sell their stolen comps to justify the thousands blown on gear and Marc Adamus photo tours. Of course, one will never pay for their polarizing filter, much less lenses or cameras, by uploading stolen images on Istockphoto or Dreamstime. For the bozos who do that, it’s all down to bragging rights. Saying “I’m a landscape photographer” sounds much cooler at parties than “I’m a loser who wishes I was as good as Marc”. They love the idea of loftily walking around, pretending that they’re a “nature enthusiast” or “wilderness lover”. Of course, the fact that a camera isn’t actually required to take a walk in the park, or a hike in the forest, never crosses their minds. Avoid interacting with these losers, except to ridicule them or view them with contempt. If we consider these bozos artists, we might as well call our Rite Aid copy machine an “artist” too. 

Marc Adamus loving morons and Flickr circle jerk members do "their thing" in the Gorge