This video featuring Harlan Ellison has been floating around for a while. Ellison is a writer best known for his work on Babylon 5, 1980′s Twilight Zone, Star Trek, and numerous other cool TV series dating back to the late 50′s. The video is an amazing rant on amateurs versus professionals in the writing industry. Naturally, it can translate well into the photography industry as well and often comes up in message board threads.

What I love about this rant is that it’s absolutely true. Not to say I’ve never done a freebie (and depending on the project still would) but there are so many low-ballers out there, it’s hard for the rest of us to make a living. I need to watch this video whenever I think about doing free work. Frankly, can anyone afford to do free work?