It's all about the Photos!

One inevitable distraction to the, would be, street performer is the constant paparazzi. If you are seriously thinking of plying your skills on the mean streets of your local town, consider how you will handle the gawking onlookers. It definitely is something to think about. I have had countless times when I have been prevented from making money because of people wanting to have a picture with the piper. Don't get me wrong, I love people and am happy to pose for the photo's, its just that I don't make a dime unless I'm playing those pipes.

You can't be camera shy, but you have to maintain your focus or else you will become a non-profit street performer. Therefore, one must decide a clever and unique way to handle this modern day dilemma. I decided to place a wee note on my display explaining the procedure. I included this: "Photo's are welcome for which a small donation would be greatly appreciated."


This actually worked somewhat, but now a secondary problem arose. How much time to allow for photo taking and performing. Remember the basic rule: "If you no play they no pay!", so the decision becomes, how much money do you want to make? Tricky choice. Ultimately, you have to please the masses. Public praise and acclamation is the goal. I got around the problem by telling the photo seeking fan that I needed to play while we took the picture. They have always been just fine with that, in fact, they have welcomed it because it lent authenticity to the photo. Well, that should do it for the photo op problem.